Celtics 114 Heat 94: Jayson Tatum with a triple-double to lead Boston to a 1-0 series lead. Tatum scored 23 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists. Towards the end of the game Tatum went for a rebound and was knocked down by the Heat’s Caleb Martin. No big deal. It wasn’t a dirty play. Bam Adebayo led Miami with 24 points. The Heat played without Jimmy Butler.
Clippers 109 Mavericks 97: James Harden led the Clippers with 28 points. Paul George added 22. Ivica Zubac scored 20 points and pulled down 15 boards. Clippers shot 18-36 from downtown. Mavs were led by Luka Doncic with 33 points. Doncic shot 11-26 from the field. He also pulled down 13 rebounds. Clippers, who played without Kawhi Leonard lead the series 1-0.
Bucks 109 Pacers 94: Damian Lillard scored 35 points to lead the Bucks to the Game 1 victory. Khris Middleton added 25. Bobby Portis scored 23 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Milwaukee made 14 3’s on the night. The Pacers were led by Pascal Siakam with 36 points.
Thunder 94 Pelicans 92: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for OKC with 28 points giving the Thunder a 1-0 series lead. Jalen Williams chipped in with 19. Trey Murphy led the Pelicans with 21 points. The Pels were playing without Zion Williamson.
Home Cooking: The home team won all 8 first round games.
I’m composing this journal entry in Dunkin’ Donuts on Sunday morning. The “Wake-up wrap” is amazing.
Derrick White scored on an offensive put-back off a missed 3-point shot by Marcus Smart at the buzzer to give the Celtics a 104-103 win in Game 6. The series is tied at 3. Game 7 is Monday night in Boston.
Jayson Tatum led the way for Boston with 31 points and 12 rebounds. He had 25 at the half.
Jimmy Butler, who shot 5 for 21 from the field said the Heat were going to win Game 6. They were close. Butler finished with 24 points in 46 minutes. He looks exhausted.
Butler, after the game on Game 7: “We can do it. I know that we will do it. We’ve got to go on the road and win in a very, very, very tough environment.”
Butler and Bam Adebayo were awful from the field. Combined they shot 9-37. “It’s not the effort, they have to play better,” said TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy. Bam also played 46 minutes. Cody Zeller, his back-up just 2.
Let’s get to White’s follow-up basket. What the hell was Max Strus doing on defense? White was taking the ball out on the left sideline. Strus turned his back on the ball to try and take away the pass to the top to Tatum. Instead, Smart opened up at the left elbow after back-screening. White hit Smart who launched the long jumper. Strus never jumped back to White who now had a clear path to the basket. No box out, out of position. Always stay between your man and the basket. You’re taught that in third grade.
“I mean, it don’t do no good to stand in the corner there,” White said after the game. “Whether he makes it or not, so I was just crashing the glass, and it came right to me.”
Don’t just stand there and watch a shot go up. Hit the glass.
Joe Mazzulla ran a beautiful ATO play in the 3rd quarter for an easy Celtics bucket.
How about today’s center’s who rebound on the defensive end and push the ball in transition, running the offense? Al Horford and Adebayo do it well. Hey coach, next workout or practice, allow your bigs to handle the ball.
Speaking of Big Al, what was up with that foul on Butler in the right corner with :03 left in the game? Bad play by the Grand Ledge High graduate. Boston was up 2. Hands straight up.
Freddie from News 10 texted me last night after the game: “Do you believe Al Horford IS still playing?” Yep, I believe it. The guy takes care of his body. He stays out of clubs. He’s a family man, raised the right way. Do the right thing and you can have a long career.
Charles Barkley picked the C’s to win last night. But they didn’t cover; they were -2.5…Johnny Point Spread took the night off. Rumor has it he took in a WNBA game. But he did text me after the game; “Miami sucks!”
Heat had just 5 turnovers.
Would love to hear Bob Ryan talk about this series.
Robert Williams scored 10 points in 17 minutes. He is shooting 25-32 from the field in the series. That’s .781 – the guy knows his role.
I was waiting for SVG’s fashion comments on the players. Nothing doing. There was a fan by the Celtics bench wearing high heels, a dress and red socks.
