Tag: NBA PLAYOFFS RECAP

1 Indiana Pacers at 2 Miami Heat

Heat lead series 3-2 coming in

Elimination Game for Pacers

   Throughout the regular season there was question as to who was the best team in the Eastern Conference. Here in the playoffs?  There isn’t a doubt. Lebron James and Chris Bosh each had 25 points, D-Wade and Rashard Lewis each added 13 and the Heat routed Indiana 117-92 to advance to the NBA finals for a 4th straight year, seeking a 3rd straight championship.

  “I’m blessed. Very blessed. Very humbled,” LBJ said. “And we won’t take this opportunity for granted. It’s an unbelievable franchise, it’s an unbelievable group. And we know we still have work to do, but we won’t take this for granted. We’re going to four straight Finals and we will never take this for granted.”

   The Heat lead by as much as 37 and won their 11th straight home playoff game, a franchise record.  “The group loves to compete and loves to compete at the highest level, and be pushed to new levels,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

   For the second year in a row the Pacers fell to the Heat in the Conference Finals “It’s bitterly disappointing to fall short of our goals,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “It’s bitterly disappointing to lose to this team three years in a row. But we’re competing against the Michael Jordan of our era, the Chicago Bulls of our era, and you have to tip your hats to them for the way they played this whole series.”

Only three other times in NBA history has a team gone to the Finals at least 4 times in a row.

Team	App
Celtics (1957-66)	10
Celtics (1984-87)	4
Lakers (1982-85)	4
Heat (2011-14)	4

1 San Antonio Spurs at 2 Oklahoma City Thunder

Spurs lead 3-2 Going In

Elimination Game for Thunder

   Even after their best player was injured the Spurs still pulled through, setting up an NBA finals rematch with a 112-107 OT win over the Thunder. Last year the Spurs blew a 3-2 lead to lose the finals to the Heat. “People keep talking like we weren’t close to winning, but we were ready to win last year,” Spurs center Tim Duncan said. “We’re happy it’s the Heat again. We’ve got that bad taste in our mouths still.”

   Tim Duncan had 19 points and 15 rebounds, Boris Diaw had 26 and Manu Ginobli added 15 points and 6 rebounds for the Spurs, even with San Antonio point guard Tony Parker missing the entire second half. “We didn’t know how much Tony was hurt in his ankle,” Diaw said. “But we didn’t want to go to Game 7, and we didn’t know if he would be ready to play if we did or if he would be 100 percent, so we tried to get it over with tonight.”

   Russell Westbrook had 34 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 steals and NBA MVP Kevin Durant had 31 points and 14 rebounds but 20 Thunder turnovers led to 33 Spurs points and everything went downhill for OKC. “We started settling for too many jump shots,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “It just seemed like we couldn’t get enough good looks at the basket. Defensively, they just had us scrambling around.”

    Derek Fisher played what could have been his final game as a player on Saturday night.

“Obviously, there are a number of people that are going to be impacted by the decision I do make whether I continue to play or [if] I decide to do something else within the game,” Fisher, who is a candidate to be the New York Knicks . “Whatever it is, there is a lot at stake. I’m not going to rush. I’m not going to be emotional.It’s possible that this does symbolize the end of a truly long career,” he added. “I don’t think based on the emotions that I’m feeling right now that it’s smart to start betting on what I will do next.

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

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.”

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.”

1 Pacers at 5 Wizards

Score: Pacers 93, Wizards 80

Series Score: Pacers 4, Wizards 2

SERIES WINNER: PACERS

Key Player: David West: 29 Pts, 6 Reb, 4 Ast

Quote: “With all the adversity, we kept pulling together,” West said. “Guys just showed unbelievable grit, unbelievable toughness.”

2 Thunder at 3 Clippers

Score: Thunder 104, Clippers 98

Series Score: Thunder 4, Clippers 2

SERIES WINNER: THUNDER

Key Player: Kevin Durant: 39 Pts, 16 Reb, 5 Ast

Quote: “Experience has helped us out a lot, just being with each other for so long,” Durant said. “We’ve got a long ways to go. We definitely can get better. This is definitely a series that pushed us to the brink. We were in a tough spot. We stayed together and persevered.”

2 Thunder at 3 Clippers

Score: Clippers 101, Thunder 99

Series Score: Clippers 2, Thunder 2

Key Moment’s: With the game tied at 97 Darren Collinson scored two quick layups to give Los Angeles a 4-point lead going into the final stretch. Russell Westbrook scored for the Thunder to cut it to a two point game, setting up for the crazy finish. Westbrook had the ball as time ticked out, took what could’ve been the game-winning shot…and he missed it! The Clippers tie the series at 2 thanks to a roaring comeback!

Quote: “Even though we didn’t play well throughout the game, we were able to get a win,” Collison said. “That feels more impressive than anything we did.”

1 Pacers at 5 Wizards

Score: Pacers 95, Wizards 92

Series Score: Pacers 3, Wizards 1

Key Moment’s: The Wizards trailed by three with the ball and 6.1 seconds left. A 3-pointer would send it to OT…but on the inbounds pass the ball is stolen!!! PACERS WIN PACERS WIN!!

