NBA Playoffs Blog – Page 61 – NBA Blog

Tony Parker to get MRI on troublesome left calf

San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker plans to have an MRI on Thursday on his troublesome left calf, although he doesn’t expect to miss any playing time in the Western Conference finals.

Parker says the MRI is ”just to make sure” he’s improving on schedule from the injury, which limited his effectiveness in the final two games of the Spurs’ second-round series against Golden State.

Parker had 15 points and a career-best 18 assists in San Antonio’s Game 2 win against Memphis on Tuesday night.

Reported by the Associated Press

NBA Playoffs: Pacers vs Heat Game 1 tonight

Dwyane Wade’s rookie season ended with a playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers. The next year, the Miami Heat were headed to the Eastern Conference finals and certain that an NBA championship was in their sights.

That’s when Wade learned a valuable lesson: Never take playoff chances for granted.

Wade hurt his rib cage on a simple crossover dribble during that 2005 East title series, and the Heat season ended with a Game 7 home loss to Detroit. He’s been to the East finals three times since, prevailing in them all, and on Wednesday will look to take a first step toward a fourth conference championship when the Heat play host to the Pacers in Game 1 of their playoff rematch from a year ago.

”I know I’m blessed to be going to the Eastern Conference finals for my fifth time,” Wade said. ”But I would like a lot more in my career. It’s a good thing. We’ve been very successful in my tenure here. But I want more.”

For Wade and Udonis Haslem, this marks five East finals appearances in nine years. For LeBron James, it’s a fifth trip to this round in the past seven years, now three straight with Miami after a pair of trips to the East finals with Cleveland. For Ray Allen, it’s a fourth East title-round trip in six years, the first three of those coming with Boston.

Experience, it all favors Miami.

For the Pacers, this is pretty much uncharted waters. Only one current Pacers player has ever appeared in a conference-final game, and that was backup big man Ian Mahinmi, who played exactly 71 seconds in one game of the 2011 West title series without so much as taking a shot. Nonetheless, the Pacers seem far from bothered by the fact that this stage is a new place for them.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

NBA Playoffs: Spurs blow late lead but beat Grizzlies 93-89 in overtime

Tony Parker had 15 points and a career playoff-high 18 assists, Tim Duncan scored San Antonio’s first six points of overtime and the Spurs bounced back after squandering a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 93-89 on Tuesday night.

The Spurs took a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals with Game 3 on Saturday in Memphis.

Duncan opened the extra period with a layup, then made a tiebreaking putback on Parker’s missed jumper before making a runner that bounced high of the back iron and rattled in for a 91-87 lead with 1:08 to play.

The Grizzlies had a chance to tie after Jerryd Bayless hit a jumper and Parker missed one of two free throws with 14.6 seconds left, but Bayless’ 3-pointer from the left wing was off-target.

Bayless and Mike Conley each had 18 points to lead Memphis.

Duncan had 17 points and nine rebounds, missing most of the second half with foul trouble before coming up with the key baskets in overtime.

Memphis stormed back from a 13-point deficit with a 15-2 run over the final 8 minutes of regulation to tie it at 85 on Conley’s runner in the lane with 18.2 seconds to play.

Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

THE STAT: Despite the comeback, the game got away from the Grizzlies when they shot 24 percent in the second quarter and were outscored 31-18. Randolph went 0-for-7 and Tony Allen was 0-for-4. Memphis missed 14 straight shots to finish the half.

TURNING POINT: It was not enough to steal the win, but perhaps the fourth quarter has given the Grizzlies new life heading back home. Trailing 76-64, Memphis outscored San Antonio 21-9 even through the Grizzlies shot 38 percent from the floor. Memphis was down 0-2 in the first round after losing both games to open the Clippers series in L.A.

QUOTABLE II: “They ran at us. They got easy buckets, They got hot. But the second half I think we played more our basketball. We attacked, and of course everything works better when you make shots.”

Reported by Tim Price of NBA.com

Zach Randolph, Grizzlies on the rebound again

Zach Randolph’s miserable Western Conference finals debut led to a sleepless night and a long film session.

The All-Star power forward and his Memphis Grizzlies are hardly down and out, though. In both rounds of the playoffs so far, Memphis has lost Game 1 before rallying back to knock out the Los Angeles Clippers and then the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This time, Randolph had his worst game ever in the playoffs, managing two points in a 105-83 blowout. His only lower-scoring game in 40 playoff appearances was when he played 1 minute as a rookie for Portland in a 2002 game.

