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AP
We don’t know yet how long Chris Bosh may be out with a strained abdominal muscle suffered in the Heat’s Game 1 win over the Pacers. We know it was serious enough to keep Bosh out of the second half Sunday, but until an MRI Monday we don’t know how long he’ll be out. Thing is, abdominal strains can take a while to heal.
If the Heat are without Bosh for a while they will be good — they just shift LeBron James over to the four spot. LeBron had an amazing PER of 29.1 when he played the three but it was 37.1 when he played power forward (via 82games.com). The Heat’s starting lineup this year without Bosh — with Shane Battier at the three and LeBron at the four — was +3.3 points per 48 minutes, which is not as good as the team’s +5.9 overall but it is good.
The problem is not LeBron at the four, it’s who comes in when LeBron sits. And it’s what lies ahead of the Heat.
If Bosh is out for any significant amount of time, it’s going to put more pressure on Udonis Haslem when he comes in off the bench, and outside of on the glass he has been unimpressive in the playoffs so far. Ronny Turiaf, who brings a lot of energy and fouls with him, will get some run (especially against the Pacers and Roy Hibbert). Mike Miller is also going to have to step up and pick up some offensive load.
But really, it’s going to be more on Lebron and Dwyane Wade on offense — and that is why the Heat will not feel the pain right now. Those guys can do more. LeBron had a ridiculous game Sunday with 32 points, 15 rebounds, five assists a couple steals and just one turnover. Wade had 29 points. Those two are capable of putting up those numbers or better against anyone on any night.
The Pacers are a good team, they are going to win a couple games this series, but they simply can’t stop the Heat’s two big guns in the fourth quarter and Bosh or no this is the last stop on their playoff train this year.
The real concern in Miami is how long Bosh will be out, because eventually Bosh will be missed.
Where the Heat will start to miss Bosh is if they don’t have him to shadow Kevin Garnett in the next round (if the Celtics advance). Where they would really miss him is if he were still out come the finals. They will need all they have against an Oklahoma City Thunder that comes at you with wave after wave of amazing athletes. Or they will need him to match up with Tim Duncan. Or there is a long shot chance they will need him to match up with the size of the Lakers front line with Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, or the Clippers athletic front line as well.
Bosh may be the third part of the triad, but he plays a key role in some matchups, and the Heat will need him back these playoffs. So the MRI on Monday will tell us a lot about the Heat going forward.
Getty Images
Metta World Peace will not be reaching out to James Harden in Game 1 regarding that whole “elbowing him in the head and knocking him unconscious” bit that happened last month.
From the L.A. Times:
World Peace has not spoken to Harden since elbowing him in the second quarter of the Lakers 114-106 double-overtime victory April 22.
He didnt expect to greet him before the game.
“He doesnt start. I only fist-bump the starting five,” World Peace said. “I don’t fist-bump subs.”
via Lakers get Metta World Peace back for Game 7 – latimes.com.
Nice.
It should be noted that the whole “fist-bump/hug” thing is only done by starters. So if MWP is just being literal, then fine. You’d think he’d say “I’m not NOT going to, I’m just not going to go out of my way.” This didn’t really sound like that, but that’s up for interpretation.
I get the whole “not being friendly with the enemy” thing. It’s a little absurd considering how chummy these guys were during the lockout and how they could wind up playing on the same team at any moment, but sure. MWP came off the bench in 19 of his 64 games this season. So why throw the jab? Is he not going to fist-bump Manu Ginobili? Again, he’s being honest from a literal context, it just seems an awful lot like looking down at a guy he nearly knocked out.
You can say it’s just a benign comment about how players fist-bump on the floor before the game, but given what we know of the growing dislike between the two teams, it doesn’t seem like it.
This series is going to be full of love and warmth, I can tell.
Reuters
Ty Lawson is at the heart of the Denver Nuggets’ future. That much was clear as the Nuggets played gutty, fun basketball and pushed the Lakers to seven games — Lawson averaged 19 points a game on 51.4 percent shooting and added 7 assists per game as the point guard.
