Saving their season would be more about effort than execution.

“Tonight it was just one of them days where you just got to leave it out there on the basketball court,” Carmelo Anthony said.

Now they have to do it two more times.

Anthony scored 28 points and the Knicks avoided elimination in the Eastern Conference semifinals with an 85-75 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 on Thursday night.

Reserves J.R. Smith and Chris Copeland each had 13 points for the Knicks, who trail 3-2 and will need a victory Saturday in Indiana to force a seventh game back here Monday. They are trying to become the ninth NBA team to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a series.

“I was totally impressed because we met the challenge,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “I think as a coach you come into games like this and you want to see who’s going to step up and make plays, and I thought we did that tonight. We were the better team in terms of doing that.”

Anthony, who didn’t make a basket in the fourth quarter of either game in Indiana, made a jumper midway through the fourth quarter after Indiana closed within four points. He followed with two free throws, Raymond Felton made a layup, and the Knicks were never in jeopardy again.

Paul George had 23 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Pacers. They played without point guard George Hill because of a concussion and committed 19 turnovers.

“We’ve just got to play more solid. There’s no other way to put it,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said.

George battled foul trouble and couldn’t contain Anthony quite as well as he had while the Pacers easily won the previous two games.

Anthony made his first two shots as New York raced to a 7-0 lead in a game it never trailed. He finished only 12 of 28, but got plenty of bench help.

“We didn’t shoot the ball very well but we made shots at the crucial time,” Anthony said.

David West had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who were trying to reach the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2004.

“We didn’t play well. It was a bad game for us and we were still there,” George said.

The winner will face the defending NBA champion Miami Heat in a series that will start Wednesday.

New York didn’t really shake its scoring slump, shooting only 41 percent from the field, but put together a few runs during the game to open just enough space against a Pacers team that shot 36 percent and was a dismal 19 of 33 at the free throw line.

They clearly missed Hill after learning about four hours before the game they would be without him.

Vogel said Hill was hurt after a collision with Knicks center Tyson Chandler during the first half of Indiana’s 93-82 victory on Tuesday. Hill finished the game and scored 26 points, but experienced some headaches and showed concussion symptoms since and wasn’t able to pass the league’s concussion tests in order to play Thursday night.

The Knicks went back to their regular lineup, reinserting Pablo Prigioni, after going with a bigger group in Game 4 in a futile effort to match Indiana on the boards. The smaller group did a better job, getting outrebounded only 43-40.

“We’re not going to go out without fighting,” Chandler said.

The Knicks finally opened it up midway through the third quarter with a 12-4 run, started by Smith’s bank shot and featuring a 3-pointer and follow shot from Copeland, who got more playing time while Woodson gave little to veterans Amar’e Stoudemire and the slumping Jason Kidd, who missed his only shot and remains scoreless in the series.

“Coaching is a feel. It’s not always what players want at the end of the day, it’s about winning,” Woodson said. “That’s all I’m in it for.”

Anthony made a jumper and a 3-pointer on his first two shots, and Iman Shumpert followed with another jumper for a 7-0 start. Smith got a big ovation when he checked in, which grew much louder when he made his first shot, dribbling back behind the arc for a 3-pointer that made it 17-12 with 2:56 left in the opening quarter.

Smith has endured a miserable stretch since elbowing Boston’s Jason Terry in the fourth quarter of Game 3 in the first round. Suspended for Game 4, he hasn’t relocated his shot since, hitting 28 percent in the first four games and has been criticized for not being focused after he was seen out a nightclub with singer Rihanna the night before Game 1 — a day game.

He was only 4 of 11, but hit the jumper that started the Knicks’ run in the third quarter.

“Still didn’t shoot the best but it always helps coming home and playing in front of these fans,” Smith said. “Hopefully the little bit of rhythm that I did get carries me over.”

The Knicks extended their 19-15 lead after one to 32-23 on Copeland’s 3-pointer with 7:06 remaining in the second. The Pacers chipped away for most of the half but couldn’t take the large in part because of their sloppy free throw shooting, going 8 of 16 in the half that agonizingly wouldn’t end when both Chandler and the Pacers’ Sam Young committed fouls more than 30 feet from the basket in the final 2.4 seconds.

Game notes
Kidd is 0 for 8 in the series, part of a 0-for-17 skid that began with Game 3 against Boston in the first round. The 40-year-old point guard, surely headed for the Hall of Fame, is 3 of 25 in the postseason and hasn’t scored since hitting a 3-pointer against the Celtics in Game 2 on April 23. He played 5 minutes and Stoudemire played 6½. … The Phoenix Suns are the last team to win a series after trailing 3-1, beating the Los Angeles Lakers in 2006. The Brooklyn Nets forced Chicago to a seventh game in the first round but dropped Game 7 on their home floor. … West was 5 of 13 in the first half. The other four Indiana starters were 5 for 23.

The post Carmelo Anthony helps Knicks down Pacers to stay alive appeared first on IdealCapper.

They need one more victory to set up the biggest game here yet.

Brook Lopez had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Deron Williams added 23 points and 10 assists, and the Nets beat Chicago 110-91 on Monday night, cutting the Bulls’ lead to 3-2 in their first-round playoff series.

Recovering from a collapse two days earlier that sent them home on the brink of elimination instead of tied, the Nets battered the Bulls on the boards and forced Chicago into being the team that wilted down the stretch.

“We came out very aggressive, as we have the past few games. I think the difference was just we sustained it for essentially a full 48 minutes tonight,” Lopez said.

Andray Blatche scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and Gerald Wallace had consecutive baskets in the finishing surge as the Nets finally pulled away in a game they led most of the way, but never by too much.

