NBA Basketball Sports Fan Blog

The much anticipated 2011 NBA Finals finally got underway Tuesday night, as the Miami Heat took Game 1 at home behind yet another strong performance by the Big-3, who racked up 65 points, 28 rebounds, and 14 assists. There was a lot to talk about pre and post game on Tuesday, and a lot of early questions about the Heat-Mavericks match-up got answered in Game 1, so let’s look at some quick reactions/notes from the opening chapter in the 2011 NBA Finals. (Which by the way TNT is trying to sell us as the apocalypse or something, and I’m not going to lie, it’s kind of working. Some of their promos/intros have been nothing short of epic. Like this one.)

—Boy was that first half ugly. 17-16 at the end of the first quarter? 27-26 with 5 minutes left in the first half? I guess it was to be expected with players’ nerves and both teams trying to get a feel for each other in the early goings. Both defenses obviously played a part in the low score — which I’ll get to later — but that was still a brutal half of basketball. When Shawn Marion is making the prettiest plays and shots early on you know things aren’t going well.

—It’s crazy to think that Game 1 was played at exactly the tempo Miami wants the game to be played at, and yet the Heat, who clearly have the better athletes, only had 7 fast break points. It’s also crazy to think that two of the Heat starters, Joel Anthony and Mike Bibby, combined for 0 points. So as much as the talk after Game 1 was about how “the Heat played the perfect game and completely dominated tempo,” let’s keep in mind that this Miami team can beat you in more than one way, and actually played far from a perfect game. So before you go ahead and think that if Game 2 is won in the 110-115 point range the Mavs are golden, remember that Miami has a few guys that aren’t too shabby in an up-and-down track meet type game. Even if only 4 Heat players score and Mike Bibby can’t make an open jump-shot for his life.

—Hate him or love him, LeBron James does things no one else in basketball today can do. That ridiculous fall away  three-pointer at the half-time buzzer was inhuman. While any other player taking that kind of shot looks like they’re trying to heave a bowling ball 40-feet through the air, James looks like he’s taking a free-throw during warm-ups. Fact.

—Before I get crucified by the Mavs fans, let me say that Dallas is far from out of it. Everyone will want to jump all over the Heat and crown them champions (sorry they already did that after the Celtics series), but it’s still very early in this series, and as Wade would tell you from leading the Heat back from a 2-0 hole against these very same Mavericks, it’s not over till the fat lady sings. Or in his case it’s not over till the 40,000 people living in Miami who just this year started calling themselves “Heat fans” sing. That being said, the Mavs have a tough task ahead of them. Dirk Nowitzki’s finger injury on his left hand surely won’t make things any easier, and Dallas badly needs to find a way to crack Miami’s defense and get some better match-ups on the offensive end. Having Jason Terry going up against LeBron James is just cruel.

I’ll leave it at that for today, as I could very easily write a book or two on Game 1 and what we can expect to see the rest of this series. Make sure you tune in to Game 2 on Thursday at 9:00 PM Eastern on ABC, and order your jerseys and memorabilia before it’s all over so you can impress your friends and family and show them how you are a huge fan of whoever wins. And yes, that’s a direct stab at Heat “fans.”

New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said Wednesday he will retain team president Rod Thorn, but will not ask general manager Kiki Vandeweghe to return when his contract expires this summer, according to multiple media reports.

“His agreement expires this summer and I wish him well,” Prokhorov told reporters.

Vandeweghe, reached for comment on a plane as he was about to embark on a scouting trip, said “I hadn’t heard anything.” He declined additional comment, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Vandeweghe also coached the Nets this season, taking over after Lawrence Frank was fired following an 0-16 start. The team went 12-52 with Vandeweghe as coach.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPNNewYork.com

The Los Angeles Clippers may not have won the NBA draft lottery for the second year in a row, but they are getting the No. 1 pick.

Blake Griffin, the Oklahoma star who missed all of his rookie season with a stress fracture in his left kneecap, has been fully cleared for all basketball activities.

“Right now Blake is working out with no restrictions, at full speed, 100 percent to the point where [strength coach] Rich Williams asked me to talk to Blake about dialing it back a little bit,” Clippers general manager Neil Olshey said.

“He’s working out in May like we were ready to tip off in October. The only guy I feel bad for is the first one of his teammates that shows up and wants to play one-on-one with him.”

