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LeBron James Would Improve More This Offseason If the Miami Heat Lose Game 5
June 14, 2014 4:37 pm EDT by Dave Daniels gplus
Steve Mitchell- USA TODAY Sports
Almost everyone predicted that this series featuring the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs would go to seven games, and now the possibility that it could one go five is insanely real.
I want this to be over quick and easy.
That might surprise some basketball fans out there, and especially the ones who know that I love nothing more than for a playoff series to go seven games.
Here is why I want the Heat to lose on Sunday: it would humble LeBron James and spark Pat Riley to action.
“The Chosen One” is not going to leave Miami, and so all those conspiracy theorists can feel free to move on to another article. But another NBA Finals’ loss at the hands of the Spurs would surely force the four time MVP to figure some things out. As for team executive Riley? This offseason is going to be chess and not checkers. It has been rumored that the Heat are going to make a run at Carmelo Anthony, but I question whether that is a realistic opportunity. In any case, I would expect the man who coached Showtime to shake up his roster in this offseason.
If the Heat push this to Game 7 it might give them false hope, and I just want James and company to make this thing better than it ever was. To be even more real about it, who is to say that Tim Duncan won’t come back and put the Spurs back in this position next season? If Kawhi Leonard dreams it, then he can do it.
Dave Daniels is a Senior Writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter: @AllDave_AllDay, like him on Facebook here or add him to your network on Google.
http://www.rantsports.com/nba/2014/06/14/lebron-james-would-improve-more-this-offseason-if-the-miami-heat-lose-game-5/
.. lol, in past years chat here on our State Of Origin series .. http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/south-sydney-fullback-greg-inglis-injury-casts-doubt-over-state-of-origin-game-two-selection-20140607-zs0v5.html .. often used to drift to .. oh, yeah, powers that be want the winner not to be known until the final game (here it's a set 3 games), there were always people suggesting a fix was in .. if/when Spurs win today that would disappoint some .. :)
hi, LA19, lol, talk about Vegas types, hope the pennies are flipping the right way for you these days .. the article above makes sense to me ..
It certainly is stunning the last 2 games at Miami.
LeBron and Heat Are Unraveling - and It's a Wonderful Thing to Watch
Tony Massarotti
June 13 2014 9:34 AM
Boston.com Correspondent
Not one. Not two…
Wait. Yes, two.
Only two.
Two wins in the NBA Finals.
Two series losses, it seems.
Too delicious.
OK, so the Miami Heat haven’t actually lost yet to the San Antonio Spurs, who dizzied the Heat once again last night, in Miami no less, with a flurry of passes and shots from the left, right, inside, outside, and everywhere in between. For the series, San Antonio is shooting an absurd 54.2 percent from the field. The Spurs are shooting 46.7 percent from 3-point distance. From coach Erik Spoelstra and LeBron James to Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and the freakish Birdman, the Miami Heat look like a cast of misfits who couldn’t distinguish between a basketball and a grapefruit.
“I mean, they smashed us,” James told reporters. “Two straight home games, got off to awful starts. They came in and were much better than us in these two games. It's just that simple.”
I don’t know about the rest of you, but heavens, I love this. When the Heat conspired to build their superteam years ago, it felt, well, cheap. James, Wade, and Bosh danced around like little girls on a Miami stage before they had even played a game together, promising a succession of championships as if it were all a forgone conclusion. Now the Heat are about to suffer a second Finals loss to offset their two series wins, and it is as if the Miami players have forgotten that they have to actually, you know, win the titles.
That’s the funny thing about championships, even in the NBA. You actually have to compete for them. James, Wade, and Bosh all but walked the sands in leopard-skin thongs when LeBron took his talents to South Beach, and they’re now getting their sandy bottoms kicked by a Spurs team – and team is the operative word here – that is playing downright brilliant, artistic, surgical, and awe-inspiring basketball.
The Heat? They run a few isolation plays, make an occasional 3, show some rare athleticism, and skill. But they are getting absolutely picked apart tactically, particularly on their defensive end of the floor, and they are being completely and utterly exposed in this series.
James? Oh, he is as good as ever, maybe better, a skilled and fine-tuned locomotive with considerable basketball intellect. But Bosh is a role player in this group and Wade looks more and more like an aging Paul Pierce looked two years ago, so much so that James has possibly been recruiting the NBA’s biggest loser, Carmelo Anthony, to join him.
Don’t you see, Dwyane? This is about you. LeBron doesn’t think you’re good enough anymore. And we can only wonder what he thinks of Spoelstra, whose exasperated looks in this series have him resembling Vinnie Del Negro far more than Pat Riley.
So fine, Miami fans, the Celtics stink. We know. Maybe it will be some time before the Celtics again win a championship. But James, Wade, and Bosh promised big things when they banded together four years ago, and they’re now getting ripped apart to the point where maybe we cannot call the Big Three of South Beach a failure, but we can call them something short of a success.
Things are so bad, in fact, that James might be eyeing a major change to the Miami DNA, assuming he decides to stick around at all.
Remember: he left someone else to love you in the first place.
http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/massarotti/2014/06/lebron_and_heat_are_unraveling.html
Spurs 107, Heat 86
James said, “They smashed us.”
With their symphony of bounce passes, elbow cuts and runners off the glass, the Spurs have made the fundamental fashionable and turned these games into exams. The Heat are still searching for answers. No team in finals history has overcome a 3-1 deficit, and it will take a monstrous effort for Miami to become the first.
Go Spurs
Spurs about to close out Portland tonight seemingly...
Phil Jackson quiets rumors of a rift with James Dolan by talking up Steve Kerr, Carmelo Anthony's contract
Kelly Dwyer
By Kelly Dwyer 15 hours ago Ball Don't Lie
Much like a college basketball team getting its first loss out of the way before the NCAA tournament hits, perhaps it is best New York Knicks owner James Dolan and president Phil Jackson had their first disagreement about something as relatively benign as the firing of unnamed staff this month. Just a chance to reiterate just who is who in this relationship, before it comes time to start arguing about coaches, general managers, players or disclosures with the media.
That’s the report from Frank Isola at the New York Daily News, who revealed Dolan got in the way of Jackson firing several members of the Knicks staff, citing loyalty as the reason. What role this staff did or will play with the Knicks wasn’t listed, but we do know Jackson and Dolan have already just about signed off on the fact that, no, Phil really isn’t completely in charge here.
From Isola’s piece:
Just one month into his role as Knicks president, Jackson has already clashed with Dolan, the chairman of Madison Square Garden, over personnel decisions, the Daily News has learned. According to a team source, Jackson is looking to remove several staff members, which is commonplace when a new administration takes over, but Dolan opposes removing certain employees.
According to the source, Dolan’s reaction to Jackson’s request was to tell the 11-time NBA championship coach to simply focus his attention on building a winning team. To say that “minor friction,” as one Garden source called it, can be classified as Jackson’s honeymoon with Dolan being over may be stretching it a bit.
But at the very least it proves that Dolan — surprise, surprise wasn’t being entirely truthful last month when he claimed he was “willingly and gratefully” giving up control of the basketball decisions to Jackson, the Hall of Fame coach.
The semantics behind the clash are simple. Dolan is allowed to point to his role as head of business operations at Madison Square Garden, and claim that certain staff members fall under his jurisdiction, rather than Jackson’s basketball umbrella. And in many ways, for once, Dolan may come off as the sympathetic figure – protecting the jobs of however many staff members in response to Jackson’s first month pangs in a new gig, looking to clear house without regard to MSG history.