Two days after rallying for a 142-134 triple-overtime victory, the Bulls were outscored 15-1 at the finish and failed to set up a second-round series with Miami. Instead they will host Game 6 on Thursday.

“It was just a lot of mental mistakes. A lot of mental mistakes,” Bulls center Joakim Noah said. “I feel like we had our chances. We beat ourselves. They played well. You’ve got to give credit when credit is due and now it’s on us to come back and be ready for Game 6.”

If the Nets win that one, they would host Game 7 on Saturday.

Nate Robinson had 20 points and eight assists starting in place of point guard Kirk Hinrich, who bruised his left calf in Saturday’s game.

“For us, I knew it was going to be tough; it was going to be a challenge,” Robinson said. “At the same time, we’ve been here before playing with a guy short. It’s something we’ve got to do. We’ve just got to muster something and bring that energy and continue to play like we’ve been playing.”

Only eight NBA teams have overcome a 3-1 deficit, but the Nets remained confident after Saturday’s collapse, feeling they had outplayed the Bulls for long stretches during the series. They have led by double digits in four of the five games.

“I believed that we would respond,” Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “We’ve bounced back all year too well, and as disheartening a loss as that was on Saturday, there’s still been enough good minutes in this series. Neither of us are getting away from each other.”

But they need two more wins against a Bulls franchise that is 12-0 all-time when holding a 3-1 lead.

“We feel like we’re the better team,” Wallace said. “We’ve just got to play a 48-minute game completely and stay in attack mode.”

Robinson scored 29 of his 34 points after the third quarter Saturday in a game the Nets led by 14 late in regulation. Coming off his big game and agitating to opposing fans even when he’s struggling, Robinson was loudly booed during introductions, and each time he touched the ball early on.

He made a jumper with 4:17 remaining to cut Brooklyn’s lead to 95-90, but there would be no charge this time. Lopez converted a three-point play, and after a free throw by Jimmy Butler, Wallace nailed a 3-pointer, then came up with a steal and dunk to give the Nets a 103-91 advantage with 2 minutes to go.

The Nets finished it off with ease, prolonging their first season since moving from New Jersey.

Butler scored 18 points for the Bulls, who were outrebounded 44-33 and gave up 24 second-chance points.

“That’s the difference in the game, the rebounding,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “If you defend fairly well and then you give a team a second and a third crack at it, it’s hard to win like that.”

The Nets ran off seven straight points late in the first quarter, five from Lopez, to turn a 17-17 tie into a 24-17 lead.

Brooklyn got eight second-quarter points from Kris Humphries, then opened its biggest lead when Johnson and Wallace made consecutive 3-pointers before Lopez made two free throws to make it 50-40. The Nets led 52-44 at the break.

The Nets had the lead into double digits a few times in the third quarter but never built on it. The Bulls were back within four by the end of the period after making 11 of 16 shots (69 percent).

Butler made a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter and make it a one-point game, but Chicago never could grab the lead in the final period.

Wallace scored 12 points and Reggie Evans grabbed 12 rebounds as the Nets improved to 6-0 all-time in Game 5s at home. They have never lost a series when holding home-court advantage.

Joe Johnson and C.J. Watson each scored 11 points.

Game notes

Carlesimo said it wasn’t hard to ignore thoughts about his own future because the games come too quickly to worry about anything else. Though the Nets gave general manager Billy King a contract extension last week, it is unknown if Carlesimo will be back after leading the Nets to a 35-19 mark after replacing the fired Avery Johnson in late December. … A number of New York Islanders were in the crowd at the franchise’s future home. The NHL team plans to move from Long Island to Barclays Center in 2015.

The post Brook Lopez scores 28 points as Nets avoid elimination, force Game 6 appeared first on IdealCapper.

Then the Heat landed a swift knockout punch.

Dwyane Wade scored 21 points, LeBron James finished with 19 and the Heat used a frantic start to the fourth quarter to pull away and beat the Bucks 98-86 in Game 2 of the teams’ Eastern Conference first-round series on Tuesday night.

It was 68-65 entering the fourth. With James and four backups on the court, the Heat needed only 2 minutes, 22 seconds to outscore Milwaukee 12-0 and stretch the lead to 80-65 — ensuring the reigning NBA champions would take a 2-0 series lead into Game 3 on Thursday night.

“We held court,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We protected it for two games. We did what we’re supposed to do. And that’s it.”

Chris Bosh, Shane Battier and Chris Andersen all scored 10 points for the Heat. James’ postseason streaks of 22 straight games with at least 20 points, and 16 straight games of at least 25 points, both came to an end.

Ultimately, none of that mattered.

“We didn’t get into our game like we wanted to in that third quarter,” James said. “But we went into the fourth with a (three-point) lead and we were able to jump on them.”

Ersan Ilyasova scored 21 points for Milwaukee, which got 16 from Mike Dunleavy and 14 from Larry Sanders. The Bucks’ starting guards, Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis, combined for only 15 points — after teaming up to score 48 in Game 1.

“It’s a series,” said Sanders, who had a sore right ankle after he collided with Battier in the fourth quarter. “We made progress this game.”

They’ll need to make more, and do it quickly. James never has lost in 10 previous series where his team takes a 2-0 lead, and Wade is 8-0 in that same situation.

“In the playoffs, you’ve got to find different ways to win,” Wade said. “No matter what everybody says on the outside, (Milwaukee) is a good team. They played us very well.”

For about 46 minutes, the Bucks played them even.

It was that 12-0 run that was the difference — in what finished as a 12-point game.

