Posts Tagged ‘Heat’

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Big Shot Rondo Rescues The Celtics

May 26, 2012  ·  11:55PM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – With a slim three-point lead and their closer heading to the bench with four minutes and change left to play, few people inside TD Garden would have chosen Rajon Rondo as the man to save the Celtics’ Game 7 bacon against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Rondo was mysteriously missing in action for most of the first 44 minutes of the biggest game, to date, of the Celtics’ season. But he turned it on when it mattered most, scoring 11 of the 12 points, including nine straight, in the three minutes after Paul Pierce fouled out with 4:16 to play.

The Celtics’ famed Big 3 is officially a Plus-1 now, since they’re moving on to the Eastern Conference finals to face the Miami Heat Monday night because of the late-game heroics of the one member of the band least known for his offensive prowess.

Rondo knocked down a driving layup and two deep jumpers (one was initially called a 3-pointer but later changed to a 2-pointer after being reviewed and the second was a 3-pointer well behind the line) to extend the Celtics’ lead back to double digits while Pierce was still getting settled in his seat on the bench to watch the final minutes of the Celtics’ 85-75 win.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers had no fear with Rondo stepping up for both shots, the first to beat the shot clock and the second a dagger Rondo stepped into like he was as sharpshooter instead of an All-Star point guard known best for setting the table for his teammates and being one of the best defensive and rebounding points guards in league history.

“Go in, please,” Rivers said when asked what went through his mind seeing Rondo raise up for both of those crunch time 3-pointers. “I’m not above praying … When you get him in rhythm he’s a good shooter. I’ve been saying for that last couple of years. The first [3-pointer] he didn’t have a choice because of the shot clock. The first one he had to take. The second one, he wanted that shot. He stepped into it. And it was big. Big.”

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Hibbert Not A Factor Against Heat

May 25, 2012  ·  12:37AM





INDIANAPOLIS — The Pacers just played a team that was missing its best big man. Well, in a sense, the Pacers didn’t have theirs either.

Anyone seen Roy Hibbert? Because he never really got rolling in this series and the Pacers never managed to take advantage of a situation that was made for him.

No Chris Bosh for Miami should’ve meant plenty of opportunities for Hibbert, the Pacers’ All-Star center. Instead, he lapsed into the background when the Pacers bowed out Thursday, pretty much as he had all series. He averaged 10 shots a game and 11 points, two below his regular season average.

A mild impact from Hibbert wasn’t the only reason the Pacers lost in six. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were epic. Yes, that would be the main reason. And the Pacers got sloppy with the ball when Miami turned up the defense; 22 turnovers killed them in Game 6.

And yet, the one area where the Pacers had a solid advantage was inside. With the big fella. With Hibbert in contract mode (he’s a restricted free agent this summer) he had every reason to be amped. But the Pacers never quite found him as much as they should’ve, and when he did have the ball, Hibbert wasn’t terribly dominant. In an elimination game, his Thursday tally said it all: 12 points, eight rebounds and eight shots, the fifth-fewest attempts on the squad.

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Epic LeBron/Wade Was Just Two Much

May 25, 2012  ·  12:09AM





INDIANAPOLIS — This was Sinatra and Dino holding it down while Sammy called in sick. Or Moe and Larry getting yuks by themselves because Curly suffered a serious injury from a poke in the eye.

Left without Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade steamrolled the Pacers. Two men were two much. That’s it, folks. There’s no need to look too deep to figure how the Heat won in six. Wade scored 41 on Thursday in the clincher, and LeBron started this run with 40 points and 18 rebounds in Game 4. This was a combination a locksmith couldn’t solve, much less the Pacers.

The last three games, when Miami turned this series around, LeBron Wade scored 70, 58 and 69 points. Isn’t that what the Bobcats get on three good nights? Two guys played at MVP level and did it entertainingly at that, throwing up highlights left and right. Hope you enjoyed it, even if you hate the Heat, because this type of three-game stretch doesn’t come ’round here often.

This was pure brilliance, and dominance, and greatness. And don’t let your disgust for the Heat, if you still haven’t gotten over it yet, blind you to what you just witnessed.

Come to think of it, Bosh’s abdominal strain worked out fine for us spectators, because it allowed us to see LeBron Wade at his very and truly best. Dunks, steals, lobs, blocks, downcourt sprints, you name it, they gave it. And you know why?

