Tag: 2011 NBA Playoffs (Page 12 of 16)

      Who’s stepping it up in the NBA Playoffs?

      April 27, 2011 /
      New Orleans Hornets Chris Paul takes a breather during Game 5 of their NBA Western Conference first round playoff basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles, California April 26, 2011. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

      It’s tougher to play better in the postseason because the competition is generally better than the regular season and the games are more intense. That said, there are 26 players (of the 98 who have played at least 90 minutes in the playoffs) that are actually faring better statistically on a per minute basis.

      I calculated Efficiency Per Minute for both the regular season (EPMr) and playoffs (EPMp) and took the difference as a percentage of their performance during the regular season. The resulting percentage is the gain (or drop) in their statistical production in the postseason.

      Here are 26 players that have stepped up their games in the playoffs:

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, NBA

      Granger: Noah “pulled a cowardly move.”

      April 27, 2011 /

      Danny Granger had some choice words for Joakim Noah after the Pacers were eliminated in Game 5, per ESPN.

      “He pulled a cowardly move,” Granger said. “He cheap-shotted a couple of my teammates, and one gets thrown out …

      “The refs never catch what he did … it’s cowardly. And I’m going to say something about it. I wanted to say something about it all the way to the game was over. I just don’t think the game should be played that way. You can play hard and fight and battle, but when you start cheap-shotting people it gets out of hand.”

      For his part, Noah didn’t escalate the situation any further:

      “I played dirty? OK. I’m just trying to win basketball games, man,” Noah said. “It’s the name of the game.

      “I’m just out there trying to do what I gotta do. Like I said, I give a lot of credit to their team. They play hard as hell. They were competitive. I don’t have anything bad to say about them. Everybody saw what happened out there. Now you want to call me a dirty player? I don’t think I’ve ever been a dirty player. It is what it is. It’s OK.”

      Josh McRoberts didn’t seem to take issue with Noah’s play.

      “I’m not mad about it,” McRoberts said. “He got a good hit on me. They caught me trying to hit him back.

      “It’s part of the game. I’m not going to say it’s dirty. That’s Game 5 of a playoff series. You can’t say it’s dirty, it’s part of basketball.”

      Here’s the play in question. You’ll see at the 0:25 mark that Noah was standing still underneath the basket with his elbow raised and McRoberts initiated the contact. Noah does nothing wrong.

      Noah is not a popular player outside of Chicago, but I like his game. He plays with great energy and has a terrific feel for the game, especially for a big man. He is the heart and soul of this Bulls team.

      External Sports, NBA, Video

      NBA Playoffs: Monday Roundup

      April 26, 2011 /
      Memphis Grizzlies’ O. J. Mayo, Tony Allen and Zach Randolph (L-R) celebrate on the bench during the second half against the San Antonio Spurs of Game 4 of their Western Conference first round NBA basketball playoffs in Memphis, Tennessee April 25, 2011. REUTERS/Mark Weber (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

      Grizzlies 104, Spurs 86 (MEM leads series 3-1)
      Things are getting interesting in the West, especially in this 1/8 series between San Antonio and Memphis. The Grizzlies are playing very good basketball right now and beat the Spurs with balance (nine players scored 8+ points). The Spurs shot 47% from the field, which would usually be enough to win, but Memphis shot 51% from the field and 42% from 3PT land, while the Spurs turned it over 17 times. The Grizzlies are in control of the series, but don’t count the Spurs out. They have to win three games in a row, but two of those games are at home, so it’s doable. Right now, it just looks like the Grizzlies are the better, deeper team.

      Mavericks 93, Blazers 82 (DAL leads 3-2)
      Give the Mavs credit. They didn’t fold after blowing a 23-point lead in Game 4. Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, but Dallas was balanced in the fourth quarter with six different players scoring in the first seven and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 20 rebounds, while Jason Kidd dished out 14 assists. As an encore to his brilliant play in Game 4, Brandon Roy only managed five points on 2-of-7 shooting.

      Nuggets 104, Thunder 101 (OKC leads series 3-1)
      Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both scored 30+ points, but it wasn’t enough as Ty Lawson dropped 27 points and five other Nuggets scored in double-figures to help Denver avoid elimination. Westbrook’s play is a little perplexing. He went 12-of-30 from the field and went 0-for-7 from three-point range, including three misses in the final 30 seconds. Can the Thunder win without traditional point guard play from their All-Star?

      External Sports, NBA

      Brandon Roy leads Blazers in epic comeback

      April 23, 2011 /
      Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy (7) acknowledges the crowd after their win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 4 of their NBA Western Conference first round playoff series in Portland, Oregon, April 23, 2011. REUTERS/Steve Dipaola (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

      It’s never a good thing when people describe your knees as “bone on bone,” but that’s the case with Brandon Roy, and that makes what he did in Game 4 all that more amazing.

      The Blazers trailed by 23 points (64-41) with 2:47 to play in the third quarter. Over the final 15 minutes, Portland outscored Dallas by a 43-18 margin, winning Game 4 by two, 84-82. And it was mostly due to Roy’s playmaking and shot-making.

      He hit a three-pointer to close the third quarter, and then scored 18 points (on 8-for-10 shooting, including a backbreaking four-point play) to go along with four assists in the final period. He was involved in 30 of Portland’s final 38 points of the game, including a nine-foot driving bank shot with 0:39 to play that gave Portland the lead for good. It was truly a masterful performance from one of the bright young stars who will unfortunately never have the career he was supposed to have due to those balky knees.

      The series is tied at 2-2 as it heads back to Dallas for Game 5 on Monday night. No word on whether or not Mark Cuban has come down from the ledge.

      External Sports, NBA

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