NBA Playoffs Round II Game II Discussion

nbafan88

nbafan88

Pretty much a regular
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[TD="colspan: 2"]NBA CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS MONDAY, MAY 6TH [/TD]
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[TD="colspan: 2"] NBA CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS TUESDAY, MAY 7TH (OKC, IND 1-0) [/TD]
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[TD="class: leftColumn"] <small>4:05 PM</small> [/TD]
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[TD="class: rotCell"] 709 [/TD]
[TD="class: teamCell"]INDIANA GM2[/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571450_3_0_6_-110_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> +6-110 </label> [/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571450_3_2_-183_-110_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> o183-110 </label> [/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571450_3_4_0_210_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> +210 </label> [/TD]
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[TD="class: rotCell"] 710 [/TD]
[TD="class: teamCell"]NEW YORK GM2[/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571450_3_1_-6_-110_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> -6-110 </label> [/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571450_3_3_183_-110_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> u183-110 </label> [/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571450_3_5_0_-250_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> -250 </label> [/TD]
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[TD="class: leftColumn"] <small>6:35 PM</small> [/TD]
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[TD="class: rotCell"] 711 [/TD]
[TD="class: teamCell"]MEMPHIS GM2[/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571451_3_0_2.5_-110_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> +2½-110 </label> [/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571451_3_2_-186_-110_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> o186-110 </label> [/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571451_3_4_0_120_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> +120 </label> [/TD]
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[TD="class: rotCell"] 712 [/TD]
[TD="class: teamCell"]OKLAHOMA CITY GM2[/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571451_3_1_-2.5_-110_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> -2½-110 </label> [/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571451_3_3_186_-110_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> u186-110 </label> [/TD]
[TD="class: selectCell"] <label> <input name="game" value="1571451_3_5_0_-140_NBA" class="chkbox" type="checkbox"> -140 </label> [/TD]
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Clear Print




Heat open at -12
 
Nyk/Ind - Indy has won 3 straight games, incl. the last 2 being on the road. Knicks should have their heads screwed on for what they know will otherwise be their last home game of the season if they don't come out firing. Indy having the #1 road D might be enough to see them cover, but don't see them doing it SU.

Okc/Mem - no pre-game opinion here. Memphis blew it, how do they respond?

edit: I will note, however, that Okc has played 7 playoff games for a 6-1 to Under mark (with the only Over going over by 2 pts), and they're also 21-6 to Under their last 27 games. So they've conditioned people to at minimum not be afraid to bet Under with them (despite their scoring reputation), and now Westbrook is gone (so that scoring reputation has taken a big hit). It's much easier to feel safe backing Okc Unders these days.
Memphis showed they can easily play Over pace on the road vs Lac, and of course the 2nd period in Game 1 vs. Okc totaled 63 pts. It's really only that game's 1st period which hides the otherwise decent enough scoring pace (relative to a 186.5 line) they managed to execute.
 
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BC, I don't know about GSW. They are one tough team.
They had a heart breaking loss in Game 1 in Denver. Not the same way, but still, a loss in the final second and came up and won Game 2.
I felt the same way as you after Game 1 in Denver and after Game 1 in SA, but Jackson should be COY in my opinion...
 
divol, you acknowledge there's differences yet choose to seemingly undersell them, whereas I won't -

(1) Against Denver it was their first playoff game of the p.s., so their sheer enthusiasm to simply be playing playoff basketball would've gone a long way to douse any negative psychological ill effects that might've followed their losing a close one first up (certainly the way they shot in game 2 indicates absolutely no negative psychological carryover whatsoever, so it's safe to assume/assert there was indeed no such carryover at all).

Here they've just finished their 7th playoff game, their 4th to be decided by 4 pts or less. They've played enough games and been in enough battles to have had that sheer enthusiasm give way to the grind by now, esp. with having put 1 series behind themselves. To simply be playing at this stage won't be a significant source of energy for them anymore, therefore won't be a source to draw upon, unlike after Game 1 vs Denver, to help "douse" any doubts or negative feelings. Yet they, as a team, haven't played enough playoff basketball to be able to treat a bad loss as just another loss. Their inexperience in dealing psychologically with bad playoff losses finds it's first test here, since they never suffered any comparable type of loss to Denver.

(2) Against Denver they never led by 16 pts in the final period. Their biggest lead was 9 pts, and that lead lasted for a mere 22 seconds (in the 2nd qtr). They trailed by 8 pts after 3 qtrs, and it was they who had to enact a late comeback. It's obv. always easier for players to deal with comebacks that fall short, as opposed to having sure wins snatched away from them.

