NBA Playoffs Blog – Page 71 – NBA Blog

Brandon Jennings sticks up for his Bucks

Brandon Jennings smiled when asked about his Thursday night prediction of the Bucks over the Miami Heat in six.

Hey, somebody had to stick up for the Bucks, right?

“We were joking around,” Jennings said after the Bucks practice session Friday at the Cousins Center. “I was joking around with Aaron Rodgers before I even said it.

“Of course it’s always going to be taken to the next level. But at the end of the day, we’re getting bashed on ESPN. We’re getting bashed on TNT, anyway. Now that I say we’ll win in six, now it’s a problem.”

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Blog)

Tracy McGrady has chance to finally advance in playoffs

Tracy McGrady has chance to finally progress in playoffs

Let’s start with the playoff thing. Because that’s where any discussion of Tracy McGrady usually starts, and often ends.

The playoff thing has dogged McGrady at practically every stop of his high-scoring career, whether it’s his six previous NBA destinations or, most recently, to the other side of the world in China.

The 33-year-old swingman signed by the Spurs on Tuesday for the postseason push bears this ignominious distinction: He is the only scoring champion in NBA history never to have won a postseason series.

That fact is a fact, and McGrady has found it to be inescapable.

“I think so much is made (about) I’ve never got past the first round,” McGrady said Wednesday morning after his first practice in San Antonio, “but it takes more than just me.”

Still, the playoff thing is an albatross. Nil-for-eight in previous postseasons, McGrady has been gifted with a chance to exorcise that pockmark from his otherwise sterling NBA résumé, but with a twist.

If the Spurs, seeded second in the upcoming Western Conference playoffs, do advance to the second round this season, McGrady won’t be the one driving them there. He is a passenger, only along for the ride.

— Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News

Bulls playoff opponent still undecided

By beating Orlando on Monday, the Bulls ensured their first-round playoff opponent will remain a mystery until Wednesday night.

The Bulls are a half-game behind Atlanta for fifth place in the Eastern Conference, but won the season series 2-1 and therefore own the tiebreaker against the Hawks.

Atlanta hosts Toronto on Tuesday night. As the Bulls discovered twice last week, the Raptors seem intent on finishing the season strong, so a Hawks win may not be a foregone conclusion.

An Atlanta loss to Toronto would put the Bulls in the driver’s seat. They could claim the No. 5 spot by beating Washington, regardless of what the Hawks do in their final game at New York on Wednesday.

— Reported by Mike McGraw of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald (Blog)

Knicks clinch No. 2 seed in East with win over Pacers

Carmelo Anthony and his sore left shoulder will probably get the night off Monday.

The New York Knicks have earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, and with it the chance the rest some aching bodies.

Anthony scored 25 points on 9-for-23 shooting against the rugged Indiana defense, and the Knicks wrapped up the second spot with a 90-80 victory over the Pacers on Sunday.

The Knicks are back on the court Monday at Charlotte, but Anthony doesn’t think he’ll be joining them with nothing left to play for in the regular season.

”I always said today was a real important game for us to come in and lock down (the No. 2 seed),” Anthony said. ”It was a big game for us so now guys can get their rest, I can get my rest and come back full speed ready for the playoffs.”

Chris Copeland added 20 points and J.R. Smith had 15 for the Knicks, who will host seventh-seeded Boston next weekend. New York is guaranteed the home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs after finishing a distant second to Miami in the conference…

Lance Stephenson scored 22 points and David West had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, who came into the game with a chance to catch the Knicks for second but had to settle for wrapping up No. 3 after Brooklyn lost 93-87 at Toronto…

The Pacers committed 26 turnovers that led to 33 points and shot 61.5 percent at the free throw line, losing for the fourth time in five games with a sloppy offensive performance. Coach Frank Vogel will rest some of his players, too, noting George’s 1-of-8 shooting from 3-point range.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Kenyon Martin says he will be ready for playoffs

Knicks forward Kenyon Martin, currently nursing a sprained left ankle, pronounced himself a game-time decision for Sunday’s home game against the Indiana Pacers, but would “definitely” be ready for the start of the playoffs, he told the Daily News at Radio City Music Hall, where he took in a boxing card along with teammate Carmelo Anthony on Saturday night.

Martin sprained his ankle in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 120-99 win over the Wizards on Tuesday, the team’s 13th straight. Martin missed the next two games, including Thursday’s streak-busting loss to the Bulls. X-rays were negative on his ankle, and Martin, already dealing with a sore left knee, feels encouraged about his return.

“I’m getting there,” Martin said from ringside, seated on an elevated stage at Radio City Music Hall in between fights.

— Reported by Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News

Celtics lock up 7th seed in East

Courtney Lee scored 20 points and Jeff Green added 17 as the Boston Celtics cruised to a 120-88 victory over the Orlando Magic on Saturday night.

The win locked up the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference for Boston, which never trailed in beating Orlando for the eighth straight time.

