source: coolspotters.com
Miami opened its season against the veteran Boston Celtics is a game that was only close the first two minutes. Miami was humbled by a well-oiled Celtics machine that is to big down low and too smart on the bench to give in to the Miami Heat hype. Fast forward to game 14 and the Heat are a pedestrian 8-6, a game and a half behind Orlando and tied with a suddenly-swooning Atlanta team.
Little Nate Robinson may only stand 5 foot 7 inches, but he saved the city of Boston from a humiliating loss.
Nate Robinson scored 13 points in 8 minutes of the first half as the Boston Celtics eliminated the Orlando Magic in the pivotal game six of the Eastern Conference Finals. The former New York Knickerbocker energized the aging Celtics off the bench, scoring in bunches. The veterans, most notably Paul Pierce, followed suit and bombed the Orlando Magic who failed on their attempt to become the only team in NBA history to win a 7-game series after going down 3-0.
Instant offense is exactly what is expected of Nate Robinson. Like Jamal Crawford in Atlanta or Vinny Johnson of the Pistons years back, Nate is there to do one thing: score. Tonight, on the biggest stage of his career, Nate delivered. The Celtics had all the pressure on them going into Game 6. A comfortable 3-0 series lead had been swept away by aggressive play from the Magic. Dwight Howard looked like a new man and the Celtics were having trouble containing the spritely Jameer Nelson. A loss tonight and all the momentum would be with Orlando, and the deciding game would be on their court.
The Celtics took no chances and came out aggressive. Early foul trouble on Jameer and Dwight, horrific three point shooting, and a renewed commitment to defense by the Celtics gave the Magic very little hope of winning this game. Credit the Celtics for regrouping and delivering a championship-caliber performance, even though Rondo still hasn’t found his groove since Game 3.
No team in the history of the NBA has ever lost a 7-game series when leading 3-0. But the pressure is on the Boston Celtics to win tonight at home, or risk failing in historic fashion.
Blown out by the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday, the Boston Celtics return to Beantown and try to regroup. What was once a laughable series dominated by Boston, Wednesday’s impressive victory by the Orlando Magic has made this series a near coin flip. Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis have yet to earn 10% of their bloated salaries, but the performances of All-Star Dwight Howard and the resurgent Jameer Nelson are driving the Magic back into the form they enjoyed during the regular season.
Dwight Howard was a man among boys in Game 5: hammer dunking, fly-swatting shots, running the break and even hitting a few free throws. Boston lost its best big man, Kendrick Perkins, after two dubious technical fouls in the 2nd quarter. His backup, Big Baby Glen Davis, was leveled by an errant Howard elbow, dropping him like a stone. As Davis stumbled and faltered about the court, suffering the effects of a concussion, he was a the perfect image of the Celtics last two games: unbalanced and unable to execute the most basic of plays.
The good news, if there is any, from yesterday is the Kendrick Perkins had a technical rescinded, so he will be able to match up against Dwight. The key for the Celtics is Rondo. His tentative play has taken them from world beaters to rec center backups. He must improve and energize the Boston crowd. The pressure is squarely on the Celtics tonight in Game 6. Lose and they must travel back to Orlando, where despite losing twice in this series, the Magic are normally very difficult to beat. Add to the Celtics woes that no team has ever lost a 7-game series after leading 3-0 and any Game 7 scenario may be too much.
Mike Woodson was fired by the Atlanta Hawks after taking the Atlanta Hawks to their best regular season finish in more than a decade. Should it come as any surprise that the regular season Eastern Conference champions have fired their coach?
Mike Brown was let go by the Cleveland Cavaliers after 5 seasons as head coach. The one-time assistant for the Washington Wizards, San Antonio Spurs, and the Indiana Pacers, was the only coach that NBA All-Star LeBron James has ever had. That is both good news and bad news for Brown. With LeBron comes instant wins but monumental expectations.