Against the Spurs, they delivered one of those NBA playoff chokes for the ages.


(3) While GS went winless in the regular season @both Denver & San An, I credit the GS players with being aware that Denver as a team had absolutely no playoff pedigree. Knowing of Denver's repeated failures in the playoffs would've given them a sense of belief for winning that series, a sense I don't believe would've been dented by any early loss (which wasn't a bad loss).

Facing the Spurs, they'll know they're playing a premier playoff team with a razor sharp coach. They won't be looking to any past playoff failures by this opponent as a source of belief/energy for their series prospects, therefore imo their losses in the regular season at this venue will be weighing on them (now, in light of their Game 1 loss) in a way their @Denver losses didn't (after their Game 1 loss there). Now they've just coughed up a horrible loss, yet another loss at this venue, so these thoughts are going to inevitably run through their minds: What do we have to do to win at this tough playoff venue? If we don't win when we're up by 16 pts late, we do we win? Their Denver loss is simply not comparable to last night's one, from the angle of asking what kinds of doubts it will invite to creep into certain minds (for example, how often will Curry relive his choices for his/GS's last possession in regulation. He played it terribly).


Finally, from a sheer statistical pov: Curry played every minute of that Game 1. As pointed out in the Denver series, in the playoffs he (1) seems to be prone to showing up for a period or 2 as his norm but not all 4 periods, and (2) where he goes, so GS goes. Off a gut wrenching loss where he showed up basically the whole game (44 pts off 35 shots, 11 ast) & yet was responsible in many ways for their blowing it, everything points to him having a down performance in Game 2... Where he goes, GS goes. The stage is set for this team's long ATS win streak to end.
 
BC, all your points are obvious, but I think that so are mine:
1) GSW has a very young roster and very good motivation coach. I see no reason for enthusiasm drop to be honest.
They came absolute underdogs and suddenly they feel that they have a shot. They know that if Jack would have made one of the two FT's, they would have won.
2) One big problem with win like SAS had and I saw it many times for many teams is that superior feeling.
The feeling that you can fuck around for 44 minutes and be down 16 points and suddenly turn the switch and win the game.
Here, I'm not sure it will be the case, since the roster and the coach have so much playoff experience, so I believe they know they got lucky here, but still, this is very flat spot many times for the teams.
If SAS will be down 10 points after 3 quarters, they will feel that they still can do it, after all, last time, they were down 12 at the same point...

I'm not saying you're wrong, I usually cap the same way you are. Just saying that I'm not sure that regular rules apply here.
 
They came absolute underdogs and suddenly they feel that they have a shot. They know that if Jack would have made one of the two FT's, they would have won.

This line of reasoning says they'll be taking away positive thoughts from the game. I don't believe it. They'll be taking doubt away from this game. They blew that game in numerous places, via numerous players. Not just Jack's FT shooting. There's plenty of blame, doubt & second guessing to go around.
They know they have to win a road game to win the series. That's the pressure on them. They have to win in San An. That win was last night, is a thought they will not be able to avoid. They won't be able to avoid the thought Game 2 isn't going offer any better chance to be won than what Game 1 offered. They blew it. None of this they won't know/won't be thinking. Then time will pass, upbeat thoughts will get emphasized by the coaching staff (doing their jobs), but the effects of all those negative thoughts won't have disappeared. They'll sit silently in their bodies, and their weight will be felt in-game sometime during Game 2. Young players (young people) feel things too heavily. Their highs are too high, and their lows are too low. No matter what kind of job GS's coaching staff try & do to tell them it's only 1 loss/we weren't expected to win/we're playing with house money, when it comes to a bad bad loss like this, that shit is going to go in one ear & out the other.

If SAS will be down 10 points after 3 quarters, they will feel that they still can do it, after all, last time, they were down 12 at the same point...