Quote: “I kept wanting to try to get him a rest, and he kept saying, ‘No,’ ” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said of Paul George who played 46 of 48 minutes. “And usually I’ll override that, but he kept making big shots, too.”

2 Heat at 6 Nets

Score: Heat 102, Nets 96

Series Score: Heat 3, Nets 1

Key Player: Lebron James: 49 Points, 6 Rebounds, 3 Steals

Quote: “This is very difficult to swallow,” Nets center Kevin Garnett said. “Hard to take, but it’s what it is. Coulda, shoulda, woulda doesn’t help us at this point.”

1 Spurs at 5 Trail Blazers

Score: Trail Blazers 103, Spurs 92

Series Score: Spurs 3, Trail Blazers 1

Key Player: Nicolas Batum: 14 Points, 14 Rebounds, 8 Rebounds

Quote: “Why not us? No, it’s never been done before,” Batum said of the possibility of his team coming back from down 3-0. “We know it’s going to be tough. It won’t be easy, especially against this team.”

5 Wizards at 1 Pacers

Score: Pacers 86, Wizards 82

Series Score: Pacers 1, Wizards 1

Key Moments: Roy Hibbert hit a layup to cut the deficit to 1 which sparked a 6-0 run for the Wiz. Then Paul George drove and laid in the layup. After a long three-pointer by Bradley Beal cut the Pacers lead to 84-83 they needed to foul, and ended up choosing David West who made both free throws, sealing the deal.

Quote: “David (West) always talks to me about being the person that rescues yourself when you’re in the middle of the ocean,” Roy Hibbert said “There’s nobody who can throw a lifesaver or a rope out to help you. So I had to do it myself.”

3 Clippers at 2 Thunder

Score: Thunder 112, Clippers 101

Series Score: Thunder 1, Clippers 1

Key Player: Russell Westbrook 31 Pts, 10 Reb, 10 Ast

Quote: “We wanted to come back and respond,” Durant said. “So, I think that’s what fueled the team tonight. We just went out there and played extremely well and left it all out there, and came out with a good `W.”

6 Nets at 2 Heat

Score: Heat 94, Nets 82

Series Score: Heat 2,Nets 0

Key Player: Lebron James (22 Pts)

Quote: “To be able to get some stops like that at the end, and then execute, it’s something that’s critical in this series,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

5 Trail Blazers at 1 Spurs

Score: Spurs 114, Trail Blazers 97

Series Score: Spurs 2, Trail Blazers 0

Key Player: Kawhi Leonard (20 Pts,5 Reb)

Quote: “The onslaught at the beginning of the second quarter was obviously the turning point in the game,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said.

5 Wizards at 1 Pacers

Score: Wizards 102, Pacers 96

Series Score: Wizards 1, Pacers 0

Key Player: Bradley Beal (25 Pts, 7 Reb, 7 Ast, 5 Stl)

Just one thing to say about this game. How are you 7′ 2″ and have 0 Pts and 0 Reb? (Yes I’m talking about you Roy Hibbert)

Quote: “We know it’s a tough building to play in. We haven’t won here in a while,” Trevor Ariza said”Why wouldn’t this be the best time to come here and get a win — in the playoffs?”

3 Clippers at 2 Thunder

Score: Clippers 122, Thunder 105

Series Score: Clippers 1, Thunder 0

Key Player: Russell Westbrook (29 Pts)

Quote: “When somebody’s got it going like that, you just try to stay out of the way as much as possible, but also help keep that fire going,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin said.

6 Nets at 1 Heat

Score: Heat 107, Nets 86

Series Score: Heat 1, Nets 0

Key Player: Lebron James (22 Pts, 5 Reb)

Quote: “It was great that we were able to come out the way we did after being off eight days,” James said. “We got a lot of work in. We had eight days off of not playing a basketball game but Spo got us in the gym. [We] got each other in the gym. We made each other accountable throughout the layoff and it proved tonight.”

5 Trail Blazers at 1 Spurs

Score: Spurs 116, Trail Blazers 92

Series Score: Spurs 1, Trail Blazers 0

Key Player: Tony Parker (33 Pts, 9 Ast)

Quote:”He’s been doing that for a lot of years,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It’s nothing different. He’s the guy that’s our attack guy. [He] creates for everybody and starts the offense. He’s also played very good defense this year and most people don’t really see that.”

1 Pacers at 8 Hawks

Score: Pacers 95, Hawks 88

Series Score: Pacers 3, Hawks 3

Key Moment: After the Hawks took a 84-79 lead the Pacers were in trouble. But when in doubt, they can always count on David West. The power forward led a 16-4 run for the Pacers and Indiana wins it 95-88.

Quote: “He’s our rock,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. “There’s no other way to put it.”