Speaking of fashion, how about Danilo Gallinari dressed in a suit and tie on Boston’s bench? Looking good my man.
SVG mentioned the Celtics may have to go “box and 1” on Caleb Martin. The Nevada alum scored 21 points and pulled down 15 rebounds.
Sam Hauser got some early burn in the 2nd quarter – Malcolm Brogdon missed the game due to injury.
Heat made 14 3’s, Celtics 7. Tatum and Jaylen Brown were a combined 0-12. Drive the ball fella’s, drive the ball. Tatum is shooting .233 from 3 in the series. Brown is .176 – Smart was 4-11 from distance. 9 of his attempts were from the left side of the floor. Smart holds the Celtics franchise record for most 3’s made in a single game with 11.
How bad is TNT play-by-play guy Kevin Harlan? I’ve said it before, he announces the game like we’re listening on radio. Wish he would stop interrupting the analysts. I’d rather hear SVG and Reggie Miller.
Miller made a defense reference, “hands back, active hands.”
Tatum leads the Celtics in scoring in the series with 27 PPG, leads in assists with 34 and rebounds with 61. And don’t foul him, he’s 43-47 from the line.
What is up with Celtics players helping Heat players up off the floor? Greg Kite would never help an opponent off the floor.
Gabe Vincent changed shoes late in the 2nd quarter. He banged a 3 first time he touched the ball.
Haywood Highsmith played D-2 ball.
Love how Smart goes into the post and dominates his defender. So old school. You need a bucket, take your man in the low-hole.
NBA All-Star weekend should add a game of “21.”
Duncan Robinson missed two big 3’s down the stretch. He was 3-6 on the night from deep.
A fan on the baseline was wearing a red, Chicago Bulls jersey. Number 23.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra on Game 7: “I don’t know how we’re gonna get this done, but we’re gonna go up there and get it done.” Coach, Rony Seikaly is not walking through those doors.
Happy birthday Jerry West. He’s 85. Did you know West was 1-8 in the NBA finals? His overall record was 22-33. Imagine if social media was a thing back in his playing days?
Despite what Carl from Brooklyn texted me after game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, Jayson Tatum IS ready for prime time.
Tatum dropped 33 points Tuesday night and saved his club from being swept by the Heat in a 116-99 victory.
Game 5 is Thursday night in Boston. Miami is up 3-1.
Thirty seconds into the game I reach for the remote control and press mute.
The Celtics got back on track by making 18 3’s to Miami’s 8.
Tatum shot 14-22 shooting. He was 4-9 from distance.
Miami was up 56-50 at the half but Boston came back in the third quarter outscoring the Heat 38-23.
I’m going to make a prediction; the Celtics will come back and win the series.
Yeah, yeah, I know it’s never been done before, a team coming back in the playoffs after trailing 0-3 but after watching them last night, I was like, this is the Celtics team I watched all season.
Jaylen Brown better get in the gym on the off day, He’s 3 for 25 from 3 in the series.
Al Horford is 5 for his last 11 from deep.
Jimmy Butler scored 29 for Miami.
Duncan Robinson, Max Strus and Kyle Lowry were a combined 2 for 14 from deep.
Johnny Point Spread went with Miami -1.5, his first loss of the Conference Finals.
The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks Thursday night in Game 6 of the playoffs, 128-120. Boston wraps up the series and moves on to play the Philadelphia 76ers. It should be mentioned Vegas had Boston favorite by 7. SMH
Jaylen Brown led the way with 32 points. Jayson Tatum added 30.
Trae Young scored 30 points and had 10 assists for Atlanta but he shot 1 for 13 in the second half.
Spero Dedes, play-by-play guy for TNT called Young, “A 24 year-old gunslinger.”
Not a good description.
Gotta love Giannis’ response to a reporter following the Bucks being eliminated in game 5 of the playoffs against Miami: “There’s no failure in sports. There’s good days, bad days, some days you are able to be successful, some days you are not, some days it is your turn, some days it’s not. That’s what sports is about. You don’t always win. Michael Jordan played 15 years, won 6 championships. The other 9 years were a failure?”
