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Fans predict first round playoff results

InsideHoops.com posted a poll two days ago asking fans to predict the results of the 2009 NBA playoffs first round.

In the East:

325 fans picked the Cavaliers to beat the Pistons. Just 29 picked Detroit.
321 fans picked the Magic to beat the 76ers. Just 20 picked Philadelphia.
258 fans picked the Celtics to beat the Bulls. 87 picked Chicago.
And in the East’s only fairly close result, 183 fans picked the Heat while 155 picked the Hawks.

As expected, other than the Lakers-Jazz series, the voting was pretty close in the West:

336 fans picked the Lakers to beat the Jazz. Just 17 picked Utah.
241 fans picked the Nuggets to beat the Hornets. 113 picked New Orleans.
224 fans picked the Spurs to beat the Mavericks. 122 picked Dallas.
198 fans picked the Trail Blazers to beat the Rockets. 152 picked Houston.

Hawks beat Heat 81-79 in meaningless game

The AP reports: Flip Murray scored 17 points to lead the Atlanta Hawks reserves past the Miami Heat scrubs 81-79 Tuesday night in a game that shed little light on their upcoming playoff series. With both teams locked into their seedings—they’ll play Game 1 in Atlanta this weekend—there was little incentive for either to give significant minutes to top players. They didn’t. Miami star Dwyane Wade, coming off a career-best 55 points against the New York Knicks, wasn’t in uniform. Neither were Jermaine O’Neal or Udonis Haslem, the latter recovering from a deep cut on his right thumb. Michael Beasley led the Heat with 23 points and 13 rebounds in only 24 minutes. The Hawks rested Maurice Evans and Zaza Pachulia, and kept their starters on the bench much of the night. Speedy Claxton, a $25 million free-agent bust, actually played for the first time in more than two years.

Wade career-high 55, Heat beat Knicks 122-105

The AP reports: Dwyane Wade scored 55 points, one shy of the franchise record, and the Miami Heat wrapped up the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs by beating the Knicks 122-105 on Sunday night. The Heat will visit fourth-seeded Atlanta when the opening playoff round starts this weekend… Wade shot 19-for-30 from the field, set a career high with six 3-pointers, and nearly topped Glen Rice’s record of 56 points before leaving with 1:06 remaining. Some in the crowd—even at least one member of the Heat coaching staff—wanted Wade to get one more chance at the record, but Heat coach Erik Spoelstra chose not to take the risk… Michael Beasley finished with 28 points and 16 rebounds for the Heat, who also got 15 points from Mario Chalmers. Al Harrington and Wilson Chandler each scored 21 points for New York. Quentin Richardson finished with 14 and David Lee had an 11-point, 11-rebound night for the Knicks.

Celtics go to wire before beating Heat 105-98

The AP reports: Paul Pierce spent part of the week looking over the schedule, counting the missed opportunities that cost the Celtics a chance to repeat as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. There was a loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles. Another to the Trail Blazers when Brandon Roy was out… Pierce scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half, including the go-ahead free throws with 97 seconds left to help the Celtics earn their sixth straight win… Rajon Rondo had seven points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for Boston, and Glen “Big Baby” Davis scored 22 points with eight rebounds. Dwyane Wade scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half, adding nine assists, to help the Heat tie it 95-all with just under 2 minutes left. But Boston scored the next eight points to pull away.

Butler, West rise, Hornets beat Heat, 93-87

The AP reports: New Orleans is going back to the playoffs, thanks in large part to dramatics from Rasual Butler and David West. Butler hit a game-tying 3-pointer with no time remaining in regulation, West made the go-ahead jumper with 8.8 seconds left in overtime, and the Hornets stunned the Miami Heat 93-87 on Tuesday night. Chris Paul finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Peja Stojakovic added 24 points for the Hornets (48-29), who not only clinched their postseason berth but stayed thickly in the hunt for home-court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs… Dwyane Wade scored 32 points before getting ejected with 1.4 seconds remaining and Michael Beasley added 25 for Miami (41-37), which remained a half-game ahead of Philadelphia in the race for the No. 5 spot in the East postseason chase. The Heat fell three games behind Atlanta for the fourth seed in the East.

