NEW YORK — The Boston Celtics – the most storied franchise in NBA history – has competed in 593 playoff games over an illustrious 67-year history. Just twice has Boston managed to score 25 points or fewer in the second half of a playoff game, both of which have come in just the past three days at the hands of a New York Knicks team that has pressured the Celtics into bad decisions and rushed shots regularly in each of the latter halves
MIAMI – The 12-0 run. That was all it took to separate the men from the boys in the Miami Heat’s 98-86 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in Tuesday’s Game 2 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at AmericanAirlines Arena. And two bench players – forward Chris Andersen, a.k.a. the Birdman, and guard Norris Cole – led the way. Not LeBron James, not Dwyane Wade and not Chris Bosh. “It’s not surprising,” James said. “That’s what they bring, that’s what our bench
NEW YORK — On Tuesday night, in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, J.R. Smith checked into the game with 8:24 remaining in the first quarter. Fresh off being minted as the league’s Sixth Man of the Year, Smith received a rousing ovation from the Madison Square Garden faithful. His first four shots found the bottom of the net, and the final one—a buzzer beating 36-footer that gave the Knicks a 26-20 lead after
If you enjoy the weekly StatBox column that analytically breaks down some of the NBA’s most pressing and important topic, you’re in luck. Every Tuesday through Thursday during the postseason, the StatBox is expanding into playoff game analysis. You’ll not only find out why each team won and lost, but how different statistical trends can play out over the course of the series and the playoffs as a whole. First up: why the Bulls and Clippers are looking good in their quests
Sleep deprivation and sofasores come with the territory at this time of year. If you live on the East Coast, like me, you sacrifice both your days and your nights to the basketball gods and pray that it’ll all be worth it. Last night, it was. With Tony Allen defending him and trying to force him to go left, Chris Paul went to his right anyway and sank the game-winning shot with one-tenth of a second left to give the Los Angeles
What, you wanted eight games that were all as compelling as Warriors-Nuggets? OK, I was disappointed, too, especially on Sunday, with the lack of competitive Game 1s across the NBA. And the real bummer was that in the one game that was a nail-biter, the Warriors lost David Lee for the remainder of the postseason. The award for Most Snake-Bit NBA Player is hereby retired in his honor. So what will this week bring? First of all, Carl Landry (pictured to your left)
Photo: RFERL.org NEW YORK — In New York City, fans are used to choosing sides. It is either the MLB’s Mets or Yankees, NFL’s Giants or Jets, or NHL’s Rangers or Islanders. Never both. That is why, immediately after it became known that the Nets were planning a move to Brooklyn, many Knicks fans began a personal crusade against all things Nets. Led by outspoken owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, some Nets fans were all too happy to take the fight to
Peeling oneself off the sofa was no easy task after a day and night spent sinking deeper and deeper into the upholstery. But the more you watched, the more you learned Saturday on Day One of the NBA Playoffs. Four lessons taken away: You do not want to have Draymond Green as your primary on-the-ball defender on the biggest play of the game – especially against a guy who has been in the league since Green was in diapers. You are in trouble