NBA Playoffs Blog – Page 79 – NBA Blog

Celtics ready to use zone defense again

For most of Boston’s Game 1 loss to Miami, the Heat got any and every shot they wanted.

So as the fourth quarter rolled around and C’s coach Doc Rivers had seemingly exhausted just about every tweak and twist he could to his team’s leaky man-to-man coverage, he played his final card: the zone defense.

It didn’t provide the kind of game-changing impact the Celtics would have liked, but it did at the very least provide enough of a disruption to the Heat’s offensive flow to keep the game relatively close down the stretch.

So much so that Rivers made it clear afterward that the cameo appearance by the Celtics’ zone defense was not going to be a one-night only performance.

“You’ll see it,” Rivers said when asked about its use throughout this series. “We like it. We’ve been working on zone all year even though we’ve played it probably five times, six times all year.”

— Reported by A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE

LeBron scores 32, Heat beat Celtics in Game 1

A big early Miami lead was wasted. Once the Heat took control again, they simply ran away from the Boston Celtics.

And the NBA finals are now three wins away for LeBron James and the Heat.

James scored 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and the Heat beat the Celtics 93-79 on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Shane Battier, playing in the conference finals for the first time, scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds for the Heat, who wasted an early 11-point first-half lead before running away to break a halftime tie. Miami outrebounded the Celtics 48-33, and blocked 11 Boston shots…

Kevin Garnett scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Boston, which got 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists from Rajon Rondo and 12 points from Paul Pierce. Ray Allen shot just 1 for 7 from the floor for Boston, which was outscored by 10 in the first quarter and 11 in the third…

Boston scored 35 in the second quarter, erasing what was an 11-point deficit early in the period by scoring 27 points in the final 8:46 of the half to pull into a 46-all tie. Rondo, Garnett and Pierce combined to score 23 points in the quarter, looking absolutely vintage, near-perfect offensive execution getting to Miami time and time again. And the Celtics’ comeback happened even while they got hit with three technical fouls in the second quarter, plus Allen missing four first-half free throws – matching his career-worst for an entire game.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Rebounds continued to be a problem for the Celtics, who lost that battle, 48-33, in Game 1. The Heat forced the Celtics to work for every possession, limiting Boston to 40 percent shooting. There was a glimpse of hope — the Celtics wrapped two dismal offensive quarters around a brilliant second quarter — but the burst was short-lived. In a microcosm of their inconsistent season, the Celtics scored 11 points in the first quarter, 35 in the second, and 15 points in the third. By that time, the Celtics were down 11 points and were desperately trying to claw back.

LeBron James outscored the Celtics all by himself in the first quarter, 13-11. The 11 points the Celtics scored in the first quarter was a team low this postseason, and it wasn’t even close. Their previous low was 17 vs. Atlanta on May 4. Rondo was 0 for 3 with 2 assists and 4 turnovers in the first.

— Reported by Gary Dzen of Boston.com

LeBron James scored 32 points, Dwyane Wade finished with a relatively modest 22, and the Celtics finished at one of their most offensively-challenged rates (39.5 percent) of the playoffs.

Beyond Kevin Garnett’s 23-point, 9-for-16 performance and a 16-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist finish by Rajon Rondo, no Celtic found a steady rhythm.

To wit, for the first time in his career, Ray Allen (3-for-7 from the line, 1-for-7 from the floor) missed four free throws in a single playoff game.

It was also game that didn’t do much for relations between the Celtics and the brotherhood of NBA officials. Allen, Doc Rivers, Garnett (delay of game) and Rondo were all T’d up, with referees Dan Crawford and Ed Malloy contributing two whistles each.

James had 27 points by the end of the third quarter, including six points in a tough 10-1 run in the last 4:18, staking Miami to a 72-61 lead.

— Reported by Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald

The Heat’s dynamic duo, which has now dominated four straight playoff games, was bolstered by a combined 19 points from starters Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers. Battier finished with 10 points, shooting 4 of 11 from the field and 2 of 9 from three-point range while playing superb defensively.

Meanwhile, the Celtics seemed more concerned about the officiating than anything else. Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and coach Doc Rivers each received technical fouls before the fourth quarter for arguing with refs. In all, the Celtics were hit with five technicals.

