Category: NBA Playoffs Blog

NBA playoffs blog

Lakers eliminate Nuggets in five games, advance to 2020 NBA Finals

OC Register: “After a jaunt through NBA history, the Denver Nuggets met the one thing they could not overcome: The 35-year-old James in a closeout opportunity, smelling a path to his ninth Finals in 10 years. The star of his era rose to the moment of a Game , nailing four straight shot in the final four minutes to seal in an unforgettable cap to a masterful Game 5 victory, 117-107, that saw him score 38 points, grab 16 rebounds and dish out 10 assists. LeBron James is going to the Finals, and the Lakers are going with him. He choked out the last fight from Denver, which had won six straight elimination games headed into Saturday night. And even as he sat on the court in a near-empty AdventHealth Arena, he started looking ahead. There’s four more wins left to a championship, and if James’ will in a closeout game was any indication, he’s impatient to finish the whole thing.”

OC Register: “The clinching nine-point run was the stuff legendary runs are made of: James hit a stepback, a turnaround fadeaway, a pullup and a 3-pointer in one two-minute sequence to put the Nuggets to bed as the Lakers won the Western Conference Finals, 4-1. It’s the first time the Lakers have been to the Finals in 10 years, the longest drought in franchise history.”

LA Times: ““This is what I came here for,” James said. “I heard all the conversations and everything that was said about why did I decide to come to L.A — the reason I came to L.A., it was not about basketball. All those conversations, just naysayers and things of that nature. I understood that, with the season I had last year and my injury, it just gave them more sticks and more wood to throw in the fire to continue to say the things that they would say about me. “But it never stopped my journey and never stopped my mindset and never stopped my goal.” With a 117-107 win in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in Orlando, Fla., on Saturday night, the Lakers eliminated the Nuggets to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in 10 years after six consecutive years of not even making the playoffs.”

LA Times: “[Anthony] Davis scored 27 points including a pair of three-pointers, a block and two steals, earning his first NBA Finals appearance. Heading into the game, the Lakers were 26-1 when they had a double-digit lead at halftime, with their only loss coming to the Clippers. They held a 61-51 lead at the break and increased the margin to 16, but Nuggets forward Jerami Grant scored 14 points in the third quarter, picking up for foul-plagued Nikola Jokic, and Denver tied it at 84.”

Denver Post: “But their storied ride came to an end Saturday night, when the Lakers ousted the Nuggets, 117-107, in Game 5, concluding Denver’s magical run. For weeks, the Nuggets were the talk of the bubble. Their resiliency and toughness, at times, left their coach searching for words. “What more could you ask from a group?” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “What more commitment, sacrifice, just everything in the last 82 days that our team has gone through. The history that we’ve made. The adversity that we faced and never ran from, embraced it. … From a pride perspective, couldn’t be more proud.” What happened in Orlando won’t soon be forgotten. The six wins in elimination games. Jamal Murray’s scoring spree against Utah, followed by his emotional tribute to Breonna Taylor. Nikola Jokic’s sustained excellence in the face of those elimination games. When the Nuggets land in Denver on Sunday, they’ll still have heavy hearts over a series they felt was closer than the final result.”

Denver Post: “Once again, fouls were a thing in Game 5, with Jokic logging his third with 9:32 left in the second quarter and Gary Harris his third midway through the same period. One of Jokic’s was most certainly questionable — the offensive foul Alex Caruso sold with Oscar-worthy gusto in the paint. But his first was simply a bad decision — intentionally stopping a 3-on-1 L.A. fast break by grabbing a Lakers ballhandler just two minutes into the game. The way the Lakers have targeted Jokic for contact throughout the series, he should’ve just surrendered the fastbreak layup so early in the game rather than pick up a cheap foul. It was a decision that ultimately cost him.”