Kings-Warriors and Lakers-Grizzlies tonight. Golden State and LA lead 3-2.
“I have never been able to find peace like I found on the basketball court…a mystical place, heaven and earth between those lines.”
-John Merz
Back in the day we didn’t have a gym in my neighborhood where we could go and play ball.
If you wanted to play pick-up ball or work on your game, you went to the schoolyard at Holy Name Grammar School; it was our “paved paradise.”
Howard Place and Prospect Avenue, Brooklyn, New York was the place to be.
In the winter when it snowed we shoveled the court in order to play. Wonder if kids still do that today?
Thursday night I did a little research on the plus-minus stat in the NBA. Jayson Tatum leads the NBA with a +220. Nikola Jokic is second at +218.
Nets and Bucks tonight at 7:30. Two of the best teams in the NBA. I’m always interested in who sits out. Hope everyone suits up. Nets have won 7 straight and 11 of their last 12. They are 20-12. Bucks have the best record in the league at 22-9. Giannis and company are coming off a 114-106 loss to the Cavaliers. Watch out for Cleveland, they’ve won 5 straight.
Mike Malone has the Nuggets tied for the best record in the West at 19-11. Helped by a guy named “The Joker.”
How about Pascal Siakim dropping 52 on the Knicks at the Garden Wednesday night? It was a career high. Raptors got the win 113-106 breaking a 6-game losing streak. Knicks loss broke an 8-game winning streak. Siakim is having a great season; 26.2 PPG, 8.6 RPG and 6.2 APG. Good thing about NBA League Pass is that you can choose which announcing team you listen to; my choice that night was the Raptors side with Brooklyn’s own, Jack Armstrong. He’s the best in the business.
“It’s cool,” Siakam said of posting his first 50-point game at Madison Square Garden. “I’m not a super basketball historian. I didn’t start basketball until a little late, but I know how special this building is, and I think that for me the most important thing is that my team needed every bucket for us to win, which is the most important thing to me.”
Steve Kerr on the Warriors struggles this season: “You are what your record says you are,” Kerr said. “It was a bad road trip. We are 15-18, so we’re a below-.500 team, and we’ve got to find a way to reverse that.” This season the Warriors are 3-16 on the road. They’ve lost 7 of their last 9 games.
Golden State did not do well on their recent trip to New York City; they were hammered by the Nets, 141-112 giving up 91 points in the first half. And the Knicks smacked them at the Garden 132-94. They should have scheduled the Terriers of St. Francis.
James Wiseman, who spent a few weeks in he G-League scored 30 points against the Nets. The third year center played 27 minutes and shot 12-14 from the floor.
“You have to have that understanding because you don’t want to overreact,” Draymond Green said. “In saying that, the most important thing is always playing right, as long as you’re not making effort-related mistakes you live with the results … we just have to understand where we are.”
Steph Curry has been out with a shoulder injury. He’ll miss the game Sunday on Christmas against the Grizzlies. The Warriors are 1-6 without him this season. He’s a +145 on the year.
Jose Alvarado of the New Orleans Pelicans is a +159.
I’m not sure why Knicks broadcaster Wally Sczzerbiak went after Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton, calling him a “wannabe all-star?” Haliburton has a nice game. He leads the league in assists per game at 10.6 per game and averages 20 points per game.
“He had a lot to say about me and I was like really questioning like, first, who is this?” Haliburton said. “And why is he talking about me like this. I don’t know if I ever come out and said like, ‘I wanna be and All-Star this year. Please vote for me.’ I don’t think, I didn’t — I don’t think I’ve done that.
“I don’t know, I think he just was excited about a Knicks win and that got him going. But he’s just doing whatever he can to get attention and that’s just the media these days.”
One day later Wally apologized:
“I just want to address something I said about Tyrese Haliburton being a wannabe All-Sta. I want to apologize personally to Tyrese Haliburton. He’s a wonderful young player. He’s definitely in the All-Star conversation, along with guys like [Knicks forward] Julius Randle and [Knicks guard] Jalen Brunson. It’s going to be interesting to see who makes it and all those three players are wonderful players.”