“They had to give us more,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “I don’t know if they’ve ever been required to give us as much responsibility, with Chris out. This series bRought out the best in both of them because they knew what it would take.”

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The League Gets The Last Punch

May 24, 2012  ·  7:44AM

INDIANAPOLIS – Retaliation comes at a price, and the true cost for the Heat will be totaled up by late Thursday.

Miami will be without Udonis Haslem, whose foul on Tyler Hansbrough was upgraded to level two and the league office tacked on a one-game suspension to boot. Hansbrough wasn’t suspended for his hard foul moments earlier on Dwyane Wade, and truthfully, the league didn’t see any malice by the Pacer forward. But Haslem’s hit was clearly a payback, and the intent, therefore, was judged just as damaging than the actual foul.

That’s why Dexter Pittman was suspended (three games, and he probably got off light) for clubbing Lance Stephenson and then winking about it. As if the vicious foul wasn’t enough, Pittman went after Stephenson because the Pacer reserve gave the choke signal to LeBron James. Once again, the intent, as well as the foul, carried equal weight.

Because Pittman is a benchwarmer who seldom sees any light anyway, the loss of Haslem is where Miami could feel a pinch. Coincidently, Game 6 is at Bankers Life, where Haslem dropped four critical jumpers late in the fourth quarter of Game 4, which tilted the series in Miami’s favor. Since the Heat’s supporting cast isn’t especially deep, and because Haslem has scored 24 points the last two games, this could be a price that proves too difficult to overcome, unless someone else steps forward for Miami.

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Haslem, Pittman Out For Game 6

May 23, 2012  ·  7:35PM





INDIANAPOLIS – Udonis Haslem won’t be playing in Game 6 of the Miami Heat-Indiana Pacers playoff series Thursday night. Tyler Hansbrough will be. And Dexter Pittman … c’mon, does Dexter Pittman’s availability really matter?

The afternoon-after officiating of the flagrant-foul frenzy in Game 5 probably got it right: Haslem, Hansbrough and Pittman all had their flagrant-1 fouls upgraded to flagrant-2 violations, but Haslem (one game) and Pittman (three games) also were handed suspensions for striking the head and shoulders of their intended Indiana targets.

Haslem must sit out Game 6 without pay for his two-armed chop on Hansbrough, which came less than a minute after the Pacers forward put a hard foul on Miami’s Dwyane Wade. Wade got hit in the head and shoulders, too, but in the view of Stu Jackson, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, that was a foul that fit within the context of basketball. Who hasn’t seen Wade, after all, get up some acrobatic continuation shot that dropped after a defender fouled and let him go?

Haslem’s and Pittsman’s moves, in real time, in replays and in context, were retaliatory moves. That wasn’t included in the league’s news release on their suspensions, but it was evident to anyone in the building or watching the game. Haslem “had” Wade’s back and Pittman apparently decided to do for LeBron James what Juwan Howard had only yapped about. Lance Stephenson, remember, was the Pacers’ deep reserve who made a choke gesture courtside when James missed a free throw in Game 3.

The Heat won’t be happy about losing Haslem, who has given them value scoring, rebounding and toughness (most of it clean) off the bench in the past two games. Will it swing the series? Hard to say. But the NBA would have been remiss – and didn’t offer any explanation for why the game officials got their rulings wrong – if it had let the Heat’s two hammerings go without further punishment. Those veered into hockey, bordering on pro wrestling and had a distinctly dirty feel.

Remember, all Stephenson did was act stupid and disrespect James from afar. He didn’t get physical with anybody, yet wound up getting clotheslined across his collarbone by Pittman’s lunging elbow.

Expect a more buttoned-down Game 6, despite Larry Bird’s “soft” challenge to his Pacers in what might be their elimination. A couple of key transgressors won’t be active and the referee crew almost certainly will have quick whistles, lest things get uglier.

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Bird Calls Pacers S-O-F-T!

May 23, 2012  ·  7:42AM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – The Indiana Pacers left Miami nursing their wounds, both physical and emotional, after a second straight deflating loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

But they won’t get any sympathy at home, not from Pacers president Larry Bird, who made it clear late last night where he feels his team went wrong in this series.

Bird unleashed on his own team after the Heat unloaded on both Tyler Hansbrough and Lance Stephenson with a couple of wicked hard fouls from Udonis Haslem and Dexter Pittman, respectively, telling Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star:

“I can’t believe my team went soft,” Bird said on the phone. “S-O-F-T. I’m disappointed. I never thought it would happen.”