After his fourth year in the NBA Lawson is now up for a contract extension and both sides want to work one out that keeps Lawson playing in the mile high city, reports the Denver Post.
Asked about possibly getting a contract extension from the Nuggets this summer, Lawson told The Denver Post: “It’s definitely a goal. I want to be here long term. I’m pretty sure my agent and Masai (Ujiri, the Nuggets’ executive vice president of basketball operations) will talk this summer.”
Asked Sunday about Lawson, Ujiri said: “He’s going to be a big part of the Denver Nuggets. We’re excited. Ty is going to grow even more. He made a little jump, and he’ll continue to make jumps as he gets older.”
Lawson will be back with the Nuggets either way, he either works out an extension or comes back for a fifth season then will try out the market as a restricted free agent next summer.
But if you’re committed to a guy and want to make him happy, you do the extension (they can talk about it after July 1). Denver has already done that with Danilo Gallinari (four-years, $42 million). I expect we’ll see the same here.
Lawson is not a max deal guy but he can get some long-term security and Denver can lock down Lawson for five years at what might be below market rate in a couple years (if Lawson keeps taking steps forward). While the numbers will be different, think of what Danny Ainge did in Boston locking down Rajon Rondo at a price he could no longer get.
Some work needs to be done to fill out the rest of the Nuggets roster if they are going to take the next steps forward, but Lawson will be part of that future.
JaVale McGee, on the other hand, is a restricted free agent this summer and it will be interesting to see what the market will bear for him.
AP
We don’t know yet how long Chris Bosh may be out with a strained abdominal muscle suffered in the Heat’s Game 1 win over the Pacers. We know it was serious enough to keep Bosh out of the second half Sunday, but until an MRI Monday we don’t know how long he’ll be out. Thing is, abdominal strains can take a while to heal.
If the Heat are without Bosh for a while they will be good — they just shift LeBron James over to the four spot. LeBron had an amazing PER of 29.1 when he played the three but it was 37.1 when he played power forward (via 82games.com). The Heat’s starting lineup this year without Bosh — with Shane Battier at the three and LeBron at the four — was +3.3 points per 48 minutes, which is not as good as the team’s +5.9 overall but it is good.
The problem is not LeBron at the four, it’s who comes in when LeBron sits. And it’s what lies ahead of the Heat.
If Bosh is out for any significant amount of time, it’s going to put more pressure on Udonis Haslem when he comes in off the bench, and outside of on the glass he has been unimpressive in the playoffs so far. Ronny Turiaf, who brings a lot of energy and fouls with him, will get some run (especially against the Pacers and Roy Hibbert). Mike Miller is also going to have to step up and pick up some offensive load.
But really, it’s going to be more on Lebron and Dwyane Wade on offense — and that is why the Heat will not feel the pain right now. Those guys can do more. LeBron had a ridiculous game Sunday with 32 points, 15 rebounds, five assists a couple steals and just one turnover. Wade had 29 points. Those two are capable of putting up those numbers or better against anyone on any night.
The Pacers are a good team, they are going to win a couple games this series, but they simply can’t stop the Heat’s two big guns in the fourth quarter and Bosh or no this is the last stop on their playoff train this year.
The real concern in Miami is how long Bosh will be out, because eventually Bosh will be missed.
Where the Heat will start to miss Bosh is if they don’t have him to shadow Kevin Garnett in the next round (if the Celtics advance). Where they would really miss him is if he were still out come the finals. They will need all they have against an Oklahoma City Thunder that comes at you with wave after wave of amazing athletes. Or they will need him to match up with Tim Duncan. Or there is a long shot chance they will need him to match up with the size of the Lakers front line with Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, or the Clippers athletic front line as well.
Bosh may be the third part of the triad, but he plays a key role in some matchups, and the Heat will need him back these playoffs. So the MRI on Monday will tell us a lot about the Heat going forward.
Getty Images
The Atlanta Hawks were able to pick up a victory in the opening game of their NBA Playoffs series against the Boston Celtics, but after watching Sunday evening’s game, it seems as though that might be the only win they post this postseason. The Celtics were able to get their offense going from the get-go and, unsurprisingly, it got ugly for Hawks’ fans soon after as Boston cruised to an easy victory.