I like the way Spurs rookie Jeremy Sochan shoots his free-throws. He went 7-10 Thursday night against the Pelicans. He shoots it with just his right hand, leaving his guide hand off the ball. Think George McGinnis.
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post has an acronym when describing announcers who talk too much; “TTM.”
Stay warm and stay safe…
E-Mail: SteveFinamore@yahoo.com
Eskimos play basketball on a court of ice near snow covered mountains.
Big games Sunday night in Brooklyn and Manhattan; Celtics-Nets. Knicks-Cavs.
Boston beats Brooklyn 103-92.
Kevin Durant turned the ball over 8 times, 5 times in the last six minutes of the game. He plays with zero urgency. Too cool.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown play so much harder than Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Brown had 34 points, Tatum scored 29. Celtics made 15 3’s. Nets 9
C’s played without Marcus Smart.
Celtics are the best team in the NBA right now.
Cavaliers were at the Garden taking on the struggling Knicks. New York was playing their second game in two days.
Gut-check win for the Knicks, 92-81. Fewest points Knicks have allowed this season.
Pride and character were words being tossed around 33rd and 8th. Five game home losing streak comes to an end. Maybe the Knicks can go on some sort of run?
“This can’t happen again,” said Jalen Brunsonon the MSG losing streak.
Kevin Love leads the league in charges drawn with 12.
Tom Thibodeau picked up his second T on the season. That’s two T’s in two nights.
13 traveling violations called in the game. Do players work on their footwork?
Knicks turned the ball over 20 times the first three quarters, had only 1 in the final quarter.
Fransisco Lindor of the New York Mets was at the game.
Donovan Mitchell had an off night. 8-22 for 23 points.
Brunson with 23 points. 7-16 FG. 4 assists.
RJ Barrett and Julius Randle shot a combined 3-14 from downtown.
Cavs 8-35 from deep. Knicks were worse at 5-29.
Have a positive day and always play the right way…
Miss the days of waking up early on Saturday and Sunday to go play ball. Those were the days my friend.
Do you want a highly skilled player or do you want a winner?
How about the Boston Celtics? This squad is ballin’.
Jayson Tatum did work Saturday night against the Nets to give the C’s a 3-0 lead in the best of seven. (45 minutes, 39 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 steals) Tatum is the first Celtics player in their franchise playoff history with 35 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals in a game.
There were a ton of Boston fans at Barclays. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have to be better.
Jaylen Brown added 23 points for Boston on 9-16 shooting.
Durant finished with 16 points on 6-11 shooting and 8 rebounds. He did dish out 8 assists. He also turned the ball over 5 times. KD was 2-3 from 3 and 2-2 from the line.
Kyrie had 16 points – including 0-7 from 3. He was 6-17 overall from the floor. 9 assists and 2 turnovers.
And of course Twitter is killing Steve Nash. So easy to blame the coach because well, people like easy. And they like to point the finger.
Brooklyn had zero juice. Boston played harder and tougher. It seemed like the game meant more to them. The energy and effort was non-stop by the C’s. Nets looked like they were on cruise control. Like it was a game being played in January.
Mark Jackson was talking about Celtics fans earlier in the year saying they should trade Brown or Tatum. Jeff Van Gundy replied, “That’s why if you listen to the fans, you’ll end up sitting with them.”
Basketball reference may just be the best basketball website on the net. Only junkies need to visit. Last night they posted this incredible fact:
Jayson Tatum is the 12th player to have at least 35 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST, and 5 STL in a playoff game. He joins: Rick Barry Jimmy Butler Patrick Ewing Magic Johnson Khris Middleton Johnny Moore Gary Payton Isiah Thomas Russell Westbrook Allen Iverson Michael Jordan.
WOW!
Payton Pritchard has played very well in the series. In 36 minutes off the bench he’s 10-13 from the field. 3-6 from downtown. Last night he had 10 points in 12 minutes.
JVG was in rare form last night: “Sometimes there are no good answers. But you gotta keep on trying to find them.”
