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NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
I spent yesterday and today watching hundreds of lovely young ladies try out to be members of the 2012-13 Brooklyn Nets dance team.
(Yes, I have a rough job, but somebody has to do it.)
I will post photos and video on InsideHoops.com in the coming days, but for now here is a quick pic of the 30 finalists.
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When Lil Wayne turned down Kevin Durant’s invitation to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, he missed quite a show by the three-time scoring champion.
Durant scored 18 of his 36 points in a scintillating final 7 minutes, Serge Ibaka added a career-high 26 points and the Thunder evened the series at two games apiece by beating the San Antonio Spurs 109-103 Saturday night.
After seeing his team’s 15-point lead dwindle to four, Durant took over midway through the fourth quarter by scoring all 16 of the Thunder’s points during a span of just over 5 minutes to keep the Spurs at bay…
With All-Star teammate Russell Westbrook limited to seven points, Durant did almost all of the damage late to send the series back to San Antonio all square for Game 5 on Monday night.
Durant, who finished behind only LeBron James in MVP voting, hit three straight jumpers, the last one coming after he bumped into Tony Parker in the lane to draw a foul and set up a three-point play. Then he attacked the rim for his next three baskets, getting to the line again when he was fouled on a layup off of James Harden’s alley-oop…
Tim Duncan had 21 points for San Antonio, which had won 20 in a row before losing Game 3. Leonard added 17 points and nine rebounds.
Ibaka made all 11 of his shots – and all four of his free throws – to lead a strong performance from Oklahoma City’s frontcourt while Durant’s usual running mates, Westbrook and Harden, both struggled.
Ibaka, starting center Kendrick Perkins and reserve Nick Collison combined to go 22 for 25 from the field for 49 points. Westbrook missed eight of his 10 shots and Harden was limited to eight points.
— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press
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Before the fourth, the Spurs were burned by the surge of Ibaka, who made all 11 of his field goals, one shy of an NBA playoff record, en route to a career-high 26 points, adding a perfect (4-for-4) showing from the foul line.
Not renowned for his offense, Perkins nailed seven of his nine shots for 15 points to go with nine rebounds.
“Their bigs were the difference in the game,” said Tim Duncan, who had his best game of the series with 21 points and eight rebounds.
Together, Ibaka, Perkins and Collison formed an unlikely Big Three for OKC, combining to make 22 of 25.
“If you had a shooting drill with nobody guarding you, I don’t think you could do that,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Durant had just four attempts during a first half spent involving the OKC big men.
— Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News
The NBA record for the most shots made without a miss in a playoff game is 12-for-12, set by Larry McNeill in 1975. Scott Wedman is the only other player in NBA history to go 11-for-11. He did it in 1985.
“That’s a pretty big effect,” a still astonished Popovich said. “All the (Thunder’s) bigs really scored tonight. Obviously, you put most of your attention on the big three there and try to do a great job on them first. But the bigs came through tonight and were outstanding.”
The Thunder’s big man trio of Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison combined to shoot 22-for-25. Perkins was 7-for-9. Collison was 4-for-5.
— Reported by Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman
The Charlotte Bobcats appear to be contemplating a change to their uniform colors, but a team spokesman says that has nothing to do with a potential nickname change.
Pictures circulated on the Internet Friday night of a Bobcats cap tied to the 2012 draft. Most of the cap looks like the Bobcats’ current blue primary color. The bill is a new, lighter shade of blue. The only orange in that cap is the small “Charlotte’’ stenciling.
Asked if the Bobcats are contemplating color changes, team spokesman B.J. Evans said Saturday, “We’re always trying to explore accenting our colors in different ways. It’s an on-going process.’’
There has been a grassroots effort of late, lobbying the Bobcats to acquire the Hornets nickname from the New Orleans Hornets.
— Reported by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer
If the Miami Heat have a secret weapon to unleash for Game 4 of their playoff series against the Boston Celtics, it won’t be Chris Bosh.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Saturday that Bosh won’t play Sunday and reiterated the All-Star forward has not yet advanced far enough in his recovery from an abdominal strain to gauge when he might be available for game action.
“I’m not thinking about Chris today –I’m not,” Spoelstra said before the Heat’s practice at TD Garden. “He’s not on my mind. And I love you, Chris, but I’m focused on Sunday. That’s where all of my energies are focused right now.”
The Heat have a 2-1 lead in the series, but are coming off Friday’s 101-91 loss to Boston.
— Reported by Michael Wallace of ESPN Miami
One more photo that has nothing to do with basketball: Here is the NYC skyline and Empire State Building in the background while looking over the Brooklyn Bridge:
Photo from InsideHoops.com today from Brooklyn, NY looking at the Statue of Liberty
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Chris Bosh took part in the Miami Heat’s morning workout Friday, though coach Erik Spoelstra won’t say if the injured All-Star forward can return for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.
Bosh remained sidelined by a lower abdominal strain for Friday night’s Game 3 and Spoelstra says “his return is indefinite.” Game 4 is Sunday in Boston.
Spoelstra says Bosh will be re-evaluated daily.
