Category: NBA (Page 176 of 595)

      ECF Game 4: Magic avoid the sweep

      May 24, 2010 /

      The Magic could have folded. Game 4, on the road, already down 0-3. Teams that fall behind 0-3 have lost 93-of-93 series. The Magic know the odds are stacked against them, but they won Game 4 anyway behind a pretty massive 32-16, four-block effort from Dwight Howard. Jameer Nelson added 23-5-9 and turned the ball over six times, but Orlando had enough to survive, 96-92.

      Donde esta Vince Carter? 1-of-9 shooting, three points, three turnovers. That stat line makes Orlando’s win that much more amazing.

      Despite 68 points from Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, the Celtics shot just 42% from the field and just 28% from long range. The normally productive Boston benched managed just 12 points on 15 shots.

      This win should give Orlando some confidence. If they can win Game 5, the momentum of the series will even out, and the possibility of forcing a Game 7 will be within sight. The pressure will be back on the Celtics to close out the series in Game 6.

      No one is expecting the Magic to come back in the series, so they can play loose. And a loose team is a dangerous team.

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      Mike Brown fired

      May 24, 2010 /

      Per Brian Windhorst of Cleveland.com…

      In a move expected since the team lost three consecutive games to be upset by the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals, the Cavs fired coach Mike Brown on Sunday according to a league source. The news was first reported by ESPN.

      Okay, no shocker there. What was the reason for his dismissal?

      Some Cavs’ players, including LeBron James, also seemed to lose patience with Brown after some of his adjustments and rotations didn’t work against the Celtics in the playoffs.

      However, James is not believed to have made a personal push with management for a coaching change. He left it to the front office to make the final decision.

      Brown seemed to struggle with his rotations after having to incorporate Shaquille O’Neal back into the team in the playoffs after O’Neal missed the final six weeks of the season. He started a lineup in the first game of the playoffs that he hadn’t used all season and the turbulence from multiple players changing roles appeared to upset the balance of the team.

      Those problems plus, according to sources, some disagreement over some game plans for playoff games with some of the team leaders eventually led to some discord in the locker room during the Celtics series.

      I put that bit about LeBron in bold because it may hold a clue to his future. If it’s true that he left Brown’s fate up to management, then it seems like he’s not all that interested in who’s coaching the Cavs, and that’s a bad sign for Cleveland fans that are hoping he re-signs.

      Mike Brown will land on his feet. He bungled the playoff rotations, but that was partly because he had too many good players he had to play, especially when the Celtics started picking the Cavs apart.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

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      WCF: Just like that, we have a series

      May 24, 2010 /

      It’s funny how much things can swing on a single game. Heading into Game 3, everyone pretty much wrote the Suns off and penciled the Lakers into their third-straight NBA Finals. But with last night’s 118-109 victory, the Suns proved a couple of things: 1) they can beat the Lakers in the playoffs, and 2) Amare Stoudemire can outplay Pau Gasol.

      The win gives the Suns confidence and essentially stops the sky from falling. This franchise has been snakebitten for some time, so when the Lakers got up 2-0, you could cut the desperation surrounding this Suns with a knife. Stoudemire was under fire for his play through the first two games, and there was already speculation that he wouldn’t re-sign with the team. Now, the Suns head into Game 4 with some confidence, and they know that if they can win tomorrow night, that they’ll head back to L.A. having won two-straight with an opportunity to steal home court advantage in Game 5.

      It’s going to be interesting to see how the Lakers respond to the Suns’ zone. It’s not like it shut L.A. down — the Lakers shot 48% from the field and scored 109 points. But the Lakers also committed 17 turnovers and shot just 28% from long range. In the first two games, the Suns’ problem wasn’t offense, so even though the zone is a little gimmicky, if they can slow the Lakers down at all, they have a shot.

      The zone took the Lakers out of the triangle and knocked L.A. on its heels a bit. Suddenly, they didn’t know where the defense was coming from and they finally had to adjust to something the Suns were throwing at them, instead of running the same offense that has been so productive all season. It was a desperation move by Phoenix, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

      The NBA playoffs are all about adjustments, and Phil Jackson is one of the best in the game at tweaking his strategy throughout a series. The Lakers should come out in Game 4 prepared for the zone, so the Suns will have to make some adjustments of their own if they hope to head back to Los Angeles with the series tied.

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      WCF Game 3: Suns make it a series

      May 23, 2010 /

      I’ll write more about the game tomorrow — I have a “Lost” finale that is screaming my name — but the Suns played very well in Game 3 and have made this a series. They went to a zone on defense and it puzzled the Lakers a little bit, leading to a 118-109 win.

      Amare Stoudemire (justifiably) took a lot of heat over the last few days, but answered the critics by posting 42-11 on 14-of-22 shooting. Steve Nash went for 17-2-15 and Robin Lopez added 20 points.

      The Suns won despite Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol combining for 24-of-38 shooting and 59 points. Lamar Odom went just 4-of-14 from the field for 10 points and fouled out of the game.

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