Celtics played harder than Heat in Game 5, says Jimmy Butler

The Heat are in good shape, up 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals vs. the Celtics, but issues do exist for Miami that need to be addressed in their quest to end this thing tomorrow. Here’s the Miami Herald:

Defense was certainly an issue for the Heat in Game 5, as the Celtics scored a series-high 121 points on 45.2 percent shooting and committed only 11 turnovers. Boston also outrebounded Miami 50-38 and scored 15 second-chance points on 13 offensive rebounds.

“They were playing harder than we were,” Jimmy Butler said following the Heat’s Game 5 loss. “We’ve just got to correct that. That’s where it starts for us. Any time anybody is playing harder than we are, we are not playing our best basketball. I think a lot of it for us comes from how hard we play, how together we play, and we’ve got to get back to doing that.”

But the Heat’s defense, which was a strength in the first two rounds of the playoffs, has struggled for most of the series.

The Heat, using a mix of its zone and man-to-man schemes against the Celtics, has allowed 114.5 points per 100 possessions in the East finals. For context, only two NBA teams finished the regular season with a worse defensive rating.

Game 5 was fascinating in that the Celtics started slow and looked ready to pack it up and go home, then steadily improved as the game progressed, and have every reason to walk into Game 6 with increased confidence. Boston has momentum. Time for Miami to show what they’re truly made of.

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray has stepped up big in Disney NBA bubble

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray has definitely raised his stock at the Disney NBA bubble. Here’s the Denver Post on it:

Murray’s meteoric rise has been the story of the Nuggets’ bubble stay. Whatever inconsistency plagued him during last year’s playoff debut has been ironed out. Through 18 games, Murray’s averaged almost 27 points on over 50% shooting from the field, including over 46% from 3-point range. Murray has been electric, with his playmaking and his passion elevating the Nuggets to only their fourth conference finals in franchise history.

This regular season, Murray averaged 18.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. In the playoffs, he’s putting up 26.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game.

Celtics doing good job defending Heat three-pointers

The Heat remain in good shape in the Eastern Conference Finals, but upon seeing their 3-1 series lead on the Celtics become a 3-2 lead, it’s still a series. And one thing keeping the Celtics competitive has been their perimeter defense, especially in the last few games. Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel on it:

After going the entire season and two-plus rounds of the playoffs without shooting below 30 percent on 3-pointers in consecutive games, the Heat now have done so in the past three against the Boston Celtics, going 1-2 in that span.

“They’re very good at defending the 3-point line,” Spoelstra said. “They’ve taken us off of some of our normal rhythm threes. We’ve also missed some open ones. We just need to work more persistently to get the type of shots we want, in our wheelhouse, which we’re very capable of, even against a very good defense like Boston.”

The downturn started at .273 (12 of 44) in the 117-106 loss that drew Boston within 2-1 in this best-of-seven series. It continued at .270 (10 of 37) in the 112-109 victory that pushed the Heat to a 3-1 series lead. Then, Friday night, it went off the rails, at .194 (7 of 36) in the 121-108 loss that cut the advantage down to 3-2 going into Sunday’s 7:30 p.m. Game 6 at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex.

“Our guys are extremely ignitable. It can happen just like that,” Spoelstra said, snapping his fingers. “But we have to do a lot more things defensively, where we’re not just hoping that we make a bunch of threes and a bunch of shots.”

As it is, the past two games mark just the second time this season the Heat have gone consecutive games without converting more than 10 3-pointers.

Game 6 is Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Celtics beat Heat in Eastern Conference Finals Game 5, 121-108

Miami Herald: “The Heat led the Boston Celtics by 12 points in the second quarter and never trailed in the first half of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. Miami, just one win away from the 2020 NBA Finals, was just two quarters away from completing its stunning run to the NBA’s championship series. In the third quarter, it all unraveled. A seven-point halftime lead swung into a 14-point deficit for the Heat and the Celtics, who blew double-digit leads in the first two games of the NBA Conference Finals, rallied to stave off elimination with a 121-108 win in Lake Buena Vista. Miami, which still leads the series 3-2, will have to wait until at least Sunday at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to clinch a spot its first NBA Finals since 2014.”