“I don’t how long I’ve been in the league but that would rank as the worst one,” Rivers said of his technical after the game. “I would have liked to earn it.”

The Heat shot 20 percent from three-point range but Mike Miller was 2 of 2 from behind the arc and Battier added two three-pointers of his own on nine attempts. James Jones, who played 10 minutes off the bench, also had a three-pointer.

— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald

Video: Manu Ginobili and James Harden execute a double-flop

This is absolutely pathetic. In game 1 of the Western Conference Finals series between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, Manu Ginobili and James Harden insult the game of basketball by unleashing a double flop.

Watch the acting:

Ray Allen expected to start for Celtics vs Heat

The Celtics honestly don’t know what to expect from Ray Allen on a game-by-game basis, but they’re not ready to make a change. Asked if he considered starting Mickael Pietrus ahead of Allen, coach Doc Rivers said, “No. We’re going to stay the way we are.”

Still, there is concern over Allen who was challenged defensively against the 76ers and will be facing a far-greater problem in guarding Dwyane Wade who scored 99 points in Miami’s final three games against the Pacers.

“It’s tough. Really, you don’t know,” Rivers said. “We don’t know game to game with him. We don’t know how he’s feeling, then we don’t know how he’s going to deal with it during the game. The way we coached him so far, is with the eye that’s how we have to coach him. We have to watch him. If we feel like he’s moving enough to help us, we keep him on the floor. If he’s not moving enough, then we take him off the floor.

“Then the second decision is, do we put him back on the floor. It’s every game — in Game 7, the argument our staff was having. ‘Take him off, take him out, bring him in.’ Honestly, it’s just luck sometimes. We left him in and he made two 3’s. But the hook was close, I can tell you that.”

— Reported by Paul Flannery of WEEI

Spurs strike first against Thunder

Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and the Spurs won their 19th in a row — tying the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs — by rallying in the fourth quarter on the orders of their furious coach to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 in Game 1 on Sunday night.

It was a tantalizing near-upset for the young Thunder, who came as close as anybody to beating the Spurs for the first time in 46 days. But a nine-point lead didn’t last after the famously mercurial 63-year-old Popovich — the NBA’s Coach of the Year — huddled his lagging team together in the fourth and told them to “get nasty.”

“I said that?” Popovich said afterward.

A nationally television audience heard it.

“The heat of the game, stuff comes up,” Popovich said. “So I talked to them about they’ve got to get a little bit uglier, get a little more nasty, play with more fiber and take it to these guys. Meaning you have to drive it, you have to shoot it.”

And when they did, the Thunder couldn’t keep up.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points. Russell Westbrook had 17, and insisted he was OK after taking a spill that was nasty in its own right — face first, bracing his fall with his hands and sitting under the basket for more than a minute while the entire Thunder bench walked across the court to check on their All-Star point guard.

— Reported by Paul J. Weber of the Associated Press

Spurs win 19th straight game, lead 1-0 vs Thunder

It’s a catchphrase likely coming soon to fan T-shirts, Internet memes and the lexicon of the NBA playoffs for the foreseeable future.

”I want some nasty!”

Gregg Popovich didn’t just coin it. He snarled it, and the way his San Antonio Spurs obliged has the Western Conference finals off to a thrilling start.

Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and the Spurs won their 19th in a row – tying the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs – by rallying in the fourth quarter on the orders of their furious coach to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 in Game 1 on Sunday night.

It was a tantalizing near-upset for the young Thunder, who came as close as anybody to beating the Spurs for the first time in 46 days. But a nine-point lead didn’t last after the famously mercurial 63-year-old Popovich – the NBA’s Coach of the Year – huddled his lagging team together in the fourth and told them to ”get nasty.” …

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points. Russell Westbrook had 17, and insisted he was OK after taking a spill that was nasty in its own right – face first, bracing his fall with his hands and sitting under the basket for more than a minute while the entire Thunder bench walked across the court to check on their All-Star point guard…

After being held to just 16 third-quarter points, San Antonio scored 39 in the fourth. Westbrook chalked it up to a defensive breakdown that ”got out of hand” but it still left the Thunder in search of the road win they’ll need to in this series to reach the NBA finals for the first time since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2009…

The Spurs matched the fourth-longest streak in NBA history, and with one more will become just the fourth team to surpass 20. Tim Duncan had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Tony Parker shook off a dismal start to finish with 18 points…

On the other end, Oklahoma City’s own Big Three struggled to find its shot early before awakening in the second half. Durant, Westbrook and James Harden at one point through the second quarter were 5 of 21 – a typically ominous stat line for a trio that had been responsible for nearly 70 percent of Oklahoma City’s points through the playoffs so far…

Gary Neal added 12 points and was the only other Spurs player in double figures.

