Category: NBA Playoffs Blog

NBA playoffs blog

Marcus Smart discusses Celtics locker room yelling, and Game 3 win vs. Heat

After their recent Game 2 Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Heat, loud yelling was heard by reporters stationed outside the Celtics locker room. That’s a perfectly normal thing to happen in sports. The Celtics, who then got Gordon Hayward back in action for Game 3, grabbed a victory. Here’s Boston.com with more on what went down:

Following the Celtics’ loss to the Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, arguing was heard coming from Boston’s locker room. After two difficult losses in a row to Miami, the fighting amongst teammates seemed like an inevitable outcome of a team in disarray.

Yet the Celtics flipped the narrative in Game 3, responding with a dominant 117-106 win to cut the Heat’s series lead to 2-1.

Marcus Smart was one of those involved in the locker room argument, but explained on Monday why the team was able to come back stronger afterward.

“Electrifying, what happened in the locker room,” Smart told reporters. “We’re a family, a family fights all the time. I fight with my brothers all the time. But at the end of the day, we can fight with each other and nobody else can. It happens between families, especially a family like ours who has been together so long. It’s going to happen.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who play with their feelings on their sleeves,” Smart continued, “who play with their heart on their sleeves, play with their heart night in and night out, and we weren’t supposed to be happy down 2-0, especially with those two games that we gave us. We’re playing against a great Miami team and we can’t have those lapses like that. Of course emotions are going to fly, but we’re a family and it happens.”

Heat have some adjustments to make for Game 4 vs Celtics

The Heat know what they need to focus on heading into Wednesday’s Game 4 against the Celtics. Here’s the Miami Herald with a look at some issues:

The Celtics made adjustments after dropping the first two games of the East finals, and now it’s the Heat’s turn to adjust to those Boston adjustments that worked Saturday. Miami held a team film session Monday morning, and Crowder said there was more film study on the schedule for Monday night.

One of the big adjustments will simply be to play better defense.

The Heat has allowed 113.3 points per 100 possessions in the East finals. For context, only four NBA teams finished the regular season with a worse defensive rating.

Boston is shooting an efficient 47.3 percent from the field in the East finals, a team shooting percentage that would have ranked fourth best in the regular season…

The Celtics outscored the Heat 60-36 in the paint in Game 3. It’s the most paint points Miami has allowed this postseason and just the fourth time it has allowed 60 or more paint points this entire season.

Getting Gordon Hayward back big for Celtics in playoffs

Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting on the Celtics, who got Gordon Hayward back in action Saturday in winning Game 3. The Heat still lead the series 2-1, with Game 4 to be played on Wednesday:

With Gordon Hayward back in the mix, the Celtics are making no pretense about anything other than getting their top five players on the court as much as possible the balance of these Eastern Conference finals as often as feasible.

“Well, the hard part about that is we never had all five or very rarely had all five available during the regular season before the hiatus,” Stevens said of the quintet of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart and Hayward. “It was only like 12 or 13 games. And then when we got here, Kemba wasn’t practicing for the first few weeks, so we never really got into that stuff much.”

Then came Hayward’s return in Saturday’s Game 3 from a month off due to a severely sprained ankle, with the goal now to tie the series in Wednesday’s 8:30 p.m. Game 5 in the best-of-seven series at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex.

“The idea was that we have to get those guys on the court as much as possible,” Stevens said of Game 3.

Some Lakers takeaways from Game 2 win vs Nuggets

Yesterday’s Game 2 in the Western Conference Fnals between the Lakers and Nuggets was a thrill-ride. Here’s the LA Times with some takeaways:

The Lakers made the Nuggets pay for their early sloppiness, which helped them cover some of their own mistakes. Both teams committed 14 first-half turnovers. Despite this parity on turnovers, the Lakers had a 10-point lead going into halftime and led by 16 in the first half, perhaps driving home the idea that to beat the Lakers requires mistake-free basketball.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel didn’t feel quite so comfortable for much of the game. “Leads mean nothing against this team,” Vogel said.

Vogel said he would consider starting Dwight Howard in Game 2 but stayed with JaVale McGee at center.

The Nuggets asked a lot of guard Jamal Murray, who played 44 minutes on Sunday night. Murray scored 25 points and had a game-high plus/minus rating of 16.

The Lakers like to play at a fast pace, and the Nuggets made an effort to disrupt that on Sunday. They had some success at times, and it’s something the Lakers want to keep an eye on.

Leading scorers for both teams so far in the 2020 NBA playoffs:

LAKERS:
Anthony Davis 28.7 PPG
LeBron James 25.6
Kyle Kuzma 10.8
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 10.1
Rajon Rondo 9.0

NUGGETS:
Jamal Murray 26.6 PPG
Nikola Jokic 25.4
Michael Porter Jr. 11.5
Jerami Grant 9.9
Monte Morris 8.5

Nuggets must find way to win Game 3 vs Lakers

The Nuggets came within one Anthony Davis jumpshot at the buzzer of tying their Western Conference Finals playoff series with the Lakers 1-1-. But Davis’ shot went in, so the Lakers are up 2-0. Here’s the Denver Post on the Nuggets’ situation:

Down 2-0, the Nuggets are in must-win territory. Despite their previous escapes, a loss in Tuesday’s Game 3 will all but start their chartered flight home.

