James better prepared for playoffs this year
MIAMI – LeBron James was planning to go to the movies Saturday night.
But if you think James had earned himself an evening off, think again.
“I’m going to break down the film tonight,” the Miami forward said shortly before he departed AmericanAirlines Arena following an afternoon of hard work.
James had just scored 32 points in 32 minutes on 10-of-14 shooting and picked off four steals in the Heat’s 100-67 rout of New York in Game 1 of an East first-round series. But no doubt James in his film studies will find things he believed he did wrong.
This is one focused dude who is trying to finally win an NBA title in his ninth season. He showed up with a shorter haircut before the game as any Navy Seal would before a mission.
“I feel a difference between Game 1 of last year’s postseason against Philly and (Saturday),” said James, still smarting from last year’s Finals loss to Dallas. “I’m a different player this year. I’m a different person this year compared to last year I’ve waited for this moment to get back to the postseason. I’ve prepared myself all season even through the offseason to get back to this point. I’m excited and I’m hungry and I’m blessed to be back here again.”
With that in mind, it’s a wonder why anybody would do anything to fire James up even more. But that’s what happened with 1:34 left in the second quarter when Knicks center Tyson Chandler crushed James with a hard pick.
James staggered back and grabbed his neck as he’d just come down with whiplash. The officials immediately called Chandler for a flagrant 2 foul, which meant ejection.
The officials reviewed the play and determined it was flagrant 1, which enabled Chandler to stay in the game. All that meant was he had to watch James dissect the Knicks the rest of the half.
In a stretch heat coach Erik Spoelstra called “spectacular.” James scored Miami’s final nine points before halftime to reach 23. That extended the lead to 54-31 at intermission and came during the midst of a 32-2 run during the second and third quarters that took the score from 30-29 to 62-31.
“I felt emotional from our fans,” James said of his flurry. “Our fans are great. They didn’t like the play so I fed off those guys. I fed off my teammates.”
James didn’t believe Chandler’s shot was malicious, calling it a “hard pick.” Even though he was popped, he didn’t want to give Chandler much credit.
“It’s all right,” James said. “I’ve been hit harder than that. I played football (in high school).”
Chandler, who called it a “legal pick,” didn’t think the play swung the momentum in Miami’s favor. He figured his Knicks already were getting waxed.
“It shifted before that,” Chandler said. “(James) played well throughout the game.”
James’ work was done for the night when the Heat led 81-47 and he then didn’t play in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the opposing small forward was chipping paint off the rim.
New York’s Carmelo Anthony shot 0-of-7 in the first half and finished 3-of-15 for 11 points. Anthony, who had scored 42 points against Miami on April 15, was fronted by the Heat, and he admitted that surprised him.
Doing much of the work on Anthony was Shane Battier. That enabled James to not wear himself out as much on defense.
“What was great, Shane took some pressure off (James) and was able to guard him a lot,” said Heat guard Dwyane Wade. “Enabled (James) to really put his stamp on the game.”
And stomp on the Knicks.
While James joked after the game he got his hair cut short so he could go “back to my young boy look,” he looked like anything but a youngster out there. The seasoned James has come out more focused than many ever have seen.
When James hit a three-pointer just before the end of the third quarter to put the finishing touches on his night, teammates were whopping it up. But James showed no emotion. He might figure nothing is worthy of a celebration until he finally is handed the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
“LeBron was LeBron,” Heat forward Mike Miller said of the performance. “That’s why he should be the MVP of the league and he proved it (Saturday) It’s fun to watch when he gets it going like that.”
As for James, all he was planning to watch Saturday night was game film. One postseason win is in the books, but his mission won’t be complete until he gets 15 more.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or Twitter @christomasson
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NBA: Why This Is Steve Nash’s Most Impressive Season to Date
Steve Nash‘s game has never been predicated on speed. His style is not the end-to-end stuff you see from John Wall, or the now-you-see-him now-you-don’t blow-by quickness Derrick Rose exacts with ruthless efficiency.
Heck, even Jimmer Fredette could probably beat Nash in a foot race.
But none of those three can say, at this point, that they enjoyed a career as lengthy, as fruitful and as incredible as Nash’s. They’re still young, yes, but if they are as productive as Nash has been when they’re in their 30s, it will be something indeed.
Two Most Valuable Player awards won during that decade of life go an awful long way to making a stirring argument.
Quite simply, the 38-year-old point guard who was born in South Africa but raised in Canada defies belief. It appears to come naturally to him. After all, he’s done it for about eight years’ running now.
You might not believe it unless you see it, as if you were some born-again version of Doubting Thomas.
After all, how can a 6’3″ guard, one who is forced to lie down during breaks from the action, gaze fixed firmly on the rafters above him in order to give his ailing back some small respite, somehow, someway be averaging 12.5 points, 10.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds a night—all in just 31.6 minutes a night?
