Category: NBA
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RECAPPING BOTH NBA CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 5’S
2 Miami Heat at 1 Indiana Pacers
Heat lead 3-1 coming in
Elimination Game for Pacers
Paul George had the game of his life on Wednsday, and even that was barley enough. The 6′ 9″ Pacers all-star had 37 points, shooting 12-19 from the field, along with six rebounds, six steals, five three-pointers, and only three turnovers in 45 minutes of play to lead the Pacers top a 93-90 win to stay alive in the playoffs. “My message to the whole team was the light needs to be on green for all of us,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “You need to go, you need to attack, you need to be aggressive. Paul took it and ran with it and took it to a crazy level.”
The other key factor in this game was that four-time Player of the Year and Heat star Lebron James got in foul touble and was limited to only 24 minutes a career playoff-low 7 points. With 4.9 seconds left Chris Bosh’s game-winning 3 fell short and the Pacers won. “We still had enough opportunities to come away with a win,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We just couldn’t get over the hump.” Lance Stephenson seemed to be messing with Lebron most of the game which could have also thrown off the star’s game. “I’m just here to play basketball, man. All the extracurricular activities, I don’t really get into,” James said. “I’m just trying to win. We need one more win to get to the Finals. That’s my only concern. All the extra stuff, whatever Lance wants to do, I don’t really care about that.”
Game 6 is Friday in Miami and will be an elimination game for Indiana.
Key Stat
The Heat scored a season-low 22 points in the paint.
Fun Facts
- Lebron’s teams are 0-9 when he scores 15 or fewer points in the playoffs.
2 Oklahoma City Thunder at 1 San Antonio Spurs
Series tied 2-2
In game 5 of this two-faced series the Spurs routed OKC. “This is the craziest series I’ve ever been involved in,” Future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan said. The Spurs took a 3-2 lead with a 117-89 crushing win led by Tim Duncan (22 Pts, 12 Reb) “I have no clue, honestly,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the disparity. “I think every game, it’s a different animal. It really is. We talk to our team about that all the time. You have no clue what’s going to happen, how a team is going to come out, whether they’re going to be lethargic or hold the ball, get 50/50 balls or don’t get 50/50 balls.”
Manu Ginobli had 19 points and Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green each added 14 more to carry San Antonio to victory.”We gave them everything they wanted,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. “They got the dribble drive, they got the 3-point line and they got to the free throw line.” On the other side the thunder barley scored more point in the 1st quarter (32) than the entire second half (34)”Our shots weren’t falling for us,” Durant said. “We’ve got to stay aggressive and we’ve got to get stops. When we can’t make a shot, we’ve got to play defense, and we didn’t tonight.”
Game 6 is Saturday in OKC and will be an elimination game for the Thunder.
KEY STATS
The Spurs dominated on the three-point line, shooting 13-26 and outrebounded OKC 48-35, however the main key to victory? Fast-break points. After allowing 21 in Game 4 San Antonio limited the Spurs to 4.
FUN FACTS
- The Spurs have won games in San Antonio in this series by an average of 26.7 points
- The Spurs have won a record seven-straight home playoffs games by 15 or more points
MOST CONSECUTIVE HOME WINS BY 15+ POINTS IN NBA PLAYOFFS
2014 Spurs 7 1996 Jazz 6 1985 Lakers 6
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RECAPPING BOTH NBA CONFERENCE FINAL GAME 4’S!
1 Indiana Pacers at 2 Miami Heat (Heat lead 2-1 coming in)
Lebron James had 32 points, Chris Bosh added 25 more and when it was all said and done the Heat were one win closer to an unprecedented 3rd straight NBA title. “We try to get better every single day, every single game,” James said. “When you do that and go out and play the type of game that you are capable of playing, you can be satisfied with the results. And that’s what we’ve built over the years.” The Heat never trailed last night at American Airlines arena in Miami and led by 23 points at one point. “We got outplayed by the Heat,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “I wasn’t disappointed in our fight. I was disappointed in the result.” The result? A 102-90 Miami win that increased the Heat’s series lead to 3-1. The Pacers will now have to win 3 straight in order to win the series. The only advantage? 2 of those 3 games will at home inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse. “We have a chance to play an NBA game on our home floor,” West said. “We are going to try to do something that’s very tough.” Game 5 is Wednsday in Indiana. The main question is, can the Pacers slow down Miami’s prolific offense? “They’re the best offensive team in the NBA,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said.
