Miami 103, New Jersey 92 (Heat lead series, 2-1)
Tied after three quarters, the Heat scored 31 points in the fourth quarter en route to a decisive victory in Game 3, and regained home-court advantage in the process. Dwayne Wayne flirted with a triple-double, posting 30 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, including 14-15 shooting from the charity stripe. Shaquille O’Neal stayed out of foul trouble for most of the game, and went for 19/9 in the process. If Wade is playing well and Shaq is on the court, the Heat are a tough team to beat. The Nets got 43 points from Vince Carter, who made 50% of the shots he hoisted. Nenad Krstic and Jason Kidd combined for 8-26 (31%) shooting, which really hampered New Jersey’s chances.
Phoenix 94, L.A. Clippers 91 (Suns lead series 2-1)
I attended Game 3 in L.A. and the Clippers squandered a golden opportunity to take control of the series, allowing the Suns to steal a victory. Considering that L.A. held Phoenix to 37% shooting, the Clippers problems were all at the offensive end. In the third quarter, L.A. shot a miserable 6 of 20 (30%) from the field and committed five turnovers, which allowed the Suns to build a nine point lead. For some reason, the Clippers stopped running the offense through Elton Brand, and instead used their All-Star as a screener for most of the quarter. This led to an 11-point Phoenix lead before Vladimir Radmanovic caught fire. The 6’10” forward hit four straight three-pointers and added a layup to lead his team on a 16-2 run that gave the Clippers the lead, 79-76, with just under seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter. But the Suns found themselves up by one with 0:28 to play, needing a bucket to seal the win. Steve Nash had a quiet game (12 points, 10 assists), but hit a tough fadeaway jumper with 0:03 to play that put the Suns up three. Radmanovic’s desperation three fell short at the buzzer and just like that, the Clippers’ home-court advantage is gone.
On another note, you know you’re in L.A. when the worst heckle you hear the entire game is “do something about your hair, Nash!”