Once the pain subsides and sober heads prevail, the Nuggets will take a fresh look at what happened. They’ll see 19 turnovers, including many that were unforced. They’ll see breakdowns on the defensive glass, which can’t happen against a team of the Lakers’ caliber. They’ll notice hesitation on the offensive end, a non-starter when the team’s best player is also the most unselfish.

But they’ll also see an unbending will that stormed back from 16 points down in the second half to take the lead late. And they’ll see a second-half defense reminiscent of the one that saved the Nuggets six times so far in elimination games this postseason. Maybe most importantly, and the reason why the Nuggets aren’t buried yet, is the film will show a dogged fight from Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, whose 31 points in the second-half bested Davis and LeBron James’ 28.

The Nuggets definitely need more from starters not named Jamal Murray or Nikola Jokic. In the Game 2 loss, shooting guard Gary Harris shot 1 for 6, small forward Jerami Grant did grab three steals but had just seven points and no rebounds, and Paul Millsap did grab eight rebounds but only scored six points.

There are no NBA games tonight. Game 3 of this series is tomorrow, and the Celtics vs. Heat series resumes on Wednesday.

Gordon Hayward upgraded to Questionable for Celtics vs Heat Game 3

Playing in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, the Celtics lost Game 1 in overtime, then were outscored 37-17 in the third quarter of a five-point Game 2 loss.

Boston needs a boost. And according to the league injury report as of Friday afternoon, they may soon have one in the form of Gordon Hayward. The forward, who has been out with a right ankle sprain, has been upgraded to Questionable for Game 3.

Players coming off of injury often play limited minutes, so if Gordon does step onto the court it doesn’t guarantee he’ll be out there for long, nor that he’ll be at his best. But it would certainly be a positive development.

Game 3 is Saturday night. And then the squads have a few days off, with Game 4 not until Wednesday.

No timetable on a Will Barton return for Nuggets

The Nuggets, who will face the Lakers in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, will remain without the services of Will Barton. Here’s the Denver Post with a report:

It’s been nearly a month since Nuggets wing Will Barton left the “bubble” to continue rehabilitation of his right knee, and there remains “no timetable” for his return, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly told The Denver Post.

Barton left Aug. 19 in search of a second opinion due to the knee issue that had lingered and had led to soreness in other areas of his body, a league source told The Post.

Barton was the third-leading scorer for the Nuggets this regular season, averaging 15.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.

The Lakers in these playoffs remain without guard Avery Bradley, who was one of a small handful of players who elected not to participate in the league restart at the Disney NBA bubble.

Game 1 between the Nuggets and Lakers is tomorrow at 9PM ET, televised on TNT.

Some Nuggets vs Clippers notes heading into Game 7

With the Denver Nuggets and L.A. Clippers set to play their second-round Game 7 tomorrow, here’s the Denver Post on some of the matchup’s key issues:

The Nuggets knew the challenge they were in for in limiting Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Both two-way stars have been electric and caused myriad defensive problems.

Leonard’s bullish style is grueling for anyone to stop — his strength and ability to get to his spots almost unmatched in the NBA. And George has been a two-way terror, causing all kinds of headaches for Jamal Murray and draining 43% of his more than eight 3-point attempts per game. Together, they’ve averaged almost 50 points per game. And still, it’s probably fair to say that Jerami Grant and Gary Harris have done an admirable job on them.

But there’s something to be said about comfort. Leonard and George have never gone into a Game 7 environment together. Jokic and Murray have on three separate occasions, including last round against Utah.

Jokic’s attitude toward elimination has been well-documented. The pressure of going home doesn’t faze him at all. His numbers over their five elimination games are staggering.

Game 7 may come down to Murray’s ability to shake the avalanche of defenders coming his way. In their three wins, Murray’s averaged 24.7 points, including 53% shooting on 3s, six assists and 5.3 rebounds. In their losses, those numbers have plummeted to 14.7 points, on 33% 3-point shooting, 7.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds. To free up Murray, the Nuggets have to get stops, rebound and run. If they do that, they might just shock the world.

Leading scorers for each team in the 2020 playoffs so far:

Nuggets (PPG):
Jamal Murray 26.1
Nikola Jokic 26.1
Michael Porter Jr. 11.8
Jerami Grant 9.8
Monte Morris 8.8

Clippers (PPG):
Kawhi Leonard 29.4
Paul George 21.1
Lou Williams 13.3
Marcus Morris Sr. 12.2
Montrezl Harrell 9.7

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra speaks on matchup with Celtics

The Eastern Conference Finals series between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics starts tomorrow. The Miami Herald:

“You’re not expecting it to be easy,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Monday’s practice of this year’s series against the Celtics. “When you get to the conference finals, there are four teams left and it’s not like the NCAA Tournament, where you can just get hot for three weeks. You have to be a good team that has proved it for months, that you’ve earned that right. So the last four teams should be the teams that have the most complexity and we feel that way. Boston is a really good team. They’re talented. They play the right way. They defend. Really well coached. You can’t expect there to be pushovers when you get to this point.”

The Celtics took out the defending-champion Raptors — sure, Toronto is without Kawhi Leonard these days, but a series win is a series win. And the Heat took out the best-record-in-league Bucks. We should be in for a great series.