In an offensive slugfest the Dallas Mavericks closed the game on a 15-3 run to defeat the Miami Heat 112-103 and take a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals as the series shifts to Miami.
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Carl Berman: Dallas Executes at End to Take Pivotal Game Five
Filed under: Heat, Lakers, NBA All-Star Game
LOS ANGELES — As LeBron James fielded questions from the press corps at Staples Center on Sunday night, he was asked about his favorite moments from All-Star weekend.
The Miami star answered by talking about charity, describing how richly he was rewarded for taking part in a number of good-will efforts in the days leading up to the game itself. Yet after the West had won 148-143, it was the MVP voters who had been in the giving spirit. At James’ expense.
Despite his triple-double (29 points on 10-of-18 shooting, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists), James lost out to the Lakers‘ hometown hero, Kobe Bryant (37 points on 14-of-26 shooting, 14 rebounds and three assists) for the game’s top award. The voting is done with media members accounting for nine votes and the fan votes accounting for three more. The triple-double was only the second in All-Star game history — and the first since Michael Jordan turned the trick in 1997.
“I just tried to showcase my talent on both ends of the floor — defending, rebounding, scoring,” James said. “We came up short. And you know for me, I’m all about winning, so (I’m) just a little disappointed in our game. Disappointed that we didn’t win.”
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LeBron James Posts All-Star Game’s First Triple-Double Since Jordan
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dwyane Wade dominated the first half, LeBron James and Chris Bosh took over in the fourth quarter and the Miami Heat’s star power overcame Indiana’s youth and determination.
Wade tied a franchise record for most points in a first half with 31, and he finished with 41 to help the Heat defeat the Pacers 110-103 on Tuesday night.
James scored 27 points and Bosh added 22 points and eight rebounds for Miami. They combined for 19 of Miami’s 28 points in the final 12 minutes to help the Heat recover after squandering a 24-point lead.
“We’re one of the best fourth-quarter teams in the league,” Wade said. “With the caliber players that we have, especially myself and Chris and LeBron, we’re able to run the full-court offense, get good shots, high percentage shots.”
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Dwyane Wade’s Record Night Helps Heat Down Pacers
Filed under: Heat
MIAMI — There has only been one role that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have known since entering the NBA in 2003. If they didn’t put the team on their backs and have a spectacular game, chances are they’d lose the game. This season has marked the first time they’ve played alongside a true equal, and though they’ve briefly been on the same Team USA and All-Star teams, it’s been a challenging experience for both players who needed to come together quickly at the start of the season.
With Tuesday’s 117-112 victory over the Indiana Pacers, the Heat are on a seven-game winning streak with four of them ending in a margin of victory of five points or less. In contrast, the Heat’s first five losses of the season came by eight points or less. Prior to their current winning streak, Miami had only one victory by five points or less and it came against the lowly Washington Wizards.
Wade knew it would take time to pull out these types of close games and to become familiar with playing full-time alongside James and Chris Bosh as well as several new teammates.
“I think we’re more comfortable with each other,” he explained. “We’re more confident in our late game sets. We’ve always been confident with our late game defense. Early in the year, it was a new team and it takes teams time to initially come together and get it. It took us a little time and now we’re very comfortable in late games and we feel that we should win if the game is close. It’s not always going to go that way but you we have that mentality.”
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LeBron James, Dwyane Wade Finding Increasing Comfort Alongside Each Other
MIAMI — The Indiana Pacers embarrassed the Miami Heat on their last visit to AmericanAirlines Arena on November 22 and LeBron James personally made sure that wouldn’t happen again.
In yet another dominating display of his multifaceted game, James poured in 41 points to go along with 13 rebounds and eight assists. Even with his performance, the Pacers not only kept pace with the Heat but also held a lead from the second quarter all the way up to midway through the fourth quarter. While the Heat created several flashy plays, including a pair of James dunks that brought the house down in the first quarter, the Pacers’ offensive game plan was unspectacular yet highly effective with a focus on making the extra pass to make the right play and a balanced attack featuring six players scoring in double figures.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra wasn’t thrilled about his team almost giving up 100 points by the end of the third quarter to an emerging Pacers team that has won five of its last six games but appreciated his team’s turnaround down the stretch.
“That’s a good basketball team and they’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” he said. “They play at a frenetic pace and we got caught up a little on that pace in the first three quarters but we got a little bit more down to our game defensively there in the fourth and we were able to pull it out.”
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LeBron Does It All as Miami Heat Get Revenge on Pacers
Two NBA teams on wildly divergent trajectories midway through the season crossed paths on Monday night. While the Miami Heat continue their push to catch up with the Boston Celtics for the Eastern Conference lead, the Cleveland Cavaliers remain the NBA’s worst team in the standings.
While their first visit to Miami ended in a loss 101-95 back in mid-December, their squad was at full strength and the team managed to keep it competitive to the end. This time the large margin of defeat was yet another indication of how the team has regressed since then. Cavs guard Anthony Parker (pictured, right, guarding LeBron James) didn’t want to give excuses, yet the reality of their situation is what it is.