There was a lot of optimism pre-game for a competitive contest when it was announced that Al Horford would return from injury and Josh Smith was good to go after missing Game 3 due to injury, but that optimism was all for naught, unfortunately. Boston got out to an amazingly hot start and couldn’t miss a shot — in spite of solid defense — and kept their foot on the gas on the resof the way en route to a 101-79 victory and a 3-1 lead in the series.
The Celtics moved the ball well in the early-goings, the jump shots were falling and the writing was on the wall at the end of the first quarter. For reference, the Celtics made six field goals in the first quarter whereas Rajon Rondo dished seven of his 16 total assists in the same stanza … and it didn’t get any prettier the rest of the way for Atlanta.
The Hawks’ offensive-isolation woes that have plagued them in previous games were there from the outset — they dished just two more assists as a team than Rondo did himself — and they were unable to get any sort of significant contributions from their best offensive players: Joe Johnson scored nine points on just eight shots, Jeff Teague had seven points and a less-than-stellar defensive effort while Smith returned from injury to score 15 points and grab 13 rebounds, though his six turnovers were a problem and he looked less mobile than he was prior to Game 2′s injury.
As far as Boston was concerned, really, it was just really good basketball. Rondo was able to penetrate and pass at ease after establishing that his jumper was falling early, opening up everyone else for good looks before the Hawks eventually just threw in the towel. It didn’t hurt, however, that Paul Pierce was amazing once again despite a knee injury that sent him to the locker room early in the first half. In less than 17 minutes of playing time, Pierce went 10-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, to score a game-high 24 points while Rondo added 20 himself amidst a solid scoring output that saw four other Celtics end up in double-figures.
The Hawks are headed home for Game 5 on Tuesday night, but after watching them have no answer for Boston on Sunday night, it’s hard to believe this series will last any longer than that contest. If it does, however, it’ll be because Johnson earns his max contract, Smith is healthy and Horford is able to play more minutes as he returns to health. Unfortunately for Atlanta, though, even those three players might not be enough if Boston’s offense is working as well as it did in Game 4.
It took until the game’s final few possessions, but ultimately, the outcome ended up being what we all expected. The Lakers took Game 4 from the Nuggets in Denver 92-88, but the heroes for L.A. weren’t necessarily the likely ones, and the game was anything but easy for the victors.
The Lakers didn’t come close to dominating the way they did in Game 1, but equally important was the fact that they didn’t fall behind big early on the road as they did in Game 3. They were able to keep pace, despite an inefficient night from Kobe Bryant (10-25 shooting), a deficit in production off the bench, and virtually nothing in 20 minutes from starting forward Devin Ebanks.
L.A. controlled the boards in this one, which was a significant change from the way the last two games had played out. Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee were monsters in Game 3, but were virtual non-factors Sunday, combining for just 11 rebounds in total after the two dominated the glass for 30-plus in Game 3.
The offensive rebounding was especially key for the Lakers, getting six more than their opponent which led to an advantage of plus-10 in second-chance points.
Denver executed its game plan nearly to perfection: the Nuggets consistently doubled L.A.’s bigs down low, daring the Lakers to hit three-pointers or anything even remotely resembling a mid-range shot. Time and again, L.A. failed to be crisp enough in swinging the ball to get the open look, and even when the shots were pure, they largely failed to go down from the outside — at least until there was under a minute left to play.
With the game tied at 86, Pau Gasol set a solid screen on Danilo Gallinari. Gallo went down like he had been shot — seemingly a classic flop, one that those of us who love the game simply despise — and stayed down for what seemed to be longer than necessary. As he lied on the court, the Lakers got the ball to Kobe in the lane, who kicked it out to a wide-open Ramon Sessions, who drained the three-pointer with 48.1 seconds remaining that gave the Lakers the lead for good.
