Category: NBA Playoffs Blog

NBA playoffs blog

Video: DeMar DeRozan does work in Nets-Raptors Game 2

Tuesday in Toronto, the Raptors beat the Brooklyn Nets 100-95 to tie their first round playoff series at one win apiece. In the win, DeMar DeRozan shot 9-of-21, with 12-of-14 free throws, finishing with 30 points. He did commit six turnovers; still, the all-star stepped up and helped his squad squeeze out a much-needed victory. Here are some DeRozan video highlights:

Wizards head home with 2-0 first round series lead on Bulls

Here’s the Washington Post reporting on the Wizards, who have played two NBA playoff games against the Bulls, both in Chicago, and won both. Nice position to be in:

The Washington Wizards had to wait six years to get back to the postseason. But they only needed two games to really get introduced to playoff basketball, with more physical play, short tempers and extreme rallies. In the intense cauldron of United Center — a place that has devoured more seasoned units — the Wizards refused to relent after watching a 17-point lead turn into a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, and didn’t crumble when they were betrayed by missed free throws and calls that went against them.

The Wizards have been through several ups and downs during the regular season, and they staged a game against the Chicago Bulls that matched those emotional oscillations. Relying upon the scoring of its youngest player, Bradley Beal, and the guile of Nene, Washington took a two-games-to-none lead in this best of seven series with a 101-99 overtime victory in which it outscrapped and outwilled the Bulls.

“I wanted our guys to be greedy,” Wizards Coach Randy Wittman said. “Nothing is guaranteed. We’ve got two wins, you’ve got to get to four. We have to continue to understand how we won these games and the way we went about it.”

Beal scored a game-high 26 points and Nene scored 17, with six coming in overtime, as the Wizards accomplished their mission of returning to Washington for Friday’s Game 3 with two wins. Grasping to a two-point lead in the closing seconds, Nene fouled out while contesting Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich on a driving layup, sending the former Wizard to the free throw line with 2.4 seconds remaining.

Patrick Beverley healthy enough to keep playing for Rockets

Here’s the Oregonian reporting on Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley. Houston is facing the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the NBA playoffs:

Patrick Beverley healthy enough to keep playing for Rockets

Patrick Beverley limped badly, sat on the bench by himself while his teammates were huddled and generally looked like a player whose postseason had come to a screeching halt Sunday after he was injured during the Houston Rockets’ overtime loss to the Trail Blazers in Game 1 of their Western Conference series.

But instead of losing their defensive-minded point guard, the Rockets will apparently have him back in the lineup Wednesday for Game 2 at the Toyota Center.

The Rockets announced Sunday that Beverley suffered a sprain to his right knee, the same knee in which he suffered a meniscus tear last month, sidelining him for eight games. But the team announced Monday that Beverley “had a knee examination which revealed no acute issues. He will likely be available for Game 2 Wednesday.”

Spurs Big 3 does big damage to Mavs

Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram blog repoting on the Spurs and Mavericks, who are facing each other in the first round of the NBA playoffs:

Spurs Big 3 does big damage to Mavs

On a night when the Dallas Mavericks’ offense went silent after the first 41 minutes, the San Antonio Spurs’ Big 3 came up big Sunday afternoon.

Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili combined to score 65 of the Spurs’ 90 points, grab 17 of their 48 rebounds, and dispensed nine of their 14 assists as San Antonio opened the playoffs with a 90-85 triumph over the Dallas Mavericks at AT&T Center.

“I wish I could always score like this, or Tony, or Tim,’’ said Ginobili, who scored 17 points and collected six rebounds. “The way they play defense didn’t let us move the ball as much as we usually do to find open teammates, so we played way more one-on-one.”

Rockets guard Patrick Beverley hurts knee

Here’s the Oregonian reporting on the Trail Blazers:

Rockets guard Patrick Beverley hurts right knee

After suffering an overtime home loss in Game 1 of their first-round series against Portland, the Houston Rockets got more bad news.

Their starting point guard, Patrick Beverley, suffered a sprained right knee when he was hit by LaMarcus Aldridge on an attempted screen, the team announced after the game.

Beverley will have a magnetic resonance imaging taken on the knee Monday. It was the same knee on which Beverley suffered a meniscus tear in March. The injury had been serious enough that there was talk that it might require season-ending surgery, but he instead missed eight games before returning for the final four games of the regular season.

Wizards set to battle Bulls in first round

Here’s the Chicago Sun-Times reporting on the Wizards, who are set to face the Bulls in the first round of the NBA playoffs:

It’s a nice badge to carry into the playoffs: The team no one wants to play.

It even has a tinge of intimidation to it, that is, if the Bulls were actually facing a team that was susceptible to intimidation.

But they aren’t.

The Washington Wizards have little to lose, especially when all they’ve been hearing is they’re destined for elimination by next week.

“Why would they pick us?’’ Wizards center Marcin Gortat told the Washington Post on Friday when asked about all the predictions from the so-called experts favoring the Bulls. “First of all, Chicago is an experienced team. They have a lot of good players every year. The pressure is on them. I don’t understand why we should be mad. This is a good team, and we’ve just got to beat them. We’ve got to focus on our team.’’