— Reported by Paul J. Weber of the Associated Press

Two classic Ginobili drives in the final 1:57 essentially finished off OKC. The capper, in which he split a pair of defenders before finding the rim, put the Spurs up 96-89 with 1:11 to go.

“That’s Manu’s game,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s somebody we depend on to create and make things happen.”

Tony Parker added 18 points, six assists and a season-high eight rebounds, while Duncan had 16 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the postseason.

Harder-earned than most, the victory gave the Spurs claim to one of the fourth-longest winning streaks in NBA history.

Heading into the fourth quarter, with the Thunder up nine and rolling, that streak seemed on life support.

OKC already had forced 14 first-half turnovers, undermining any chance the Spurs had of generating offense, and Kevin Durant was heating up on his way to 27 points and 10 boards.

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

Prior to James Harden’s back-to-back but too-little-too-late 3-pointers in the final four seconds, the Thunder went just 5-of-14 in the fourth quarter. The reason was a heavy dose of one-on-one offense. The Thunder ran few sets and seemingly spent the first 15 seconds of the shot clock on every trip getting the ball up the court and trying to force feed it to Kevin Durant, who Spurs forward Stephen Jackson crowded in crunch time to prevent clean catches.

“We stopped moving the ball,” Harden said. “In that third quarter, we did a great job of moving the ball and getting their defense to move a little bit by hitting wide open shots and wide open layups. In the fourth quarter, we kind of slowed that down and they got a couple of easy transition buckets.”

To this point, the Thunder had been excellent this postseason at closing games. Oklahoma City came in 4-1 in games decided by three points or less and 5-1 in games decided by six points or less. The Thunder has battled back from seven-point, fourth-quarter deficits twice in these playoffs, as well as two other 13-point, fourth-quarter deficits.

— Reported by Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman

Thunder, Spurs franchises have unique connection

The Spurs step onto the Western Conference Finals stage Sunday night feeling a little like Dr. Frankenstein.

The Spurs helped create the monster that wants to devour them.

From Sam Presti’s roots in San Antonio to the civic-minded ownership group of both franchises; from the lottery luck of Tim Duncan and Kevin Durant to the international draft success of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Serge Ibaka; from the fiscal responsibility demanded of a small market to a left-handed sixth man magician, the Thunder mirrors the Spurs in so many ways.

But consider the blueprint a partial payment for services rendered. Long before the NBA was anything but a gleam in Oklahoma City’s eye, OKC helped the Spurs become the stately Spurs.

Thunder chairman Clay Bennett sits on the NBA board of governors. The Thunder is not his first NBA rodeo.

— Reported by Berry Tramel of the San Antonio Express-News

Rondo leads Celtics to Game 7 win over 76ers

Rajon Rondo helped his aging teammates keep their season going Saturday night, finishing with 18 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds in Game 7 against the 76ers to lead Boston to an 85-75 victory and into an Eastern Conference finals matchup with the Miami Heat.

The Celtics will open the third round of the NBA playoffs in Miami on Monday night…

Bouncing back from his worst game of the playoffs – and snapping out of a 32-minute slump in which he had just two assists and five points – Rondo scored nine straight Boston points after Paul Pierce fouled out to help the Celtics turn a three-point edge into a double-digit lead…

Rondo had 11 points in the fourth quarter, including his first 3-pointer in five games, made all four of his free throws down the stretch and grabbed his 10th rebound in the final minute – chucking it over his head and into the frontcourt to help the Celtics dribble down the clock…

Andre Iguodala scored 18 points, and Holiday and Elton Brand had 15 apiece for the 76ers, who eliminated the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in the first round but couldn’t do the same with the Celtics…

Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 13 rebounds for Boston, and Ray Allen hit a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers after missing his first five attempts…

The Celtics missed their first 14 attempts from 3-point range and made their last three.

