NBA Playoffs Blog – Page 68 – NBA Blog

Nets may not recover from crushing Game 4 loss to Bulls

Deron Williams sat in a quiet Nets locker room with his feet in an ice bucket, staring out at nothing. It was as if he were replaying in his mind the nightmare he had just witnessed.

Coming to grips with how the Nets managed to turn what seemed a certain victory into a demoralizing defeat won’t be easy. Their horror show at the United Center yesterday will play like a scary movie with the same ending, a 142-134 triple-overtime loss to the Bulls and a 3-1 deficit in their best-of-seven series.

Interim coach P.J. Carlesimo called it “a killer.” Joe Johnson used the word “heart-breaker.” Williams said it simply was “frustrating.”

Truth is it shouldn’t have been that surprising. The Nets have been a streaky team throughout these playoffs and for much of the regular season. They can go from hot to cold within one quarter, much less within a game.

— Reported by George Willis of the New York Post

Celtics angered by showboating from Knicks

While they were being blown out at home Friday, the Celtics felt the Knicks were showboating, rubbing Boston’s collective nose into the same floor they wiped with the Celtics team.

“Yeah, we did. We all did. That’s what made us so mad, so angry,” guard Avery Bradley said before the Celtics’ film session yesterday. “We just got to go out there and play the right way. We’ve got to not let that happen again. After the game, that was definitely something [discussed]. Somebody said it right after we got in the locker room: ‘Oh, they’re showboating on us, they’re dunking.’

“And everybody kind of looked like, ‘Yeah you’re right,’ ” Bradley added. “But all we can do is go out there and play the right way and play hard and don’t give them a chance to showboat.”

Easier said than done. Entering Game 4 at TD Garden today, the Celtics have been an offensive mess. They have averaged 75.0 points in the series, not once reaching 80. They’ve shot 39.5 percent and averaged 17.0 turnovers to negate the good of their defense.

— Reported by Fred Kerber of the New York Post

Danny Ainge discusses Celtics vs Knicks series

The Celtics fully expected to have a size edge when they kept Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass up front and started both Paul Pierce and Jeff Green, but that hasn’t translated well enough to the scoreboard.

“We’ve been tempted to try to exploit matchups that might not even be advantages,” said Ainge. “I mean, Jason Kidd can still play. I coached Jason Kidd when he was a three-time All-NBA player, and I don’t ever think it’s a mismatch when Jason Kidd’s guarding someone (Pierce, for example). I think at this stage of his career, he probably defends bigger guys much better than he defends quicker guys. I don’t think that’s a huge matchup advantage for us.

“It would help if we could space the floor better, or get Jeff Green posting up Jason Kidd. But I just don’t think those are major advantages that we have, and we’re spending a lot of time in these last three games trying to exploit those. And it’s not through any fault of anybody. I just think the Knicks have played really good defense, and they’ve exposed our weaknesses.

“So far in this series,” he added, “New York has been the better offensive team and the better defensive team.”

— Reported by Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald

Kirk Hinrich has postgame MRI on sore left calf

Kirk Hinrich drew his fifth foul with 5 minutes, 39 seconds left in regulation Saturday.

He never came out again, avoided his sixth and tied John Salmons’ franchise playoff record with 59:36 of playing time.

“It was pretty grueling,” Hinrich said with typical understatement.

His extensive workload came on a left calf muscle sore enough that he needed a postgame MRI. Results weren’t immediately available, but Hinrich said the injury “is pretty bad.”

Given his grittiness, Hinrich will play in Game 5 on Monday if at all possible. His 18 points and 14 assists marked his first playoff double-double since May 2007, and his assists tied the franchise playoff mark shared by Michael Jordan and Sam Vincent.

— Reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune

Joakim Noah plays, inspired, in pain

The primal screams and “jazz hands” gestures keep coming from Joakim Noah, and for good reason.

Playing 38 minutes, 43 seconds Saturday — close to nine minutes more than coach Tom Thibodeau’s stated pregame limit — isn’t something the Bulls’ emotional leader takes for granted.

“It’s a miracle,” said Noah, who is playing through plantar fasciitis in his right foot. “Before the series started, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to play.”

Noah didn’t just play. He stuffed the box score with 15 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks before fouling out with 4:21 remaining after sinking a 17-footer for the first points in the third overtime.

“The crazy thing is as the series has gone along, he has done more and more,” Carlos Boozer said.

— Reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune

Rockets elder statesmen provide more than veteran presence

The youthful Rockets may be on the verge of playoff elimination, but it’s not for lack of effort by their oldest players on the court.