“It’s more frustrating than embarrassing,” said Randolph, who missed his first seven shots in Game 1. “It’s basketball. It happens to the best of them.

“Muhammad Ali, he got knocked down before. What made him the greatest fighter in the world is he always bounced back.”

It took the Grizzlies two games to get off the mat in the first round, when they suffered a 21-point blowout at Los Angeles and then lost on a Chris Paul buzzer-beater in Game 2. Memphis then won the next four.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Spurs beat Grizzlies 105-83 in Game 1 of Western Conference Finals

The San Antonio Spurs opened the Western Conference finals resembling the past champions who’ve been there so many times before.

The Memphis Grizzlies looked like the first-timers still trying to adapt to their first conference finals appearance.

Tony Parker had 20 points and nine assists, Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points and the Spurs struck first by beating Memphis 105-83 on Sunday.

San Antonio raced out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter, then came up with a response when Memphis rallied to get within six in the second half. Both teams pulled their starters with over 5 minutes left and the Spurs leading by 21…

The NBA’s stingiest defense wasn’t up to its usual standards, allowing the Spurs to hit 53 percent of their shots and a franchise postseason-record 14 3-pointers while All-Star power forward Zach Randolph struggled. Randolph had just two points, getting his only basket with 9:26 left in the game…

The four regular-season meetings were all won by the team with more points in the paint, but perimeter shooting proved to be a bigger factor in the playoff opener. Memphis, which was second in the NBA by holding opponents to 33.8 shooting on 3-pointers, let San Antonio make 13 of its first 24 from behind the arc and finish 14 of 29.

Danny Green connected three times and scored 16, and Matt Bonner hit four of his five attempts for 12 points…

Pondexter led Memphis with 17 points, Marc Gasol scored 15 and Mike Conley had 14 points and eight assists.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Memphis’ abject lack of outside shooting (5 for 12 on 3s) killed them in two respects. One, they were outscored by 27 points from beyond the arc, easily the biggest different in the game. Two, it allowed the Spurs to basically ignore their perimeter players and collapse on the low-post tandem of Randolph and Marc Gasol.

Gasol was active early on, but he needed 16 shots to score 15 points while drawing just two free throws. Randolph barely got any touches at all, scoring his lone bucket on a tip-in while missing 7 of 8 shots. He had been averaging 19.7 points on 51.2-percent shooting in the postseason.

It’s fitting Gregg Popovich used a football metaphor to describe the Spurs’ strategy, which was basically a page taken straight from their first-round meeting with the Lakers — swarm the paint first, recover on shooters second.

“Zach and Marc are a heck of a combination, probably the best high-low combination in the league,” Popovich said. “Everything they do is really difficult to stick with, and you’ve got to have a mindset to do it on every down. You can’t be perfect at it. They’re just too good. But the effort was there for 48 minutes.”

— Reported by Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News

Pacers beat Knicks 106-99, advance to face Heat

Lance Stephenson scored nine of his playoff career-high 23 points during a late 11-2 run Saturday night, leading the Indiana Pacers past the New York Knicks, 106-99 and into the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2004.

The New York native also had 10 rebounds and the Pacers were spurred by the return of point guard George Hill two days after he was diagnosed with a concussion.

Next up is a rematch with Miami, the team that eliminated Indiana last season. Game 1 will be Wednesday at Miami.

Carmelo Anthony scored 39 points and Iman Shumpert had 19 for New York.

Indiana is 6-0 at home in the playoffs, but this one sure wasn’t easy.

Indiana trailed 92-90 with 5:43 left in the game. The Pacers rallied after Roy Hibbert blocked Anthony’s dunk attempt and Stephenson scored on a layup that started the decisive spurt…

George had 23 points and West finished with 17. Hill was just 2 of 10 from the field in his return but scored 12 points, had five rebounds and four assists…

The Knicks were 18 of 18 from the free throw line.

— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press

Pacers point guard George Hill cleared to play Game 6 vs Knicks

Point guard George Hill will be available to play for the Indiana Pacers in tonight’s Game 6 vs the New York Knicks. Although he’s not a star, Hill is a big part of the Pacers, and having him active definitely makes them a better team.

From the Pacers:

Over the last two days under the care of the Indiana Pacers’ medical staff, George Hill has participated in each step of the NBA’s Return-to-Participation Exertion Protocol as part of the NBA’s Concussion Policy. During the process, George remained symptom-free after each step including his workouts earlier today. After consultation with Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, the NBA’s Director of Concussion Management, the Pacers’ team physicians have cleared George to play in tonight’s game.