When asked to elaborate on those comments, an obviously frustrated Bird said, “That’s all I have to say.”

You had to know Bird was going to let loose on someone after watching his team get wobbled repeatedly in the last six quarters of this series. Bird and his Celtics never shied away from a challenge during his Hall of Fame playing career, so it’s no surprise that went off on his own team.

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Help From Haslem Lifts Miami

May 20, 2012  ·  8:59PM




INDIANAPOLIS — Udonis Haslem scored 14 points and most surprisingly made four of the Heat’s final five baskets while wearing a heavy patch above a cut eyebrow. He shot better with one eye halfway shut than he did with both wide open.

Until Sunday, Haslem, like most of the Heat bench, was invisible. The Pacers left him open and dared him to shoot, and when he did, they applauded. In the previous three games, Haslem had a total of six points on two-for-11 shooting. And many of those shots, like Sunday, were taken without a hand in his face.

He did have an elbow to his eye in Game 4, though, no thanks to Pacers forward Lou Amundson, and had to play with a nasty cut. Maybe it was the hit that sent Haslem rolling in the right direction in a 101-93 win.

His points “were the most important in the game” according to LeBron James, but mostly, Haslem was actually in the game. His minutes have declined since the series began, from 23 minutes, to 12 to seven, partly because he was ineffective but also because coach Erik Spoelstra wanted to spread the floor with shooters. In Game 4 his playing time swelled to 25 minutes, 10 in the fourth quarter.

“Part of being a good teammate,” said Haslem, who was unhappy but didn’t complain, “is rooting your guys on when you’re not out there, and being ready to go when you’re called. I felt we really needed this game and I waited for my opportunity.”

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Battle Of The Benchwarmers

May 20, 2012  ·  8:04PM



INDIANAPOLIS — Juwan Howard and Lance Stephenson haven’t played any significant minutes of this playoff series, but their time on the court Sunday was intense.

Neither actually played in Game 4. Instead, they had to be separated during the pre-game warmups, a confrontation that was a culmination of bad blood between a 17-year veteran and a player who was only six years old when Howard turned pro.

For the second time in as many days, Howard actively sought out Stephenson, who gave the choke sign late in Game 3 after LeBron James missed a free throw. Stephenson apologized for that. But Howard marched over to Stephenson while the teams were warming up, spoke animatedly, and then went nose-to-nose with Stephenson before they were broken apart.

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Heat Two Much For Pacers, For Now

May 20, 2012  ·  7:45PM





INDIANAPOLIS — LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 70 points in a captivating and hypnotic performance that left you gushing and the Pacers gasping. It was tag-team basketball at its finest, and it sucked all the suspense from an East semifinal that was turning disastrous by the day for Miami.

And yet: Is this what it’s going to take to beat the Pacers, and then the next team if the Heat advance, and the next?

The short and truthful answer is: Yes. Those two played at an MVP level to keep the Heat from collapsing in their best-of-seven series, which now returns to Miami 2-2. It was a steady and deliberate two-man torture, at times entertaining, at times awe-inspiring, at times breathless. They hooked up for dunks, give-and-goes, fast-break buckets and when the situation called for it, went solo on the Pacers. It was two much for Indiana to handle, an effort that perhaps only they can give.

“They came in with a certain mindset,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

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All-Star Forward Bosh Out Indefinitely; Game-Changer For Heat?

May 14, 2012  ·  12:36PM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – The Miami Heat will have to continue their playoff march without All-Star power forward Chris Bosh.

He is out indefinitely with a strained abdominal muscle, the Heat announced this afternoon.

The Heat go from a Big 3 to a Big 2 of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade for at least Tuesday’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Indiana Pacers and potentially, for the remainder of the series.

The word “indefinitely” will lead to speculation that Bosh could be out even longer. And if that’s the case, the Heat’s road to The Finals gets considerably tougher. They’ll have to get through a Pacers team with a frontcourt that boasts All-Star center Roy Hibbert and David West and then have to face either the Celtics or 76ers in the Eastern Conference finals. The Thunder, Clippers, Lakers or Spurs could be waiting for them if they clear that hurdle.

The Heat did manage rather well without Bosh after he left Game 1 against the Pacers Sunday.

But what does the prospect of a Bosh-less Heat team for the remainder of this postseason do to the Heat … and your playoff bracket?


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