Andersen started it with a three-point play, James had a layup not long afterward and the Heat were starting to roll. Another basket by Andersen off a pass from Ray Allen made it 77-65, and James found Norris Cole for a 3-pointer that capped the flurry and made it 80-65.

Just like that, it was over, even to Miami’s surprise.

“They were doing some things that had us spinning around a little bit defensively, got us on our heels, and offensively we never got into a rhythm,” Spoelstra said. “So we figured we were just going to have to find a way to grind in the fourth quarter, figuring it was going to be a close game.”

The Heat have raved about their depth all season, so they had no qualms about sending James out to start the fourth with Cole, Andersen, Battier and Ray Allen.

By the time starters like Wade and Bosh got back onto the court, the task was merely protecting the lead, which the Heat did with relative ease.

“We felt pretty good about the position we were in, giving ourselves an opportunity on the road with 12 minutes to go,” Bucks coach Jim Boylan said. “You feel good about that. Then they come out, go on a 12-0 run and it changes the complexion of the game. Playing catch-up is very hard to do against a high-quality team like Miami.”

Jennings and Ellis combined for 48 points in Game 1, and the Bucks got blown out. So in the first half of Game 2, they combined for one point, were held to five shots that all missed … and the Bucks were within 47-43 at halftime.

Chances are, very few would have seen that coming.

But play was sloppy from the outset, with the teams combining for eight turnovers in the first 6 minutes to set the tone for a clumsy first half. Wade, James and Chalmers shot 15 for 19 combined in the first half for Miami — and the rest of the Heat were 3 for 17. For Milwaukee, Ilyasova had 12 points in the first 10 minutes, then two points the rest of the half.

So much like in Game 1, Milwaukee came out for the second half with a chance of stealing home-court advantage.

And for the entirety of the third quarter, the Bucks hung around, though the Heat showed some signs of getting things going. Bosh had a dunk for a six-point lead, then made a jumper — on a play that James started by running down a loose ball and flicking it between his legs for a save along the sideline — for a 68-60 lead, what was then the biggest Heat margin of the night.

The Bucks got within 68-65 to end the third, but then came the run that Miami had been waiting for all evening.

Jennings said Milwaukee would win in six games before the series began, and his confidence didn’t waver even now with his club in an 0-2 hole.

“We showed a lot of improvement tonight,” said Jennings, who shot 3 for 15. “Aside of making that run in the fourth I think we should have won this game.”

Both teams got a big scare with 6:59 left. Battier drove for a layup from the right wing, and Sanders rushed down the middle of the lane to attempt a block. A collision ensued and both players hit the court awkwardly, Battier hitting his head on the hardwood and Sanders — who fell over Battier — grabbing at his right leg.

Battier made two free throws, then departed for the Heat locker room to get stitches on his chin.

Game notes
It’s the 11th time the Heat have gone up 2-0 in a playoff series. They’re 10-0 in the previous instances. … Milwaukee has lost 21 of its last 29 playoff games. … Sanders was third in the NBA’s Most Improved Player voting, behind Indiana’s Paul George and New Orleans’ Greivis Vasquez. “Look where he was last year and where he is today. The improvement is very obvious,” said Boylan, who thought Sanders should have won. … Jennings was held without a first-half basket for only the fifth time all season.

The post Heat pull away from Bucks in fourth quarter, take 2-0 series lead appeared first on IdealCapper.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook teamed up for 50 points and needed to return in the fourth quarter to hold off a Sacramento charge, and the Thunder clinched the top seed in the West by beating the Sacramento Kings 104-95 on Monday night.

It was the 60th win for the franchise, which last accomplished the feat 15 years ago in Seattle. The team hasn’t been the top seed in the West since 1996, when the SuperSonics went to the NBA Finals before losing to Michael Jordan’s Bulls.

“We’ve never done it here before, so it’s new to us,” said Durant, who scored 29. “But it feels good. It shows our progression as a franchise each and every year.”

Tyreke Evans, the Kings’ second-leading scorer, did not return after grabbing at his troublesome left knee following a drive to the basket late in the first quarter. Without him, Sacramento fell woefully behind before mounting a flurry with the Thunder’s stars on the bench.

Durant hit a 3-pointer and Westbrook set up Serge Ibaka for a two-handed slam during a string of 11 straight Thunder points midway through the third quarter that stretched the lead to 75-51.

Sacramento was able to cut the deficit to 11 early in the fourth quarter and force coach Scott Brooks to put Durant and Westbrook back in and close out the game.

“To get 60 wins is quite an accomplishment,” Brooks said. “We’ve come a long ways through the hard work our entire organization has put in.”

Westbrook didn’t make it until the very end, drawing his second technical foul of the game with 2:28 left after spiking the basketball following Travis Outlaw’s dunk that brought Sacramento within 100-88. The two technical fouls brought Westbrook’s total to 15 for the season, one short of the number that would draw him an automatic one-game suspension.

Westbrook, who had 21 points, left the arena without speaking to reporters.

It appeared as though he — along with Durant and Ibaka — wouldn’t return after Westbrook was called for a technical foul with 3:04 left in the third quarter for complaining to referee David Guthrie that he had been hit in the face with no foul called.

Westbrook continued complaining until Guthrie instructed reserve Daniel Orton to lead Westbrook to the bench with Oklahoma City leading 76-55.

But the Kings soon pieced together a 12-2 comeback late in the third quarter, and Brooks called timeout after Sacramento scored six straight points to cut the lead to 84-73 with 9½ minutes left. Durant and Westbrook returned, and Sacramento couldn’t get within double digits until Jimmer Fredette’s four-point play with 7.8 seconds to go.