Griffin injured his knee in the Clippers’ final preseason game on October 23. He rested for a few weeks and was hoping to return by the middle of the season. But the recovery process did not go as hoped and he was forced to have season-ending surgery.

Click here to read the full article – By Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com

Too slow? Too old?

Indeed, the Boston Celtics look like they saved their best this season for when it mattered most.

“I know,” Boston’s Paul Pierce said. “It’s starting to look that way.”

Pierce scored 28 points, Rajon Rondo had 25 and the revived Celtics again avoided a late collapse to take a commanding lead in the Eastern Conference finals with a 95-92 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Boston bullied and bruised its way to a 2-0 series lead on the road against a Magic team that had won 14 straight until this series.

After being hampered by injuries for much of the season, often showing their age, the Celtics are now just two wins away from their second finals appearance in three seasons.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPNBoston.com

With his championship ring on her hand and her late husband’s dreams of another on her mind, Irene Pollin stood in shock as the Washington Wizards won the draft lottery.

Towering over her to the side, Mikhail Prokhorov watched the New Jersey Nets lose yet again.

The Wizards won the draft lottery Tuesday night, moving up from the No. 5 spot to earn the top pick in next month’s draft, when it will likely choose between Kentucky freshman John Wall and national player of the year Evan Turner of Ohio State.

Washington was represented by Irene Pollin, who wore the 1978 Bullets championship ring of her late husband, longtime owner Abe Pollin. When the Wizards pulled off the surprising win, her jaw dropped and appeared to mouth ‘Oh my God!!’ with wide eyes.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

The Atlanta Hawks have let coach Mike Woodson go after advancing to their third straight playoffs.

Woodson’s contract had expired Monday, and the Hawks decided to go in a new direction for their coach.

Woodson’s Hawks had advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season, winning 53 games in the regular season, beating the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games before being swept by the Magic, as Orlando recorded the largest margin of victory in any four-game sweep in NBA postseason history.

The Hawks won 47 games last season, and had improved on their record every season since Woodson’s first with the team in 2004-05, when they won just 13.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

George Karl, not long after spending a week in the hospital dealing with complications from his battle with throat and neck cancer, said he’s feeling better and plans to return to the Denver Nuggets as coach next season, The Denver Post reported.

“I’ll be excited to be back on the bench — that’s what I do, that’s the dream,” Karl told the newspaper Thursday.

Karl completed a six-week treatment of chemotherapy and radiation for throat and neck cancer in April. He has also been hospitalized twice for blood clots since starting the regimen.

Karl was discharged last week after spending nearly a week in the hospital for the clots.

“I don’t see that happening,” Karl told The Post when asked if there was a situation where he would not return, “but I am going to put my health first, and come next fall, if the doctors don’t feel it’s a wise thing and I don’t think it’s a wise thing, [then we'll reevaluate]. But my feeling is the exact opposite. We’re in a good place, the steps have been good, the tests have been good and I’ve just got to keep plugging away every day.”

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce understands it’s only natural for some to question whether he’s completely healthy given his offensive struggles against the Cleveland Cavaliers so far this series, but he stressed Monday he’s in good condition and reaffirmed that his production doesn’t matter so long as his team wins.

Averaging 11.8 points per game on 32 percent shooting through four games, Pierce is under the microscope for a dip in his typical offensive production. On Monday, repeating what he said after Game 4, Pierce stressed that his focus in this Eastern Conference semifinal series is more on the defensive end.

“I do whatever I gotta do to help this team win,” said Pierce. “Guarding LeBron [James] is no easy task. He’s the two-time MVP and a lot of their offense goes through him — pretty much all of it. I know I have to focus on that end, more so than the offense. I knew that coming into the series.”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers echoed everything Pierce stated, suggesting he’s healthy and doing his part defensively.

Click here to read the full article – By Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com

Jamal Crawford already got what he wanted most — a trip to the playoffs. On Tuesday, he picked up an extra reward for his unselfishness.

After willingly accepting a backup role for the first time in his career, the Atlanta Hawks guard was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in a landslide.

“You have to check your ego at the door,” the 30-year-old Crawford said. “It’s all about winning. You do what you’ve got to do.”

He had never been on a winning team until he was traded to Atlanta by the Golden State Warriors last summer. Of course, the deal came with a caveat: The Hawks wanted Crawford to come off the bench, which was quite a change for someone who had been starting his whole life, from youth leagues to the NBA.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com