NBA Western Conference Finals preview

It would be a mistake to view this as a direct sequel to 2011, when eighth-seeded Memphis knocked off the No. 1 Spurs in the first round to engineer one of the biggest upsets in recent NBA history.

The Grizzlies no longer have the steady, veteran hand of Shane Battier, or the wild cards that were Greivis Vasquez and O.J. Mayo. Neither are the Spurs relying on spare parts to shore up their front court around a hobbled Tim Duncan.

But with most of the main faces returning — Duncan, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Tony Parker, Mike Conley, Manu Ginobili, both coaches — the tone of the matchup will remain the same: Football on hardwood.

Perhaps no team in the NBA is better at imposing their will than the Grizzlies. It is not by accident that their slogans — “Grit ‘N Grind” and “Whoop That Trick” — imply violence. The Grizzlies are tough, the Grizzlies are physical, and the Grizzlies are relentless, a perfect match with the blue-collar city they represent.

“If you thought this was physical,” Duncan said after the Spurs eliminated Golden State, “it’s going to turn up about 10 notches.”

The Spurs flinched badly under such circumstances two years ago, becoming only the fourth No. 1 seed to bow out in the first round. But after recapturing some of the defensive edge from their past championship campaigns, they can now give almost as good as they get.

— Reported by Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News

Knicks vs Pacers Game 6 preview

The New York Knicks visit the Indiana Pacers at 8 p.m. ET tonight for Game 6 of the Eastern conference semi-finals. With the Pacers up, the Knicks must win or be eliminated from the postseason.

Here’s the Associated Press on the matchup:

The Indiana Pacers won’t know until Saturday night whether point guard George Hill will start in Game 6 against New York.

Hill participated in the team’s morning shootaround, which is part of the process of passing his concussion test. But doctors had not yet cleared Hill to play.

”He just did some work today. He looked fine, but he has to do more tests this afternoon,” coach Frank Vogel said. ”There’s a long list of things that’s part of the NBA’s protocol. He’s in the middle of that process. He’s not ruled out, not cleared to play. He’s a game-time decision.”

Vogel said he was preparing to play without Hill.

Hill scored 26 points Tuesday night in Game 4 after a first-quarter collision with Knicks center Tyson Chandler. Two days later, after the team’s shootaround, Hill was still complaining of headaches. Team doctors then diagnosed him with a concussion, forcing him to sit out Game 5. His replacement, D.J. Augustin, played nearly 39 minutes and had no assists as the Pacers lost 85-75. The win allowed New York to climb back within 3-2 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.

Indiana gets a second chance to close out the series Saturday at home, where they are 5-0 in the postseason and have won all five games by double digits.

Vogel has not said who will start Saturday if Hill does not play.

”We prepare for guys to be out. D.J. Augustin, Ben Hansbrough. Lance (Stephenson) understands that he has to play some (point guard),” Vogel said. ”They’ve prepared for that all year. . Mentally for those guys, knowing might help them a little bit.”

— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press

Here is the rest of the How to Win Game 6 blueprint [for the Knicks]:

“Forty-eight minutes of commitment,” Woodson said on ESPN radio yesterday.

Limit the Pacers’ second-chance points because they have difficulty scoring. Every Knick crashes the boards.

Jump on the Pacers early, make them start sweating a Game 7 at the Garden and take the crowd out of it at the same time.

Twenty more minutes for Chris Copeland. In an ugly series, he can be the difference with his 3-point shooting. He opens the floor up for Melo and Co.

Keep encouraging J.R. Smith.

“He made a very positive step forward,” Woodson said. He’s long overdue for a breakout game.

No whining about the referees. Keep your composure.

Thirty points and a big fourth quarter from Carmelo Anthony.

— Reported by Steve Serby of the New York Post

NBA Playoffs: Mike Woodson seeking the perfect rotation in battle against Pacers

Saturday night, the Knicks either take a giant step toward South Beach by forcing a Game 7 at the Garden or their season is over.

The Knicks didn’t break their 40-year championship drought Thursday night in a season-saving 85-75 victory, but coach Mike Woodson may have found the formula to beat Indiana and zoom into the Eastern Conference Finals in Miami.

Woodson discovered a new second-half rotation that lacks Jason Kidd and a rusty Amar’e Stoudemire with rookie scoring ace Chris Copeland and point guard Pablo Prigioni taking their places. It spread the floor and made the Knicks look like themselves again.

Perhaps the basketball gods are finally smiling on this cursed franchise as the Knicks try to become only the ninth team to ever rally back from a 3-1 hole.

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post