Of course, MSG doesn’t have all that much history worth beaming over, and Dolan reportedly is the same man who harangued a security guard into a temporary loss of a job, just because she didn’t recognize her top boss.
Jackson met with the media on Wednesday to discuss his new team, one that is in flux following the firing of head coach Mike Woodson on Monday, to refocus the media and fans’ attention on chewier topics – finding a coach, and the potential re-signing of star forward Carmelo Anthony.
Much in the same way Jackson used to plant a seed in the referees’ brains between playoff games, angling for future calls, the new Knicks prez brought up the potential for Anthony to accept less in New York to help the team better build a winner around him. Anthony is on record as saying that he cares more about winning than he does money with his next deal, so Jackson smartly made a point to call Carmelo on his bluff. From the New York Times:
“Yeah, sure,” he said to a question about whether he hoped Anthony would take less than the roughly $130 million Anthony could make, thus providing the Knicks greater flexibility under the salary cap.
During the season, which ended last week with the Knicks out of the playoffs for the first time in four years, Anthony said that he would be amenable to earning less to help upgrade the roster.
But Jackson indicated that the reduced rate was now his expectation. In a 24-minute discussion with reporters at the team’s practice facility, he said: “You’ve got to have people making sacrifices, financially, so we hope Carmelo is true to his word and will understand what it’s going to take. And we’ll present that to him at that time.”
Phil went on to say the "precedent" has been set by players in Miami and San Antonio for taking less, although distinctions should be made here: Tim Duncan took less in San Antonio to help his front office maintain its roster, but he’s nearing retirement age. And while LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade took less to help the Heat create some semblance of depth around them, it wasn’t a huge potential pay cut.
Anthony could choose to take less from New York this summer to aid in the team’s rebuilding efforts, he could sign a five-year and nearly $130 million deal this summer with the Knicks, he could merely opt in to the last year of his contract at $23.3 million to see what his options are in 2015, or he could hope teams in Chicago and Houston could finagle their way round the salary cap enough to create either sign-and-trade options or outright free-agent offers that somehow approximated the maximum money he could make on the free-agent market.
This isn’t a Dwight Howard situation, though. There isn’t a championship-contender out there with enough money under the cap to offer a max deal. With the Knicks ways away from winning much, and teams in Los Angeles and Dallas no sure championship thing, Anthony truly is going to have to choose between winning and money. Jackson is hoping to convince him that he can have his cake and eat it too in the Big Apple. From the Times:
“I’m all about moving forward,” he said, pointedly. “Just deal with what is and move forward. If it’s in the cards, man, are we fortunate. If it’s not in the cards, man, are we fortunate. We’re going forward, anyway.”
Anthony is in his prime, and though he’s been accused of inefficient or, at worst, selfish play in his past, most ardent triangle offense observers agree Carmelo would be fantastic in Phil Jackson’s preferred offense.
Who is going to lead that offense, though? Steve Kerr admitted on Sirius XM radio on Monday that he “anticipates” hearing from Jackson sometime this week about the job, and Kerr was the only coaching candidate Jackson discussed by name while discussing his team’s future with reporters on Wednesday. From Newsday:
"I know philosophically we have a strong connection," Jackson said. "Whether he's able to take a job like this, I don't know. I'll get in the conversation with him later on this month and talk to him about it, and see where he's at as far as his desire to coach, and come out in this direction."
Kerr would be leaving a cushy gig that he’s quite good at – basketball analyst for Turner Sports – in order to take on his first-ever coaching job in the toughest media market in the league for a team with few initial draft and salary-cap options, an entire continent away from where his family lives. This is why Kerr’s ascension to the throne is no sure thing.
And it’s also why Ron Harper, who started ahead of Kerr in Chicago and played on five championship teams for Jackson, is also expecting a call of some sort, for whatever role. From the New York Post:
“I would expect so,” Harper said of interviewing for a coaching job. “A few guys are expecting to hear from him. We’re in a wait-and-see mode. Whatever he needs me to do, I will do. He knows that.”
Harper, who lives in Wayne, N.J., works part-time for the NBA doing overseas camps and also helps run a basketball program called Overtime Sports in New Jersey. He was a Pistons assistant coach under Flip Saunders for two seasons in the mid-2000s after playing 15 seasons in the NBA. But he hasn’t been an NBA coach since 2007.
“One thing Phil wants to do is teach what he knows and teach the triangle,” Harper said. “I know it like the back of my hand, inside out, and he knows I love the game.”
Harper initially struggled with the offense in his first season with the team in 1994-95, but he acclimated soon after and excelled to a point where Jackson began starting the longtime shooting guard at point guard on his championship Bulls squads. And when Phil took over in Los Angeles, he immediately moved to sign Harper to start alongside Kobe Bryant with the Lakers.
And, look! We just spent hundreds of words discussing everything but the report that Phil Jackson and James Dolan butted heads on behind-the-scenes personnel matters! Nicely done, gents.
Jackson didn’t brush off questions about Frank Isola’s report on Wednesday, it should be noted. From the Times:
Jackson did not dismiss the report, saying: “I like to know that the people who are here want to buy in and they want to be part of it and throw their entire being into what we’re trying to do. If they have a brand or stamp on them that puts them as Phil Jackson’s guy or whatever, that’s not important. It’s important that we join forces and minds and work together.”
Jackson not only cleared out the Lakers coaching staff when he took over in 1999, he pushed to reassign several longtime assistant coaches and scouts, and brought over significant members of his former Chicago Bulls medical staff to also throw his brand around a bit. His influence was so prominent out of the gate that then-general manager Jerry West left the only team he’d ever known after nearly four decades and yet another championship in 2000. This is how Phil works. If he doesn’t like your aura, you’re off the bus. Sometimes literally.
Perhaps this is why he’s found a kinship with James Dolan.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/phil-jackson-quiets-rumors-of-a-rift-with-james-dolan-by-talking-up-steve-kerr--carmelo-anthony-s-contract-195129144.html
Another Coach Spun Out the Garden’s Revolving Door
APRIL 21, 2014
The Knicks have fired another coach, and to this we may all shrug and say, What else is new?
Is Madison Square Garden still located in Midtown? Is the owner James Dolan’s middle initial still L? Are Spike Lee’s arms still spread wide in front of him at courtside in apparent disbelief that he remains a Knicks fan?
Spoken before the Knicks’ season ended Wednesday night, Mike Woodson’s famous last words will be recalled as, “I’m the only guy for this job.” History and the new team president, Phil Jackson, a man from the franchise’s championship past, respectfully disagreed.
Since Red Holzman’s first tour of bench duty produced the franchise’s only two championships (in 1970 and 1973), 18 coaches have come and gone (including Holzman in a second, early 1980s go-round) if you count poor Herb Williams, a two-time interim coach.
That number falls short of the 22 men who have managed the Yankees since 1978, but that includes the George Steinbrenner binge-firing years, when Steinbrenner hired and fired Billy Martin five times, along with Bob Lemon, Lou Piniella and Gene Michael twice. The Nets have employed 20 coaches in that span, but they were among the most unstable franchises in sports while in New Jersey, and not exactly desirable company.
Let go Monday morning, Woodson departs after two-plus seasons with the third highest regular-season winning percentage (.580) in franchise history, behind Pat Riley (.680) and Jeff Van Gundy (.590). In the words of the longtime Knicks fan John McEnroe: big deal. At the World’s Most Famous Arena, coaching fame is indisputably fleeting.
