MIAMI — How in the world does a team win when it makes just 20 percent of its outside shots? The Miami Heat were 8-of-40 on jumpers during Game 3 of the NBA Finals … and they won. The prime reason the Heat were able to sneak away with the victory was because they attacked the paint, attacked the paint and attacked the paint some more. With one of the best driving forces of all time on their side in LeBron James, along
MIAMI — LeBron James stares down at the stat sheet before the media brigade begins firing questions toward the podium. He’s glancing quickly, attempting to assess the game through the box score so that he can answer the public’s never-ending questions. Once Game 3 ended and the Heat took a crucial 2-1 lead in this best of seven NBA Finals series, LeBron James was already planning for the next one, trying to figure out how his team can further impose its
MIAMI — With Shane Battier draining nine 3-pointers through two games, it seems like an odd time to bring it up. But it is worth discussing: Zone defense. As the NBA Finals shift to Miami, I can’t help but remember last season: The Dallas Mavericks utilized all their parts and all of their schemes in an attempt to slow down the fast and powerful offense of the Miami Heat. If even for a string of possessions at a time, the Mavs made
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Miami Heat’s lead was down to 4, the shot clock was at 5 and Shane Battier was about to set a screen for Dwyane Wade at the top of the key. But he slip-screened, backed up, got his hands ready, set his feet and let the ball fly. “I was just trying to get it on the rim, to be honest with you,” explained the do-it-all forward. “The shot clock was low, (Kevin) Durant was in my
OKLAHOMA CITY — Will Chris Bosh start tonight? Sure sounds that way. “The way we use Chris might be a little different, like the way we used him in the regular season,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said this morning at the Heat’s shootaround. “I think he’s gotten his feet wet enough and we’ll need him to be a little bit more of who he was.” Heading into Game 2 of the NBA Finals tonight, the Miami Heat are in the precarious position
If you’ve been paying attention to the 2012 NBA Playoffs, you’ve seen the perpetually questioned, never-ending wardrobe of fashionista Russell Westbrook. And if you’ve been following them via Twitter, you know that each and every postgame presser for the Oklahoma City Thunder has turned into a ‘WHAT IN THE WORLD IS RUSSELL WESTBROOK WEARING,’ convention. The ‘Urban Geek-Chic’ style has been an extraordinarily hot topic during these playoffs and was accentuated once again last night during both teams postgame press conferences, as