Boston.com: “Boston opened the game 1-for-12 from the floor, with eight of those attempts coming from deep. That five-plus-minute span also included three turnovers to highlight their discombobulated opening stint. No rhythm and a lack of effort rose to the surface, just as it had in their previous three losses. The Celtics’ struggle to win the battle in the paint stuck out in the first quarter as well, getting outscored 12-2 in that category over the game’s first 12 minutes. With the season on the line, Boston shot 25 percent in the first quarter. They were lucky to be down just seven at the half, but the Celtics didn’t give in and quickly turned things around after the break.”

LA Times: “We’re prideful. We want to do well. … Our deal was to come out and play, come out and compete and give it our best shot, and I thought we played pretty well in the second half, but we’re going to have do it again and again because of the position we’re in,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “…We’re trying to be our best. We care about competing. We care about representing our team and our organization well, and we care about each other. It’s why you compete.”

South Florida Sun Sentinel: “Tatum has been all over the place this series. Good. Bad. Dominant. Disappeared. But in that third quarter he scored 17 points and picked up his Celtics as they turned a seven-point halftime deficit into a nine-point lead. Brown has been more in and out than Tatum. But on Friday night with the Celtics season on the line he did everything necessary in scoring 28 points and making all the plays that mattered. “They started attacking, we stopped guarding,” Jimmy Butler said. “Never a good thing for us. After that it was all downhill.” So that was that. The game. The night. The thought the Heat could move as easily into the Finals as they had in dispatching Indiana and Milwaukee earlier in the playoffs. Did anyone really think this series would be like those?”

South Florida Sun Sentinel: “The Heat got 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists from Butler, 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists from Bam Adebayo, as well as 23 points from Goran Dragic and 20 from Robinson. “We’ll be ready to go on Sunday,” Butler said. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 31 points, supported by 28 from Brown… The Heat closed 7 of 36 on 3-pointers, the 19.4 percentage the Heat’s lowest of the postseason. But it also came after shooting 12 of 44 on threes in Game 3 and 10 of 37 from beyond the arc in Game 4. “Regardless of whether it’s going in or not,” Spoelstra said, “that can’t affect your commitment on the other side of the floor, and it felt like it did.” Robinson closed 3 of 11 on 3-pointers, the rest of his teammates 4 of 25.”

Dwight Howard plays well as Lakers starting center in Game 4 vs. Nuggets

Dwight Howard did big things as the Lakers’ starting center yesterday. The OC Register:

After Game 1, Dwight Howard joked (probably) that he was so committed to keeping Nikola Jokic in his sights this Western Conference Finals series that he was considering meeting the Serbian 7-footer right outside his room in the hotel that both teams are staying.

Now, after Thursday’s start, Howard might invade the Nuggets’ slumber, too.

In his first start these playoffs (and just his third this season), Howard to help set the tone as the Lakers rebounded in a big way from a poor performance on the boards in their Game 3 defeat Tuesday, when they were also lost the battle on the glass, 44-25.

“We knew what he could do in this matchup,” said Lakers Coach Frank Vogel of Howard, who is plus-30 in the 66 minutes he’s played through four games this series, which the Lakers lead 3-1 – but which is otherwise tied, scoring-wise, 439-439.

“We like to try to start the series with the lineups that we play throughout the season, and then you feel out the series,” Vogel added via Zoom video conference.

Jayson Tatum, Brad Stevens discuss Game 4 Celtics first half struggles vs. Heat

The Celtics dropped Game 4 to the Heat last night, and now trail 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Here’s Boston.com with quotes on head coach Brad Stevens and star forward Jayson Tatum:

The Celtics, who outscored the Heat by double digits in the first halves of Games 2 and 3, were sloppy from the get-go. Boston committed 11 turnovers in the opening 24 minutes, causing them to have their lowest first-half point total of the playoffs, and trailed the Heat 50-44 at halftime.