“With the second-best team in the NBA, you can’t get down early,” said Isaiah Thomas, who led Sacramento with 16 points. “You can’t get down 18 to 20 points. It’s going to be a hell of a job to make a comeback. We fought, though, in that third and fourth quarter.”

Outlaw scored 15 and Cole Aldrich had a double-double for the second straight game by tying his career best with 12 points and setting a career high with 13 rebounds.

Leading scorer DeMarcus Cousins, who was allowed to play after the NBA rescinded his 16th technical foul of the season, had just seven points and six rebounds and didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

Evans, who missed 16 games from late November through early January because of left knee injuries, clutched at the front of that knee as he lay under the basket following an awkward landing. His right foot appeared to slip on the court as his left leg folded up underneath him.

Outlaw and a trainer helped him off the court and down a tunnel to the locker room with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. A team spokesman described the injury as a left quadriceps strain.

“I definitely thought it was his knee, and he thought it was his knee as well,” Smart said. “We thought maybe when he fell and he hit the floor that maybe when they fell on it that maybe his knee had thrust into the floor.

“But then once he got in the back and realized that it wasn’t the knee. It was more the quad. I think it scared him more than anything else, thinking right away it was the knee. Just happy that it was just a quad and a couple weeks of rest and he’ll be back to normal.”

Smart said he won’t let Evans, who is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, play in the team’s final game Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.

“No need for him to go out there and limp around or try to do anything else to that,” he said. “So it’ll be a fight between Tyreke and I. We’ll do it behind closed doors, but it doesn’t warrant for him to get out there and try to do something.”

The Thunder scored the first eight points of the game and didn’t relinquish the lead, despite losing Thabo Sefolosha and Hasheem Thabeet to two fouls apiece within the first 7 minutes. The Kings got as close as one and were down 20-16 after Evans’ layup.

“It shows that we’re improving every year, and it’s a big number,” Sefolosha said. “There’s not a lot of teams that can do it. To be a part of that group and just to get to that number, it’s big.”

Game notes

While Durant is trailing New York’s Carmelo Anthony in his bid to win a fourth straight NBA scoring title, Brooks thinks another feat would be equally impressive. Durant is trying to become the sixth player in league history to shoot at least 50 percent on field goals, 40 percent on 3-pointers and 90 percent on free throws for a season. The others are Reggie Miller, Mark Price, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Larry Bird. “To be able to score as many points as he has scored and shoot that well is pretty impressive. It doesn’t happen that often,” Brooks said. Brooks actually came close in Houston’s 1993-94 championship season, making 48 percent on field goals, 38 percent on 3s and 87 percent at the foul line. … It was the second straight April that Cousins was able to play at Oklahoma City only after a technical foul was rescinded. “You want to get it to where those things are all behind us,” Smart said, “where we don’t worry about any of those things anymore, to where we can focus on just the game and focus on the opponent.”

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In the first round, at least.

Ty Lawson scored 26 points, including a jumper in the lane with 9.3 seconds left, and the Denver Nuggets clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 112-111 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.

Wilson Chandler added 21 points for the Nuggets, who are 37-3 at home and have a 22-game winning streak at home. They can secure the No. 3 seed in the West with one more victory or two losses by the Los Angeles Clippers.

“I think it’s huge,” Denver coach George Karl said. “Don’t get me wrong. The teams we’re going to play in the first round are capable of beating us on our home court. I’ve always felt that home court, if it was an even series, it’s tough for teams to win twice on your home court. And our home court, I know teams don’t like to play there. Hopefully mentally they struggle with the thought of playing there.”

Milwaukee lost its season-high fifth game in a row despite Monta Ellis scoring 38 points, one shy of his season high. His six 3-pointers were the most he’s had this season, and he didn’t even attend the morning shootaround because he was sick.

“Now is not the time to throw a pity party,” Ellis said.

Ellis’ four-point play with 14.2 seconds left gave the Bucks a 111-110 lead. Ellis, who had 19 fourth-quarter points, drilled a 3-pointer from the right side and made a free throw after he was fouled by Evan Fournier.

“He’s been a warrior for us all year,” Milwaukee coach Jim Boylan said. “He’s played hurt, sick, he’s done everything. … I can’t say enough about him, he’s had a great season. Without him I don’t know where we would be.”

After a timeout, Lawson got the ball in front of Milwaukee’s bench with Ellis guarding him. Lawson drove to his right and pulled up in the lane to hit the winning shot.

“I just wanted to (isolate),” Lawson said. “I passed to Wilson, got it back, saw a clean side, started pushing real hard and I knew he was trying to bite and make sure I didn’t get to the basket. So I kind of stepped back and had all the time in the world to knock down a shot.”

J.J. Redick, who contributed 20 points for the Bucks, missed a 3-pointer from the center of the arc as time expired.

Milwaukee, which already had clinched the No. 8 spot in the East, finished with a 21-20 record at home.

“We were one defensive stop short,” Ellis said. “J.J. had a great look at it.”

Forward Kenneth Faried did not play because of the left ankle he sprained in Denver’s victory over Portland on Sunday.

That didn’t stop the Nuggets (56-25), who added to their franchise record for victories in a season by winning for the 22nd time in their last 25 games.

JaVale McGee came off the bench and finished with a season-high 17 rebounds and 10 points for Denver, which closes the regular season Wednesday when it hosts Phoenix.

Milwaukee is closing the regular season with no momentum at all. The team has just three victories in its last 15 games and will try to halt a nine-game road losing streak Wednesday at Oklahoma City.

“It’d be nice for us to taste a victory,” Boylan said.

John Henson had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Bucks, who lost their fifth straight game to Denver.

Milwaukee held a one-point lead with about 1 minute left when Ersan Ilyasova grabbed a rebound off a missed shot by Andre Miller, but he lost the ball out of bounds.

