NBA Playoffs Blog – Page 95 – NBA Blog

Rick Carlisle wants better Mavericks defense in Mavs-Thunder Game 2

Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas reports:

Carlisle cited several specifics that he wasn’t happy about with the Mavs’ team defense. Oklahoma City got “eight or nine dunks” in the final 14 minutes, he said. Penetration came too easy against the Mavs’ defense. He didn’t like allowing the Thunder to grab 11 offensive rebounds. And he was displeased with the fact that Oklahoma City came up with 13 of the 20 loose balls, as counted by the Mavs coaches.

“They may be a quicker team and those kind of things,” Carlisle said, “but we’ve got to be physically and mentally ready to react to those situations.”

Carlisle didn’t just complain to the media, of course. Dallas’ practice Wednesday was a defense-intensive session. The Mavs got the message.

Dirk scores 48 as Mavs top Thunder in Game 1

The AP reports:

Nowitzki scores 48 as Mavs top Thunder in Game 1

When the Western Conference finals opened Tuesday night, Dirk Nowitzki acted as if the Oklahoma City Thunder and the 20,911 fans in the arena were merely there to watch another of his late-night workouts.

Inside, outside and from the foul line, Nowitzki put up a total of 39 shots and missed just three. He scored 48 points, leading the Mavericks to a 121-112 victory and answering any question about whether the long layoff might’ve left his club rusty.

“I really looked for my shot early and was able to get a good rhythm,” said Nowitzki, who also had six rebounds, four assists and four blocks…

It didn’t matter whether Nowitzki was being covered by someone big or small, one guy or two. He simply made 10 of his first 11 field goals, and 12 of 15 overall. He was perfect on 24 free throws, setting an NBA postseason record for most foul shots made without a miss…

“We fought back and made it a game,” Thunder star Kevin Durant said. “We’ve just got to keep pushing and stay positive and get ready for Game 2.”

Durant scored 40 points, one shy of his most ever in a playoff game, but it wasn’t the same as Nowitzki’s big night…

Oklahoma City could’ve used a more efficient performance from Russell Westbrook. He scored 20 points, but 14 came on free throws. He missed 10 of his first 11 shots, and 12 of 15—the exact opposite of what Nowitzki made…

Jason Terry scored 24 points and J.J. Barea added 21 as the Mavericks picked up where they left off in a sweep of the Lakers nine days before. They broke open a tight game with a 13-0 run late in the second quarter and never trailed again.

Preview of Thunder vs Mavericks Western Conference Finals series

By Scott Spangler

For only the second time since 1997, neither the San Antonio Spurs nor the Los Angeles Lakers will be taking part in the Western Conference Finals. Instead, two cities separated by about 200 miles will host said festivities. Oklahoma City is about a 3-hour drive from Dallas, right up I-35. But when comparing the makeup of the two clubs, the proximity is more like worlds apart.

The Mavericks have been here before. During the Dirk Nowitzki era, Dallas has reached the WCF in 2003 and 2006. Rick Carlisle is an experienced coach with a veteran roster – Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, Peja Stojakovic, Jason Terry, and so on. These are guys with a ton of playoff experience.

Since the move from Seattle, this would be new territory for the Thunder. Both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are 22 years-old – either would represent the youngest player on Dallas’ active roster. What’s more, two other key members of Ok City’s rotation, Serge Ibaka and James Harden, are even greener.

Youth, to this point, has not been a problem for Scott Brooks’ club. Granted, Denver and Memphis aren’t exactly battle-tested. Still, to make the conference finals means you’ve won two rounds. And while some folks might feel coming off a seven-game series could be a disadvantage to the Thunder, it might also serve them going forward in terms of experience in an elimination environment. Could that benefit OKC so soon? Tough to say.

Neither team has an answer for the opposing superstar. Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitzki will get theirs. Russell Westbrook could be a real problem for Dallas, though he only shot 32 percent against the Mavs this season. Still, no matchup is more favorable for either club than what the Thunder have at the point. The Mavs must rely on the type of team defense that helped contain Kobe Bryant. Westbrook is, to this point, the most dynamic playmaker Dallas has seen this postseason.

The bigs for these teams should provide steady interior presence and rebounding. Tyson Chandler and Kendrick Perkins have certainly made big splashes with their new clubs. Both are coming off tough second-round assignments. Perkins was dealing with Marc Gasol, Chandler with Andrew Bynum. Since neither center poses much of an offensive threat, these two will working away from one another and helping teammates more defensively.

Dallas is, without a doubt, the deeper team. If Oklahoma City has any hope of making the Finals, slowing down Jason Terry is essential. James Harden must, at the very least, play his sixth man counterpart to a standstill. Continuing down the bench, we look for the Eric Maynor/J.J. Barea minutes to be an area of focus. The Lakers found out firsthand the damage Barea could inflict coming off high screens.

Dallas last played eight days ago, blowing away the Lakers on Mother’s Day. Since then, Oklahoma City has played three games, including one triple-overtime affair. In certain cases, there could be a rest-versus-rust debate. Not here. The arrow may be pointing in different directions for these two franchises, but OKC will have to wait a little longer.