“I thought our first half we looked, for whatever reason, we didn’t look crisp,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens told reporters after the game. “And obviously that showed itself in our shooting numbers. I thought we were lucky to be at 50-44 at halftime, to be candid.

“For whatever reason, our first half wasn’t as good as it’s been.”

Jayson Tatum failed to score in the first half, missing all six shots he took and failed to make it to the free throw line.

“I wasn’t aggressive enough,” Tatum said of his first half performance. “I didn’t score in the first half, that’s unacceptable. I know I have to play better. That’s what I’ll try to do.”

Turnovers also wrecked the Celtics in Game 4. They had 19, with six coming from Tatum, with four from Marcus Smart and another four from Jaylen Brown. The entire Heat team had just eight.

A positive for the Celtics is, they did step up nicely in the second half. They just need to put it all together for the length of a full game. Which has been tough against a Heat squad that the entire world clearly underestimated.

Bam Adebayo says he knew Tyler Herro could play like this

The Heat have taken a 3-1 Eastern Conference Finals lead on the Celtics, and yesterday’s scoring star for Miami in their Game 4 win was guard Tyler Herro, who came off the bench to score 37 points. Here’s the Sun Sentinel on what a star teammate had to say:

“First of all,” teammate Bam Adebayo said of the precocious 6-foot-5 guard, “I haven’t been surprised because I knew what the kid could do.”

While Adebayo tends to be soft-spoken, a visit to his college campus a few years back had the former Kentucky center struck by the cocksure 18-year-old kid who already had an NBA scoring repertoire.

“I went to Lexington to go see the coaches, just to see what’s up, get some work in,” Adebayo said in the wake of Herro’s Wednesday tour de force. “We were playing pickup and I was just realizing, going against the man, he doesn’t back down from the moment.”

It was a moment Adebayo wasn’t going to allow to go unnoticed, or unreported.

“I was the one who put the bug in Pat [Riley’s] ear to draft the kid. Just saying,” Adebayo said during his media session at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex, where these quarantined NBA playoffs are drawing closer to their championship conclusion. “I’m not shocked by the success that Tyler’s having. He comes in the gym every day, great work ethic, great dude, he doesn’t bother anybody, just works.”

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray putting on impressive basketball show in playoffs

Everyone knew that Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was a good NBA player. But what he’s done in the playoffs has opened a lot of eyes. Here’s the Denver Post (via the OC Register on what he’s been doing:

Maybe you didn’t believe it when Jamal Murray reeled off 142 points across three spellbinding games in the first round playoff series against Utah.

Or perhaps you weren’t swayed by his 40-piece in Game 7 against the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round that sealed Denver’s second 3-1 comeback in as many rounds.

But if you somehow still didn’t believe that Murray’s growth was real, that his ascension to stardom hadn’t arrived, let Tuesday night’s Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals sink in. Denver’s emotional heartbeat saved the Nuggets’ season. He wanted to right what he felt was Sunday night’s wrong.

“We feel like we should be up 2-1 right now, to be honest,” said Murray, after dropping 28 points, dishing 12 assists and hauling in eight rebounds in Denver’s 114-106 Game 3 win.

There has been even more pressure on Murray and star center teammate Nikola Jokic in these playoffs due to Will Barton being out with a knee injury. If you were going to name the next best player on the squad after those first two, it’s Barton. The latest is, there’s no timetable on Barton’s return, and therefore there is no reason to think he’ll suddenly be activated in this postseason.

Thankfully for Denver, Murray has done an awesome job at helping make up the difference.

Celtics guard Romeo Langford undergoes wrist surgery

Boston Celtics guard Romeo Langford underwent surgery today to fix the scapholunate ligament in his right wrist.

He will miss the remainder of the 2019-20 NBA playoffs.

Langford has played little in these playoffs, and isn’t a part of the team’s core playoff rotation. He has played one minute in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, and a total of seven minutes in the second round against the Toronto Raptors.

The Celtics are currently down 2-1 to the Heat in the series. Game 4 is Wednesday night.