Brown is one of the most successful coaches in Cavs history, going 314-177 in the last two years and qualifying for the playoffs in each of his five years. However, after winning the coach of the year award in 2009, a year where the Cavalies won 66 games, he was unable to duplicate regular season success into playoff wins. NBA finalists in 2007 (the only appearance in Cleveland history), the Cavaliers have backslid every year, losing to the Orlando Magic in teh Eastern Conference finals last year and bowing out to the aged Celtics in the second round this year.
Brown’s fate was sealed by the performance of his team in this year’s playoffs. A sluggish and well contested first round series against a scrappy Bulls team may have been a sign of things to come. Despite excellent performances by LeBron James, the Cavs were never comfortable in the series. Game 1 of the second round against the Boston Celtics started ominously for the Cavs as they trailed by double-digits well into the second half. But a LeBron outburst in the fourth quarter led to a win and a 1-0 series lead. Two more games, and it was 2-1 for Cleveland. Inexplicably, the team lost 3 games in a row, some in blowout fashion to a Celtics team on the backside of their careers.
The Atlanta Hawks’ bus got in an accident after the morning shoot-around in Milwaukee. The real tragedy was their performance in Game 4.
Though dominant at home, the Atlanta Hawks are proving they are mere roadkill away from Philips Arena. Despite the loss of Bogut, the upstart Bucks are beating the once dominant Hawks rather easily at the Bradley Center. Game 3 was a blowout and an embarrassing loss for a 50-win team. On Monday, the Deer took it to the wingless birds 111-104 to tie the series at 2.
John Salmons and Brandon Jennings continue to pester the Hawks. Salmons poured in 23 and Jennings contributed 22 points and 6 assists. But it was the hot shooting of Carlos Delfino (22 points, 6 of 8 from the 3 point line) that spelled doom for Atlanta. Delfino was emblematic of the entire Bucks roster on Monday: hustling, taking smart shots, and converting from the charity stripe. As a team, the Bucks shot over 55% and were 88% from the line on 32 attempts. They took nearly 15 more free throws than they averaged in the prior 3 games.
I would say Game 4 was 50% Milwaukee’s great play and 50% Atlanta simply not being ready for primetime. I love a good underdog story, but the talent of Atlanta is too deep to be troubled by this Milwaukee team. Mike Woodson needs to share a lot of the blame. He has never had success on the road in the playoffs. Though it will likely not derail the Hawks this round, you can bet that against Orlando, zero road wins means a quick summer vacation.
Final stat line for LeBron James: 39 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists. Add in 21 points from Mo Williams and 19 from Antawn Jamison. You’d expect the Cavs to cruise to an easy victory, right? Wrong!
The balanced scoring of the Chicago Bulls led them to victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 on Thursday, 108-106. Derrick Rose had another stellar game, posting 31 points and 7 assists on 50% shooting. But it was the scoring of little Kirk Hinrich (27 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 75% shooting) and the rebounding of loud-mouth Joakim Noah (15 rebounds) that made the difference. Add Luol Deng’s 20 points and good contribution from the bench, at this was Chicago’s game.
But it was not as easy as they would have liked. Up by 21 points in the third quarter, the Bulls let the Cavs make a grand comeback. With less than a minute to go, the normally steady free throw shooting of the Bulls left them. Misses by Hinrich, Rose, and Deng gave Cleveland a chance to win at the end, but Anthony Parker’s three point attempt was off the mark.
LeBron had a monster game, but he hurt his team with the one true weakness he has — free throw shooting. LBJ was 7 of 13 from the charity stripe and the team as a whole shot only 65% from the FT line and 44% from the field. Compare that to the stellar percentages of the Bulls — 50% FG, 76% FT — and you have your difference in the game.
Here are two vertical jump programs that are guaranteed to help you jump higher & increase your vertical leap.
Pursuant to Federal Trade Commission Guidelines, we are required to disclose that this website, while primarily constructed for both educational and informational purposes, may have a material connection between some of the products described herein. Specifically, this website may be compensated if a purchase is made via an Affiliate hyperlink. This website is free to use and any compensation from affiliate links helps continue to provide our readers with top quality information, insight, and a little humor. Additional details about our terms & conditions, our privacy policy, and further disclaimers regarding BigTimeUps.com are available via selected links.