One more from him:
“When your best player is committed to the defensive end of the floor, as a coaching staff, you can push the others to give commitment and effort.”
Mary J Blige was sitting court side along with Trevor Noah and Spike Lee.
Another night of outstanding basketball in the bubble.
The Denver Nuggets down 3-1 to the LA Clippers and facing elimination pulled out the 111-105 victory forcing a Game 6 Sunday.
And the Boston Celtics sent the Toronto Raptors home in Game 7 with a 92-87 win setting up an Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat beginning Tuesday.
TODAY’S NBA SCHEDULE:
8:00 PM/ESPN Rockets-Lakers Game 5. LA leads 3-1
Oftentimes I mention the need to remove the block/charge play from basketball. Last night Marcus Smart proved my point. Late in the Raptors/Celtics game Smart made an incredible block on Norman Powell. While Powell pushed the ball in transition, Smart was back on defense and I thought for sure he was going to try and step in front of Powell and draw the charge. Instead, he did what I said all defenders should do, try and block the shot. Smart went up and challenged Powell at the rim and swatted the ball away. Great play!
Jayson Tatum had another big game for Boston; 29 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists in 44 minutes. Tatum joins Larry Bird as the only Celtics in their history with 25 points, 10 rebounds and, 5 assists in a Game 7.
Fred VanVleet led Toronto with 20 points.
Grant Williams did a great job of contesting VanVleet’s long 3 with :15 left and Boston holding a 3 point lead. Brad Stevens called on the rookie for the first time with 7:00 left in the 4th quarter. We always say, “stay ready.”
Kyle Lowry fouled out of the game with :34 to play and his team trailing by two. Lowry struggled all night shooting the ball; 5-15 with 16 points. He was 1-6 from downtown.
I know what the numbers guys say. I hear what Mike D’Antoni says. But don’t abandon the mid-range game. Kemba Walker made a huge catch and go pull-up down the stretch.
Marc Gasol shot 2-16 from deep in the series. Pascal Siakam was 4-32.
Atlanta Hawks play-by-play announcer Bob Rathburn tweeted out: This will be the first time neither the No. 1 nor No. 2 seed in the East will make the conference finals since the NBA went to the 16-team playoff format in 1984.
The Denver Nuggets kept their season alive with a 111-105 win over the Clippers. Jamal Murray scored 26 points and Nikola Jokic added 22. Paul Millsap chipped in with 17 in just 22 minutes. Millsap came up big in the third quarter scoring 14 of his 17.
Michael Porter Jr. who spoke out after Game 4 about shots, playing time, etc. made a huge 3 down stretch for Denver. It was his first bucket of the night. Porter Jr. caught a lot of heat from basketball talking heads/former players but Porter didn’t care, he went out and helped the Nuggets overcome a 15 point deficit in the second half.
“During the playoffs, the last thing you want is any type of distraction,” Nuggets head coach Malone said. ”If those frustrations are there for Michael, for anybody, it’s much better to keep those conversations internal, in the locker room and among ourselves.”
In their previous series, the Nuggets were down 3-1 to the Utah Jazz and came back to win 3 straight. So don’t count these guys out.
”Everybody continues to count us out,” Malone said. ”That’s the way we like it.”
Kawhi Leonard scored 36 to lead the Clippers.
Monte Morris was solid for the Nuggets off the bench. He scored 12 points. In the series Morris plays 18 minutes per game and scores 9 points per game.
“They played like the season was on the line. They had that approach,” Clippers standout Paul George said. ”They were out there flying around and played hard. They made timely baskets they needed.”
Game 6 is Sunday.
Reggie Miller on TNT gave his opinion on Porter Jr. speaking out. Miller said you never want to give the media ammunition. What? How about you never want to throw your coaching staff or teammates under the bus.
Danuel House of the Houston Rockets was sent home from the bubble. Reports say House had a guest in his hotel room over multiple hours on September 8 who was not authorized to be on campus. Billy Tubbs once said, what was undefeated?
The Memphis Grizzlies hired Sonia Raman, head coach of the women’s team at MIT. “She has a high basketball IQ and a tremendous ability to teach the game as well as a strong passion for the game,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. “She is going to be a great addition to our current coaching staff.”