Knicks coaches are human bowling pins, set up to be knocked down or to wriggle away before inevitably being targeted again by the wrecking ball. Since 1978, when I began reporting on the Knicks for The New York Post, I have seen all 18 disappear, starting with the coaching demise of my boyhood hero, Willis Reed (more on that later).
The Knicks’ list of former coaches is a virtual who’s who of N.B.A. history. Since 1991, they have employed three who sit atop the career list of regular-season victories: Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens and Riley, along with Larry Brown, No. 6.
Mike Woodson is the 24th Knicks coach to have come and gone since the start of the 1949-50 N.B.A. season.
All arrived ceremoniously, to varying degrees. None managed to depart with a heartfelt toast at center court, much less in the office on a Friday afternoon.
A few of the luckier Knicks coaches of the modern era — Riley, Van Gundy, Rick Pitino — actually liberated themselves, fleeing the Garden’s corporate minefield before they stepped on the ego of the ownership, a vigilante executive or a well-leveraged player (see Mike D’Antoni versus Carmelo Anthony).
D’Antoni technically resigned two years ago, paving the way for Woodson, while Nelson departed upon request 59 games (of which he had won 34) into the 1995-96 season because, well, Patrick Ewing wanted him gone.
Van Gundy, an inherited Riley assistant, moved into the big boy seat and stayed there long enough to rack up 248 wins (a franchise third best behind Holzman’s 613 and Joe Lapchick’s 326) and lose most of his hair.
Having narrowly dodged dismissal in 1999, he quit 19 games into the 2001-2 season, replaced by Don Chaney. Moral of the story: As Nelson learned (he replaced the legendary Riley, who faxed in his resignation on the way to Miami), never follow someone who didn’t get fired. Chaney lasted 184 games, lost 112 and was escorted out of the Garden after reporting for a game one night.
Williams, who survived through six head-coaching regimes as an assistant before the ax came Monday, replaced Chaney for one victorious game and gave way to Wilkens, a Hall of Fame player and coach, who left 81 games later. Williams returned for 43 games (he ruined his perfect record by losing 27) and gave way to Brown in 2005.
Known for his short-lived commitments, Brown met his match in the Knicks job, lasting one chaotic season, 2005-6, and whining everywhere but at the bank, where he deposited a staggering $30 million after a contract settlement.
Yes, there have been solid financial benefits to coaching the Knicks, even when they did not come from the ownership. Pitino used the job from 1987 to 1989 to showcase himself for a haul to rebuild a scandal-marred Kentucky program. That prompted a furious general manager, Al Bianchi, to replace him with the inexperienced Stu Jackson to prove — as Bianchi once told me — that anyone could coach the team he had assembled.
When that plan (surprise) failed, John MacLeod (remember him? Great Phoenix-induced tan?) dropped by for 67 games in 1990-91. That led to Riley, who changed everything and came within a victory in the 1994 N.B.A. finals of achieving a Holzmanesque place in franchise history.
But Riley left in an in-house dispute over power, a way of Garden life, going all the way back to Holzman and Reed, the beloved captain of the title teams. When Reed succeeded Holzman without prior coaching experience for the 1977-78 season, he believed he would be given a respectable spell in which to grow into the job. He made the playoffs in his first season, but rumors soon swirled that Sonny Werblin, the new Garden president, wanted Holzman back.
At the end of a long newspaper strike that fall, I rushed out to Seattle in time to hear Reed say that, yes, the rumors were affecting his young players. The next day’s back-page headline, something to the effect of “Willis to Sonny: In or Out,” sealed his fate.
Back came Holzman for another 314 games, followed by Hubie Brown, who simultaneously charmed everyone and drove them crazy for the next 344 through the Bernard King era. On it went, a merry-go-round of change often for the sake of change, with short, forgettable tenures (Bob Hill, anyone?) connecting Hubie to his onetime assistant Pitino; similarly, Van Gundy had worked as a volunteer assistant for Pitino at Providence.
Even Woodson had a Knicks lineage, playing as a rookie in 1980-81 for Holzman. Finally, we have a true Holzman disciple, the N.B.A.’s most credentialed coach, in Jackson, with his 11 championship rings and his famous triangle offense.
Except he’s no dummy, and he knows his team history. With a five-year deal that has just begun, he will hire — and probably fire — the next Knicks coach, and quite possibly a couple after that.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/sports/basketball/another-coach-spun-out-the-gardens-revolving-door.html?ref=sports&_r=0
Injury and Math Dim Hopes for Knicks
By SCOTT CACCIOLAAPRIL 9, 2014
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Another day as a member of the Knicks meant conditioning work and shooting drills, a focus on the immediate future (four remaining games) and a sad reassessment of the team’s playoff odds (slim to none).
Carmelo Anthony left practice early to tend to his injured shoulder. Mike Woodson went over a few plays. Phil Jackson was somewhere doing something.
“He’s here conducting business,” Woodson said of Jackson. “He’s doing things that he’s supposed to be doing, and he’s letting me coach. That’s all you can ask at this point.”
Time is running out for the Knicks, whose postseason aspirations have become a math problem with no obvious solution. They have a dwindling number of opportunities to catch the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference, and even then, they need lots of help. As Amar’e Stoudemire put it, “We know it’s going to be tough.”
He might have been underselling the challenge. The Hawks beat the Boston Celtics, 105-97, on Wednesday night to move two games ahead of the Knicks. The Hawks (35-43), who trailed the Celtics by 9 points late in the fourth quarter before coming back to win, entered the game with a 96.5 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to the statistical analysis website SportsClubStats.com.
The magic number for the Hawks now stands at two: any combination of Atlanta victories or New York losses totaling two would clinch the eighth seed for the Hawks, who have four games left in the regular season. This is all very bad news for the Knicks.
“We put ourselves in this predicament,” Stoudemire said, “and unfortunately we have to win every game at this point to get in. It’s been a roller-coaster year for us so far. But to be optimistic, we have a chance to make the playoffs still. We just got to make sure we take care of business.”
The aforementioned business will start Friday night in Toronto, against the Raptors, and Woodson expects Anthony to play. Anthony has struggled in two games, both losses, since straining his right shoulder against the Nets on April 2. In Sunday’s loss to the Miami Heat, he went 4 of 17 from the field before ceding the offense to J. R. Smith, who attempted 10 3-pointers in the fourth quarter — a solo act that seemed to annoy Stoudemire, who groused about the Knicks’ abandonment of their post players. (Smith finished 11 of 28 from the field.)
“I know there was some bickering going on out there about how we didn’t play inside enough,” Woodson said. “But for the most part we have established an inside game with Amar’e and with Melo, and we’ve shot a ton of threes as well. We have to keep it in that range where it’s not so one-sided.”
Anthony has a history of shoulder problems. Last April, he tore the labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder in a game against the Indiana Pacers. He struggled with his shooting touch in the playoffs but opted against off-season surgery.
The injury to his right shoulder has the potential to be more worrisome, if only because it involves his shooting arm. Anthony did not speak with reporters Wednesday. Woodson said Anthony participated in conditioning and shooting drills before retreating to the trainer’s room to receive treatment.
“Only Melo knows the severity of his pain,” Woodson said. “All I can try to do is put him in the best position possible, and if he tells me it’s hurt, can’t play, then it’s my job to sit him. But I don’t know if he’ll ever tell me that.”
The 2014 Masters Pool is now open for business!!!
http://investorshub.advfn.com/Golfs-Major-Championships-GMC-2442/
1. You pick 5 players for the tournament. You can only pick 1 player from the top 5 in the world ranking. The top 5 are Woods, Scott, Stenson, Day and Mickelson.