All five Celtics starters reached double figures, with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce scoring 14 and 12 points, respectively, after sitting out Friday against Miami.

Tobias Harris led the Magic with 22 points, and Nik Vucevic added 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Orlando hasn’t won back-to-back games since December. The Magic play their final home game of season on Monday against Chicago, and head to Miami for the season finale on Wednesday.

The Celtics conclude their regular-season schedule against Indiana on Tuesday and visit Toronto on Wednesday…

Boston G Jason Terry was given the night off by Rivers, marking his first missed game of the season.

— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press

Mavs miss playoffs for first time in a long time

This is unfamiliar, uncomfortable territory for Mark Cuban.

It’s the first full season of his ownership tenure in which the Dallas Mavericks are finished before the playoffs. He hopes it will be the last such season.

“I’ve always said there is one winner and 29 other teams tied for last,” Cuban said via email Thursday morning, hours after the Mavs were officially eliminated, ending a 12-year playoff streak. “Our goal is to win championships, so it’s disappointing to not win. But we will come back and get better next year.”

This will be a big summer for the Mavs, as Dirk Nowitzki has said dozens of times as Dallas’ dozen-year playoff streak neared its end.

So was last summer, but the Mavericks had to settle for essentially constructing a temporary supporting cast of players on expiring contracts or willing to sign one-year deals. That definitely wasn’t the plan when Cuban made the difficult post-lockout decision to let Tyson Chandler and other key championship pieces depart Dallas via free agency.

The ideal situation would be adding a superstar who could take the burden off soon-to-be-35-year-old Nowitzki. When the Mavs opted to create significant salary-cap space for the first time in the Cuban era, they did so with the belief that Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and Deron Williams would all be on the market last summer.

— Reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas

Heat clinch home-court advantage for entire 2013 NBA playoffs

All the Miami Heat did was set a franchise single-season record for wins with four games left to play, clinch the top overall spot in the NBA and secure home-court advantage for the entirety of the playoffs.

No big deal.

No wild celebration was merited. No celebration at all, really. Just business as usual for the Heat, whose lone goal isn’t being the best team in April – but rather, being the best team in June. Miami wrapped up the No. 1 overall seed with a 103-98 win in Washington on Wednesday, a game where the Heat played without LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem, all sidelined by minor injuries or illness.

”We’ve had an amazing year,” Heat forward Shane Battier told reporters in Washington. ”We’ve set a lot of records and we’ve had a lot of story lines the whole year. Hopefully our best story line is still ahead of us. That’s what we’re saving the high-fives for.”

It was Miami’s 62nd win, one more than the Heat club of 1996-97 managed.

And now what has seemed inevitable for the last couple weeks – Miami finishing the regular season atop the league – has become reality.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Warriors clinch spot in 2013 NBA playoffs

Chants of ”Playoffs! Playoffs! Playoffs!” rang out from fans. Confetti flew around the lower bowl of the arena. Finally, the public address announcer told the crowd what they had longed to hear: ”The Golden State Warriors are heading to the 2013 NBA playoffs!”

Believe it.

Klay Thompson scored 25 of his 30 points in the first half, Stephen Curry added 24 points and 10 assists and the Warriors clinched their first playoff berth since 2007 by routing the Minnesota Timberwolves 105-89 on Tuesday night.

”We celebrated. Rightfully so,” teary-eyed and red-faced Warriors coach Mark Jackson said after emerging from the locker room. ”People questioned us, and they should have. People doubted us, and they should have. They underestimated the heart, the desire, the work ethic, the determination, the willingness to put in the time.”

At long last, Bay Area basketball fans have reason to cheer again.

David Lee finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds to propel the Warriors to just their second postseason appearance in 19 years. Co-owner Joe Lacob shared hugs and handshakes with fans from his courtside seat, raising his right hand to the 30th straight sellout crowd announced at 19,596.

— Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

Rockets clinch spot in 2013 NBA playoffs

Jermaine O’Neal saw James Harden’s last-second 3-pointer bounce off the rim, went up for it and figured Phoenix and Houston were headed to overtime.

Referee David Jones saw goaltending and counted the basket that gave the Rockets a 101-98 victory on Tuesday night.

Harden scored 33 points and Omer Asik tied his career high with 22 rebounds for the Rockets, who earned their first playoff berth since 2009 when the Jazz lost to Oklahoma City.

”It’s a great accomplishment for us,” said Harden, acquired from Oklahoma City in an offseason trade. ”For our first year together, it’s a pretty good thing.”

On the final play, Harden dribbled down the clock with P.J. Tucker guarding him and launched a 3 from the wing. It bounced high off the rim and O’Neal and Houston’s Patrick Beverley jumped for the rebound. O’Neal touched the ball and the rim after the ball came down, just after the buzzer sounded.

The referees huddled on the court, then reviewed the play and ruled it the winning basket, setting off a wild celebration.

— Reported by the Associated Press