As exciting as the first round of the NBA Playoffs was, the start of the conference semifinals hasn’t really gotten off to quite a similar start. Monday night, we seen two games that ended up not being close for the most part. On Tuesday night, when we were hoping to see some better games, we got much of the same from Monday. For video highlights and a recap for both games, you can check them all out below. Recaps courtesy of Sports Illustrated.
Miami Heat 107 – Brooklyn Nets 86
Heat lead series 1-0
Turns out, the Miami Heat can beat the Brooklyn Nets.
And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions.
LeBron James scored 22 points, Ray Allen added 19 and the Heat stayed perfect in this postseason by beating the Nets 107-86 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series. It was the first win for Miami in five meetings with Brooklyn this season.
”It’s one,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ”But I liked the energy, the activity.”
Chris Bosh scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Dwyane Wade finished with 14 points and Mario Chalmers had 12 for Miami, which recorded at least one regular-season win against every team except Brooklyn, losing four times by a total of 12 points.
This one was a different story. A 24-9 run in the third quarter blew things open for the Heat, who hadn’t played in eight days after sweeping Charlotte in the opening round.
”It was great that we were able to come out the way we did after being off eight days,” James said. ”We got a lot of work in. We had eight days off of not playing a basketball game but Spo got us in the gym. (We) got each other in the gym. We made each other accountable throughout the layoff and it proved tonight.”
Deron Williams and Joe Johnson scored 17 points each for the Nets, who got only eight from Paul Pierce and no points from Kevin Garnett in 16 minutes.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday night.
”This is the defending champs,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said. ”It’s always going to be at a high level and we’ve got to find a way to match it.”
James finished 10 for 15 from the field and Allen – who had never faced his former Boston ”Big 3” compatriots Pierce and Garnett in the playoffs – was 4 of 7 from 3-point land.
”He was focused on the job at hand,” James said.
Miami’s lead was 55-52 early in the third quarter after a 3-pointer by Williams, and every indication was that the Heat and Nets – who played three one-point games and a double-overtime affair in the regular season – were heading down to the wire again.
Not quite.
The Heat took off on the 24-9 run over a 7-minute span, with Bosh scoring the first seven points of that burst to get Miami going. Allen’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 14, James and Chris Andersen (who left in the fourth with a right knee contusion) added two free throws apiece and just like that Miami’s lead was up to 79-61.
”It’s fun when you win the game and you can at least for a night do whatever it is you do, have some dinner, chill at home and exhale a little bit,” Bosh said. ”When you lose, you can’t sleep, your stomach hurts and it’s not a very good situation.”
For Brooklyn, the trouble came at an unexpected time. The Nets had the best third-quarter scoring differential in the East after Jan. 1, but were outscored 33-23 in that pivotal quarter in Game 1.
It was a hectic news day long before Heat-Nets, with Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant being announced as the league’s MVP, the firing of Golden State coach Mark Jackson and the NBA saying that Los Angeles Clippers president Andy Roeser would be taking an indefinite leave as part of the fallout related to the Donald Sterling scandal.
James’ two-year reign as MVP lasted 198 games.
”We have a new MVP, but when you talk about the best players in the world, he’s 1A, 1B with Durant,” Kidd said.
Pregame lineup moves by both clubs lent more intrigue. Miami brought Shane Battier – who played 2 minutes, total, in the first round against Charlotte – back into the starting five, while Brooklyn reinserted Shaun Livingston into its lineup after using him off the bench late in the Toronto series.
After never leading by more than seven points against Brooklyn in the regular season, the Heat led by 11 after a drive by James with 3:32 left in the first half. But the Nets closed on a 14-6 run, and Williams’ first beat-the-clock 3-pointer of the game sent Brooklyn into halftime down 46-43.
Williams did it again in the third, but that one only got Brooklyn within 79-66.
”It came down to defense tonight,” Williams said. ”Our defensive game plan was not executed at all.”
NOTES: The Heat held a pregame moment of silence for Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay, who died last week at the age of 89. … David Beckham, who will be bringing an MLS team to Miami, sat next to the Heat bench. … Livingston was on the court to warm up for the second half with about 10 minutes left in the intermission. Small problem: The rack of basketballs wasn’t on the court yet. … The Nets are 1-9 all-time against Miami in playoff games. … Miami had not won consecutive Game 1s since the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the 2012 playoffs.
San Antonio Spurs 116 – Portland Trail Blazers 92
Spurs lead series 1-0
Tony Parker had 33 points and nine assists and the San Antonio Spurs never trailed in a resounding 116-92 victory over Portland, bullying the younger Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals Tuesday night.
Kawhi Leonard had 16 points and Tim Duncan added 12 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio.
More importantly for the Spurs, their bench contributed mightily after being virtually non-existent in the series against Dallas.
Marco Belinelli had 19 points and the Australian connection of Aron Baynes and Patty Mills had 10 points apiece.
The Spurs had their most complete game of the postseason, playing with the flair and fluidity that resulted in the league’s best regular season record.
Portland, meanwhile, didn’t come close to resembling the confident and sharp-shooting group that upset Houston in the opening round.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 32 points and 14 rebounds and Damian Lillard had 17 points for Portland, but the All-Star duo combined for just 17 points in the first half as San Antonio built a 26-point lead.
Lillard was pushed out of the paint by 6-foot-7 Leonard early in the game and was nearly knocked off his feet defensively by a series of blistering picks.
It wasn’t any easier physically for Aldridge, who opened the game shooting 1 for 5 against Tiago Splitter and Baynes.
Splitter had an early steal on a pass to Aldridge and nearly had a second when he poked a dribble away as the 6-11 forward attempted to push his way into the block. Splitter hit the court in a failed attempt to keep the ball from going out of bounds, but it mattered little as the tone had been set for a long night for Aldridge and the Trail Blazers.
Duncan left the game with 4 minutes remaining in the first quarter after picking up two quick fouls, but the Spurs increased their lead in his absence thanks to big bench contributions.
Baynes had an immediate impact after playing only the final 6 minutes of San Antonio’s Game 7 victory over Dallas. He scored four points quickly and continued the physical defense against Aldridge that Splitter established.
Belinelli finished 3 for 5 from 3-point range, leading the Spurs’ bench to leap to their feet in loud celebration after the Italian guard’s struggles in the opening series. After going just 4 for 7 on 3-pointers against Dallas, Belinelli opened the game by hitting his first three attempts from long range.
The Spurs scored the opening eight points from close range as Portland missed its first six attempts from a variety of spots on the court.
Parker, who had 32 points in Game 7 against Dallas, scored 13 points in the first quarter on a series of drives and capped it with a corner 3.
NOTES: San Antonio and Portland had not met in the playoffs since the Western Conference finals in 1999, when Sean Elliott made a dramatic 3-pointer with 9 seconds remaining to win Game 2 and spark a series victory. Dubbed the ”Memorial Day Miracle,” Elliott made the game-winning shot after catching a pass, turning with his heels hovering above the out-of-bounds line and firing a high-arcing shot over a hard-charging Rasheed Wallace. The Spurs would go on to win their first NBA title that season. . Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen was in attendance as was NBA super fan Jimmy Goldstein, who was dressed in his trademark leather outfit and hat. . Ginobili was issued a technical foul by Tony Brothers after slamming the ball to the court following a traveling violation with 1:23 remaining in the first quarter. . Entering the series opener, Duncan had played as many postseason games (218) as the entire Portland roster.