You must also pick a tie breaker total score...even par for the 4 rounds is 288.
2. Teams must be submitted prior to the first group teeing off on Thursday April 10th.
3. Must have fun
4. The winner will be the team with the highest total dollar total at the end of the Tournament.
5. Points will be deducted for spelling mistakes and poor punctuation.
6. All of Fred's decisions are final.
7. No gimmees or mulligans allowed.
8. Void where prohibited.
9. Late entries will be allowed but you can only pick from players that have not teed off.
Knicks suck. Owner sucks more. Apparently the last best hope for the Knicks now is Phil Jackson and wait till next year.
The Washington low IQ loss was the nail in the coffin...alt wins 2 games and the knick essentially have to win a short po series best 3 of 5....starting today vs heat
For Knicks, Mediocrity Is No Bar to Postseason
By BENJAMIN HOFFMAN
A late-season surge is likely to send the Knicks to the N.B.A. playoffs with a sub-.500 record as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Playing Like a Playoff Team, the Knicks Move Into Eighth
By SCOTT CACCIOLAAPRIL 2, 2014
Madison Square Garden has been the site of so much sadness this season. So much flimsy defense. So much losing. So many boos.
Yet for a variety of reasons, including the generosity of their conference opponents, the Knicks have worked themselves into playoff contention. If it was a goal that once seemed impossible, the Knicks on Wednesday took a robust step toward making it happen by demolishing the Nets, 110-81, before a festive crowd.
“Anything is possible,” Coach Mike Woodson said. “I’ve never given up hope in our team and the direction where we could go and should be.”
Great. They make the playoffs and go out in the first round.
Electrifying Rivalry and Overheated Scoreboard in N.B.A. All-Star Game
By SCOTT CACCIOLAFEB. 17, 2014
NEW ORLEANS — After 45 minutes’ worth of pregame festivities that included a music concert, an appearance by Snoop Dogg, streamers that fell from the ceiling and player introductions, LeBron James finally christened the N.B.A. All-Star Game on Sunday night in familiar fashion: with a steal near midcourt, a handful of loping strides and a dunk with just the right amount of ferocity.
It was the opening possession, and it proved to be the rare sequence that actually featured defense as James helped lead the East to a 163-155 victory over the West at Smoothie King Center. The 318 combined points set an All-Star Game record.
Comparisons between James and Kevin Durant, the league’s two most transcendent forces, dominated the weekend. For both players, the questions were unavoidable, much of the chatter fueled by the news media, though neither went out of his way to play down the sense that their rivalry is a growing one.
Durant, who has led the Oklahoma City Thunder to the league’s best record this season, scored 38 points. James, the star of the Miami Heat, finished with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists for the East — a muted performance as players from both sides clogged the box score in a dizzying affair.
Consider that the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony set an All-Star game record by sinking eight 3-pointers on his way to 30 points. His final 3-pointer gave the East a 4-point lead with 1 minute 4 seconds remaining to seal the win. Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers had 31 points and 14 assists to earn Most Valuable Player honors.
And then there was the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin, who had seven dunks in the first quarter alone and finished with 38 points.
With Durant drawing more attention than ever, James has sounded increasingly concerned with his stature and his legacy. Perhaps it is a coincidence, or perhaps not. In a recent interview with NBA TV, James named Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson as the four greatest players of all time — residents of a basketball Mount Rushmore. But James said he could see himself replacing one of them by the end of his career.
“For sure,” he said. “And if they don’t want me to have one of those top four spots, they better find another spot. We’ve got to bump somebody.”
He added: “That’s not for me to decide. That’s for the architects to chisel somebody’s face out and put mine up there.”
James has won two championships with the Heat and four M.V.P. awards, including the last two, but he clearly craves more respect, more accolades, more of the spotlight. On Saturday, he reiterated that individual awards still mattered to him because it meant his hard work was amounting to something.
As for Durant, James said he was impressed with his development, though he also seemed careful not to concede too much. “He’s put himself in one of the top spots in the N.B.A.,” James said.
That was one way of putting it. Durant has played at an extraordinary level this season, averaging 31.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists. His work has been even more impressive given that he has done it for long stretches without the help of Russell Westbrook, whose knee injuries have limited him to 25 games.
Durant turned in one of his finest performances on Jan. 29, when he engaged in a late-game duel with James in a 112-95 victory over the Heat. Durant finished with 33 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists — totals similar to his season statistics. That he did his damage at James’s expense only added to the intrigue.
On Friday, Durant seemed to send mixed messages about how he felt about the whole Durant versus James narrative. Asked to assess his level of fatigue with the topic on a scale of 1 to 10, Durant gave it “about a 25.” He added: “It’s every day. You should really focus on how good LeBron James is. I think people should appreciate that more than always comparing guys.”
Yet only hours later, during TNT’s broadcast of the Rising Stars challenge, which was highlighted by a torrid one-on-one matchup between Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dion Waiters, Durant said he would love to face off against someone that way in the All-Star game. Would that someone be James? “Probably, yeah,” Durant said.
It was the matchup that fans most wanted to see, and they got their wish late in the first half, though not with the results they expected. In the closing seconds, James misfired on a 3-point attempt over the outstretched arms of Durant, whose subsequent buzzer-beating attempt from 28 feet caromed off the front of the rim.
Still, the stage belonged to them as another star was left in the shadows. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, resplendent in a sand-colored suit, was voted to start by the fans but did not play because of a knee injury that could sideline him for the remainder of the season. “It’s been a slow process,” he said before the game.
It was only three years ago that Bryant, 35, dominated the All-Star game, collecting 37 points and 14 rebounds while outshining his peers. His life has changed, the creeping toll of age becoming more apparent. Bryant said he was hopeful that he would be able to play at a high level again, but he also reflected on his own mortality as a player: “It’s not the mind that wears down; it’s the body.”
Bryant said he had kept himself occupied by rehabilitating his knee and by watching the Olympics. He said he spent Saturday attempting to figure out the rules to curling.
“It’s tough coming here,” he said, “because normally when you come, the competitive juices are already flowing. Now, it’s kind of looking at it from a different perspective.”
On Sunday, Bryant’s view was from the bench as the game moved along without him.
Odd Ending for Lakers
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSFEB. 6, 2014
The depleted Los Angeles Lakers had to keep Robert Sacre on the court after he fouled out in the fourth quarter of a 119-108 victory at the Cleveland Cavaliers. Los Angeles’s first win after seven straight losses was overshadowed by a bizarre ending. When Chris Kaman fouled out and Jordan Farmar left with an injury, the Lakers were down to five players. So Coach Mike D’Antoni had to keep Sacre in the game after he committed his sixth foul with 3 minutes 32 seconds left, drawing a technical. The N.B.A. does not allow teams to field four players. At that point, each subsequent foul triggers a technical.
What Tim Duncan Deserves, but Never Seems to Receive
FEB. 5, 2014
We know what N.B.A. All-Star voting has typically been: a chance for fans to participate in the selection process for a showcase. No registration is required to prove that one knows Kobe Bryant from Krusty the Clown. It’s a popularity contest that cannot be taken seriously.
But that’s only for the starters. It is the coaches who choose the reserves. It is the coaches who talk about respecting the game, playing it right and recognizing substance over style. They understand, or should understand, the immeasurable contributions that win the games that count the most.
In the case of the Western Conference, what is the coaches’ excuse for discounting Tim Duncan?
Something is wrong when Duncan — a 14-time All-Star and 4-time champion, who missed a fifth ring by the thinnest of margins last spring — is not shown the same respect as other N.B.A. greats. When Duncan — at 37, still playing at a remarkably high level for a San Antonio team that remains stubbornly among the elite — is not rewarded for all that he has been and still is.