Again, the Mavs are an experienced bunch. They have been watching the Thunder/Grizzlies along with the rest of us. The rest should be what the doctor ordered for Dallas. I like the Mavericks to win this series in six games and advance to the NBA Finals.

Fans are discussing the upcoming series in this forum topic.

Erik Spoelstra quotes after Heat-Bulls Game 1

The Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat Sunday to take Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Finals series. Here’s some of what Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said to the media after the loss:

Erik Spoelstra: So we’re obviously very disappointed about last night’s performance. We have to come in the next two days and try to fix some of the things that gave us problems. We all know obviously the effort plays, the secondchance opportunities — all those things really deflated our focus and our concentration and effort there in the second half. With all that said, and with all the evaluations about the game, we are still in a position to take control with a win on Wednesday. And this whole series will be about enduring and how long can you endure through the physical grind, but just as importantly, the mental grind, because it’s two very competitive physical teams.

Question: Udonis Haslem is the kind of guy, it would seem, if healthy, to offer exactly what you would need with hustle and rebounding and movement. Is he in a position to offer that, or is that simply not an option for you at this stage?

Spoelstra: It’s an option. I’ll evaluate everything. The reality is a lot of the rebound, secondchance effort plays were with our main guys on the court. And it’s something we can do much better. We’re a very good rebounding team. We’ve proven that all season long. We’ve got to revert back to our habits. And sometimes it’s the little things, finishing off your defense, the next rotation to block out, and just as important, finishing the offensive rebound possessions. They had five big threepointers after an offensive rebound that we could have gotten to shooters and make an extra effort. We weren’t able to do that.

Question: Similarly, Mike Miller is also another hustle kind of player. Very good rebounder, but also limited. Is he a guy who has the skill set that can help, or is he simply not in shape enough to be an impact player?

Spoelstra: He’s ready. All these things we’ll look at. We want to do it better as a group, and everybody that’s out there can do a better job of it.

Question: Two of your centers, Zydrunas and Dampier, are inactive. They offer a lot of size. Is that something you may need to rethink?

Spoelstra: I’ll evaluate everything. We could do normally much better than we did last night.

Question: Do you prefer to play sooner, or are you glad to have the two days off?

Spoelstra: Like I said in the previous series, you probably would rather get going. But that’s not the schedule we’ve been dealt. So we have to deal with it. And we can use the days to prep and work on some of these things.

Bulls take Game 1 from Heat with 103-82 rout

The AP reports:

Derrick Rose scored 28 points, Luol Deng contained LeBron James and the Chicago Bulls struck first in the Eastern Conference finals, pulling away to beat the Miami Heat 103-82 in Game 1 on Sunday night…

Rose settled down after committing three of his four turnovers in the opening minutes and showed why he is the MVP. He hit three 3-pointers and the Bulls converted 10 of 21 in all…

Luol Deng had 21 points. He hit four 3s, had four steals, seven rebounds and simply put the clamps on The King, holding James to 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting…

Carlos Boozer added 14 points and nine rebounds. Joakim Noah had 14 rebounds and the Bulls pounded the Heat on the glass, 45-33, grabbing 19 on the offensive end while outscoring them 31-8 on second-chance points…

Chris Bosh led Miami with 30 points and nine rebounds. Dwyane Wade scored 18 points, but the Heat simply were overmatched down the stretch…

The Heat were leading 58-57 midway through the third when the Bulls made their move, reeling off 10 straight and seizing the momentum.

Rose and Bogans started it by nailing 3-pointers. A steal by Bogans against Wade led to two free throws by Rose after he got knocked to the floor going for a fast-break layup.

Durant, Thunder beat Grizzlies to reach Western conference finals

The AP reports:

Durant, Thunder beat Grizzlies to reach West finals

Kevin Durant scored 39 points for his best offensive outing of the series, Russell Westbrook had his first playoff triple-double and the Oklahoma City Thunder advanced to the Western Conference finals with a 105-90 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 7 on Sunday…

“Durant is a special player, one of the best players in the NBA,” said Memphis star Zach Randolph, who was limited to an inefficient 17 points and 10 rebounds…

Westbrook, criticized throughout the playoffs for taking too many shots, was at his all-around best with 14 points, matching his season-high with 14 assists and producing extra possessions with 10 rebounds. It was only the fifth triple-double in a Game 7, according to information provided to the team by the Elias Sports Bureau. Larry Bird, Jerry West, James Worthy and Scottie Pippen also accomplished the feat…

Mike Conley scored 18 points to lead Memphis, which had never won a playoff game before this year and made a bid to become the first No. 8 seed to reach the West finals…

James Harden added four 3-pointers and 17 points for Oklahoma City, and Nick Collison had 12 rebounds.

O.J. Mayo scored 14 for Memphis but couldn’t provide the same amount of room for Randolph as he did after moving into the starting lineup in Game 6.

Grizzlies beat Thunder 95-83 in Game 6

The AP reports:

Grizzlies push Thunder back to OKC for Game 7

The Memphis Grizzlies may have finally figured out how to keep the Oklahoma City Thunder from smothering Zach Randolph.