On the telecast, this didn’t appear to be your garden-variety flop; it was a turbo-flop of sorts, one that extended well beyond the grace period for the referee to make the call, and one that ultimately damaged the Nuggets’ chances on defense due to the fact that they were, quite literally, down a man in their half-court defensive set.
Gallinari said afterward that the pain was legit, and that he got hit hard in his throat on the play (via my man Benjamin Hochman on Twitter). But Kobe was less sympathetic, saying “You can’t flop like that” in his postgame presser, while Gasol said “I was surprised he stayed down” (via Kevin Ding on Twitter).
That play was huge, as was the next Lakers’ possession that saw Steve Blake knock down an open three off of a pass from Bryant that pushed the L.A. lead to six with 18.9 seconds to play, and put the game out of reach for the Nuggets.
Sessions and Blake aren’t the ones you’d expect to be closing out playoff games for the Lakers, and George Karl said afterward that forcing them to take those shots instead of Bryant, Gasol, or Andrew Bynum was essentially by design. But they came through this time, and now Denver is on the brink of elimination, while the Lakers are one game away from heading to the second round to face an opponent that many believe has more than a legitimate shot of ending their season, as well.
“We’re talking ‘bout practice.”
Few phrases have ever become as iconic in the sports world — and bled over into popular culture — like what Allen Iverson said at a podium in Philadelphia a decade ago today.
Today is the 10-year anniversary of the “practice” rant, NBCPhiladelphia.com reminds us.
Boston had just eliminated Philadelphia from the playoffs and then Sixers coach Larry Brown expressed frustration that Iverson had not practiced hard all year and helped improve his teammates. When Iverson was pressed by reporters about his practice habits… well, the rest is history. And one side of Iverson’s complex legacy was cemented.
NBCPhiladelphia.com has the transcript if you want to read it all.
“If I can’t practice, I can’t practice. It is as simple as that. It ain’t about that at all. It’s easy to sum it up if you’re just talking about practice. We’re sitting here, and I’m supposed to be the franchise player, and we’re talking about practice. I mean listen, we’re sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we’re talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game last it’s my last but we’re talking about practice man.
“How silly is that? Now I know that I’m supposed to lead by example and all that but I’m not shoving that aside like it don’t mean anything. I know it’s important, I honestly do but we’re talking about practice. We’re talking about practice man. We’re talking about practice. We’re talking about practice. We’re not talking about the game. We’re talking about practice. When you come to the arena, and you see me play, you’ve seen me play right, you’ve seen me give everything I’ve got, but we’re talking about practice right now.”
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Apparently the Charlotte Bobcats coaching job is in a lot more demand than I expected… that or right now it’s the only job out there so nobody will burn that bridge.
Some bigger names than one might expect have been thrown out there to take over the worst team in NBA history, one stuck in a small market with an owner who has yet to prove himself (as an owner, as a player MJ was pretty solid as I recall).
Former Trail Blazers coach (and North Carolina guy) Nate McMillan told CSNNW.com that he would consider taking on a rebuilding team like the Bobcats.
“The plan in Portland, when I got there was to rebuild and we were lucky to draft some really good players. Injuries just put a damper on things. Coaching is coaching. It would be a new beginning for me. Young team or a veteran team….If you’re saying, ‘I’m just looking for a veteran team,’ that’s not true.
“Depends on the opportunity. It takes two to agree to a deal and we’ll see whenever that happens. I won’t just take anything, it will depend on the situation.”
McMillan would be a coup for the Bobcats, a coach much better than the first-timer they are expected to have to take on.
But they may have their eye on former Jazz head man Jerry Sloan, according to Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. Which would be an interesting choice for a rebuilding team — he is an old-school harda** who would bring some discipline to the Bobcats. But he has clashed with players like Deron Williams in the past and would he really want to come back to the NBA at age 70 to rebuild from literally the bottom? My guess is no, if he wanted to be back in the NBA he would be, he’s had teams reach out before.
Either way, the Bobcats have their goals set high.
Reuters
The theory going into this series was that the Knicks would win a game or two simply because Carmelo Anthony and maybe J.R. Smith or Steve Novak would just get hot.