Many who know Duncan will shrug and cite his career-long reticence when it comes to promotional forums and platforms.
“I’m sure Tim will be happy to have the time off to be with his kids,” said R. C. Buford, the Spurs’ general manager, referring to All-Star weekend, Feb. 14-16, in New Orleans.
After a pause, he added: “I’m also sure his feelings are hurt a bit. He’s just never been one to show them.”
On the subject of Duncan’s unexpressed feelings, last season ended with a most public display of suffering over a Game 7 loss in the league finals in Miami, to the point where it was painful to watch. We saw him slap the floor with both hands after missing a late-game jump hook and a tap-in, and sink to his knees in apparent surrender after LeBron James’s title-clinching jumper.
We saw him on the bench, close to tears, unable to manufacture his familiar mask of indifference.
Doesn’t caring so deeply also count as helping to sell the game? Doesn’t playing and behaving selflessly and professionally for 17 years promote the league in a way that cannot be quantified in numbers like jersey sales?
Doesn’t seamlessly executing scores of high screen-and-rolls and setting the example in making the Spurs a basketball purist’s dream team speak to those who might otherwise be inclined to dismiss the N.B.A. as a rapacious dunk-and-pony show?
In a telephone interview, Buford agreed that the Duncan snub reflected a general attitude about the Spurs organization, which has long recognized the league and shoe company agenda for selling “Allen Iverson and hip-hop.”
He added: “For years people have told us, ‘You need to market yourselves more, open up your practices.’ But we always felt that if you handle yourself in a way that’s professional, do the things that are important, have good people, why do you have to be something you’re not?”
Buford offered the educated guess that Duncan, who received 492,657 fan votes, sixth among Western Conference frontcourt players, was more insulted by the coaches’ exclusion. He also acknowledged that the selection process was complicated in the talent-laden West, where Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Kevin Love were chosen by the fans as starters, and Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki and LaMarcus Aldridge were added by the coaches.
In his first season with the rising Houston Rockets, Howard is averaging more points (18.3) and rebounds (12.3) than Duncan (15.1 points, 10 rebounds) but in five more minutes per game. Duncan averages more assists (2.9) and blocked shots (2.1) than Howard (1.7 assists, 1.8 blocks).
But beyond the numbers, a strong case can be made that Howard does not come close to Duncan as a proponent of what matters most — winning with team-first values.
“What nobody knows and nobody sees is the time he puts in, how he has always been the basis of what our program has become,” Buford said. “No matter how difficult it is for him to verbalize, we all see it, the angst of him missing the shot, how he beats himself up more than any great player I’ve ever seen.”
Even now, months later, the subject of not winning Game 6 in Miami after it seemed to be in hand casts an instantaneous pall over a conversation with a member of the Spurs. Buford did not deny the toll it took on Duncan. Just the same, he said, softy, “Tim was the first guy back in the gym, within days.”
In recent N.B.A. telecasts, Jeff Van Gundy has had fun contending that no player from a losing team should be an All-Star. That is extreme, and the fans, as long as they are voting, wouldn’t have it.
That said, the Spurs will step onto the Barclays Center floor in Brooklyn on Thursday night to play the Nets with roughly the same record as Miami, which landed three players on the albeit less-formidable Eastern Conference team.
But by choosing only Tony Parker from the Spurs, haven’t the coaches mimicked the marketers and shortchanged a team that for a generation has raised the maturity bar and brought adult appeal to a sport overrun with branding hype targeted to youth?
The coaches should have known better, but there’s a chance for Duncan to be added to the All-Star team by Commissioner Adam Silver as an injury replacement for Bryant or possibly Chris Paul.
Buford sighed at the mention of that.
“That’ll really tick him off,” he said.
Mark Cuban fined before Stern's exit
Updated: January 19, 2014, 8:10 AM ET
DALLAS -- The NBA office granted Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's wish, fining him one more time before commissioner David Stern's Feb. 1 retirement.
Stern announced Saturday that Cuban has been fined $100,000 for confronting officials on the court and directing inappropriate language toward them at the conclusion of the Mavs' 129-127 loss Wednesday night to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Cuban took to Twitter in response to the fine:
Mark Cuban
I couldnt let the commish go without a proper farewell. Its been a fun 14 years of trying to create change and donating to the donut fund !
8:03 PM - 18 Jan 2014
He added in another tweet that he would donate an equal amount to a charity.
Cuban's latest outburst occurred after the Mavs blew a 17-point lead and Clippers guard Jamal Crawford scored the go-ahead points on free throws after a controversial foul call against Dallas forward Shawn Marion.
Cuban has said several times this season that he planned to draw the final fine of Stern's 30-year tenure as commissioner. Cuban reiterated that intention to ESPN.com this week before his outburst Wednesday night.
This is the 20th time the league has publicly assessed a fine against Cuban since he bought the Mavs in Jan. 2000, including 14 fines that were the result of criticizing officials or interacting with them in ways the NBA deemed inappropriate.
Those fines have cost Cuban a total of $1.9 million, plus matching donations to charities of his choice.
MERRY CHRISTMAS. eom
This is Knicks basketball 2013, a perfectly enervating, draining, devitalizing and otherwise desultory hoops experience.
For those wise enough to spend a warm winter-solstice day outside — or who decided, more profitably, to stare at their ceiling Saturday afternoon — allow me to break the news: The Knicks lost, 95-87, a game not remotely as close as the score indicates. I’m tempted to call them “my” Knicks, but using the personal pronoun amounts to an exercise in self-flagellation.
Injured and out of sync, the Memphis Grizzlies came tumbling into Madison Square Garden on a five-game losing streak and immediately took the look of men revived. The Knicks’ big men were Gandhian in their lack of resistance. By mid-third quarter, I counted 15 unimpeded layups and dunks.
Knicks guards were gentlemanly, offering “Could I take your hat and guide you to the hoop?” defense. Mike Conley, the Grizzlies’ point guard, would dribble down, give the vaguest of dekes and prance toward the hoop.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/sports/basketball/escalating-crisis-of-faith-for-knicks-true-believers.html?ref=sports&_r=0
They really are pathetic
Knicks suck.
Randolph, Grizzlies Beat Knicks 95-87, End Skid
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 21, 2013 at 3:22 PM ET
Ah, gotcha, lol .. thanks, LA19 .. good night.
Let's see what's in store, but you know Vegas runs this, right. LOL!!!!
Good-night
lol, interesting TO THE END .. sure will be .. when is the next game. again? .. shucks not until 27 March!!!
Thursday, 27 March, 11:00 am Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Miami Heat @ Indiana Pacers
then April 12 from the click down ..
March .. ok ..
LOL, j/k bro. Pacers always bring a good challenge and it will be interesting in the END.
HEAT#1
wow .. lol, like i said it would keep the rivalry more interesting .. thanks ..
ooh .. Pacer 92 Heat 89 .. closer than earlier .. don't
know how much time was left .. maybe it's over now ..
lol, good younger .. helps even more when older
.. hang on to it, research says it boosts longevity ..
Like a 40 yr old baby. Lol!
Lol, do now .. after first search, does he play music? .. then
checked, and he isn't ""Baby Gramps"" because he is a good guitarist ..
do you know what Bleacher Report suggested as a nickname for Oden in 2007? .. and why?
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1345-dear-greg-odenget-a-nickname
how did i get there? .. i wondered when he got his nickname, still don't know, but it
must have been when he was a bit older .. lol .. you do like a bit of fun, that's good ..