If the Spurs, or any team, feels like they've got their opponent's number, then I agree this mindset is a danger (it's no doubt Miami's mindset vs CHC, even after losing Game 1 it'll still be Miami's mindset). If this kind of result had happened in, say, Game 4 after the Spurs were already up 2-1 (so the lucky win meant they went up 3-1), then I'd agree with you this mindset might likely predominate. Then they'd have proved their dominance going up 2-1, the lucky comeback win would just provide further evidence to themselves that their dominance was a given, so the sheer nature of the luck/closeness involved in the W wouldn't really prick them out of their arrogant mindset (of being able to come back from "whatever" deficit).
But here it's an opponent who the last time they met SAS lost to them (not that long ago, still fresh in the memory - Apr. 15th), and now they should've lost to them again. They've got no basis to feel like they can take GS anytime they feel like it. It's not like they suddenly lost the lead in the game before promptly going down 16 pts late, GS led from the front right from the start & never trailed in reg., the Spurs were always chasing/playing catch up. IMO, the Spurs mindset for Game 2 will be - as preached by Pop - deadset on never letting themselves get down significantly at all (let alone by 10+ pts). However, I grant you they may have carried such a general mindset into Game 1 on the back of 2 especially easy wins over the Lakers (more related to along the lines of, we can take anybody, look what we did to the Fakers, rather than a mindset like that directed specifically towards GS as an opponent). Game 1 will have rapidly shaken them out of that stupor (if it existed).

And you never addressed the sheer fact of Curry being in a personal down spot, which he'd be in for Game 2 whether GS had won or lost. His highest peak of the playoffs, extended by a full 10 minutes outside the norm? there's only one way for his next game effort to go, and where he goes so does GS. The fact he'll have some doubts and second guessing going on in his mind just adds further inertia to (t)his natural down spot.
 
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I liked what Jackson said in one of the timeouts, saying that they made tons of mistakes, but still in the game. I think that this is his approach and what he is sending to his players.
Did you hear his timeout that was broadcasted late in OT?
 
I wouldn't expect Jackson to experience that loss like his players did/will. He's been there, done that, many times. As far as what he tells his players as a coach, I go back to my pov posted above re "that shit is going to go in one ear & out the other."
 
yeah, weren't the spurs shooting something like 35% deep into the 4th quarter.

I kinda think that GSW gets over this pretty quickly. They have a solid coach that can get them past this. They are kinda playing with house money anyways. I think they will be fine.
 
the warriors problem is not very difficult to fix but it can only be fixed with experience as a unit... that is the only way the team will be able to trust each other late in games so they can play to win instead of play not to lose. That clock is their worst enemy in those situations

Popovich's "corporate knowledge" concept was on full display last night
 
another opening line of -8 for game 2 in SA.... such a dog line, every 8 pt opening dog has covered so far in the playoffs
 
Warriors a perfect 7-0 ATS. Ride em till they lose. 8 points is a lot. Yeah that was a devastating loss but they're playing loose. Nobody expected them to beat the Nuggs. And nobody expects them to beat the Spurs. This is a great learning experience for them.
 
SAN ANTONIO – Everyone else on these Golden State Warriors had marched grudgingly into the huddle now, but Stephen Curry's eyes stayed with the shooter. As Manu Ginobili left the floor with 1.2 seconds left in double overtime, he leaped into the arms of Tim Duncan on the San Antonio Spurs' sideline.
All this noise tumbled down onto the AT&T Center floor, all these years washed away, and there Curry stood marveling over the magnificence of Manu's magical moment. All this noise tumbled down out of the rafters, out of those four championship banners, and Curry had begun to consider the consequences of leaving him too much time on the clock, leaving him one more shot to transform this hysteria into a stunned silence.
Stephen Curry had gone for 44 points, had gone within a whisper of Kobe Bryant's playoff record of 45 on the Spurs. Curry had gone wild on the Spurs, but he wouldn't get the final shot, nor the final word on Monday night.
"Yeah, I'll be thinking about the one I didn't get to take," Curry told Yahoo! Sports late Monday. "You always want that one more opportunity."


