NBA Playoffs Blog – Page 84 – NBA Blog

76ers even series with 82-81 win over Celts

Evan Turner made the go-ahead layup with 40.4 seconds left and Philadelphia held off Boston the rest of the way with six straight free throws as the 76ers evened the second-round Eastern Conference series with an 82-81 victory Monday night.

Turner finished with 10 points, including his layup that put the Sixers up 76-75. He added two free throws with 12 seconds to go.

Jrue Holiday scored 18 points and Andre Iguodala added 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Sixers, who blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter as the Celtics won Game 1.

Kevin Garnett had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Ray Allen scored 17 points for the Celtics.

Game 3 is Wednesday in Philadelphia…

Brandon Bass had 12 points for the Celtics, who couldn’t quite repeat their comeback in the series opener. The Sixers led by 10 points early in the fourth quarter of Game 1 before the Celtics rallied for a 92-91 victory…

Fans grew restless as the second half opened with sloppy, choppy play by both teams. Boston led 38-36 at halftime and nearly 7 minutes into the third quarter the score was just 43-41 with the Celtics still ahead.

When the shots finally started falling, they were all for Philadelphia.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Chris Bosh out indefinitely with abdominal injury

Miami Heat All-Star power forward Chris Bosh will be sidelined indefinitely with a lower-abdominal muscle strain.

It is feared that the injury may force Bosh to miss the rest of the series against the Indiana Pacers — and perhaps for the rest of the postseason…

Ronny Turiaf and Joel Anthony are expected to see extended playing time during Bosh’s absence. Turiaf played well starting the second half of Sunday’s Game 1 victory, while Anthony gave the Heat a big lift off the bench.

— Reported by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Blake Griffin limited by sprained knee

As best he could, Blake Griffin tried to give the Clippers what he had, what he could summon in Game 7 of the Western Conference first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday afternoon.

But Griffin’s knee wouldn’t cooperate the way he wanted it to, his sprained left knee refusing to hold up all game.

So Griffin gave the Clippers 28 minutes 17 seconds and eight points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.

“There just were movements I couldn’t do and I wanted to do,” Griffin said. “And I don’t want to ever put my teammates in a situation where I feel like I’m hurting them, where physically I can’t do what I need to do.”

Griffin played just 1:39 in the decisive fourth quarter.

— Reported by Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times

Thunder center Kendrick Perkins moves closer to return

Thunder center Kendrick Perkins took another step toward starting Game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday at 8:30 p.m. at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

OKC coach Scott Brooks previously would dismiss any timetable of when Perkins might return from the right hip muscle he strained on May 5 in Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks.

The last two practices, however, Brooks has chosen his words more carefully and given hope to Perkins’ return, although the Thunder enforcer officially remains listed as day-to-day.

“He went through some of the drills (Sunday) in practice,” Brooks said.

— Reported by John Rohde of the Oklahoman

Chris Bosh hurt in Heat-Pacers Game 1

For the Heat, the pain goes deeper, with the question being how deep into Chris Bosh’s abdomen. The All-Star power forward was lost for the second half after sustaining a lower-abdominal strain on the follow-through of a second-quarter dunk that resulted in a 3-point play.

Coach Erik Spoelstra did not sound as if Bosh was coming back any time soon.

“We have some time now. We don’t know what Chris’ status is,” Spoelstra said. “We won’t know until we get an MRI, move on from there.”

The initial sense was not encouraging.

“You saw the look on his face,” teammate Dwyane Wade said, “you knew something was wrong there.”

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

Heat beat Pacers in Game 1 of Round 2

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade carried the Miami Heat offense in the second half. With Chris Bosh gone, they had no other choice.

And if Bosh doesn’t return soon, it may have to become a trend.

James accepted his third MVP trophy from Commissioner David Stern before the game, then scored 26 of his game-high 32 points while playing every second of the second half – adding a season-high 15 rebounds as well – to help the Heat survive some rough stretches and pull out a 95-86 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Sunday night.

Wade scored 29 points for the Heat, but the concern level was ramped up considerably afterward because of Bosh, who did not play in the second half because of a lower abdominal strain. The Heat expected to learn results of an MRI exam on Monday…

David West and Roy Hibbert each scored 17 points and combined for 23 rebounds for the Pacers, who got 10 points each from Darren Collison and George Hill. Indiana controlled long stretches of the first half and didn’t trail by more than two points at any time until the fourth quarter, when it was outscored 25-16. Wade and James scored 42 points in the second half, while Indiana’s entire roster managed 38…

James scored 16 points alone in the fourth, matching Indiana’s total. Nonetheless, the Pacers sounded confident for days leading up to the start of the series, and left Sunday night sounding the same way…

Bosh caught a pass from James near the foul line late in the first half, took one dribble to start a drive past Hibbert, got down the lane and dunked the ball hard with his left hand while the Indiana center appeared to hit his right arm. Bosh fell forward as he landed, resting on his hands and knees for about 15 seconds before getting up slowly. He made his free throw, and as he headed back the other way he grimaced and grabbed at his midsection…

Danny Granger shot 1 for 10 in the game, scoring only seven points…

Everything was undecided until the final moments. Hill made a 3-pointer with 4:51 left, getting Indiana within 86-85. But the Pacers went cold from the field, James had a dunk in transition to make it 90-85 with 4:10 left, and his jumper with 31.8 seconds remaining wrapped up the Heat win.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Clippers beat Grizzlies in Game 7, advance to 2nd round

The Los Angeles Clippers refused to let a third chance to knock the Memphis Grizzlies out of the playoffs slip away.