“I think we’re looking at as we’ve come through a very tough time, schedule-wise,” he said after the deflating loss to the Heat, their 21st in a row and 24th consecutive road loss. “Then you add the injuries on top of that.
“The schedule turns for us, we’re going to have some opportunities and we have a homestand coming up. From here on out we need to focus game to game trying to get wins and get better.”
Injuries have cast aside several important players and they’ve played the most road games of any other team. They went winless in 15 games in January with only four games at home; that stretch included tough opponents on the road like the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, and the Orlando Magic.
“That’s the NBA,” noted Ramon Sessions, who struggled from the field but did contribute seven assists against the Heat. “We can be at any arena on any given night, win or loss. Those are tough teams but its wins that we think we can get no matter who we’re playing. We come out every night prepared to win but we just haven’t been able to get it so far lately.”
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Cavs Lament Another Lost Opportunity Against Heat
Filed under: Bulls, Celtics, Hawks, Heat, Hornets, Jazz, Knicks, Lakers, Magic, Mavericks, Nuggets, Spurs, Trail Blazers, NBA Gambling, Thunder
Thirty teams but only one will win the last game of the season. Which teams, then, have the best chances of emerging as the 2011 champion?
Notwithstanding injuries and radical trades, these are my highly subjective odds-to-win-it-all with only those teams that are currently above .500 being considered.
Boston Celtics 1:2 – This a veteran team with championship experience. They play intimidating body-to-body defense anchored by plenty of beef in the middle. Boston’s offense is precise, unselfish, and resourceful with the key factor being the ability of Ray Allen to plug 3-balls to keep the defense spread. They also might be the hungriest team in the running.
San Antonio Spurs 1:1 — The only team whose discipline at both ends can compare to Boston’s. In the past, San Antonio’s postseason success was hugely dependent upon the accuracy of their outside shooting. But Richard Jefferson has found his niche and his jumper, plus the bull’s-eye shooting of undrafted rookie Gary Neal has been a significant factor off the bench. The clutch play of San Antonio’s old reliables — Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and (to a lesser extent) Tony Parker — should not be underestimated. Nor should Gregg Popovich’s strategy of limiting his starters’ minutes until the minutes really count.
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Charley Rosen: NBA Championship Odds
MIAMI — The Miami Heat handed the Cleveland Cavaliers their 21st consecutive loss with a 117-90 blowout at the AmericanAirlines Arena in yet another reminder of how much LeBron James‘ departure and arrival has impacted both teams. It’s been 44 days and counting since Cleveland’s last victory back on December 18th against the New York Knicks and while they were missing key players including Anderson Varejao, Daniel Gibson and Mo Williams to injury, the Cavs managed to make it interesting as they got within 70-67 early in the third quarter until they fell apart and order was restored quickly.
While the Cavs offense generally did a decent job attacking the Heat‘s interior defense which netted several easy buckets in the paint, culminating in a 37-point second quarter outburst, their defense continuously allowed Dwyane Wade and James to attack the basket unimpeded which freed up the Heat’s shooters to also do their damage. Cavs guard Anthony Parker could only look back in frustration as his team goes through one of their most futile stretches in franchise history.
“They’re a good team,” Parker said. “They’ve got some players that can make plays even if you do everything right and I thought we tried to do, for the most part, the right things but it didn’t go our way for a stretch. It’s unfortunate because we fought so hard to get back into it.”
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Cavaliers Crumble Again as Wade, Bosh Turn Up the Heat
ORLANDO, Fla. – This isn’t the worst thing to happen to Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott. It’s not even the worst basketball thing.
Not even close.
Scott may have won three NBA championships as a player and reached the NBA Finals twice as a head coach, but he is no stranger to tough basketball times.
Scott and his Cavs lost their 20th consecutive game Sunday night, 103-87, to the Magic, leaving them just three away from the NBA record for consecutive losses – set by a team on which Scott played a key role.
Scott may have found fame playing alongside Magic Johnson as part of the Showtime Los Angeles Lakers, but he also spent one miserable season with the first-year expansion Vancouver Grizzlies, which lost 23 consecutive games during the 1995-96 season.
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Byron Scott Has Been Through Worse Than Cavs Losing Streak
The Miami Heat secured just their second victory in their last seven games with an 88-87 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night. With the Heat continuing to battle injuries with Chris Bosh still ailing and Dwyane Wade a surprising late scratch due to a right wrist sprain, Mike Miller and LeBron James couldn’t get through the game without suffering an assortment of injuries themselves. Once again, the team continued to struggle to find any sort of offensive flow for much of the game while the Pistons held their own while being led by a resurgent Tracy McGrady who paced the team with a near triple-double of 14 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds.
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back after their disappointing loss to the New York Knicks on Thursday night, the Heat managed to outlast the Pistons by the slimmest of margins though the victory was hardly convincing. Nevertheless, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra sounded grateful just to escape with the hard-fought win.
“This was a mental toughness game where we certainly did not get into a consistent rhythm and that’s a credit to the Pistons,” he said. “But we had to find a way to grind it out, we were in another close game, and I think we were much better tonight in those late game situations than we were last night.”
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Miami Heat Squeak by Pistons With Controversial No-Call