Lol, "Baby Gramps". Bet you don't know why they gave him the nick name. Trivia right back at ya! LOL
LA19 .. ____ has a fan on Pacers sideline
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/sfl-ira-nba-column-s121513,0,426706.column
.. if you can't fill the blank correctly then there could be a bit of new trivia inside .. there could be as the
question is a sort of fuzzy one, so you might know even if you don't fill the blank .. the next Pacer-Heat
meeting game i see is your Thursday, 19 December, 11:00 am AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami, Florida
1-1 could make the future more interesting, so that would be ok, too .. lol, 5 days of anticipation ..
y/w .. i'll try not to forget the next game between
the two .. lol, hope you like a bit of fun .. GO PACERS!
lol .. just thought of it AND just reporting the result, is all .. GRIN ..
I was just talking about that game, and you came into mind, lol. I knew you could not resist. Good game, well BE BACK =)
Heat 84 (16-6, 7-4 away) .. Pacers 90 (19-3, 10-0 home)
Coverage: NBATV
7:00 PM ET, December 10, 2013
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
.......... 1 ... 2 .... 3 .... 4 .... T
MIA .. 30 .. 17 .. 17 .. 20 .. 84
IND .. 19 .. 21 ... 28 .. 22.. 90
Top Performers
Miami: L. James 17 Pts, 14 Reb, 6 Ast, 2 Stl
Indiana: R. Hibbert 24 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Blk
Pacers rally in second half to top Heat in clash of East's best
Associated Press
.. VIDEO .. Pacers Take Down Heat
SportsCenter Highlight of the Night: Roy Hibbert scored 24 points to lead the
Pacers past the Heat 90-84.Tags: Pacers, Heat, Roy Hibbert, Paul George, LeBron James
video playlsist - David West On Beating The Heat - http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=10117258
INDIANAPOLIS -- Roy Hibbert .. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/3436/roy-hibbert .. threw all the inside body jabs Tuesday night. Paul George finished it off with the knockout blow.
Together, the Pacers' devastating one-two scoring punch did it again to the champs.
-----
More From ESPN.com
The Pacers and Heat turned up the intensity Tuesday in what could be the first of 11
games this season between the East's heavyweights, Brian Windhorst writes. Story
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-131210/heat-pacers-renew-rivalry
Following Tuesday night's loss to the Pacers, the Heat head back to Miami
after a .500 road trip with issues at hand, Michael Wallace writes. Blog
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/19298/heat-looking-to-unpack-some-answers
• Grantland: Playoff intensity? You bet!
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/85401/a-few-of-our-favorite-things-from-pacers-heat
• Stats & Info: LeBron slows George
http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/80268/george-sparks-pacers-after-shedding-james
• Heat Reaction .. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/19294/heat-reaction-grading-heat-pacers
| Heat Index .. http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/
Hibbert finished with 24 points, George made two big 3-pointers during a 15-point second half scoring spree and Indiana rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take Round 1 against Miami 90-84.
"It was fun, a real intense game," George said. "Both teams were playing at a high level. You could see an urgency to win this game tonight."
While Indiana extended its franchise-record home start to a perfect 10-0 and took a three-game advantage over Miami in the early chase for home-court advantage, this was no ordinary regular season game.
During pregame media availability, Indiana's Lance Stephenson said this game felt like a championship matchup. Two of Miami's big three, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, tried to downplay that sort of talk by explaining this was not a win or go home night.
The hometown fans didn't care what the Heat thought. They were already in postseason form, booing loudly at the officials, chanting "He's a flopper" on some contestable foul calls and eventually serenading Miami players with those familiar chants of "Beat the Heat."
But the Pacers (19-3) also understood this was only the start of a season-long quest that could pit the two best teams in the East in the conference finals for a second straight year.
First, there's the rematch in Miami on Dec. 18. They won't meet again until March 26 in Indy, then head back to Miami on April 11 before what most expect to be a third straight meeting in the playoffs. If those games have as much intrigue and pizazz as Tuesday night's showdown, they may be the most compelling all season.
And the Pacers can't wait to show how much they can improve -- even on a win over the two-time champs and four-time MVP LeBron James .. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/1966/lebron-james .
-----
Indiana's Home Heat's Temple of Doom
The Pacers earned their fourth straight regular season home victory
over the Heat. Here's how the two teams have compared in those matchups.
............ Heat ..... Pacers
Wins ...... 0 .......... 4
PPG ...... 85.0 ...... 96.0
RPG ...... 31.8 ...... 45.3
-- ESPN Stats & Information
-----
"It's just one game," Hibbert said. "We're going to learn from it. It's a learning experience. It's still early in the season. We have a lot more work to do."
To the average fan, it looked a lot like last season's playoff series, which Miami won in seven games.
Hibbert dominated the middle, scoring nine of Indiana's first 11 points and making a season-high 10 baskets -- most from point-blank range -- despite playing in the second half with cotton in his nose. David West .. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2177/david-west .. added 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists including a left-handed 4-foot runner that gave Indiana an 88-81 lead with 38.9 seconds to go.
James' defense and Miami's physical double-teams frustrated George most of the night, but when George finally got free late, he made three big 3-pointers s to help the Pacers pull away. George, the NBA's No. 4 scorer, finished with 17 points, three rebounds and four assists.
"I knew it was going to be a night when I was going to explode offensively," George said. "I knew I had to move the ball and share it."
Chasing George all night apparently took a toll on James and the Heat (16-6).
While James, the league's No. 2 scorer did get 17 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, he was just 3 of 11 from the field with nine points over the final 36 minutes -- three quarters when Miami failed to top the 20-point mark and had five turnovers. Wade also finished with 17 points, while Bosh added 12.
It was Miami's third loss in five games.
-----
SportsNation: Heat vs. Pacers
The Pacers beat the Heat on Tuesday. Will Indiana win
the East? Is this the best active rivalry in the NBA? Vote! »
http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/post/_/id/10114657/will-pacers-beat-heat-home
-----
"I thought we brought it tonight," James said. "We know they're a very good defensive team. I thought they hit some tough shots and they attacked the rim real well but even though they had us down by 10 rebounds, I thought we rebounded well and we battled."
Aside from the slow start, the Pacers couldn't have produced a better script.
After Miami took a 13-pont lead midway through the second quarter, Indiana charged back to get within 47-40 at halftime.
Indiana then opened the third quarter with back-to-back baskets to close the deficit to four. The Pacers finally tied it at 55 on George Hill .. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/3438/george-hill 's 3 with 8:15 to go in the third, and Hibbert gave the Pacers' their first lead, 58-57, on a three-point play 2 minutes later. George helped keep the Heat at arm's length after finally making his first basket with 3:51 left in the third, and Miami never tied the score or regained the lead.
"Anytime you get into this kind of a slugfest with them, where you're down six to eight points, it feels like it's a 20-point lead," Bosh said. "We know they're a good team. We know what their goals are, we know what our goals are, we want to keep building to be a complete team for the spring."
Game notes
Singer Justin Timberlake, Jim Courier and Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles were among the familiar faces in the crowd Tuesday night. ... West recorded his 5,000th career rebound in the first quarter. ... Indiana had a season-high 21 turnovers. ... Miami shot just 42.9 percent from the field and was a dismal 4 of 21 from 3-point range, scoring just 54 points over the final three quarters. ... The Pacers improved to 10-2 this season when trailing at halftime.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400489184
.. LA19, i'm feeling we aren't on the same side in this very interesting rivalry .. lol .. it's
good both teams played well .. do you think there was a fitness factor in the Indiana
comeback? .. or did the Pacers just want to win more? .. not meant as a dig at all ..