Denver capitalized with a basket by Andre Iguodala for a 108-107 lead with 52 seconds remaining.

Mike Dunleavy missed a shot and Miller’s two free throws gave the Nuggets a 110-107 lead with 25.4 seconds left.

Earlier in the quarter, Denver held a 98-92 lead when Ellis scored eight points in a row. He drilled a 3-pointer, a jump shot and then another 3-pointer to give Milwaukee a 100-98 lead with 4:30 to go.

A slam dunk along the baseline by Ekpe Udoh with 9:20 left gave Milwaukee an 87-86 lead, its first since early in the first quarter.

Game notes

Milwaukee gave up a season-high 46 free-throw attempts; Denver made 32 of them. … Ellis recorded his ninth 30-point game of the season. … The Nuggets finished with a 19-22 mark on the road. … An MRI exam Monday morning showed that Faried sprained a ligament. Faried, who averages 11.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, also will miss the final game of the regular season and will be listed as day-to-day for the playoffs. … Center Larry Sanders missed his third game in a row for the Bucks with a sore lower back.

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Lopez scored 38 points and Williams had 31 in his first visit since spurning his hometown team in free agency, leading the Brooklyn Nets past the Mavericks 113-96 on Wednesday night.

Williams scored 26 in the second half, repeatedly hitting shots and occasionally assisting on baskets by Lopez to prevent a Dallas rally in the fourth quarter.

Lopez matched the 38 points he scored in one of the five games he played last season, when the Nets snapped a 12-game losing streak in Dallas. Both times, he finished one point shy of his career high from two years ago against Detroit.

“The team played well in both games,” Lopez said with a laugh. “I think that’s the correlation. It just depends on who’s hot. We have so many options on this team.”

Williams and Lopez combined for a defining play midway through a fourth quarter full of big shots from both teams when Lopez blocked a shot and Williams hit a fadeaway jumper on the baseline after dribbling the length of the court. Williams ran to his bench with a big smile after Dallas called timeout trailing 97-88.

The Mavericks, who pulled within three twice during a back-and-forth quarter, got no closer than six after that.

“When you’re feeling good and feel like you can’t miss, it’s a good feeling,” said Williams, who shot 11 of 18 in the second half at one of his favorite arenas. “I looked over at my bench and saw the excitement. It’s a big win for us. It’s a big win no matter what.”

Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 16 points and had a team-high six rebounds compared to 22 boards for Reggie Evans of the Nets, who outrebounded the Mavericks 45-34.

The Nets improved to 2-0 on a season-high, eight-game road trip that now makes five straight stops out West. Brooklyn is two road wins shy of the franchise record of 20.

The Mavericks, who fell 3 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, lost the opener of a six-game homestand as they try to keep a 12-year postseason streak alive.

“They had two guys who had great games and we didn’t do a good job there,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s a bad result for us.”

Lopez, who set a season high for points, and Williams led a third-quarter run that put Brooklyn ahead for good. Lopez did most of his scoring inside but had a 12-foot bank shot and another jumper from just inside the 3-point line as the Nets built a 10-point lead.

Lopez, who also had 11 rebounds, was 15 of 22 from the field and 8 of 10 from the line.

Williams scored seven of nine Brooklyn points to start the third quarter, and Lopez had the other two. They combined to go 11 of 12 from the field in the third, and the only miss was a desperation heave from beyond halfcourt by Williams at the end of the quarter.

Williams even got into the act on the defensive end, taking a charge from O.J. Mayo on a fast break with the Mavericks trying to stop Brooklyn’s key third-quarter run.

“In the first half we kind of held him under control and then he knocked down a jumper and he was aggressive,” Dallas forward Elton Brand said. “You could see it in his eyes. He was going to shoot it no matter what. We all know about free agency and our fans and us recruiting him. We knew he wanted to play well here.”

Williams, who grew up in the Dallas area, got a smattering of boos during introductions and even fewer the first time he touched the ball. It wasn’t his first game against Dallas since last summer. The Mavericks started March — their best month of the season by far — with a 98-90 win in Brooklyn.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who infamously attended a “Shark Tank” taping instead of joining the Dallas contingent when free agency opened, intentionally stayed away from Brooklyn when the Mavericks visited. He still wasn’t interested in Williams talk Wednesday.

“That’s old, old, old, old news,” Cuban said before the game.

Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo said he didn’t know if Williams was a little extra motivated against the team he turned down so he could move to Brooklyn from New Jersey with the Nets.

“But I’m sure he understands that you’re not going to expect intelligent statements from Mark, anyhow,” Carlesimo said.

The Nets were actually better without Williams in the first half. While he was sitting to start the second quarter, Brooklyn went on an 18-6 run for a 40-38 lead.

Andray Blatche scored 14 in the second quarter for Brooklyn on 6-of-6 shooting, and not all of them were easy. He hit three long jumpers, two of them over Nowitzki.

Game notes

Nowitzki surpassed the 9,000-rebound mark and became the 10th NBA player with at least 24,000 points and 9,000 boards. … Mavericks F Shawn Marion missed his eighth straight game with a left calf strain. … Nets F Kris Humphries was a game-time scratch with a bad back. It was the eighth straight game on the bench for the former Maverick. … The Mavericks spread the scoring wealth in the first half. Nowitzki, Chris Kaman and Mike James led with six points apiece, while Jae Crowder and Brandan Wright each had five.

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In a matchup of Western Conference contenders that had a playoff feel to it, Gasol tipped in Zach Randolph’s miss with less than a second left in overtime Wednesday night to give Memphis a 90-89 win over the Thunder.