2 Thunder at 7 Grizzlies

Score: Thunder 104, Grizzlies 84

Series Score: Thunder 3, Grizzlies 3

Key Moment: The OKC newspaper called KD “Mr. Unreliable” yesterday. Then he came out  and scored 36 points, carrying the Thunder to the win.

Quote: “We needed to win this game,” Durant said. “That’s more motivation than anything, so our team responded. We’ve got to do an even better job in Game 7.”

3 Clippers at 6 Warriors

Score: Warriors 100, Clippers 99

Series Score: Warriors 3, Clippers 3

Key Moment: Harrison Barnes hit a 3 with 1.1 seconds left to trim the lead to 1 but at that point there was just not enough time and Golden State forces a game 7.

Quote: “It’s exciting. A lot of guys in the locker room haven’t been in a Game 7,” said Stephen Curry

3 Raptors at 6 Nets

Score: Nets 97, Raptors 83

Series Score: Nets 3, Raptors 3

Key Player: Deron Williams (23 Pts, 5 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 Stl)

Quote: “I think that just shows leadership and toughness, and that’s what he did tonight for us,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said.

1 Spurs at 8 Mavericks

Score: Mavericks 113, Spurs 111

Series Score: Mavericks 3, Spurs 3

Key Moment: After coming back from down 6 in the final minute Patty Mills’ shot fell short at the buzzer for San Antonio

Quote: “Put all of our chips on the table and see what happens,” said Monta Ellis

4 Rockets at 5 Trail Blazers

Score: Trail Blazers 99, Rockets 98

Series Score: Trail Blazers 4, Rockets 2

SERIES WINNER: TRAIL BLAZERS!

Key Moment: Damian Lillard hit an incredible buzzer-beater three to win it for the Blazers. Sending the Rockets packing and catapulting Portland into the second round.

8 Hawks at 1 Pacers

Score: Hawks 107, Pacers 97

Series Score: Hawks 3, Pacers 2

Key Moment: Mike Scott hit 5 threes to carry the Hawks to the win.

Quote: “We can play with this team,” Mike Scott said. “They’re a great team, especially at home, great players, great coach, but we have a belief in ourselves as well.”

5 Wizards at 4 Bulls

Score: Wizards 75, Bulls 69

Series Score: Wizards 5, Bulls 1

SERIES WINNER: WIZARDS

Quote: “It just shows our continued growth,” Bradley Beal said. “We played great basketball in this series and we can only continue to get better and better.”

7 Grizzlies at 2 Thunder

Score: Grizzlies 100, Thunder 99 OT

Series Score: Grizzlies 3, Thunder 2

Key Moment: With 2.9 seconds left in OT Kevin Durant let the 3 to win the game fly, it missed but Serge Ibaka was right there to tip it in for the Thunder win! Or was He? After reviewing the play the officials called the shot off, giving the Grizzlies the win.

Quote: “We understand this team very well,” Memphis guard Tony Allen said. “We’ve been playing against this team the last four years with this group. We understand their plays, we understand who they’re trying to run their offense through. We know Kevin Durant is going to take his shots and Russell Westbrook is going to take his shots. We have to contest those shots and stick to our defensive coverages for 48 minutes.”

6 Warriors at 3 Clippers

Score: Clippers 113, Warriors 103

Series Score: Clippers 3, Warriors 2

Key Moment: Just a few hours after NBA commish Adam Silver banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling from any association with the NBA FOR LIFE. The Clippers seemed to have a newfound energy. They came out firing on all cylinders and went on to beat the Warriors by 10.

Quote: “I thought they were great,” said Clippers coach Doc River “I thought they were tired a lot, and that was the result of the last few days. I just thought they had great mental toughness. They wanted to will this game, and I’m just proud of them.”

8 Mavericks at 1 Spurs

Score: Spurs 109, Mavericks 103

Series Score: Spurs 3, Mavericks 2

Key Moment: Tony Parker had a left ankle and had no sleep, just a few hours after his first baby was born. A perfect winning formula? I guess so, Tony had 23 points, carrying San Antonio to the win.

Quote:  “Coming into the game I told him this is perfect for you,” Spurs forward Tim Duncan said. “This is what he does in situations like this where he doesn’t get a lot of sleep or is in a stressful situation. He always seems to play better. I somewhat expected it from him.He was really excited before the game. Obviously, he was really excited to have his son here and wanted to get this game really badly not only for his son but for the situation and the timing of it. He was really focused and it was good for us.”

6 Nets at 3 Raptors

Score: Raptors 115, Nets 113

Series Score: Raptors 3, Nets 2

Key Moment: Kyle Lowry had 36 points last night for the Raptors but none were more important then the go-ahead 3 with 1-minute to play to give the Raptors a 3-point lead and eventually the W.

Quote: “Tonight he made some big shots plays and made some big shots down the stretch,” Jason Kidd said.

5 Trail Blazers at 4 Rockets

Score: Rockets 108, Trail Blazers 98

Series Score: Trail Blazers 3, Rockets 2

Quote: “I just tried to be aggressive,” said Jeremy Lin “I felt like I needed to be a spark for the team.”