KEY STAT
This was a one-sided game at the free-throw line. The Heat went 30 for 34 whereas Indiana shot a lowly 11 of 17. “They won this game at the free-throw line,” Pacers forward Paul George said.
FUN FACTS
- For the 22nd time this season and the 4th time in the playoffs 7 foot 2 Pacers center Roy Hibert was scoreless.
- Miami is 8-0 in Game 5’s in the last 4 seasons
- With his 32-10-5 outing Monday night Lebron passed MJ for most career playoff games with at least a 25-5-5 statline.
Player Games LeBron James 74 Michael Jordan 73 Larry Bird 53 Kobe Bryant 52 Jerry West 46
1 San Antonio Spurs at 2 Oklahoma City Thunder (Spurs lead 2-1 coming in)
In his acceptance speech for the MVP award Kevin Durant called Russell Westbrook an MVP-quality player. On Tuesday night in Oklahoma, Westbrook showed what Durant meant. For the second time ever (the only other was Jordan in ’89) a player had at least 40 points, 10 assists, and 5 steals in the NBA playoffs as Westbrook had those exact stats.
“Coach told us he needed maximum effort from us tonight, and it starts with me at point guard,” Westbrook said. “My job is to play both sides of the ball. If you want to win a championship, those are things you have to do.”
“Sometimes he’s going to go off,” Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginobili said. “He’s capable of doing that. If he makes a lot of jumpers, it gets really tough.”
“Just his focus on every possession on the defensive end and his poise on the offensive end, I think that’s what’s fun to watch, people outside of our team don’t really look at that type of stuff,” Durant said “But that’s something we can definitely build on as a group, is watching him wreak havoc on the defensive end and offensively, playing with such patience.”
Even though Westbrook scored 40 points he shared the ball well, allowing NBA MVP Durant to score 31 points. The series returns to San Antonio for Game 5 Thursday after a two-game stint in OKC.
KEY STAT
Fast break points were easily the game-deciding stat. The Thunder had 21, the Spurs? Goose egg.
FUN FACT.
- Serge Ibaka played his second game in the series after coming back from a left calf strain and the Thunder got their second win.
DATE SCORE MIN Tue 5/27 W 105-92 35 Sun 5/25 W 106-97 30 Wed 5/21 L 77-112 0 Mon 5/19 L 105-122 0 - Russell Westbrook outscored and had more steals assists and free throws than San Antonio’s entire starting lineup!
Westbrook Spurs starting 5 40 39 Pts 10 9 Ast 5 2 Stl 14-4 6-8 FT
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PREDICTING GAME 4 OF THE WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
With Ibaka back, I think the Thunder can even up the series! -
RECAPPING GAME 3 OF THE NBA CONFERENCE FINALS
1 Pacers at 2 Heat (series tied 1-1)
Down by 15 points early the Heat could’ve givenup… instead now they’re just 2 wins away from the NBA finals.”A lot of our situations that we’ve been through where we’ve struggled have been against this team,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s what they do to you. They’re very good. It’s a function of their defense. But we had no choice but try to re-gather.”
And they did.
Down 37-22 the Heat, led by Lebron (26 Pts, 5 Reb, 7 Ast, 9-14 FG, 7-9 FT) the Heat made a furious rally to come back and win 99-87. “Tough loss for our guys,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “Thought we competed pretty well, came out of the gates really strong, got off to a good start and then didn’t manage our foul trouble well and didn’t manage picking up their defensive intensity well.””Tough loss for our guys,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “Thought we competed pretty well, came out of the gates really strong, got off to a good start and then didn’t manage our foul trouble well and didn’t manage picking up their defensive intensity well.”
COOL STAT!: In the last 6:22 of the first half the Pacers had more turnovers (6) than Points (5). In the Second half Lebron, Wade, and Allen had more points (47) than the entire Pacers team combined (45).
1 Spurs at 2 Thunder (Spurs lead 2-0)
Just 3 days after he was moved to day-to-day Serge Ibaka came back. The power forward scored 15 points in a crazy return from what was thought to be season-ending left calf strain. “When you talk about a teammate, that’s everything you want in a teammate,” Thunder small forward Kevin Durant said. “I gained so much more respect for Serge for sacrificing himself for the team. Regardless of what happened tonight, that’s something you want beside you.”