Gasol was so excited about the winning basket that he dropped a not-suitable-for-television expletive in the live postgame interview.

“I saw Zach going baseline and just went for the rebound and got lucky with the tip,” Gasol said. “It’s an emotional game. It’s a team that we like playing against, and a team that knows us very well. It was a gritty game.”

The excitement carried over into the Grizzlies locker room where whoops and hollers could be heard in the hallway.

Gasol would have never had a chance at the winning tip if not for Jerryd Bayless connecting on a 3-pointer from the top of the key for Memphis with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to send the teams into overtime tied at 83. Bayless scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter.

After Gasol’s tip put the Grizzlies ahead with 0.9 seconds left, Russell Westbrook’s desperation shot from past halfcourt was off the mark and Memphis walked away with its 16th victory in 19 games.

“We win in a variety of ways. It’s never pretty,” said Mike Conley, who led the Grizzlies with a season-high 24 points. “That’s that grit-and-grind motto right there. We just find a way to win however it is. (This) was one of those wins.”

Randolph added 15 points and 18 rebounds, giving him 7,001 career rebounds, while Gasol had 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 32 points, including 15 in the third quarter to help Oklahoma City take its first lead. Westbrook scored 20 on 7-of-25 shooting from the field. Kevin Martin added 17 points, but no other Thunder player had more than seven.

“It was just one of those games, probably 10 of them a year, where nobody deserves to lose the game, but we were on the bad side of that,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.

Oklahoma City, coming off a 114-110 loss to Denver on Tuesday, scored the first two points in overtime on a pair of free throws from Thabo Sefolosha. Memphis then scored five straight, including three from Gasol. The other points came on a tip-in by Tony Allen with 2:42 left. Officials initially ruled basket interference on Allen, but gave him the points after a replay review showed the ball was outside the cylinder.

The Thunder answered the Memphis push with a 6-footer in the lane from Durant and a layup by Westbrook with 13.6 seconds left for an 89-88 lead.

That set the stage for Gasol’s final tip-in when Randolph missed a 7-footer.

“I don’t think it was anything defensively,” Westbrook said of the final play. “They got a tip-in and, unfortunately, it was (less than a second) on the clock.”

“We had chances to win, to fight back, the whole game,” Durant said, later adding: “They hit a big shot. Two big shots.”

The teams have been rivals since the second round of the Western Conference playoffs two seasons ago, when the Thunder dispatched Memphis in seven games, including a triple-overtime win at FedExForum.

“It reminded me a lot of the triple-overtime game,” Conley said of the intensity. “Guys were hitting big shots back and forth, having different guys step up. The intensity, the crowd, all of that. It had the same kind of atmosphere. It came down to the end, and we got the win.”

The game featured physical play, disputed calls and technicals. Westbrook got a technical early for griping; Randolph got one late in the fourth when he thought he was fouled under the Memphis basket.

The physical play was coupled with defensive pressure that resulted in low shooting percentages. The Thunder ended the night at a season-low 35.7 percent from the field, while Memphis managed to shoot only slightly better at 36 percent. Oklahoma City, which entered the game as one of the NBA’s best 3-point shooting teams at 38.3 percent, managed only 2-of-18 shooting from outside the arc.

“Both teams played extremely hard and physical, and you can tell,” Brooks said. “It was hard to get baskets; it was hard to get on offense.”

There were four ties and 14 lead changes in the game.

The Grizzlies maintained their hold on third place in the Western Conference standings and pulled within three games of the Thunder for second.

Once Oklahoma City caught Memphis behind Durant’s shooting late in the third quarter, the teams exchanged leads throughout the fourth, eventually leaving them deadlocked at the end of regulation.

“It is a good matchup,” Westbrook said of the rivalry. “It was physical. It’s intense. It was a playoff atmosphere. Unfortunately, we couldn’t win.”

Memphis shot well early to build a 10-point lead in the first half before carrying a 44-38 lead into halftime.

Durant and Martin had 10 points apiece at the break. Randolph had 12 for Memphis.

The defensive intensity continued through the early stages of the third period as the teams were a combined 4 of 22 through the first 6 minutes.

But the Thunder kept cutting into the lead as Durant took over offensively, scoring 15 in the quarter, including 13 straight points for the Thunder, eventually giving Oklahoma City its first lead at 57-56 late in the third.

Two free throws from Gasol gave Memphis the lead back at 58-57 entering the fourth.

“I knew when we were not making shots early in the game, we would keep fighting, playing aggressive and give ourselves a chance to win,” Brooks said. “That’s what we’ve done for a lot of years now, and that is not going to change.”

Game notes

Thunder F Serge Ibaka played after taking some stitches in his head against Denver on Tuesday night. … Memphis F Darrell Arthur missed his ninth straight game with neck and back soreness. … The Grizzlies won the season series 2-1. … Oklahoma City scored 15 points in the first quarter, a season low for the opening period. . Memphis has lost only once in five overtime games. The Thunder dropped to 4-2. . Oklahoma City had a season-low nine assists. The Grizzlies matched their season low with 11 assists.

The post Marc Gasol tip-in pushes Grizzlies by Thunder in OT appeared first on IdealCapper.

But LeBron James wouldn’t give up.

“That guy right there doesn’t want to lose in this building,” teammate Dwyane Wade said, nodding toward James, who left many angry Cavaliers fans behind when he bolted for Miami as a free agent three years ago. “Not tonight.”

James scored 25 points as the Heat overcame a 27-point deficit in the third quarter and won their 24th straight game, 98-95 over the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night to extend the second-longest winning streak in NBA history.

The Heat are within nine games of matching the record of 33 consecutive wins held by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. Once believed to be untouchable, the mark is now within reach.

James and his teammates have insisted the record isn’t one of their goals, and for more than 30 minutes the defending champions seemed disinterested and on the verge of losing for the first time since Feb. 1. Miami trailed 67-40 with 7:44 left in the third quarter.

But behind the irrepressible James, who added 12 rebounds and 10 assists in 42 minutes, the Heat inched closer to history and matched the NBA’s biggest comeback this season, according to STATS.

“This was one of the most bizarre, unique days of my life with everything that happened,” said James, referring to a homecoming in which a fan ran onto the floor and the opening tip was delayed 35 minutes by a leaky scoreboard. “It also was one of the best comebacks I’ve ever been a part of.”

James had 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in the fourth as Miami rallied to win for the second game in a row. The Heat were down 17 points — 13 in the fourth quarter — and stormed back to beat Boston 105-103 on Monday and surpass the 2007-08 Houston Rockets for the second-longest streak in NBA history.

“I knew there was a lot of time, so we never panicked,” James said. “We were down 27 with 18 minutes left. That’s a lifetime in basketball.”

Although the Cavs were missing All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Anderson Varejao — their top three scorers — they pushed Miami to the limit.

It wasn’t until James, playing his fourth game back in Cleveland since leaving, made two free throws with 4.7 seconds left that Miami could relax, but just a little. The Cavs had one last chance to tie it, but C.J. Miles was long with a 3-pointer in the final second, letting Miami off the hook.

Following the game, James stopped to sign a few autographs as he made his way to Miami’s locker room. This was much tougher than he and the Heat could have imagined. The win also completed a five-game road trip, dubbed “The Reunion Tour” by James because Miami visited Wade’s home in Milwaukee, Chris Bosh’s former team in Toronto and Ray Allen’s in Boston.

“The streak wasn’t on my mind, but us getting blown out was,” James said. “I was going to be the only guy to take an ‘L’ on the reunion tour.”

Mario Chalmers added 17 points and Wade had 11 for the Heat, who outscored the Cavs 30-18 in the fourth quarter and 64-40 in the second half.

Wayne Ellington had 20 points and Tristan Thompson 18 for Cleveland, which went from a stunning upset to blowing the biggest lead in a loss in franchise history.

“We knew it was coming,” Thompson said of the Heat’s comeback. “They were the NBA champions last season. They’re not going to lay down. Champions don’t lay down even when they’re down by 27. We knew they were going to make a push. Guys went out and made plays, so you have to give them credit.”

Down by nine to open the fourth, the Heat were up 95-86 with 3:02 left and seemed to have the Cavaliers on the ropes.

But Cleveland bounced back and closed to 96-95 on Thompson’s two free throws with 44 seconds to go. Wade then missed a jumper, but Ellington misfired on a step-back 23-footer with 5.2 seconds to go.

James was fouled and the reigning MVP, with a sellout crowd of 20,562 roaring, stepped to the line and dropped both free throws to make it 98-95.

Miles was contested on his final shot, and once it clanked off the rim, the Heat headed home with a chance to extend their streak to 25 on Friday against Detroit.

This game had a little of everything, including a fan running on the floor in the fourth quarter. The young man was wearing a T-shirt that said: “We Miss You, 2014 Come Back,” a reference to James’ possible free agency and return to Cleveland, where he played seven seasons.

James went out of his way and patted the fan on the head as security rushed him off the floor.

“He said he missed me and come back, please,” James said. “It happened once before in (Madison Square) Garden, so I wasn’t worried. There are metal detectors here, so we were OK. I embraced it.”

The start of the game was delayed because of a spill on the floor caused by condensation from a carbon dioxide container inside the scoreboard.

James scored eight straight points to open the fourth, hitting a 3-pointer to tie it 77-all. He then turned toward the crowd and delivered an icy stare, his way of saying, ‘OK, enough is enough.’

“When he made that one and turned to the crowd,” Wade said, “you knew it was coming.”

Game notes

Starting with the Cavs, Miami’s next 10 games are against opponents with a combined winning percentage of just .399. … The Heat play the Pistons and Charlotte at home before going to Orlando, Chicago, New Orleans and San Antonio. … It was the first time Miami overcame a 21-point halftime deficit to win. … The Cavs will wait a week before they evaluate Waiters, who has loose cartilage, and decide whether he needs surgery. Cleveland coach Byron Scott hopes his young guard comes back in the final month. “If he gets back, I’ll be thrilled to death,” Scott said. … Miami’s three wins over Cleveland this season have been by a total of nine points.

The post LeBron James posts triple-double as Heat rally, up streak to 24 appeared first on IdealCapper.

Charlotte At Boston
When: 7:30 PM ET, Saturday, March 16, 2013
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Charlotte), Comcast SportsNet New England (Boston)
PREDICTION: Celtics 98, Bobcats 81

Oddsmakers currently have the Celtics listed as 14-point favorites versus the Bobcats, while the game’s total is sitting at 190.

Charlotte looked like something much better than the team with the worst record in the NBA on Tuesday, getting a career-high 35 points from Gerald Henderson and a double-double from Josh McRoberts while holding Boston to 28 second-half points in the easy win. Whatever was working in that game went away at the start of a two-game trip on Friday. The Bobcats were outscored 23-10 in the fourth quarter and shot 32.5 percent in the 92-78 loss at Toronto. The bright spots were again Henderson (22 points) and McRoberts (10 and nine rebounds), two players who are getting long looks in the final weeks of the regular season as the team evaluates the roster.

In their last action, Charlotte was a 92-78 loser on the road against the Raptors. They failed to cover the 12.5-point spread as underdogs, while the combined score (170) was profitable news for UNDER bettors.

Charlotte:
Team record: 14-51 SU, 21-44 ATS

The total has gone UNDER in 4 of last 5 games when playing Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of last 14 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 16 of last 22 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of last 6 games when playing on the road against Boston

When playing on Saturday are 3-7
Before playing Washington are 2-8
After playing Toronto are 3-7
After a loss are 1-9

Boston is 23-9 at home, 12-20 on the road and would love to jump up into the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference to get at least one round of home-court advantage in the playoffs. The Celtics are sitting in seventh place, 2 1/2 games shy of No. 4 Brooklyn and 3 1/2 behind the third-place New York Knicks. Pierce scored 19 points and Rajon Rondo recorded a triple-double to lead the way in a 100-89 home win over the Bobcats on Jan. 14. Boston was finishing up a stretch of 10 road games in 13 contests on Tuesday and looked weary from all the travel. Pierce got the night off to rest and Kevin Garnett played just over 20 minutes. The Celtics showed more life on Wednesday, getting 20 points from Jeff Green and 15 from Pierce in the 112-88 victory.

Last time out for Boston, they were a 112-88 winner as they battled the Raptors at home. The Celtics covered in the match as a 5-point favorite, while 200 combined points moved the game OVER for totals bettors.

Boston:
Team record: 35-29 SU, 30-31-3 ATS

is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Charlotte
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of last 5 games when playing Charlotte
is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games

When playing on Saturday are 6-4
Before playing Miami are 5-5
After playing Toronto are 7-3
After a win are 6-4

The post Charlotte Bobcats vs. Boston Celtics Free Betting Pick & Matchup appeared first on IdealCapper.

For a .500 team, the Lakers are looking pretty good lately. Bryant is the biggest reason why.

Bryant scored 11 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and hit the go-ahead layup with 9 seconds left, leading the Lakers back to .500 for the first time in more than two months with a 99-98 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night.

Steve Blake stole Smith’s final pass in the waning seconds for the Lakers (30-30), who blew a 16-point lead in the second half before Bryant scored their last six points.

After Bryant scored the Lakers’ final basket while driving directly at Smith, Blake swiped Smith’s desperation pass from underneath Los Angeles’ basket. Bryant threw the ball high in the air to run out the clock on Los Angeles’ seventh straight home victory over the Hawks since 2006.

“I just had to attack,” Bryant said. “I wanted to attack and just go right at them. Take the game to them. Be aggressive. Be physical. And it worked out.”

Steve Nash had 15 points and 10 assists, while Dwight Howard added 11 points and 15 rebounds in the Lakers’ 13th win in 18 games. Los Angeles hung on for a quality win over the Hawks, a near-certain playoff team with ample motivation to knock off the high-profile Lakers.

Kobe wouldn’t allow it, making one big play after another down the stretch. Afterward, he repeatedly compared himself to a fine wine — only getting better with age.

“It was more of a message to my team here, to kind of have that will, that hunger, to push through it by any means necessary,” he said. “It’s just a challenge. I wouldn’t even really categorize it as fun. The fun comes in the challenge, and we’re up for it.”

The Lakers hadn’t been at .500 since Dec. 28, when they followed a win over Portland with six consecutive losses. They’ve spent the past six weeks digging themselves out of the latest hole in their rut-filled season, culminating in a lengthy stretch of recent solid play despite the absence of injured 7-footer Pau Gasol.

If the Lakers manage to upset Oklahoma City on Tuesday night, they would have their first winning record since Nov. 20, when they beat Brooklyn in coach Mike D’Antoni’s debut to go 6-5.

Al Horford scored 24 points and Smith had 19 for the Hawks, who had won four straight before consecutive road losses to the Suns and Lakers. Atlanta hasn’t beaten the Lakers anywhere since March 31, 2010.

Smith relished his matchup with Bryant, even if he got the short end of it.

“He’s been doing it for a long time, so you have to respect what he brings to the table,” Smith said. “He’s an assassin. He wants that moment. But from a defensive standpoint, I love taking a challenge like that and try to step up and try to make it tough for him. It was kind of like a tug-of-war match. We were going back and forth, and they made one more play than we did to win the game. I live for moments like this.”

Bryant put the Lakers up 96-95 with 2:18 to play on that ferocious dunk. After turnovers by both teams, Jeff Teague reclaimed the lead for Atlanta with 45 seconds left on a floating layup in traffic.

After Bryant hit two free throws, Horford put the Hawks back ahead with a dunk on a backdoor pass from Smith with 26.7 seconds left. But Bryant drove around Horford and right into Smith at the rim, willing the ball over his defense.

“There’s a reason why he’s the best player in the game,” Horford said of Bryant. “He did what he usually does, and we didn’t do a good enough job on him. It’s disappointing. We thought we worked hard and put ourselves in a position to win. We just had too many mistakes down the stretch.”

Devin Harris scored 12 of his 16 points in a three-minute spree late in the third quarter while Atlanta erased Los Angeles’ big lead.

Game notes

The Hawks finish their trip Monday night in Denver. … Atlanta coach Larry Drew was able to attend his son’s final UCLA home game on Saturday thanks to the fortunate coincidence in the Hawks’ schedule. Drew considers Los Angeles home after playing for the Clippers and Lakers, followed by a lengthy stint as a Lakers assistant coach in the 1990s prior to Phil Jackson’s arrival. … Novak Djokovic visited the Lakers’ locker room with fellow tennis player Justin Gimelstob before the game. One day after winning the Dubai Championships halfway around the globe, Djokovic spoke at length with Howard, who claims he won a school tennis tournament as a kid.

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