Author: John Paulsen (Page 28 of 937)
The game was tied 73-73 with 4:28 to play when LeBron James hit a three-pointer. He followed it up with a 14-foot jumper to give the Heat a five-point lead. After a Taj Gibson inside shot and two free throws from Dwyane Wade, LeBron scored on a putback and then hit a 20-footer to give Miami a nine-point lead with 0:47 to play, effectively pounding the final nail in the coffin.
LeBron posted 29 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Wade added 24 points and nine rebounds in the defensive slugfest. Derrick Rose had an off night, hitting just 7-of-23 shots for 21 points to go along with eight assists and six rebounds. What’s lost in all the talk about Chicago’s defense is that Miami’s defense is almost as good. They were terrific tonight in containing Rose and limiting the Bulls to just 34% shooting from the field. Chicago went a dreadful 3-for-20 from three-point range and made just 16-of-26 free throws.
And just like that, the Heat have regained control of the series, which moves to Miami on Sunday.
This is pretty awesome, outside of the failed chest bump/high five with Omer Asik after the dunk.
The Minnesota Timberwolves had the worst record in the NBA and the best chance to win the #1 overall pick, but ended up with the #2 pick when the Cavs leapfrogged from #8 to #1. GM David Kahn didn’t take the news gracefully. (Brian Mahoney, AP)
Wolves general manager David Kahn said he knew Minnesota was “dead” when it got down to the final three of himself, Utah executive Kevin O’Connor and Nick Gilbert.
“This league has a habit, and I am just going to say habit, of producing some pretty incredible story lines,” Kahn said. “Last year it was Abe Pollin’s widow and this year it was a 14-year-old boy and the only thing we have in common is we have both been bar mitzvahed. We were done. I told Kevin: ‘We’re toast.’ This is not happening for us and I was right.”
I bolded the interesting bit. Kahn went out of his way to point out that he was just saying “habit,” but by doing so it sure seemed he was implying that the lottery may have been fixed without going so far as actually saying it.
Then again, he might have been joking about the fact that he “knew” he was in trouble when there was a 14-year-old kid representing a team in the final three, but with his track record, he should know what to say and what not to say.
Check out this line: 48 points (on 12-of-15 shooting), 24-for-24 from the free throw line (an NBA playoff record), six rebounds, four assists and four blocks.
That’s what Dirk Nowitzki did in Game 1, and the Mavs won, 121-112.
The game was close in the fourth quarter thanks to Kevin Durant (who finished with 40-8-5 in his own right), but the Mavs were too much in the end. Russell Westbrook went 3-for-15 from the field, but scored 14 points from the free throw line to finish with an ugly 20 points.
Jason Terry (24 points) and J.J. Barea (21 points) anchored the bench, while Shawn Marion (11-7-3, one steal, one block) scored some key buckets for Dallas.
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