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Celtics Continue Dominance Over Heat

February 13, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

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BOSTON (AP) — LeBron James and the Miami Heat could not win in Boston in the regular season. And now they may have to do it in the playoffs. Rajon Rondo had a triple-double, and James missed a crucial free throw with 12.5 seconds left in the Celtics’ 85-82 victory over Miami on Sunday. Boston improved to 3-0 against the Heat this season, taking back the top spot in the East and clinching the potential tie breaker for home-court advantage in the playoffs.

The teams will play again in Miami on April 10.

“They are the defending Eastern Conference champions,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You have to go through them, and they ain’t going to make it easy. We understand that this isn’t going to be an easy ride for us, and that’s where we’re at our best.”

The Heat eliminated most of a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit and trailed by 83-81 with 19 seconds left when they brought the ball in from a timeout and got it to James at the top of the key. He drove on Paul Pierce and drew a foul. He missed the first free throw and made the second.

On the ensuing inbound pass, James went into the stands for the ball but merely knocked it to Ray Allen; the Celtics got the ball downcourt to Glen Davis, who was fouled. Davis hit both foul shots with 6.3 seconds to go, and Mike Miller missed a 3-point attempt in the final seconds that would have sent the game to overtime.

 

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HORSE Gets Heave-Ho at All-Star Weekend

February 09, 2011   Brett Pollakoff   No comments

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Kevin DurantWhen the NBA announced its list of contestants for this year’s Foot Locker Three-Point Contest on Tuesday, there was one name that didn’t seem to fit as well as the others. Defending champion Paul Pierce and teammate Ray Allen were obvious selections, and three of the other four — Daniel Gibson, Dorell Wright, and James Jones — are all shooting north of 40 percent from downtown on the season.

But Kevin Durant?

Sure, Durant is the league’s leading scorer, a legitimate MVP candidate, and one of the game’s brightest stars. But from three-point land he’s shooting under 35 percent, which is good for somewhere in the neighborhood of 92nd place in that category this season.

So on the surface, Durant’s inclusion in this event doesn’t seem to make much sense — until you realize that the event he has won at All-Star weekend for each of the last two seasons will no longer be taking place.

 

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The Works: The NBA Destroys All Monsters

February 09, 2011   Bethlehem Shoals and Eric Freeman   No comments

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Today in The Works: Monsters invade the NBA, and only players can save us. Enjoy!

Monster Movies

Anyone remember Godzilla vs. Barkley? It was only the most awesome Nike ad campaign of the last thirty years. But if you thought it was a fantasy, you were dead wrong. Charles Barkley was actually commissioned by Japan (back when it had money) to seek out and destroy Godzilla, once and for all — or at least until they needed him for an American remake. It was like the Hellboy series, only with more nervous owners. In this great spirit, and perhaps in the interest of taking on any future monster problems, we propose the following dream match-ups.

Blake Griffin vs. King Kong: After being captured by Clippers owner Donald Sterling during a slum-building project on Skull Island, King Kong is shipped to Los Angeles for display in the Staples Center to make Sterling an easy buck. He escapes, though, and only marauding forward Blake Griffin can save the city from certain doom. After a long chase, King Kong ascends to the top of the fake skyscraper in Universal Studios’ King Kong attraction and plummets to his death. But it’s not Griffin who fuels him — instead, it’s his love for Clippers superfan Penny Marshall, whom he bonded with during the long boat ride back from the island. (EF)

 

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Blake Griffin, Four Celtics Headline 2011 NBA All-Star Reserves

February 03, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

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Blake GriffinNEW YORK (AP) — Blake Griffin is going to his first All-Star game, and Kevin Garnett matched an NBA record with his 14th straight selection as one of a record-tying four Boston Celtics headed for the midseason event.

Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen will accompany Garnett, who equaled Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone for the most consecutive selections. The Celtics joined the 2006 Detroit Pistons as the only teams to have four players picked as reserves by the coaches.

Griffin, the Rookie of the Year favorite of the Clippers, will be playing on his home floor in the Feb. 20 game at Staples Center. Joining him on the Western Conference team were Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili of the NBA-leading Spurs; forwards Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas and Pau Gasol of the Lakers; and guards Deron Williams of Utah and Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City, who joins Griffin as the lone first-time selections.

Chris Bosh will go to Los Angeles with Miami teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who were elected as starters. The other East reserves picked Thursday were Atlanta’s Joe Johnson and Al Horford.

 

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Blake Griffin, Four Celtics Headline 2011 NBA All-Star Reserves

February 03, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

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Blake GriffinNEW YORK (AP) — Blake Griffin is going to his first All-Star game, and Kevin Garnett matched an NBA record with his 14th straight selection as one of a record-tying four Boston Celtics headed for the midseason event.

Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen will accompany Garnett, who equaled Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone for the most consecutive selections. The Celtics joined the 2006 Detroit Pistons as the only teams to have four players picked as reserves by the coaches.

Griffin, the Rookie of the Year favorite of the Clippers, will be playing on his home floor in the Feb. 20 game at Staples Center. Joining him on the Western Conference team were Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili of the NBA-leading Spurs; forwards Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas and Pau Gasol of the Lakers; and guards Deron Williams of Utah and Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City, who joins Griffin as the lone first-time selections.

Chris Bosh will go to Los Angeles with Miami teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who were elected as starters. The other East reserves picked Thursday were Atlanta’s Joe Johnson and Al Horford.

 

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2011 NBA All-Star Starters Revealed, What About the Reserves?

January 27, 2011   Chris Tomasson   No comments

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Denver coach George Karl likes to say each All-Star squad should have 15 players, rather than 12.

It’s a great idea for the West this season, with there about to be some serious snubs. As for the East, 10 seems a better number this season in a conference that after the top teams has as much depth as the local park’s kiddie pool.

Perhaps the East should concede two spots to the West. Throw in that Houston’s Yao Ming, named the West starting center, will miss the Feb. 20 Game in Los Angeles, and that would give the West 15 players with All-Star recognition.

The starters were announced Thursday night, and there wasn’t anything to complain about other than how ridiculous it was that fans (hello, China) continued to vote for Yao in bunches even after it was announced Dec. 17 he was out for the season with a foot injury. Even before then, he was averaging 10.2 points in a meager five games.

The East starters will be Orlando’s Dwight Howard at center, Miami’s LeBron James and New York’s Amar’e Stoudemire at forward and Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Chicago’s Derrick Rose at guard. Other than Yao, West starters named were Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Denver’s Carmelo Anthony at forward and the Lakers‘ Kobe Bryant and New Orleans’ Chris Paul at guard.

Now, on to the reserves. After the coaches cast their ballots, here’s who should be announced next Thursday as well as which players might be ticked off:

 

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NBA All-Star Voting: Stoudemire, Rose Move Into Starting Lineup

January 15, 2011   Brett Pollakoff   No comments

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Amar'e StoudemireThe NBA released its final update to the fan voting for the All-Star game, two weeks before the official results are announced live on TNT on Jan. 27. And this one was more interesting than most, thanks to two of the five spots in the Eastern Conference’s starting lineup changing hands.

Amar’e Stoudemire — in most people’s opinion, and even that of his former head coach, the league’s MVP to this point — overtook the injured Kevin Garnett, and now holds a lead of over 93,000 votes for one of the two starting forward spots. Garnett’s teammate, Rajon Rondo, was similarly surpassed by another MVP candidate, Chicago’s Derrick Rose. Rondo missed some time due to injury, but the way Rose has been playing, he might have eventually surpassed Rondo in the fans’ eyes anyway. Rose now has a cushion of over 54,000 votes.

These appear to be the only two real races for spots in the starting lineup, as the rest of the margins seem to be too great to overcome over the next couple of weeks. Dwight Howard, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade are the East’s leading vote-getters (in that order), while out West, there were no changes to what appears to be a solid starting lineup of Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and the ever-popular All-Star vote recipient, Yao Ming. Yao is obviously injured and out for the season, so David Stern will get to choose his replacement in the starting lineup — likely Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol, but it wouldn’t be a complete shock to see him go with Tim Duncan, either.

The top 10 vote-getters at each position are listed below:

 

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Ranking the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Candidates

January 06, 2011   Tim Povtak   No comments

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Dwight Howard and Andrew BogutThe first time the Milwaukee Bucks played the Orlando Magic this season, center Andrew Bogut had 31 points and 18 rebounds, dominating the game from start to finish.

The second time on Wednesday night, he had six points and seven rebounds, fouling out in frustration. The difference wasn’t his play. The difference was the defense against him, specifically the guy playing opposite him.

Dwight Howard didn’t play the first time — and it made all the difference.

There is a reason Howard is the early favorite to win his third consecutive Defensive Player of the Year Award.

