May 12, 2014; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum (88) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a basket against the San Antonio Spurs in the second half of game four of the second round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
After a night that seen one team fight off elimination, we get to see two more teams trying to do the same tonight. With the NBA Playoffs back in action Wednesday night, we’ve got previews for both match ups that should be exciting games to watch. Previews courtesy of Sports Illustrated.
Brooklyn Nets @ Miami Heat
Tip off @ 5:00 p.m. MST
TV: TNT
Heat lead series 3-1
The Miami Heat are a game away from a fourth straight trip to the Eastern Conference finals.
And it’s like they haven’t even noticed.
Almost from the moment Game 4 of this East second-round series against the Brooklyn Nets ended, the moment where the Heat took complete control of the matchup by riding the strength of LeBron James‘ 49-point night in a 102-96 victory, all the attention was directed toward what the two-time defending NBA champions figure to be their biggest challenge yet.
The test: Game 5 on Wednesday, when the Nets’ season will be at stake.
”This team is not going to give us the game,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade cautioned, minutes after his team took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. ”This series is far from over.”
That’s exactly the mindset Heat coach Erik Spoelstra wants his team to have. Recent history, though, would suggest that Miami is on the brink of advancing.
Since James, Wade and Chris Bosh became teammates, the Heat are 8-0 in home games that could end a series. Two of those wins came against Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett when they were wearing Boston green.
”It’s Game 5. We understand what’s at stake,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said. ”It’s Game 7 for us from here on out. If we lose, it’s over. If we win, we fight another day. We can only focus on Game 5 and one quarter at a time.”
The task is daunting, without question. For Brooklyn to prevail, it needs to beat the Heat three times in five days, two of those games in Miami, and do so with James coming off a scoring show that matched the best of his postseason career. He made 16 of 24 shots in Game 4, carrying Miami for much of the night.
Brooklyn guard Joe Johnson said after the game that James flopped. Even that didn’t get a reaction out of the four-time NBA MVP, who seems as businesslike as ever.
”Win,” James said when asked what the Game 5 mentality will be for Miami. ”It’s the mentality we go into every postseason game. Play with a sense of urgency defensively, help one another, communicate, try to get the ball moving offensively, get it moving from one side to another and attack. If we do those things, if we do it with a clear mind but at the same time an aggressive mind, we give ourselves a good chance to win.”
He was disappointed Monday night after missing a free throw that would have given him 50 points.
That’s forgotten now. To James, the only number that matters is four – the win that would send Miami back to the NBA’s Final Four.
”The wise one knows that you don’t go into it thinking “This is it,”’ Heat guard Ray Allen said. ”You have to still build on all your habits. You have to go out there and you have to get better. If this is a closeout game, then we don’t want to just settle for how we played. We want to get better and think about where we can potentially go.”
Brooklyn has won in Miami twice this season, both part of the Nets’ 4-0 regular-season sweep of the Heat.
But in this series, the MVP has been the difference.
James alone is averaging 30.3 points through four games. Johnson and Pierce, Brooklyn’s top two scorers so far in the series, are combining to average 29.5.
”To win the whole series, you need to win on the road anyway,” Brooklyn forward Andrei Kirilenko said. ”It’s going to be a huge challenge for us but the series is not over yet, so we are going to fight.”
Miami would expect nothing less.
That’s why Spoelstra told – ordered would be a more accurate term – his team to take Tuesday off and rest. Coaches were at the arena in Miami studying film; no new material was made available to players, underscoring the decree from Spoelstra that players come in Wednesday ready for the toughest game yet.
”We wouldn’t expect anything else,” Spoelstra said. ”It’s a veteran team. It’s not the first time they’ve been in a situation like this. Both teams know what’s at stake. It’s great competition. You have to embrace it. We’ll have to earn it.”
Portland Trail Blazers @ San Antonio Spurs
Tip off @ 7:30 p.m. MST
TV: TNT
Spurs lead series 3-1
Tony Parker has long been Nicolas Batum‘s friend and mentor, both on the French national team and in their NBA careers.
So it was understandable after Batum’s dominance in Game 4 of the playoff series between the Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers that San Antonio’s veteran point guard cracked a smile when asked if he had a part in his pal’s success.
”I’m happy for him. He’s doing great,” Parker said. ”He’s doing everything he can to help his team out there. You have to give him credit.”
Batum had 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in the Trail Blazers’ 103-92 victory Monday night. Portland avoided elimination and narrowed the series to 3-1, sending it back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Wednesday.
No NBA team has ever rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series.
Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts, well aware that he had to do something, switched things up heading into Game 4 and gave Batum the task of stopping his countryman.
The combination seemed to work: Parker scored 14 points in Game 4 after averaging 26 points and more than eight assists in the first three games of the series.
”I just did my job,” Batum said. ”My job was to slow him down. He’s had a great series so far. He’s a great champion. So I just tried to do my job and slow him down.”
Parker, who had just one assist and three turnovers, was the top scorer for the Spurs, who as a whole scored far fewer than the 116 points they averaged in the first three.
”You have to give a lot of credit to Portland,” Parker said. ”They played great, they came out of the gates. Batum was great, he gave them a big boost. He got on the boards and was everywhere.”
Parker scored 29 points in San Antonio’s 118-103 Game 3 victory on Saturday night. The Spurs had routed the Blazers 116-92 in the series opener after their grueling seven-game first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks, then built a 20-point lead and handily won Game 2 114-97.
The Spurs are looking to advance to the Western Conference finals for the third straight season. The winner of their series with the Blazers will face the winner of the other semifinal between the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
San Antonio, which has won four NBA titles, has reached the playoffs 17 straight seasons.
Portland made it to the second round for the first time in 14 years by defeating the Houston Rockets in six games, clinching the series with Damian Lillard‘s amazing 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 99-98 victory at home in the deciding game.
Monday night’s victory over the Spurs was their first in a second round since beating Utah in the 2000 conference semifinals.
”We had nothing to lose,” Batum said. ”We had no pressure. If we lose, we’re on vacation. So we just went out there and played our game the way we’re used to playing.”
No matter how hopeful the win made the Blazers, the fact remains that they are one loss from elimination. Batum tried to spur his teammate along by asking ”Why not us?”
The Blazers were the last team to take a series to seven games after dropping the first three. Portland rebounded in the first round against Dallas in 2003 but ultimately lost the first-round series’ deciding game.
”We are confident,” Blazers guard Wesley Matthews said. ”Someone has to make history at some time. Might as well be us.”