To put that in perspective, Nash is second in the league in assists per game, trailing the Boston Celtics‘ Rajon Rondo’s 11.6 dimes. But Rondo plays nearly six more minutes per contest than Nash (36.9 minutes).
And you could make the case that with the (albeit aging) Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett around him, Rondo has a bit more star power scoring to work with than, say, Nash. One look at the teams’ records says enough in that category. The Celtics are in the playoffs, the Suns are not. Ergo.
Yes, the points per game (12.5) are Nash’s lowest output since the 1999-00 season, when he averaged 8.6 with the Dallas Mavericks. Yes, the assists are his lowest since ’08-09.
But to say that Nash is diminishing is to do his remarkable story a disservice. In many ways, he’s just as agonizing a match up for opposing defenses as he was back in the middle portions of the last decade, when he won those back-to-back MVP awards (2004-05 and 2005-06.)
He’s still got the game; yes, the one that makes the haters cringe as they shout at their TV screens vitriol such as “I could guard him out there!”
It’s true that Nash often looks as if he’s playing in slow motion, even as if his feet were stuck in molasses at times.
But somehow, someway, he keeps sinking those mid-range jumpers. Somehow, he keeps finding his teammates in stride with inch-perfect passes. Lame, he is not.
Even with his contract up now that the season has ended, and much debate about whether he’ll stick around in the southwest and fade off into the sunset for retirement or pursue a ring elsewhere, Nash showed absolutely no sign of being distracted during the entire 66-game campaign.
There’s something to be said about that kind of commitment.
There has been no Dwight Howard-esque embarrassing escapades with his head coach. Nash has never made headlines for looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but, well, where he’s been since he returned to the Suns back in that historic ’03-04 season.
Watch him during a game, and you’ll get some insight into what the term “consummate professional” means.
There he is, the first off the bench…well, floor, when his teammates come over for a timeout, high-fiving and congratulating them as if he were on a 10-day contract trying to make it on the roster.
There he is, flying over to a fallen teammate who’s just succumbed to a hard foul, legs churning and pumping furiously despite his fatigue, to show his solidarity. Those kinds of acts make a difference; they make a big difference.
He is the quintessential point guard (and as should be the case in regards to that position historically predicated upon passing), he is the consummate teammate.
He was the most efficient player on his team, as diagnosed by the site 82games.com, showing that he wasn’t simply a circus act unwilling to accept his inevitable retirement.
Nash’s simple rating of plus-10.6, and his efficiency rating of plus-5.4, while not in the upper echelon of the league, are still far and away the best on the entire Suns team. (Marcin Gortat is second in both simple rating and efficiency rating with a plus-7.9 and plus-2.3, respectively.)
It’s the kind of statistical reference that will make Nash a coveted prospect on the free agent market this summer. Like Jason Kidd has shown with the Dallas Mavericks, there is a definite need for savvy point guards in this league—no matter their age.
Kidd got his title last season. Will Nash get his in 2012-13?
We can only wait and see.
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Boston Celtics Paul Pierce Sprains Toe: This Could Spell Playoff Trouble
The absolute last possible event the Boston Celtics wanted to happen in the season’s final game was another injury to a key player going into the NBA playoffs. Unfortunately for Boston last night team scoring leader Paul Pierce left the game after an apparent foot injury. Later it was revealed to only be a sprained toe. Given Boston’s history of revealing injuries, I am not so sure that this is true. However even if this injury is a minor one, this injury could still be damning to Boston’s playoff push.
A foot injury of any kind is a big deal. A player needs his feet to make the quick cuts and get open or drive the lane. Jump shooting is also a lot harder with a bad wheel. Paul Pierce has had a history of foot problems throughout his career. The facts are it is zero surprise that when those injuries occur Pierce has been far less effective. An injured Pierce tends to not attack the basket and turn into a jump shooter that struggles for his feel for the basket.
…
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NBA Playoff Schedule: Road Teams with Best Chances to Win This Weekend
The NBA Playoffs get underway tomorrow and with prohibitive favorites such as Oklahoma City and Chicago at the top of the brackets, it’s hard to work up much optimism for lower seeds. Still, if recent history is any indication, at least a few clubs will steal a win on the road over the first two games of the first round.
This trio of road teams are the most likely to pull off the surprise in their series openers this weekend:
Los Angeles Clippers
Memphis earned a No. 4 seed with a win last night, and few teams had a bigger home-court edge in the 2011 playoffs. Even so, the Clippers will give them all they can handle in Sunday’s opening meeting.
There’s not a better player for quieting a hostile crowd than L.A. star Blake Griffin, whose momentum-changing dunks will be on display early and often against the Grizzlies. With Chris Paul at the point, there’s little danger of the young Clippers panicking if the Grizzlies jump out to an early lead, so look for a close battle and (very possibly) a rare postseason success story for Los Angeles’ other team.