“There is no one in the league who has a bigger impact on a game than Dwight,” crowed Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. “He anchors everything we do.”

Howard’s dominance — he has led the NBA in both blocked shots and rebounding the past two seasons — has allowed Van Gundy to turn the Magic into one of the league’s best defensive teams, even with a roster filled with below-average defensive players.

“We don’t have a whole lot of answers for him (Howard),” said Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles. “But nobody else does, either.”

Although perimeter players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James can smother opponents, the award has been dominated by rebounders and shot blockers, which is something that Howard still does. Only Ron Artest (2004) and Gary Payton (1996) have won the award from outside the paint in the last 20 years.


Let’s look at the early contenders for the award in 2011. (Stats are updated through Wednesday night’s games. Click the player’s name to see his full stat-line.)

 

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Kevin Garnett Could Miss Two Weeks With Strained Calf

December 30, 2010   FanHouse Staff   No comments

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Kevin GarnettBoston’s Kevin Garnett could miss two weeks with a strained right calf — and that’s just fine by GM Danny Ainge.

Garnett missed the entire 2009 playoffs with a right knee injury that eventually required surgery, so Ainge was initially concerned after seeing the All-Star forward limp off the court Wednesday in Detroit. But an MRI performed Thursday confirmed the team’s postgame prognosis: Garnett suffered a simple muscle injury that’s unrelated to his previous ailment.

“It’s a muscle injury, a strained calf,” said Ainge in a radio interview with Boston’s WEEI. “It’s actually the softer side of the leg below the knee. It’s not anything to do with his knee, which is great news, and it’s one of those injuries that he may be out for a couple of weeks at the most. That’s my guess. It’s always a guess. I’ll just say two weeks. I think that’s on the conservative side.”

Garnett was hurt when he jumped for a dunk with 2:38 left in the first quarter of a 104-92 loss at the Detroit Pistons. The forward, who is averaging 15.4 points and a team-leading 9.8 rebounds, limped down the court before leaving the game.

As Garnett goes on the shelf, Rajon Rondo could return — although it’s unclear if that will be Friday against the New Orleans Hornets or sometime soon after. Rondo has missed the last six games with a sprained ankle.

“Rajon is getting better,” Ainge said. “It was a pretty severe sprain. Rajon is in a situation where he could play, but he’s in pain still. He has pain on both sides of the ankle and we just don’t want to get him back on to the court until he can play hard.”

 

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Kobe Bryant Leads NBA All-Star Voting

December 30, 2010   FanHouse Staff   No comments

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Kobe Bryant remains the leading vote-getter for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game with 1,153,694 votes, the league announced Thursday. Dwight Howard (988,572) leads all players in the Eastern Conference, while Miami’s LeBron James (969,459) and Dwyane Wade (938,402) place third and fourth in the league.

Bryant, a three-time All-Star MVP (2002, 2007 and 2009), has been voted a starter in each of the last 12 All-Star games, although he missed last season’s contest in Dallas due to injury. This season’s game will be played Feb. 20 in Los Angeles on Bryant’s home court at STAPLES Center. Paper balloting for the All-Star game will continue through Jan. 17, while electronic ballots can be cast through Jan. 23. The starters will be announced on Jan. 27, and the reserves will be announced on Feb. 3.

The latest returns also suggest a passing of the torch in Boston, as Rajon Rondo (777,310) so far has been named on more ballots than any of the Celtics‘ Big Three of Kevin Garnett (712,555), Paul Pierce (381,348) or Ray Allen (392,441). Rondo and Garnett are second among the East’s guards and forwards, respectively, putting them on pace to earn a stating job — provided they’re healthy. Rondo, who’s recently missed time with a sprained ankle, is expected to return Friday, but Garnett, who left Wednesday’s game with a leg injury, is sidelined indefinitely.

In the West, Kevin Durant (735,521) and Carmelo Anthony (602,516) are the current leaders among forwards, although Pau Gasol (597,201) doesn’t have much ground to make up to earn a starting job. Chris Paul (585,690) is second among the West’s guards, possessing a healthy lead over Manu Ginobili (403,632).

Yao Ming (376,283), who’s already been ruled out for the remainder of the season, is the runaway leader among the West’s centers, with Andrew Bynum (376,283) a distant second. If Yao finishes as the top vote-getter at center, NBA commissioner David Stern will name a replacement for his spot on the roster, and the West’s coach, currently slated to be Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, will choose a starter.

 

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