— Reported by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press

The Celtics led by as many as 11 points early in the second half. But the Sixers rallied and had a chance to regain the lead as Andre Iguodala missed two free throws late in the third quarter.

And the Sixers were within a point early in the fourth quarter before Garnett hit a jumper and Allen broke a 1-for-9 slump with a 3-pointer. And, though the Sixers seemed capable of rallying, as they had throughout this series, they never got closer than 3 points again.

“Defensively, it was a beautiful game for us,’’ Rivers said. “We took away the paint, the way we hadn’t before [in Game 6]. We got out to the 3-point line – they made some, but overall it was pretty good.’’

The Sixers regained hope after Pierce’s straight-on banker made it 71-65 with 4:54 remaining. Iguodala made a 3-pointer and Pierce fouled out after being was whistled for a charge against Thaddeus Young.

Then Rondo began taking over.

— Reported by Frank Dell’Apa of the Boston Globe

Ray Allen grunted and groaned his way to only 11 points, and at one point early in the fourth quarter his stats were appallingly bad — as in 1-for-9 from the floor, and 0-for-5 on 3-point attempts.

With 9:51 remaining, the outcome was, as they say, very much in doubt. The Celts were clinging to a 57-54 lead in this historic slopfest of a game, each team performing as if they’d just as soon see the other guys advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat.

That’s when Ray Allen, he of the bone spur in his ankle the size of the Lowell Connector, finally hit on a shot — a 3-point shot no less, increasing the Celtics’ lead to 60-54.

It’s not like that one shot put the game away. The Sixers would soon get back to within three points and were still in the fight with less than five minutes to go. But the very idea that Allen could make a shot — on that bum leg — was surely an encouraging sign.

— Reported by Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald

Whatever was planned worked better as the Sixers were able to forge ahead by 20-19 late in the quarter despite shooting 6 for 20 and committing three turnovers. They also seemed to be in a good spot as Rondo was strapped to the bench with a pair of fouls.

The Sixers, though, found no better success at the offensive end in the second quarter, missing 13 of their 18 shots and giving the ball away five more times. The turnovers gave the Celtics run-outs, and uncharacteristically the Sixers were outscored on fastbreak points by 13-2 in the first half.

The Sixers made a big comeback in the third quarter until Iguodala missed those two free throws.

Iguodala scored 18 points, while Elton Brand and Holiday each scored 15 for the Sixers.

And now the offseason, which is sure to be a busy one, begins for Philadelphia.

— Reported by Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News

Chris Bosh remains out indefinitely

When it came to an opponent for their Eastern Conference finals series that opens Monday at AmericanAirlines Arena, the Miami Heat knew a definitive answer would be forthcoming in Saturday night’s Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers Game 7.

When it comes to the status of Chris Bosh, nothing is a given, with the All-Star power forward still listed as being out indefinitely with the lower-abdominal strain sustained in the first half of Game 1 of the Heat’s Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Indiana Pacers.

Asked for clarity regarding Bosh, coach Erik Spoelstra was practically apologetic after Saturday’s practice.

“Not trying to be coy,” Spoelstra said, “he has to heal first, rehab.”

— Reported by Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Danny Green living his basketball dream with Spurs

Green, 24, admits to pinching himself every now and again, and for different reasons. Sometimes he does it because he’s playing for Gregg Popovich and with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. (When he was growing up, Green said, he had a Duncan jersey.) Other times, it’s because his road here left Green thinking the NBA wasn’t in his future.

The Cavaliers drafted Green in the second round in 2009 and cut him before the start of the 2010-11 season. The Spurs picked him up and waived him two weeks later. He played for three D-League teams, and for Union Olimpija in Slovenia during the 2011 lockout.

“When I got cut from Cleveland, they weren’t one of the best teams in the NBA at the time, so I had some doubts,” Green said. “I didn’t think I was going to get back into the league. I wasn’t sure it was going to happen for me. When I was let go from here the first time, teams weren’t calling. I didn’t think it was going to ever happen then. I was home for two months and I didn’t know what was going on.”

Green might be the perfect embodiment of the Spurs. They’re a team that gets little publicity, is overlooked or underappreciated, and thrives through hard work, dedication and following the game plan.

— Reported by Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday