NOTES Paraphrasing Yogi Berra, it’s getting dark early for the Miami Heat (40-16) as it tries to secure the top seed in the Eastern Conference, with the Chicago Bulls (44-14) owning a three-game cushion. The Heat, however, still has some time to turn back the clock, beginning tonight when it visits the front-running Bulls (8 p.m. ET, TNT). The teams will play once more, in Miami, April 19. They have split the first two games of their regular-season series. The Heat
NEW YORK –The Chicago Bulls’ Tom Thibodeau and the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich each were named Coach of the Month for the second time this season, winning the award for games played in March. Thibodeau led the Bulls to a league-best 13-3 (.813) record including a league-leading 6-0 mark on the road, holding opponents to a league-low 43 percent shooting. Thibodeau recorded his 100th career win on March 19 at Orlando (86-59), his 131st game as head coach, becoming the fastest coach
The other day, I was stuck behind the Boston Celtics on the highway. I was in the left lane and I wanted to go considerably faster than the car in front of me, who was doing about 60. Against my better judgment, I got up on his tail and applied some pressure, but he refused to go any faster or move into the right lane. Somewhat annoyed, I drove right behind him for about a quarter-mile before a gap opened in the
The Los Angeles Clippers have won two straight games by a total of eight points. Both wins, which allowed the Clippers to shave one game off of the L.A. Lakers’ lead in the Pacific Division, came down to late-game heroics by Chris Paul. Late in Saturday’s 95-91 victory over the Houston Rockets, Paul scored 10 consecutive points in less than 2 1/2 minutes, beginning with a 16-foot jumper at the 2:42 mark of the fourth quarter, to bring the Clippers
Anybody want the Atlantic Division? The Nets don’t want it. They would much rather have Dwight Howard, who paid a visit to “The Rock” on Wednesday night and got the full recruiting pitch. In Orlando’s 108-91 road victory over New Jersey, Howard provided a complete showcase with 20 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks. He also made just 2-of-10 free throws and dropped below 50 percent (184-of-373) for the season. Nets fans couldn’t care less about the incessant clanging. They cheered Howard, chanted
The Chicago Bulls finish their season-high nine-game road trip with a flourish. After trampling doormats New Jersey, New Orleans and Charlotte, the Bulls test their 6-2 road record against the Boston Celtics in Sunday’s best game, a matinee affair. Unfortunately, after Saturday’s spectacular point guard matchup between youngsters Jeremy Lin and Ricky Rubio, the second act pitting established stars Derrick Rose against Rajon Rondo may have to wait. Rose aggravated his back against the Nets on Monday, forcing him to sit out
On Friday afternoon, I got an email from the NBA Store shamelessly plugging a Jeremy Lin jersey. Jeremy Lin certainly has made the most of his opportunity, and you can’t blame the NBA for trying to make the most of Jeremy Lin. But the cynic in me viewed the shameless monetization of a week-long fad as some sort of hex that surely would knock the Knicks neophyte off his cloud and bring him hurtling back to reality. Wrong again. Lin had his best
Rebuilding the Lakers and Celtics…. Good luck. As the announcers say, It’s Always Special When These Two Teams Meet—at least, if one hasn’t fallen off the world, as the Celtics had in 2007 when Laker fans got “MVP!” chants going for Kobe Bryant in the Derek Jeter Center or FleetCenter or whatever they called it then. It’s still special going into Thursday night’s game in the—uh, TD Banknorth Garden–even if both are old and they’re trying to gum each other to death. If all