But the Heat’s defense this series has doused any spark before it could catch fire. The result is the Heat have cruised to a 3-0 series lead and look likely to close it out in a sweep at Madison Square Garden Sunday.
The Knicks are suffering plenty of indignities — they now have lost an NBA record 13 straight playoff games. Three losses to the Heat, all by double digits. And it hasn’t been that close. Knicks fans are making Amare Stoudemire the scapegoat for a playoff collapse but the Knicks problems are in a roster built of names and stars with little thought to chemistry and fit.
The Heat had some of those problems last year, but they have overcome them. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have figured out how to compliment each other, Erik Spoelstra came up with a system that fits what the Heat want to do.
New York has no idea how to make Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony work together. Mike D’Antoni couldn’t do get them to do it; Mike Woodson has made this ‘Melo’s team and left Stoudemire on the periphery. It may be moot today as Stoudemire is a game-time decision due to the left hand he smashed into a fire extinguisher case in frustration…
Actually, it’s moot either way.
The only question left in this series is if Sunday can be the Knicks can have that one insanely hot shooting day. Probably not, the Heat have proven they can take ‘Melo out of his comfort zone.
Then New York can start to focus on how to make this thing actually work.
Reuters
The old model wasn’t going to work anymore.
Mark Cuban has read the new CBA that the owners and players signed off on after the lockout, and he saw the increasingly punitive taxes and penalties on big spending teams. He looked at his business model of the last decade — which was to win by spending like the ATM machines that are the Lakers and Knicks — and knew things had to change.
Flexibility became the watchword. Starting this season Cuban started to look to the future reshaping the roster with younger free agents — ideally both Dwight Howard and Deron Williams at the time — and made hard choices. Dallas didn’t bring Tyson Chandler back. Or Caron Butler. Or J.J. Barea. Or DeShawn Stevenson.
Combine that with the roll of the dice on Lamar Odom that flamed out, and the Mavericks didn’t have the depth, didn’t have a different guy who could step up every night as the second star. Last season they had depth and matchups that could confound anyone. Last season those guys were key behind Dirk Nowitzki — and the team leader himself showed up this year with a championship hangover not ready to play at his peak. His shooting percentage dropped from 51.7 last season to 45.7 this season and there was nobody there to consistently pick up the slack.
The result was the defending champs getting unceremoniously swept out of the playoffs by the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Dallas defense was still solid this season, but their Mavericks offense fell from eighth best in the league (109.7 points per 100 possessions) the year of their championship to 22nd best this season (103.3 points per 100).
It was the price of flexibility.
This coming summer Jason Terry likely is gone. Jason Kidd may come back but not at the price he’s asking. Shawn Marion and Brendan Haywood will be moved if Dallas can find takers, although Marion’s defensive value may keep him in the fold. Any player not born in Germany is not safe on this roster going forward.
Flexibility.
It is Nowitzki and the chance to chase Deron Williams this summer that is the drive. The original goal was to lure Williams and Dwight Howard, but Howard chose to spend another year with Orlando (even if the Magic decide they need to trade him the Mavericks do not have the assets anymore). Williams is the target, but he does like the idea of Brooklyn and staying with the Nets. Even though that franchise has little shot at Howard or another big name either. Here is what Marc Stein wrote at ESPN.
One source well-acquainted with Williams’ thinking told ESPN.com this weekend that the Mavericks, in their current state, have no better than a “50-50 shot” of getting D-Will’s signature in July …
Even if Dallas does not land Williams, it has landed cap space and the ability to make moves and evolve this team into a future winner. Cuban saw what Jerry Buss did with years the Lakers — make moves too early rather than too late — and saw the new CBA rules and made his move. In a couple years we may look back and see it as brilliant.
But this season it came home to roost on the court in a first round playoff sweep at the hands of the Thunder. It was the price paid for a gamble. Cuban tried for the half-court shot of trying to rebuild on the fly and not take a step back, and that missed like half-court shots usually do.
But the Mavericks got their ultimate goal. They have cap space and flexibility. Now we’ll see what they can do with it.