Led by Ibaka, Durant, Westbrook, Jackson and Adams the Thunder crushed San Antonio 106-97. “I knew that we were a better team than losing by 30,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “It’s not us. It was us that night, but we’re a much better team than that. I have a lot of respect for San Antonio, but they’re not that much better than us.” Game 4 is Thursday in OKC.
Manu Ginobli had 23 Points and Tim Duncan added 16 Points and 8 Rebounds for the Spurs in the loss. The key to the win for OKC really was rebounding, the Thunder dominated on the boards 52-36.”I was very disappointed that we didn’t come out with more of a foot-in-the-neck sort of attitude,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “They killed us on the boards, they beat us in 50-50 balls and that’s very disappointing to me.”
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GEORGE CLEARED FOR GAME 3
The Pacers have cleared Paul George for Game 3 of the ECF after George underwent the league concussion protocol. George said he briefly “blacked out” after taking a knee to the head in Game 2.The protocol involves several steps of increasing difficulty, A stationary bike, jogging, agility work, and finally non-contact team drills. A player must be symptom-free to move to each step. According to the NBA, “if a player is not symptom-free after a step, he stops until he is symptom-free and begins again at the previous step of the protocol.” However him being cleared came at no surprise “He would have to be chained down to not play,” a source close to George said.
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COULD IBAKA RETURN?
The Spurs have a 2-0 lead over the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals and there might not be much hope for OKC…but could Serge Ibaka come back and save Oklahoma City? Roughly 24 hours ago the Thunder changed his status to day-to-day. Ibaka was expected to miss most of the postseason. “We’re surprised that we’re here, although grateful that he’s made enough progress to say he’s not ruled out,” Thunder GM Presti said of Ibaka. “I think it’s important, when you look at this, to recognize that we’re not saying that he’s playing, but what we’re really trying to indicate is that the information is telling us that we can’t rule him out. A big part of this is the swelling in his calf has reduced incredibly rapidly, more so than any of us could’ve expected or our medical staff could’ve projected, and as a result of that he’s demonstrating a function level and a stability level that’s better than where we thought we would be.” The question is, how much of a difference will Ibaka make? In my opinion it could extend this series to 6 or 7 games but it won’t be enough to advance them to the finals.
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Q&A WHO SHOULD THE CAVS PICK #1? WHAT DO YOU THINK OFF MARK CUBAN’S COMMENT? LANDON DONOVAN US WORLD CUP
Q: Who should the Cavs pick #1?
A: I would take Embiid here but coming off a severe back injury that’s too risky, play it safe, pick Wiggins. Wiggins is arguably the best talent in the draft and while he needs a little more development he can develop into a super star.
Q: What do I think of Mark Cuban’s comments?
A: Saying that a “black kid in a hoodie” is just as frightening as a “white kid that is bald with tatoos all over his face” is a very inappropriate thing for an NBA owner to say and he should be punished in some way.
Q: Landon Donovan left off US WC team, thoughts?
The USMNT final world cup 23-man roster. Notice the lack of Landon Donovan. Donovan has been the face of the roster for the past 10 years and has been on the past 3 world cup rosters but it was the right move, he’s not what he used to be.
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RECAP OF BOTH NBA CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 2’S
2 Heat at 1 Pacers
Score: Heat 87, Pacers 83
Series Score: Heat 1, Pacers 1
Key Moments: When Paul George hit a near 30-footer with 7:19 left to make it a two-possession Pacers lead a normal game might be over… but when you are playing against the big 3 it’s not a normal game. A Lebron 3 and a D-Wade dunk highlighted a 13-2 charge that gave Miami the W and tied the series at 1.
Quote: “That’s why they’re the hundred million dollar guys,” teammate said. “They’re unstoppable. They make the game easy for everyone else when they’re in attack mode.”
2 Thunder at 1 Spurs
Score: Spurs 112, Thunder 77
Series Score: Spurs 2, Thunder 0
Key Player: Danny Green: 21 Points, 3 Rebounds, 3 Steals
Quote: “If they had won this game by one point, we’d still be down 0-2,” Durant said. (We) lost by a lot two games in a row. It’s hard for you to stay together, but we have a group of guys that are not front-runners and we’ll figure it out.”