O.J. Mayo moved back into the starting lineup, and his scoring threat from the outside gave Randolph enough room to score 30 points and grab 13 rebounds Friday night as the Grizzlies avoided elimination by beating the Thunder 95-83 to push their Western Conference semifinal to a deciding Game 7…

Mayo moved from the starting lineup to the bench at the start of January, though he did start the final two games of the regular season with the Grizzlies resting for the postseason. But the Thunder had held Randolph to 31.9 percent shooting since he scored 34 points in Game 1 of this series, so Memphis coach Lionel Hollins started Mayo in place of Sam Young…

Mayo scored 16 points for Memphis. Conley had 11 points and a franchise playoff-record 12 assists, and Tony Allen added 10 points. Now the Grizzlies are 5-1 on their home court this postseason, this win celebrated by sellout crowd that stood the entire second half cheering to keep this stunning run going at least one more game…

Memphis outscored the Thunder 51-29 in the second half and 46-38 in the paint overall.

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 27 points, and James Harden had 14. Kevin Durant, the NBA’s leading scorer in the regular season, was held to a season-worst 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting. It was his lowest scoring game since he had six points in eight minutes Feb. 27, 2009, at Dallas.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.

Mavs have newfound phenomenal foursome

There is some rhyme and reason as to why the Dallas Mavericks are even hotter in the NBA playoffs than they were during the regular season. It has something to do with several of the best players on the team actually getting to be on the floor together, healthy and happy. Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas reports:

A quartet that got minimal burn together during the regular season has been a major key to the Mavericks’ playoff run.

The foursome of Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Peja Stojakovic and J.J. Barea has already played more minutes in the playoffs than it did the entire regular season. And the results have been remarkable.

That group with Brendan Haywood is the second-most used lineup by the Mavs this postseason, putting up a net rating (points per 100 possessions) of plus 28.54, according to NBA.com’s Stats Cube. The net rating with Tyson Chandler manning the middle with that quartet in the playoffs is plus 29.87.

On the rare occasions that quartet played during the regular season, it was actually most effective with Ian Mahinmi at center. That lineup had a net rating of plus 55.70 in 47 minutes. It was a mediocre lineup with Haywood in the regular season (minus 0.14 in 41 minutes) and didn’t play a second with Chandler at center until the playoffs.

The Mavs continue to sit waiting for the winner of the Thunder-Grizzlies series. Oklahoma City leads Memphis 3-2, with Game 6 coming tonight.

Carlos Boozer says Heat have two great players

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

“Day by day, I’m getting better. I felt great,’’ Boozer said, sounding like a guy who was getting close to 100 percent on the health front. “The 15-, 17-footer was there and I just shot it.’’

As far as the Big Three facing off against the Big Two, Boozer wasn’t getting caught up in that.

“All of us have to do our jobs,’’ Boozer said. “We’ve been a team all year long. It’s not a one-man show, but our one man [Rose] is pretty good. We rely on everybody.’’

Give Boozer credit. Even with the game, over he did have one more shot to take, and it wasn’t with a ball in his hand.

Asked about facing Miami’s Big Three, he responded, “They have two great players in D. Wade and LeBron. We look forward to the challenge.’’

No mention of Bosh?

There it was, one more body blow.

Bulls eliminate Hawks in six games

The AP reports:

Carlos Boozer scored 23 points, Derrick Rose doled out 12 assists in more of a supporting role and the Bulls cruised past the Atlanta Hawks 93-73 on Thursday night, wrapping up the East semifinal in six games…

As if to prove his point, Rose took a playoff-low 14 shots and finished with 19 points, his second-lowest total of the postseason. This was a textbook performance by the guys around him, each of them comfortable in a supporting role, each of them willing to do the dirty work at the defensive end.

The most impressive number: Chicago had assists on all but seven of its 41 baskets. Or, come to think of it, maybe it was this stat: The Hawks shot just 37 percent (27 of 74) and rarely got an open look…

Luol Deng hit some big baskets early and finished with 13 points, plus five steals. Joakim Noah scored 11 and stifled the Hawks with three blocks. Omer Asik chipped in with two swats of his own. Keith Bogans made only one basket, but it was a big 3-pointer as the Bulls put it away in the third quarter…

“What goes underrated about them is the depth of their team,” said Atlanta’s Al Horford, who had a miserable night and a tough series overall. “They just wear on you. They just kept coming, kept coming every game. It seemed like their starters were fresh.” …

Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 19 points. Josh Smith was the only other player in double figures with 18. The Hawks went 1-of-11 from beyond the 3-point arc.

InsideHoops.com notes: Jeff Teague hurt his wrist and finished the game with just four points (2-of-6 shooting) and three assists… Al Horford, playing power forward, was awful and shot 2-of-10 for seven points and four rebounds in 37 minutes… The Bulls dished 34 assists. The Hawks had just 14… Like the Hawks, the Bulls were lousy from three-point range. But Chicago shot 53.2% overall from the field, while the Hawks hit just 36.5% of their shots… The Bulls barely went to the free throw line, hitting 8-of-10.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.