Francisco Garcia, 32, and Carlos Delfino, 30, had 18 and 11 points, respectively, to spark a second-half Rockets rally that fell short by the margin of Kevin Durant’s seeing-eye 3-pointer, the critical blow of Oklahoma City’s Game 3 victory Saturday night.

With Jeremy Lin rendered ineffective by his bruised chest, Rockets coach Kevin McHale’s frequently tweaked rotation came down in the second half to heavy doses of Garcia, who played 32 minutes, and Delfino, who nursed his aching elbow through 22:07.

Each did enough, absent Durant’s final 3-pointer plus the 38 points that preceded it, to get the Rockets back in the game and avoid a 3-0 deficit that in NBA history is tantamount to playoff elimination.

“We played so hard in the second half,” Garcia said. “I’m proud of my guys.”

— Reported by David Barron of the Houston Chronicle

Nuggets must trust big men to advance in NBA playoffs

The Nuggets did not pay center JaVale McGee a $10 million salary so coach George Karl could let him rot on the bench in the playoffs.

After being good enough to be in the starting lineup 81 times for a 57-win team during the regular season, center Kosta Koufos lost his job after one loss to Golden State, as if it were his fault the Nuggets cannot defend 3-point shots from Warriors guard Steph Curry.

Anybody know where the Nuggets can find two psychiatrist couches in an extra long? The Denver centers are 14 feet of head case.

Want to know why the Nuggets are unexpectedly trailing upstart Golden State 2-1 in this best-of-seven playoff series?

Denver is afraid to be the bigger team.

— Reported by Mark Kizla of the Denver Post

Warriors guard Stephen Curry questionable for Game 3

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is questionable for Friday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets.

Curry sprained his left ankle during Game 2 of their series on Tuesday and did not practice Thursday.

The injury is not related to his surgically-repaired right ankle.

If he does not play?

“It would kill me,” Curry told reporter Thursday.

— Reported by the Sports Xchange

Zach Randolph scores 27, Grizzlies beat Clippers 94-82 in Game 3

Zach Randolph’s fast start helped the Memphis Grizzlies return to their inside dominance.

Randolph had 13 of his 27 points in the first quarter, and he finished with 11 rebounds and the Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles Clippers 94-82 on Thursday night to pull within 2-1 in this first-round series.

”Zach was huge,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. ”He got started quickly. He had 18 at halftime, and that got us going and everyone else just flowed into that. I thought our defense, for the most part, was solid.”

Randolph hadn’t scored more than 13 in each of the first two games and had only 12 rebounds combined in Los Angeles. He looked much more like the All Star who had 45 double-doubles this season, and he also had six offensive rebounds after leading the NBA with 310 in the regular season…

Marc Gasol accepted his trophy as the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year before tipoff, then scored 16 points. Quincy Pondexter and Tony Allen had 13 each. Mike Conley was 1 of 9 but had 10 assists and no turnovers on a night where he was so sick he sipped on soda and didn’t talk much…

Blake Griffin scored 16 points for the Clippers. Matt Barnes had 12, Chauncey Billups 11 and Jamal Crawford and Caron Butler 10. Chris Paul had eight points on 4-of-11 shooting and added six assists…

Memphis outrebounded the Clippers 45-33, including 17-5 on the offensive boards. That gave the Grizzlies a 22-4 edge in second-chance points, which was similar to what the Clippers did to Memphis in Game 1 when they held a 25-5 advantage. The Grizzlies also outscored Los Angeles 40-26 in the paint and led by as much as 16.

— Reported by Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press

Carlos Boozer steps up, Bulls beat Nets to take 2-1 lead

Every play near the basket looked like a traffic accident. There were long scoreless stretches. Shooting from outside was a dicey proposition.

It was ugly for everyone but the Chicago Bulls. This was their type of game.

Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Luol Deng added 21 points and 10 boards, and the Bulls held off the Brooklyn Nets 79-76 in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Thursday night.

”We did what we had to do to win the game,” Boozer said. ”In the playoffs you have to win different ways. Nothing is perfect.”

Chicago had no field goals and two foul shots over the final 5:46 of its second straight win in the series. It will try for a 3-1 lead when the banged-up teams return to the court Saturday afternoon in a quick turnaround.

Brooklyn shot 35 percent for the second straight game. Brook Lopez had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots, and Deron Williams finished with 18 points on 5-for-14 shooting…

Joe Johnson got a cortisone shot for his ailing left foot and finished 15 points for Brooklyn, while Noah’s foul shot was his only point of the game while dealing with his own painful right foot injury. Noah also had eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks…

Brooklyn went 5 for 21 from 3-point range and is 15 for 56 from beyond the arc for the series.

— Reported by Jay Cohen of the Associated Press