Kenyon Martin scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, and the Clippers advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with an 82-72 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 7 on Sunday…

The Clippers blew an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter Friday night. So Martin huddled the Clippers together at the start of the fourth quarter Sunday, and the veteran led the bench in outscoring the Grizzlies 25-16. Chris Paul had the only bucket by a starter in the final 12 minutes, and the Clippers’ bench outscored the Memphis reserves 41-11 overall…

Now, the Clippers have their third postseason series win in 41 years and their second since relocating to Los Angeles. They last beat Denver in 2006. The Clippers also avoided becoming the ninth NBA team to blow a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series in moving on to play the top-seeded Spurs starting Tuesday night in San Antonio…

Paul scored 19 points despite playing with a strained right hip flexor. Nick Young had nine of his 13 off the bench in the fourth as the Clippers finished off the series with their biggest margin of victory. Paul was so confident of victory he bought plane tickets for his wife and son to San Antonio on Saturday…

Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol each had 19 for Memphis, which lost a Game 7 at Oklahoma City a year ago in the second round of the playoffs. Zach Randolph had a game-high 12 rebounds…

Los Angeles finished off the win by hitting 9 of 10 free throws in the final 3:26. The Clippers also managed to outrebound the Grizzlies 46-44 for only the second time this series.

Memphis got away from the inside-out approach that won the last two games. The Grizzlies outscored the Clippers 36-24, but Randolph said they took far too many jumpers instead of feeding the ball to Gasol and himself.

— Reported by Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press

Lakers beat Nuggets 96-87 in thrilling Game 7

Pau Gasol was consumed by determination, holding off Kenneth Faried with one arm and relentlessly tipping the ball at the hoop with the other in the fourth quarter of Game 7. One, two, three, four – five! – offensive rebounds later, the ball finally surrendered and dropped through the hoop.

A few minutes later, the truth was as undeniable as that 7-foot Spaniard. Although the Nuggets drove them to the brink of playoff collapse, the Los Angeles Lakers still have the tenacity to win on the biggest nights of the postseason.

Even when Kobe Bryant doesn’t lead them.

Gasol had 23 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots, Metta World Peace scored 15 points in his return from a seven-game suspension, and the Lakers outlasted Denver for a thrilling 96-87 victory Saturday night to win their first-round series.

Steve Blake scored a playoff career-high 19 points and Bryant had a quiet 17 points and eight assists against regular double-teams for the Lakers, who blew a 16-point lead in the second half before surviving a finale with wild momentum swings and furious physical play.

With Gasol leading the Lakers’ emotional effort – exemplified by those five offensive rebounds on a single, unbelievable tip play with 7:10 left – the Lakers narrowly avoided becoming the ninth team in NBA history to blow a 3-1 series lead…

Andrew Bynum had 16 points, a career playoff-high 18 rebounds and six blocked shots for Los Angeles, which must open the second round Monday night in Oklahoma City against the second-seeded Thunder.

Ty Lawson and Al Harrington scored 24 points apiece for the sixth-seeded Nuggets, who committed 19 turnovers and managed just 7-of-27 shooting in the fourth quarter. Arron Afflalo scored 15 points in just the third Game 7 in franchise history for the Nuggets, who have lost in the first round in eight of the last nine postseasons – but never with this much excitement…

World Peace hit four 3-pointers and energized Los Angeles with tough defense in his return. The former Ron Artest missed Los Angeles’ regular-season finale and the first six games against Denver for viciously elbowing Oklahoma City’s James Harden, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year and one of his probable defensive assignments in the next round.

— Reported by Greg Beacham of the Associated Press

KG, Rondo lead Celtics past 76ers in Game 1

Rajon Rondo has made dozens of last-second dashes to the basket.

This time, he went in the opposite direction.

The Celtics point guard ran into the backcourt, grabbing the inbounds pass in stride, avoiding a foul and dribbling out the final 3.4 seconds to clinch Boston’s 92-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night in the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal series…

Rondo had 17 assists, 13 points and 12 rebounds for his eighth career playoff triple-double. He had six points, five assists and four rebounds in the fourth quarter, when the Celtics went on a 23-7 run to turn a double-digit deficit into a six-point lead with 78 seconds to play…

Kevin Garnett scored 29 points – his most in the regular- or postseason this year – and added 11 rebounds to help Boston maintain home-court advantage in the best-of-seven, second-round series. Game 2 is Monday night in Boston before the series shifts to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4…

Andre Iguodala scored 19 points and Evan Turner had 16 with 10 rebounds for Philadelphia, which advanced to the second round for the first time since 2003 by beating East No. 1 seed Chicago. But Turner couldn’t catch Rondo in the final seconds when Philadelphia had a foul to give…

Pierce, who had a sprained MCL in his left knee, scored 14 points on 3-for-11 shooting. Rondo was only 6 for 15 from the floor, but he was 3 for 6 in the fourth quarter, adding five rebounds and four assists…

Hawes scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half.

— Reported by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press

Pacers coach Frank Vogel says Heat are biggest floppers in NBA

The Heat’s second-round playoff series with the Indiana Pacers hasn’t even begun, but already, Miami has drawn the first charge.

This one had nothing to do with Udonis Haslem or Shane Battier stepping in the way of a driving Pacer and it did not result in a referee blowing a whistle. Rather, Pacers coach Frank Vogel assumed the whistle-blower role, labeling the Heat the worst floppers in the NBA.

Given an opportunity to backtrack, Vogel instead went on South Florida radio Friday to say there are times Heat defenders begin to fall “before contact is even made.”

Scoffing at the suggestion he was providing the Heat with bulletin-board material, Vogel told 640-AM host Orlando Alzugaray he was merely saying something that “needed to be pointed out.”

The Heat refused to fire any counter charges, saying the series is about Game 1 at AmericanAirlines Arena at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, not about any verbal lobs.

— Reported by Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post