Tuesday Pacers vs Heat .. Time: 07:00 P.M. ESTVenue: Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Two consecutive postseason matchups - one of them a back-and-forth, seven-game series - are enough to establish a solid NBA rivalry.
After they pushed last season's conference finals to a decisive Game 7, the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat have again risen above the pack in the East.
The two teams meet for the first time since that series Tuesday night in Indianapolis in a possible preview of what's to come during the playoffs.
"They're a great team right now, the way they're playing," Heat forward LeBron James said of the Pacers. "We're trying to get healthy, we're trying to get to our full potential. We'll see what we can do."
Miami and Indiana alternated victories throughout the East finals in the spring, with the Heat prevailing 99-76 at home in the finale to reach their third straight NBA finals. Miami beat Indiana 4-2 in the conference semifinals the year before.
The Pacers (18-3) have raced to the league's best record this season and should be even more motivated for this matchup coming off their worst performance of 2013-14 in a 118-94 loss at Oklahoma City on Sunday.
[ "But, it all boils-down-to, WHO WANTS IT BAD. I could
hear Pat Riley already, WE DO!" .. ok .. the scene is set ]
Indiana, closing out a tough five-game road trip, allowed the Thunder to shoot 61.0 percent from the field. It was by far the highest this season given up by the Pacers, who came in having allowed only two opponents to crack 50 percent.
It was also the most points they'd allowed since giving up the same number in a loss to the Heat on Jan. 4, 2012.
Indiana still finished its trip at 3-2, including victories over West powers San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers.
"We did well this trip," forward Paul George said. "A lot of stuff to take away and things we can nit-pick and take from the teams that we lost to and the teams we played this trip. I think we played well this trip."
The Pacers should be glad to be returning home, where they are 9-0 and surrendering just 81.8 points per game - even better than their league-leading 89.5 allowed overall.
All of those victories, however, have come against teams with .500 records or worse, so Miami (16-5) undoubtedly poses the biggest challenge for the Pacers at home thus far.
The Heat lead the conference with 103.5 points per game, while James is shooting a career-best 59.4 percent from the field.
Miami's offense could also get a boost from the return of Dwyane Wade, who will be back in the lineup after missing three of the past four games with various injuries.
Wade shot 3 of 11 and scored only 10 points the last time Miami played in Indiana - a 91-77 loss in Game 6 of the conference finals - but has averaged 24.6 points in his career at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
With Wade hampered of late, Ray Allen has seen his role increase. Allen has averaged 12.5 points in the last four games, shooting 53.1 percent from the field.
When asked about the rivalry and a potential race for the top spot in the East, James refused to raise the stakes for this game after Miami's 110-95 win over Detroit on Sunday.
"I don't get too much involved in regular-season matchups, especially early and in December. We're looking forward to the opportunity to play them on Tuesday, but it's not like it's a statement game for us."
The Heat and Pacers meet again on Dec. 18 in Miami, but do not play each other again until March 26.
Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC. Any commercial use or distribution without
the express written consent of STATS LLC is strictly prohibited.
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/preview/NBA_20131210_MIA@IND/heatpacers-preview
thanks, LA19, for getting me to where i can anticipate the scene .. lol, and now i know
"WHO WANTS IT BAD. I could hear Pat Riley already, WE DO!"
who the President of the Miami team is ..
Hi Fuagf, Dec 10, we will see what the pacers could do. But the HEAT are even better this year than last. I see Lebron and team more confident than ever, these guys work very hard to be the best and stay the best through the off season. Indiana has talent and their defense is not to be taken lightly at all. For the most they presently rank 17th in offensive efficiency, up from 20th last season. Pacer's David West, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, and Lance Stephenson's are all great players, young too. But, it all boils-down-to, WHO WANTS IT BAD. I could hear Pat Riley already, WE DO!
GLTU
Nets’ Kidd Fined for Spilling Soda
By ANDREW KEH
Jason Kidd’s drink-spilling tactic late Wednesday night was considered both devious and ingenious. By Thursday, it had also proved costly.
The N.B.A. hit Kidd with a $50,000 fine for “intentionally spilling a drink on the floor” when there were 8.3 seconds remaining in the Nets’ loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at Barclays Center.
With his team trailing and lacking an official timeout, Kidd bumped into one of his players while holding a beverage. The liquid — which he later revealed was a Coca-Cola — spilled onto the court, granting the Nets a few precious moments to draw up one final play while the mess was mopped up.
Paul Pierce found himself open with 2.2 seconds left to try for a game-tying 3-pointer, but he missed, ensuring the Nets would fall to 4-11.
The extent of the trickery was revealed on television replays, which showed Kidd appearing to mouth the words “Hit me” to Tyshawn Taylor, a reserve point guard, before the two collided near the Nets’ bench.
Kidd and Taylor denied after the game that there was any deceitful intent. “Sweaty palms,” Kidd said after the game. “I was never good with the ball.”
Kidd, who retired earlier this year from a decorated 19-year playing career, has come under scrutiny during his first season as a coach. The Nets, while battling injuries, have performed beneath expectations.
Kidd was often praised for his quick mind on the court, and his soda strategy was a new, and rather expensive, example of it.
Great Effort by Knicks, for 47 Minutes
By SCOTT CACCIOLA
When Coach Mike Woodson met with his players Wednesday morning, he reminded them that nobody was running away with the Atlantic Division. The Philadelphia 76ers were planted atop the standings with a losing record. Everybody else was clustered beneath them with similarly dismal marks.
It was Woodson’s attempt at putting the Knicks’ struggles in perspective. As far as these things go, his team was still in the hunt.
“How come it can’t be us?” Woodson recalled telling his players. “How come we can’t just wake up and start to play and figure it out?”
Facing the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks did exactly that for 47 minutes. And then all their familiar problems and frustrations bubbled to the surface: mental errors, poor shots and lackluster late-game defense, as they fell to the Pacers in overtime, 103-96.
“I thought we had the game won,” Carmelo Anthony said. “In overtime, they just walked away with it.”
hi LA19, Heat and Spurs again you think, ok .. so i've just caught up on 2013-14 and see Miami must get past Indiana first ..
http://espn.go.com/nba/standings .. and Antonio are being pressed by surprise packet Portland with Golden State on their heels ..
wow, the Celtics and the Lakers have huge championship
leads .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Finals .. gee, those two are
way out there! .. much bigger than Jack Nicklaus has .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_men%27s_major_championships_winning_golfers .. only 4 over Tiger now ..
Thanks for getting me back so early .. Oct. 29 -- 2013-14 Season Tips Off
.. http://www.nba.com/news/important-dates/ .. lol, before the June 2014 championships
#1 Again, no brainer here
folks!
Killa season, Lebron & Beasly will be on BEAST MODE. Too bad DW is still not 100%, cause no one would've had a chance in the league, no one!
Spur are a great team, but the heat will come with a vengeance. With Beasly back in the picture, I'm more than confident of another Heat victory.
“They call him Dean the Dream, and he is all of that and more,” Coach Lou Carnesecca said after his St. John’s team was beaten by the Marquette squad led by Meminger in the final of the 1970 National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden. Carnesecca had followed Meminger since he was recruited by Rice High School of Manhattan out of a grammar school basketball tournament.
Al McGuire, Meminger’s coach at Marquette, once said he was “quicker than 11:15 Mass at a seaside resort.”