— Reported by the Associated Press
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For as dominant as Kevin Garnett was around the basket, or how Rajon Rondo continued to do figure 8s around the Heat’s defense, it was the Celtics’ second unit that surged them to a much-needed 101-91 Game Three win.
“Every guy that came off our bench contributed for our basketball team,” said C’s coach Doc Rivers. “And we needed it.”
The biggest – and probably most unexpected – lift of the night for Boston came from Marquis Daniels, who had nine of the second unit’s 19 points on Friday.
Daniels played 17 minutes on Friday.
After having played 22 minutes in a blowout win over Atlanta on May 6, Daniels had only played a total of 10 minutes prior to Friday.
— Reported by A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE
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Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 11 rebounds and Rajon Rondo scored 21 points with 10 assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 101-91 victory over the Heat in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night, cutting Miami’s lead in the series to 2-1.
Game 4 is Sunday night in Boston.
Paul Pierce scored 23 points for Boston.
LeBron James scored 34 points, but the NBA MVP and the rest of the Heat went cold during a 7-minute stretch at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, when Boston outscored them 15-0 to turn a six-point deficit into a nine-point lead.
James scored 16 points in the first quarter but had just four points with one rebound and one assist in the fourth, when Miami cut a 24-point deficit to eight. Mike Miller hit consecutive 3-pointers during an 11-0 run that cut the deficit to 95-87.
Miami still trailed by eight points, with the ball, when Dwyane Wade missed and Ray Allen grabbed the rebound, sending Rondo on a fast break that made it a 99-89 with 99 seconds to play. James threw the ball away underneath, then missed a 3-point attempt the next time down – one of only four shots he took in the fourth quarter.
Pierce found Garnett for a long jumper at the other end, and the teams began emptying their benches.]
— Reported by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press
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Kevin Garnett scored a team-high 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and added 11 rebounds as the Celtics made an effort to establish him around the basket early and it aided them in building as much as a 24-point lead. Rajon Rondo added 21 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds, while Paul Pierce kicked in 23 points despite just 7-of-21 shooting over 40 minutes. Boston shot 50 percent (38-of-76) from the floor and dominated on the glass, outrebounding Miami 42-32. LeBron James scored a game-high 34 points on 16-of-26 shooting, but was a bit quiet after a big first quarter. Dwyane Wade chipped in 18 points on 9-of-20 shooting.
A James jumper with 2:15 to play in the first quarter had the Heat out front by six at 28-22, but the Heat would go scoreless for the next 6:47 spanning into the second frame. A 15-0 burst had the Celtics out front 37-28 after a Garnett layup. Despite shooting a mere 27.8 percent (5-of-18) in the second quarter, the Heat stuck around a bit before a 3-pointer by Ray Allen right before the half pushed Boston’s lead to a first-half high 13 points (55-42) and prevented Miami from stealing away any momentum. Boston extended its lead in the third quarter with Garnett on the floor, then held on for dear life as Miami trimmed that 24-point cushion to single digits late in the fourth quarter.
Looking eager to upstage Rondo on the heels of his 44-10-8 effort in Game 2, James came out firing. Not only did he put up 12 shots, but he connected on seven as part of a 16-point first-quarter outburst. It could have been worse; he missed 3 of 4 free throws. The Heat shot 61.1 percent (11-of-18) in the first quarter, but Boston hung around at 60 percent shooting (12-of-20) and actually led 30-28 after the first 12 minutes.
— Reported by Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston
Boston got an unexpected spark off the bench late in the first quarter when Doc Rivers called upon the seldom-used Marquis Daniels.
He only scored two points, but his activity on defense and all-around hustle seemed to be just the spark the Celtics were desperately needing.
And defensively, he was actually able to do something none of his teammates have done up to this point in the series – slow down LeBron James.
After making seven of his first nine shots, Daniels’ defense was instrumental in James missing three of his next four shots.
— Reported by A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE
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LeBron finished with 34 points, but that came with a strange asterisk. He had 16 in the first quarter, and it looked like the start of something good for the Heat. Instead, it represented something else.
His teammates stood around watching him. The offense became him only. Wade, as is happening regularly, couldn’t get going in the first half. He had an inefficient six points on nine shots.
And, let’s face it, when Wade isn’t joining LeBron on a big night the Heat has little chance. Wade finished with 18 points, but the game had drifted away from the Heat before most of them mattered.
It was more than that, though. Wade and LeBron had 35 free-throw shots in Game 2 — a fact Boston loudly pointed out between games. They had five Friday night.
— Reported by Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
LaMarcus Aldridge wrote the following:
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“On Saturday I came down with a blood virus. I quickly became sick and had to be rushed to the hospital. I thought it was a case of bad food or a bad cold, but I was wrong. It turned out to be a very serious virus that if not treated quickly could actually be deadly! One thing I know for sure is that I’ve never felt worse in my life and there were times I wasn’t really sure where I was going. Thankfully I had a lot of family support and great medical care that helped me fight through it and now I’ve turned the corner and I’m feeling much better. I know it was God ultimately that decided my fate and looked out for me to make sure I got healed.”
— Written by LaMarcus Aldridge on the TrailBlazers.com Blog