PACE

Opening night in the NBA.

The Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics at home 120-107. Miami is the defending champions and they have improved their roster; scary, right? Ray Allen did very well last night coming off the bench scoring 19 points. D-Wade led all scorers with 29 points. LeBron James had 26 and pulled down 10 rebounds in 28 minutes. Paul Pierce led the C’s with 23 points. Rajon Rondo had 20 points and dished out 13 assists.

Dallas Mavericks went into LA and beat the Lakers 99-91. Lakers newcomer Steve Nash summed it up after the game. “We’re thinking too much instead of just playing.”

Lakers head coach Mike Brown: “We’re going to have to defend with multiple efforts until our offense catches up to our defense.”

LA shot 12-31 from the free-throw line. Dwight Howard was 3-14 while teammate Jordan Hill added 1-6 from the line.

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THE POINT GUARD

Nate Archibald was a pretty good player. In 1973, he led the league in assists and scoring. in 1973.

Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe on Nate’s comments regarding Rajon Rondo.

“I’m going to get in trouble for this,’’ said Nate “Tiny’’ Archibald, who helped a young Larry Bird win his first NBA title in 1981, “but if you look at all the great point guards who have worn the Celtics uniform, Rajon Rondo does more than any of us put together.’’

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TWITTER: @CoachFinamore

COMMUNICATE

From Doc Rivers…

“If you’re not talking, you’re not playing defense.”

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TWITTER: @CoachFinamore

CHAMPIONSHIP ATTITUDE

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants; 2012 World Series champions. The Giants won their second ring in the last three years sweeping the Detroit Tigers 4-0.

Last night I listened to some outstanding post-game comments from a few members of the Giants organization.

GM Brian Sabean: ”We created a culture where the players respect the game. Be a teammate and compete. They took it to another level.”

Manager Bruce Bochy: “They are an unselfish group. They loved each other and played for each other. They had a never say die attitude. They set aside their own agenda; they did what’s best for the club.  They never complained, they just wanted to win.  It makes it a lot easier for a manager when you got a group like this. It’s amazing what a group of guys that play as a team can accomplish.”

Hunter Pence: “We never let doubt creep in. We care for each other. It’s not about any one person’s contribution. It’s what we did collectively.”

Harold Reynolds, MLB TV analyst: “It was a team effort.”

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TWITTER: @CoachFinamore

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports on the Thunder-Rockets deal.

Harden struggled in the NBA Finals, tried too hard and slowly, surely unraveled over the course of the series. When the rest of the Thunder were celebrating a Game 1 victory over Miami in the locker room, Harden could be heard grumbling over too few shots (five), and too few minutes (22).

Veterans Derek Fisher and Perkins laid into Harden, telling him essentially: We just won an NBA Finals game and the last thing in the world that ought to worry you are your individual statistics. Harden apologized, but it was clear his mindset wasn’t right. He never found his way back into a proper rhythm in the Finals.

HOOPS135@HOTMAIL.COM

TWITTER: @CoachFinamore