His most memorable moments came in Game 7 of the 1973 Eastern Conference finals, when he replaced Monroe in the second quarter, frustrated the hot-shooting Boston Celtics guard Jo Jo White and scored 13 points. After knocking the Celtics out of the playoffs, the Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the title.
“Dean went out and shut Jo Jo down, and we won that game,” said Phil Jackson, the former Knicks forward and Bulls and Lakers coach. “It was a signature performance in our history.”
Pushed to Limit, James and Miami Repeat as N.B.A. Champions
By HOWARD BECK
MIAMI — Legacies are generally determined after the fact, written by others, imposed on the subjects without their input. For the last three years, LeBron James has endured daily revisions to his legacy, a chorus of critics framing his career based on a single game, a single series, the shots that swished and those that missed, never waiting for a fuller picture to emerge.
James at last seized control of his own narrative Thursday night, leaving nothing to chance and no more room for debate. He drove hard, shot brilliantly, scored every critical basket and finally pushed the Miami Heat past the San Antonio Spurs for a 95-88 victory in Game 7 of the N.B.A. finals.
As red and white confetti rained from the rafters at American Airlines Arena, James — oft vilified, perpetually scrutinized — soaked in the revelry and embraced a new identity: back-to-back champion.
There were still doubters out there, somewhere, beyond the clouds of fluttering paper, but their ranks are surely shrinking.
“I can’t worry about what everybody says about me,” a joyful James said on the championship podium after receiving his second straight finals Most Valuable Player trophy. “I’m LeBron James, from Akron, Ohio, from the inner city. I’m not even supposed to be here.”
James came here three summers ago in pursuit of championship glory, to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in a superstar lineup for the ages, to start collecting championships — “Not one, not two, not three ... ” he infamously declared in July 2010. The banners are indeed starting to accumulate, with James earning this second title despite diminishing returns from his co-stars.
With Wade slowed by an injured right knee, James carried a greater burden this June than he did a year ago. And he faced a tougher, more seasoned opponent, a decorated Spurs team with three Hall of Fame talents in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
It took seven games, including a furious comeback and an overtime in Game 6, to earn this moment. And then it took everything James had in the final minutes of the final game.
“The toughest series we’ve ever been in,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said.
After leading the Heat’s comeback two nights earlier, James carried them to the finish with a 37-point, 12-rebound outburst on Thursday. He had 8 points in the final 5 minutes 39 seconds, repelling every attempt by the Spurs to take the game back.
The lead dropped to 2 points just once, on Kawhi Leonard’s 3-pointer with two minutes to go. James answered with an 18-footer, then a pair of free throws. The building rumbled in anticipation and then finally exploded, the Heat celebrating their third title since 2006.
Wade pushed through the knee pain and limitations, delivering 23 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Afterward, he insisted on being called “Three,” in reference to his third championship.
“They played Hall of Fame basketball tonight,” Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said of James and Wade. “That’s some of the best basketball they both played at the same time throughout the entire playoffs, from what I saw.”
The Heat, despite a scoreless game from Bosh, joined the Los Angeles Lakers as the only teams with back-to-back titles in the post-Michael Jordan era. They did it by becoming only the fourth team to win Games 6 and 7 at home after facing a 3-2 deficit. It was the first time in this series that either team won two in a row.
It was a heartbreaking conclusion for the Spurs, who came within seconds of winning the championship in Game 6. Duncan was aiming for his fifth title, which would have placed him alongside Kobe Bryant for the most by any star in the post-Jordan era. This was his first defeat in the finals, and it hit hard.
Sitting on the postgame podium, Duncan looked inconsolable. He stared down at the table, his left hand on his head, and paused frequently between phrases. He bemoaned his “bad decisions” and missed shots, in particular two point-blank shots that could have tied the game at 90-90 with about a minute to play.
Still, Duncan was mostly brilliant, finishing with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals. Ginobili added 18 points and 5 assists but had four turnovers, all in the fourth quarter.
At 37, Duncan may have taken his last turn on this stage. Ginobili, who turns 36 next month, is about to become a free agent. There is no guarantee that the Spurs as we know them will return intact, though they remained defiant to the end.
“Can’t believe you’re asking that question,” Parker said. “It’s been five, six years you’re saying we’re too old. I’m not going to answer that.”
Parker was limited for the last three games by a hamstring injury, although he refused to say it was a factor in his 3-for-12 shooting line in Game 7. He finished with 10 points. The Spurs shot 37.8 percent in the finale, with 15 turnovers. Yet they played with a striking spirit, despite what they had gone through two nights earlier, and battled to the final minute.
“In my case, I still have Game 6 in my head,” said Ginobili, who took that loss harder than most. He added, “Being so close and feeling that you are about to grab that trophy, and then seeing it vanish, is very hard.”
Apropos of the series, neither team could get much separation. The Heat led by 2 points after one quarter, by 2 points at halftime and by 1 point after three quarters.
James hit a 17-footer with 5:37 to play, staking Miami to an 83-77 lead. The Spurs got sloppy, passes by Parker and Ginobili sailing out of bounds for turnovers. But they kept coming.
When James hit a jumper, Ginobili answered with a 3-pointer. When Shane Battier hit a 3-pointer for an 88-82 lead, Duncan countered with a 3-point play. After Wade sliced in for a layup, Leonard responded with a 3-pointer.
There was no diminishing the moment, its historical importance, its impact on the careers of everyone involved. Even James, who is constantly fighting the notion that every game is a referendum on his legacy, readily admitted this would be “one of the biggest games, if not the biggest game, of my life.”
So James responded accordingly, shooting 12 for 23 from the field, going 8 for 8 from the foul line, setting a finals career high with five 3-pointers, and looking every bit like the greatest player on the planet.
“He’s the best player I’ve ever seen in my life in person, hands down,” Bosh said, adding: “When we needed big shots, he hit them all. He hit them all.”
Danny Green, whose brilliant 3-point shooting at times carried the Spurs in this series, faltered badly in the finale, going 1 for 12 from the field. This time, the clutch shooting came from the Heat’s Battier, reprising his performance from last year’s finals, who hit 6 of 8 shots from behind the arc, finishing with 18 points.
This was just the fourth seven-game finals in the last 20 years, and it was as riveting as any of them, for the personalities it featured and for the way it unfolded.
The Spurs and the Heat alternated victories for six games, neither team able to shake the other. It opened with the Spurs stealing home-court advantage in Game 1, on Parker’s game-sealing circus shot. The next four games were decided by double digits — each team giving a momentary impression of dominance until the roles were suddenly reversed.
Then came an epic Game 6 — the Spurs coming within seconds of the title, the security ropes set and the trophy waiting. Then a Ray Allen 3-pointer, an overtime, a Heat victory, a celebration postponed, a series pushed to the nail-biting brink.
David Stern, who is stepping down as commissioner next February, handed the trophy over for the 30th and final time, and handed the finals M.V.P. trophy to James, his second straight. James joined Michael Jordan and Bill Russell — for whom the finals M.V.P. trophy is named — as the only players to win back-to-back regular-season M.V.P. awards and N.B.A. titles.
Outside the Heat’s locker room, Pat Riley, the man who persuaded James, Wade and Bosh to become teammates three years ago, was receiving congratulatory hugs, handshakes and pats on the back from everyone near him.
“The vision that I had when I decided to come here is all coming true,” James said, his white T-shirt soaked through with Champagne. “Through adversity, through everything we’ve been through, we’ve been able to persevere and win back-to-back championships. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Yup. It's going to be a long summer for the Spurs contemplating the what ifs, coulda shoulda woulda.
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