Heat hit 8 4th-quarter 3s in win over Wizards

The AP reports: Three long jumpers in less than 2 minutes, and a one-point lead was up to nine. Soon Michael Beasley, Dwyane Wade and Yakhouba Diawara joined the fun, contributing to a Miami Heat mark for 3s in a quarter in Saturday night’s 118-104 victory over the Washington Wizards… The Heat went 8-for-13 from 3-point range over the final 12 minutes and 14-for-32 for the game… Wade scored 33 points, including three 3-pointers in the fourth, as the Heat remained a game behind the fifth-place Philadelphia 76ers in the jostle for postseason seeding in the Eastern Conference… Jermaine O’Neal and Diawara each added 16 points for the Heat. Miami played without forward Udonis Haslem, who cut his right thumb in Friday night’s win over the Charlotte Bobcats. Caron Butler scored 27 points, and Antawn Jamison had 23 to lead the Wizards, who were without Gilbert Arenas as part of the three-time All-Star’s plan to play in selected games during his comeback from knee surgery.

Wade, Heat beat Bobcats 97-92 to reach playoffs

The AP reports: A year ago, the Miami Heat couldn’t wait to finish a horrendous, injury-plagued season. Now Dwyane Wade and his young teammates plan to be playing deep into the spring thanks to one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history. As usual, Wade led the Heat’s latest milestone, scoring 27 points and dishing out 10 assists on Friday night as Miami clinched a playoff berth with a 97-92 comeback victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. A year after going 15-67, the Heat joined the 1968-69 San Diego Rockets—a team that included Heat president Pat Riley—as the second NBA team to reach the postseason after winning 15 or fewer games the year before. The Rockets also recovered from a 15-67 disaster.

Dirk scores 30, Mavs beat Heat 98-96

The AP reports: With a few seconds left and the Miami Heat down only one point, Dwyane Wade saw teammate Mario Chalmers snatch a rebound and asked for the ball. He would’ve settled for a timeout. Instead, the rookie raced down the court and charged into Dallas forward Josh Howard with 2.3 seconds left. The Mavericks padded the lead with a free throw in the final ticks to pull out a 98-96 victory Wednesday night in a game that often was as intense as the 2006 NBA finals matchup between these clubs… Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points and Howard had 20 points, eight rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists in his second game since missing 11 straight with an ankle problem… “There was a lot of miscommunication going on,” said Wade, who had 23 points and six assists, but wasn’t able to pull off any late-game heroics, in part because of stiff defense by Jason Kidd.

Howard leads Magic past Heat, spoiling Zo’s night

The AP reports: On the night Miami retired Alonzo Mourning’s number, Orlando’s big man wrecked the party. Dwight Howard scored 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, passing Wilt Chamberlain as the youngest NBA player to reach the 5,000-board mark, and the Magic kept their grip on the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference by beating the Heat 101-95 on Monday night. Rashard Lewis scored 21 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:32 remaining for Orlando (55-18), which stayed five games behind Cleveland and percentage points ahead of defending champion Boston in the East race… Dwyane Wade scored 13 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter for the Heat (39-35), whose edge over Philadelphia for the East’s No. 5 seed was trimmed to one game, despite the lift that came from seeing Mourning’s jersey being retired… Backup point guard Luther Head broke his left hand during the game and will miss four to six weeks, meaning there likely will be no way he’s available for Miami’s first-round playoff series.

Wade gets 27, Heat run out to big lead, beat Bucks

The AP reports: At this point, milestones mean little to Udonis Haslem. He’s too busy getting his game in postseason form. Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, Haslem had 16 points and 12 rebounds for his 100th career double-double, and the Miami Heat improved their stance in the Eastern Conference playoff chase by beating the reeling Milwaukee Bucks 102-85 on Saturday night. James Jones and Michael Beasley each scored 11 and Jermaine O’Neal added 10 for the Heat, who snapped a two-game losing streak… Richard Jefferson scored 32 and Dan Gadzuric had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Milwaukee, which lost its fifth straight. The Bucks’ bench was outscored 26-0 in the first half, 37-14 in the game, and no Milwaukee reserve scored until Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’s free throws with 5.2 seconds left in the third quarter.