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT FROM TIM LEGLER:
“In a game 7 you need your best player to be the best player on the floor.”
Three days in the books for the 2020 NBA playoffs. 12 games with a few surprises, some really good basketball (sloppy at times) and we have seen a whole lot of guys competing like crazy. I love this game…
TODAY’S SCHEDULE: (All games on ESPN)
Game 2 Heat (1-0) – Pacers (0-1) 1:00 P.M.
Game 2 Rockets (1-0) – Thunder (0-1) 3:30
Game 2 Magic (1-0) – Bucks (0-1) 6:00
Game 2 Trailblazers (1-0) – Lakers (0-1) 9:00
If I were the league, I would play two games early, and two games at night. 11 A.M./2:30 P.M. and come back later that night at 6 and 8.
Dallas Mavericks evened up their series with the Los Angeles Clippers at one. Once again Luka Doncic was the man despite being in foul trouble. 28 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists in 28 minutes, but his supporting cast stepped up. And like we have said, that’s what it’s going to take if the Mavs have any chance of beating the Clippers. That’s usually the case with any team that expects to win. Mavs bench contributed 47 points. ‘This is how we’re going to have to win games,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. ”Our depth is going to be a big part of it.”
Luka was told after the game that he has the most points (70) through the first 2 career playoff games in NBA history. “We got a win, that’s all I care about. That’s all that matters.” After some research, I think the late George Mikan scored 75 in his first two playoff games.
Boban Marjanovic was huge off the bench. 13 points in 9 minutes, 6-8 from the floor and 9 rebounds. Kristaps Porzingis scored 23 points while Trey Burke (rockin’ the Iverson low-cut’s) chipped in with 16. Seth Curry had 15. Wonder how Seth’s wife deals with watching this series; her dad is Clippers head coach Doc Rivers.
Kawhi Leonard scored 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Late in the game a thought crossed my mind; is it fair to start talking about Kawhi as a top 10 player of all-time? Entering the building before last night’s game, Leonard was spotted wearing a sweet looking New Balance t-shirt.
Mavs shot 13-29 from way downtown. Clippers were 10-24.
Clippers entered the league as the Buffalo Braves in 1970-71. They moved to San Diego in 1978. It was time to head to LA in 1984. In 49 years they have not reached the conference finals.
The Boston Celtics took a 2-0 lead on the 76ers with their 128-102 win. Jayson Tatum had 33 points on 8-12 shooting from way downtown. Someone asked me how much will Boston miss Gordon Hayward who is out for 4 weeks? Hard to tell but that only means more shots for Tattum, Jaylon Brown and Kemba Walker.
Boston was 19-43 from deep. Philadelphia 5-21.
Celtics were the only team this season to have three guys average over 20 points per game. Tatum, Brown and Kemba.
Marcus Smart may be my favorite Celtics player…of all-time. “It’s not just his defense and his ability to get stops. What he brings to the team is a disposition. He’s fiery, he’s tough, he gets into people, he’s very aggressive, he inspires his teammates. Just a very, very, tough guy,” said TNT’s Stan Van Gundy.
Jazz beat the Nuggets yesterday, series is tied at 1. Utah made 20 three-pointers.
Raptors went up 2-0 on the Nets. Ian Begley reporter on Twitter Joe Harris has left the bubble.
In 12 playoff games so far, the team that makes the most 3’s are 10-2.
Pretty cool to see college basketball programs around the country working out.
From Roland Lazenby’s “The Life,” Tex Winter once told Michael Jordan. “There’s no i in team.” Jordan replied, “There is in Win.”
Last night I watched the New York Yankees in the bottom of the 9th put runners on first and second no outs. The Bombers trailed 4-2. Brett Gardner was up and you would think he would bunt the runners over? Nope. Fly out to center. Yankees lost.
Happy birthday Sihugo Green.
QUOTE OF THE DAY FROM BOBAN MARJANOVIC:
“I try to do my job. Stay ready, help the guys to win the game. I try to help my teammates because this is a team sport.”
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY 