push to prevail. … The 76ers are good enough defensively to expose any team’s offensive weakness and the Celtics have plenty. Before they watch their Big Three Era end prematurely, the Celtics need someone besides that trio to respond with buckets. They have been getting by riding the back of Garnett for a few games, but those days may be over. So who’s going to step up next?
# Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: When T.D. (Tim Duncan) lofted a perfect halfcourt pass to M.G. (Manu Ginobili), who scampered 20 feet before shuttling the ball to M.B. (Matt Bonner) for a wide open 3-pointer — all in a carefully scripted 3.4 seconds — it might have looked like something the Spurs had done a thousand times before. It wasn’t. “We hadn’t practiced it once,” Bonner said. Over time, Spurs players have become accustomed to such flits of imagination from their head coach. The latest gave them a one-point halftime lead in Game 3 against Utah, swinging momentum and pointing the way toward a first-round sweep. It was enough to confirm a suspicion forward Stephen Jackson had long held about the coach he has affectionately nicknamed “Obi Wan.” “He can see the future,” Jackson said. “He’s a genius.” The top-seeded Spurs return to the AT&T Center tonight for Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals boasting a 14-game winning streak and about as many reasons to like their chances of advancement. Somewhere on that list: They have the NBA’s Coach of the Year in their huddle, and the Los Angeles Clippers do not. … Though Spurs players Soccer Shirts wouldn’t dare offer a negative critique of an opposing coach, it is clear they expect no such crunch-time mistake out of theirs. “This is chess, not checkers,” Jackson said. “Pop knows what he’s doing.” For that reason, and others, the Spurs have to like their chances in the chess match that begins tonight.
# Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News: The Clippers’ win over the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference quarterfinals was barely 10 minutes old when Chris Paul stood at his locker inside FedEx Forum and offered some insight on what lay ahead. “We’re going from physical to mental,” Paul shouted to his teammates. “Physical to mental.” The implication was obvious. While Memphis presented a tough, rugged challenge for the Clippers, the San Antonio Spurs offer something else entirely in the conference semifinals. When Paul and the Clippers take the floor tonight in San Antonio for Game 1, they will try to match wits with one of the smartest, well-coached, fundamentally sound teams in the NBA. The Spurs are as physically gifted as they come with an MVP candidate in point guard Tony Parker, ageless power forward Tim Duncan and sixth-man supreme Manu Ginobili, but their real strength is a deep understanding of coach Gregg Popovich’s basketball philosophy, an unusual, long-standing cohesion with one another and most of all a command of how to win. … For a young team like the Clippers, the Spurs present one of the great challenges. But after escaping Memphis in a grueling seven-game series, the Clippers seemed poised for another one. “Physical to mental,” Paul reminded his teammates. “Physical to mental.”
# Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: Paul George pinned his struggles in Game 1 on not getting many touches in the offense. He attempted five shots, making one. “People criticize me for not being aggressive; it’s hard to be aggressive when I’m not touching the ball,” George said. Vogel met with his players Monday morning and had a message for all of them. “We’re all in this together and there’s going to be a lot of folks out there that are going to, every time you lose a game, they’re going to try to find blame somewhere and we’re all playing for each other,” Vogel recalled telling them. “Defense is going to dictate who gets the shots, not the offense. They’re going to take away the options they want to take away and ball movement will dictate who gets the shots. Being assertive means attacking to draw help and then moving the ball.”
# Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald: Now, with Chris Bosh likely out for a while, there’s an even greater burden on Haslem, who’s averaging 3.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and shooting 31.8 percent (7 for 22) in the playoffs. He went 0 for 4 from the field, with five rebounds, in 22 minutes in Game 1 against Indiana. “I can’t judge myself on how I’m playing on offense,” Haslem said. “The way I look at the game is how I’m doing on the boards and how I do defensively. On the boards, I led us in rebounds per minute last series, and I intend to do the same this series.” One of the great mysteries of this Heat season has been the decline in Haslem’s shooting percentage to 42.3, well below his 49.4 career average. Coach Erik Spoelstra said he has no explanation. “All I know is he has [made shots] in big moments,” Spoelstra said. Haslem said he doesn’t need to score more in Bosh’s absence: “The other guys, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, will pick up the scoring load, so I’ll focus on the energy and rebounding part.” Asked about not playing in the past two fourth quarters, Hasle.
ding Philadelphia to victory, Doug Collins picked up his first win as a coach in five playoff trips to Boston. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he’s the seventh person in NBA history to win a playoff game in Euro 2012 Jerseys Boston as a head coach and as a player. Collins was a member of the 76ers in 1977, when they beat the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
1. LeBron’s Post Game
ch have always understood that NBA defenses are too big and Cheap Soccer Shirts quick to confine your offense to one option. There have to be multiple contingency plans in a given possession; otherwise, you leave yourself vulnerable to chance. A lot of fans like the element of chance in sports — and perhaps ting the regular season, according to Hoopdata.enough: Tony Parker passes the ball off to a wing player on his right. It might be Danny Green, Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Jackson or Gary Neal. Once the ball leaves Parker’s hands, he cuts through to the basket# team shot well or handled the ball well, and if age is affecting the Celtics, then inexperience costs the Sixers just as often. In the end this time, however, the Sixers started creating their own history, even if just a little bit. If Evan Turner can find his way to the basket once in that situation, he can do it again. And if the 76ers can win close games, that’s a good thing. Because they don’t play any other kind.
# Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: A night like this was expected, when the engine on Kevin Garnett’s time machine was going to sputter and Paul Pierce’s left knee would prevent him from creating any space from Andre Iguodala. The Celtics desperately needed offensive support from someone other than their Big Two. They needed a reserve or secondary contributor to produce and show enough guile to help the Celtics avoid scoring skids against the brutally difficult Philadelphia defense. That didn’t happen Monday and Boston was dealt an 82-81 loss in Game 2 at TD Garden, handing over home-court advantage as Philadelphia returns home for two games with a legitimate chance to take control of the series. After flirting with putting the 76ers away early, the Celtics had little to offer offensively for the next two quarters. And it wasn’t Garnett’s issue; he managed to hit 7 of 12 shots despite being tripled-teamed in stretches. Meanwhile, Pierce may not be an offensive factor in this series. Iguodala is one of the game’s top defenders and against a wobbly Pierce, he is even more effective. The Celtics tried to work Pierce into the offense down the stretch and he couldn’t deliver. He was 0-for-4 shooting with 2 points in the second half, when the Celtics only needed one final
I think LeBron James learned from the Finals last year against Dallas that he needs to find a way to get inside and not just settle. He likes to drive, but a lot of it has to do with him having a halfway post-up game now. He gets the ball on that right block, closer to the basket and he’s able to post up and make a decision to either find a shooter or make a play himself.
The three times we played Miami, that’s one thing I noticed about LeBron. He’s making a consistent effort now to get the ball in the post. He’s such a good ball handler, almost like a point guard, that it’s tough to have him in the post all the time. He definitely added that to his game.
2. The Bosh-less Heat go small
When Miami features LeBron at the four, I think it can cause a lot of problems. It’s going to force Indiana to change the way they play defense and possibly take David West or Roy Hibbert out of the mix for long periods of time. It’s going to force David West into a huge role and we’ll see how big he can play.
Some years ago I told the competition committee that we were going to start fining people for flopping, and then suspending. And I think they almost threw me out of the room (saying), ‘No, let it be.’
I think it’s time to look at (flopping) in a more serious way, because it’s only designed to fool the referee. It’s not a legitimate play in my judgment. I recognize if there’s contact (you) move a little bit, but some of this is acting. We should give out Oscars rather than MVP trophies.
The league was determined to fine players for flopping in 2008, as Marc Stein reported at the time, but nothing really came of it. Perhaps this time people see the issue differently. There is no shortage of voices complaining about the state of things:
* Jeff Van Gundy on ESPN TV: “It just ruins the game. I can’t believe with all the brilliance we have in the NBA office that we can’t find a way to eliminate this part of the game, or at least even start to punish it. … I’m just sick of it! And I can’t believe the NBA office isn’t sick of it too. They’re obviously condoning this. … They’re absolutely condoning flopping because they give them the calls and they don’t punish them when they do flop.”
* Zach Randolph on “The Doug Gottlieb Show” says it’s getting worse and that, for instance, the Clippers have learned well: “It starts with Chris Paul, because Blake didn’t really used to flop like that, you know, last year. Reggie (Evans) flops, Reggie always flops. I think it started when Chris got (to the Clippers).”
* Bucks forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute admits on NBA Today that he has flopped, and says everybody does: “You can’t touch guys now. The just flop, or they call everything. I think it’s part of the game. Flopping. There’s definitely a limit where flopping becomes annoying. … I think, personally, 40 to 50 percent of all charges are flopping. … Nowadays, you kind of touch a guy and he flops. … It’s just taking advantage of the way the game is called, offensively and defensively.”
* Mike Golic on Mike and Mike in the Morning: “It looks horrible. … Out on the football field I tried to sell things. So there’s a line in all of it: does it make it embarrassing to the sport, the way some of it looks? I guess that’s the questions David Stern is asking. There’s that line you cross over to say, ‘All right this is getting out of hand, this is getting embarrassing’ … are we there yet?”
* Shane Battier says he is all for new rules to prevent flopping.
3. Philly’s Backcourt
The Sixers guard the ball really well and their on-ball defense makes a difference. They did a good job in the first round of switching between Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner and giving the Bulls different looks. They made Chicago run a lot of sets instead of individuals taking over the game. That will be useful against Rajon Rondo, because he sets everything up for the Celtics. But they’ll be able to impact his decision-making by playing tight on the ball.
Both players are solid offensively as well. Turner is coming around really well. He’s turned into the player that they expected when they drafted him. Jrue is a very capable scorer, but he’s still able to control the game and run the team. He can shoot from the perimeter, but he also has a game where he can drive and make plays. What I like most about him is he’s very under control in his decision-making. He’s still young, but I think he has an advanced ability to make the decisions a point guard needs to make, whether it’s shoot the ball, pass or attack the basket. Playing against Rondo will be a great matchup. They’re both good on-ball defenders. I think they’ll both find ways to impact the game.
4. KG’s Renaissance
Kevin Garnett has really turned his game up this postseason. Offensively, he’s been able to get down in the post and they can get him the ball in a spot where he can make his turnaround jump shot. He’s also been great picking and popping off screens. He’s playing a full offensive game. Defensively, he just brings that intensity on every play. He took it to Josh Smith in the first round, took him out of his spots. He’s a smart defender so he knows where his man is going to get it and what he wants to do with it.
I think he can have the same impact against Philly. He has the size to impact Elton Brand in the post. Brand is a really a good player, but I don’t think he’s as athletic or versatile as Josh Smith, so I think it’s going to be easier for KG to have that defensive impact. Offensively, his ability to move around the floor and hit shots will be important. He can go inside against the younger guys like Thaddeus Young and just shoot that turnaround jump shot. Or if it’s Brand he can pull him out and hit some in the mid-range.
5. Tim Duncan and Blake Griffin
The matchup of power forwards in the Spurs vs. Clippers series pits two very different players against each other. Tim Duncan has always been a great offensive player. He has a patient game and as a defender it freezes you up. When he gets the ball, you really don’t know what he’s going to do with it. For one or two seconds he’s just looking at the basket and you don’t know what he’s thinking or what’s going to come. That’s why when he goes for that up-fake, guys go for it, because you have to guard against everything with him.
Tim has a great feel for the game around the basket and plays great with his back to the basket. He can turnaround and hit you with that bank shot, he can drive and he’s developed that jump shot to the point where it’s consistent. On the other end, he’s just a smart defender. He can guard guys in the post because he knows how to position himself and how to throw guys off their game.
Blake Griffin plays at a high level. On the offensive end, he finds his way in there. It’s not always pretty, but he’s finding opportunities to score. As soon as he gets the ball he’s trying to drive and he uses his quickness to drive past guys. He’s been doing well at that, but he’s still not a dominant power forward at this stage of his career. He can get out in transition or use the pick and roll and get to the basket, jump high and get the ball up. That’s what’s effective for him.
Going against Tim Duncan will be tough for Blake. Duncan is going to expose Blake’s weakness, which is jump shooting, whenever he can. Duncan will force him to take jump shots. And when Blake does get around him, San Antonio will use help defense to try and minimize his impact at the rim. Boris Diaw might spend a lot of time on Blake too because he’s laterally quicker than Tim at this point and can stay in front of Blake.
6. Pop’s Coverage on Paul
Whether or not you think the NBA has a pressing problem here depends on whether or not you think flopping is very common. If you don’t think it’s common, I question how hard you’re looking.
Not doing anything about it — and at the moment the league i
Flopping.
That was a radioactive topic in comments, e-mails and tweets. F