NBA Playoffs Blog – Page 4 – NBA Blog

On Duncan Robinson and the Heat in the playoffs

Duncan Robinson’s role and minutes have fluctuated throughout the season. He’s been out of the Miami Heat’s rotation at times and he’s also been relied on to play important minutes during stretches.

But no matter what, Robinson has remained ready.

That was on display in the Heat’s win over the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday at TD Garden, when he finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range in 21 productive minutes off the bench after playing just seven minutes in Game 1 of the best-of-7 series. Robinson scored eight points while playing 8:27 in Friday’s fourth quarter.

On the Celtics offense in Game 1 loss to Heat

Via Boston.com:

Before they got blitzed by a 46-25 Miami run in the third quarter, the Celtics looked like they were in sync offensively.

Marcus Smart dished out 10 assists in the first half, during which the Celtics scored 40 points in the paint. They were enough of a threat from outside to keep Miami on its toes.
But that all came to a rather abrupt stop in the second half. The Celtics began the third quarter leading by nine and were down 12 at the end of it.

Obviously getting outscored by 21 points in a quarter has much to do with a loss of defensive intensity. But the fact is they weren’t able to keep up the pace offensively, either.

2023 NBA Conference Finals series schedules

Eastern Conference

Boston Celtics (2) vs. Miami Heat (8)

* if necessary

Western Conference

Denver Nuggets (1) vs. L.A. Lakers (7)

* if necessary

Warriors were not a championship team, says coach Steve Kerr

Via the Bay Area News Group:

Steve Kerr surveyed the visitors’ locker room at Crypto.com Arena Friday night and saw tired eyes and disappointed faces looking back at him.

The Warriors’ season was over. It had ended with a 122-101 drubbing at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. It had ended in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, two big steps short of the NBA Finals, where six of their last eight seasons have ended, five times with a championship.

There was sadness in the room, but there had been time to come to grips with the reality. The Warriors, in a microcosm of their season-long struggles on the road, had trailed by double-digits the entire second half. They were down by 20 points with nine minutes to play.

Kerr noted that the Warriors were one of eight teams still playing this week.

“That’s probably where we should be,” a top-eight team in the league, Kerr said. “This is not a championship team.

“When you go 11-30 on the road during the regular season, that’s not what championship teams do,” Kerr said. “It felt like all season we were desperately trying to recapture what we had last year and we did a pretty damn good job of finding something here over the last month.”

Denver Nuggets advance to 2023 NBA Western Conference Finals

Via the Denver Post:

An hour before Game 6, Jamal Murray’s head drooped. The Nuggets guard took a brief moment to breathe after missing a string of baseline jumpers during his warmup routine. Then he gathered himself, moved to the wing and spotted up for the next shot.

Murray was going through it. He skipped shootaround Thursday in Arizona and stayed in bed until 2 or 3 p.m., he estimated later. He ate his first meal of the day after he got to Footprint Center. He had been feeling ill since Monday, but this was the worst it had gotten. Murray was listed as questionable on the Nuggets’ injury report before the close-out opportunity vs. the Suns.

“This morning was crazy,” Murray said after a series-clinching win.

That he stayed on the court for four quarters Thursday night was a testament to an essential quality Murray and the Nuggets possess.

Whether it’s playing through physical illness or calling fiery timeouts up 23, all championship teams have the ability to convince themselves they’re swimming upstream against something — no matter how dominant or highly regarded the team is.

2023 NBA Conference Finals game dates

The 2023 NBA Eastern Conference Finals on TNT will be played on May 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, with all games at 8:30 PM ET.

The 2023 NBA Western Conference Finals on ESPN or ABC will be played on May 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, with all games at 8:30 PM ET.

More specific information coming soon. The above is what’s official so far.

Nikola Jokic and Suns owner Mat Ishbia share friendly pregame moment

Via ESPN.com:

Before Tuesday night’s Game 5, Nikola Jokic and Mat Ishbia had another courtside interaction, but this time it involved the Denver Nuggets player giving the Phoenix Suns’ owner a basketball and giving him a heartfelt embrace.

Jokic finished his pregame warmup and headed off the court to where Ishbia was seated courtside. Jokic held a basketball out before chucking it to Ishbia in good fun. Jokic embraced Ishbia after shaking hands with him and giving him a pat on the back.

FULL ARTICLE

Bam Adebayo stepping up big for Heat vs. Knicks

Via the Miami Herald:

Miami Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo has a lot of responsibilities on the court. But he’s also willing to accept responsibility for his play, for better or worse.

Both have been on display in the eighth-seeded Heat’s second-round playoff series against the fifth-seeded New York Knicks.

After Adebayo blamed himself for the Heat’s Game 2 loss last week in New York that left the best-of-7 series tied 1-1, he responded with consecutive dominant all-around performances on both ends of the court in Games 3 and 4 in Miami to help push the Heat to a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Following Monday night’s 109-101 victory at Kaseya Center in Game 4, the Heat is now just one win from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the third time in four seasons and becoming just the second No. 8 seed to make it to the conference finals since the current 16-team NBA playoff format was instituted for the 1983-84 season.

Suns might rely more on scorers off bench in series vs. Nuggets

Via the Arizona Republic:

Phoenix Suns are averaging 97 points through two games against Denver in the Western Conference semifinals after racking up 122 a game in eliminating the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round in five games.

Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are accounting for 59.2% of their points against the No. 1 seeded Nuggets.

Couple that with Chris Paul expected to miss the next two games with a strained left groin suffered in Game 2’s loss, Suns coach Monty Williams is looking to find some points production off the bench.

“I can do a better job of putting more scorers on the floor and living with whatever warts may come with that just to free those guys up so they don’t have to do it every single time down the floor,” Williams said after Wednesday’s practice. “We’ll make those adjustments accordingly.”

Enter Terrence Ross and T.J. Warren.

Heat center Bam Adebayo says he must step up vs. Knicks

Via the NY Post:

Bam Adebayo didn’t mince words about his performance against the Knicks Tuesday night, shouldering the blame for Miami’s Game 2 loss at the Garden.

Game 3 will be Saturday in South Florida, with a salty Miami team and a highly motivated Adebayo looking for payback.

And redemption.

“I just got to play better,” Adebayo said. “I feel like this game was on me, and I lost it for us. I’ve got to be better. I played terrible. I put this one on me.”

None of the Heat did, but Adebayo fell on the proverbial sword nonetheless.