Boston Celtics
The only higher seed opening on the road, Boston was locked into the No. 4 position by virtue of its Atlantic Division title. Atlanta, however, had the better record (40-26 to Boston’s 39-27), giving them home-court advantage in the series.
With Atlanta missing center Al Horford (still recovering from pectoral surgery), the Hawks will be vulnerable even on their home floor. If Ray Allen can dig down and put up the kinds of offensive numbers that were once a given from him, Boston could well come out on top on Sunday.
Denver Nuggets
The Staples Center is rarely an easy place to play for visiting teams (especially now that the Clippers are a contender, too), but Denver isn’t going to roll over for the third-seeded Lakers. L.A. is playing without the suspended Metta World Peace, making a thin rotation even thinner for the first six games of the series.
Losing both depth and an elite defender is especially bad news against Denver, the league’s highest-scoring offense and a team that loves to run and gun. That advantage will probably need a couple of games to really take effect, but it’s not impossible that Denver could sneak in a win on Sunday.
Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
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Is this the new Brooklyn Nets logo?
A trip to the New Jersey Nets’ website will have you greeted by a rather cryptic message. It’s a shield outlined in white that sits in the center of a black background and is accompanied by the hashtag “#hellobrooklyn.” Apparently this is a tease of the Nets’ new logo and color scheme. We’ll find out soon enough. The team’s name change becomes official next week and the Nets are planning an official unveiling of their new look for Monday.
But, per Deadspin, a soon-to-be-fired (probably) IT technician at Barclays Center seems to have beaten the Nets to the punch, tweeting out the photo you see above. You’re looking at quite plausibly the new logo of your Brooklyn Nets. It’s in line with what the franchise has been teasing. Well, aside from the blue construction tape.
This new look adopts elements of Nets’ current logo, such as featuring the word “Nets” atop a basketball, both enclosed by a shield. But the franchise is evidently departing from its red, white and blue color scheme it’s had since its days as the Americans in the ABA.
Back in September it was reported that part-owner and rap superduperstar Jay-Z would have a hand in the redesign. And while I would have enjoyed a modern update of the New York Nets’ jerseys from the time of Dr. J, I like the job Mr. Z has done. Simple yet stylish. Nothing cartoonish like the current look. Chris Christie probably hates it.
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11 Reasons This Year’s Lakers Will Fare Better in the Playoffs Than Last Year’s
The Lakers 2010-11 season came to a bitter and pathetic end when the eventual champion Dallas Mavericks ruthlessly swept them in the second round of the playoffs.
After their early playoff exit, the Lakers were harshly criticized for their lackadaisical performance, and many desired that the Lakers begin to rebuild.
While the Lakers have gone through numerous changes over the past year, they’re still one of the best teams in the West, despite being continuously doubted during the offseason.
The Lakers have played so well as of late that I’m convinced that they’ll do better this year in the playoffs than they did last year.
Here are 11 reasons why.
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5 Ways Richard Hamilton Will Help the Bulls This Postseason
The Chicago Bulls are easily one of the best teams in the NBA. Although players like Derrick Rose get most of the credit for this success, players like Richard Hamilton should not go without being mentioned. In fact, Hamilton is very important for the Bulls success in this year’s playoffs.
Chicago is once again an elite team in the NBA, and there is no person that should be surprised if the Bulls take home the hardware this year.
With that said, read on to find out five ways that Hamilton will help the Bulls this postseason.
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Kevin Love Turning Heads in Minnesota, This Time Because His Face Looks Naked (Photo)
No, the Minnesota Timberwolves aren’t accepting walk-ons — that’s just Kevin Love hanging out over there. The man who spent the better part of the season in the MVP discussion has shaved his beard and mustache, leaving him looking more like an AAU baller than an All-Star power forward. Teammate Ricky Rubio tweeted a photo of the now fresh-faced Love on Saturday. Love was averaging 26 points and 13 rebounds a game this season before he was injured after taking an elbow to the head on April 11. After the concussion, the team opted to shut him down for the…
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This most disappointing NBA players of 2011-2012
Before we leave this crazy regular season behind us to celebrate the warriors who will square off in the NBA playoffs, let us recognize the players who were massively disappointing this season. The uncertainty created by the lockout guaranteed that some players would have less-than-stellar seasons, but a chosen few went above and beyond (or below and beneath) the call of duty. Some aged before our eyes. Some dug their own graves. Some failed to develop as anticipated. One suffered injuries that should have been foreseen by the team that traded for him in the offseason. Several of these guys…
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This 10 most disappointing NBA players of 2011-2012
Before we leave this crazy regular season behind us to celebrate the warriors who will square off in the NBA playoffs, let us recognize the players who were massively disappointing this season. The uncertainty created by the lockout guaranteed that some players would have less-than-stellar seasons, but a chosen few went above and beyond (or below and beneath) the call of duty. Some aged before our eyes. Some dug their own graves. Some failed to develop as anticipated. One suffered injuries that should have been foreseen by the team that traded for him in the offseason. Several of these guys…
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