Out of the timeout, the Spurs' Kawhi Leonard wrapped his arms around Curry and refused to let him come over the screen and catch an inbounds pass. The Warriors protested, but as one team official said, "You're never getting that call against them."
After another timeout, the Spurs clustered on Curry, and the ball found its way to Jarrett Jack for a stumbling, off-balance miss that left the Warriors despondent 129-127 Game 1 losers in the Western Conference semifinals.
"This freaking game," Curry mumbled to no one in the losing locker room.
As far back as the kid could remember, this is what the Spurs do in the springtime: They leave basketball stars mumbling to themselves. They leave broken, battered teams wondering what in the world had happened out there.
[Related: Manu Ginobili's winning 3-pointer caps wild comeback for Spurs]
Curry buttoned his shirt, stepped past the tub of ice water in which he had been soaking his aching feet and still found himself shaking his head. The Warriors had the Spurs buried with 4½ minutes left in regulation, had them down 16 points. Tim Duncan, sick with a stomach flu, had gone back to the locker room for several minutes.
And again in these playoffs, the Warriors collapsed. Somehow, they lost an 18-point lead late to Denver in Game 6, but survived. Only, these weren't the Nuggets. These are the Spurs of Duncan and Ginobili, Tony Parker and Gregg Popovich.
"Let them back in," a wise rookie, Draymond Green, said, "and they will execute you to death."
When it was over, Curry walked down the corridor to his news conference and politely shut down a team official trying to console him with context. "Don't blame the age," Curry told him.
He had destroyed the Spurs, had them at his mercy and somehow the Warriors let them go. In the postseason for the first time at 25 years old, Curry has been a dominant force in these playoffs, standing shoulder to shoulder so far with LeBron James and Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony.
Destroying Denver was impressive, but the Spurs are something else. San Antonio's the standard. He hated losing, but the moment wasn't lost on him here.


"I know who I'm playing against here," Curry told Yahoo! Sports on his way back to the bus on Monday night. "I've been a fan of basketball since my dad was playing, and these guys here – the Spurs – they've been champions. They've been on this stage so many times.
"I have confidence in myself, but I mean, this is different against them. This is … surreal."
The Spurs didn't stop Curry, as much as too many minutes wore him down. He wouldn't dare suggest it, but too much had been asked of him on Monday. After Curry's 22 points in the third quarter – the four 3-pointers, the breathless drives through the lane for floaters – Mark Jackson made a young coach's mistake and tried to ride his star too hard, too long.
Jackson should've rested him to start the fourth period, but let him keep going, and those legs betrayed Curry the rest of the night.
"But I've got to still find another gear," Curry said.
Once the Spurs moved the longer Leonard onto him, Curry needed lift on that step-back jumper, needed to create space to get his shot, and it was no longer there. The kid kept playing, kept coming, but the Spurs' defense had loaded up on his drives, too, and, suddenly, getting to the rim didn't come so freely for him.
[Watch: Manu Ginobili talks about his winning shot]
Nevertheless, Curry's own weary legs played the biggest part in stopping him. Once Jackson had stayed so long with Curry in the fourth, he had no choice but to keep him on the floor in the first and second overtimes.
At the end of the second overtime, pushing 60 minutes of basketball, Curry had come so close to still closing out these Spurs. Even when he had missed his final eight jumpers of the night, Curry made a marvelous finger roll with 32.8 seconds left to bring the Warriors within 126-125 and made a shrewd pass to Kent Bazemore for a reverse layup with 3.9 seconds to thrust Golden State into a 127-126 lead.


Only, the Warriors' defense would lose Ginobili beyond the 3-point line on the inbounds play, and it didn't matter that Ginobili had missed 15 of 19 shots, nor seven of eight 3-pointers. When the moment mattered, Ginobili made the three and leaped into Duncan's waiting arms.
Here was the ultimate Spurs comeback in the ultimate Spurs way, against a young player, Curry, who represents the game the way San Antonio has always. For most of the night, he was beating the Spurs the way they've forever beaten everyone else: the fluidity of a game played far below the rim and far above the norm.
The greatness of Steph Curry doesn't come in his size and strength and athleticism. The greatness comes in the simplicity of knowing what's coming with him, and still being unable to stop it. Those were forever the Spurs, and yet that was the essence of the glorious young counter who baffled them for most of Monday night.
Curry isn't trying to be one of the greatest shooters the sport's ever seen, but one of its greatest players. Where it starts is in the playoffs, in these moments, and Curry wasn't walking out of Game 1 a devastated and defeated man. He was leaving determined, leaving fortified.
"We are young guys trying to make a name for ourselves, and this is where you do it," Curry told Y! Sports. "We aren't using our age as a crutch, or a reason to change the expectations of winning. If we were to get swept in this series, people would probably see this as a successful year for us.
"We want more. Until the last few minutes, anyway, we showed them that we're ready for this moment."
[Also: Nate Robinson leads Bulls past Heat in Game 1]
After all these years, Stephen Curry had watched Ginobili beat him with his guts and guile and fearless, sweet stroke. He watched Ginobili leap into Duncan's arms and it all felt so surreal. These were the Western Conference semifinals and he had come close to pushing past Kobe's 45 points and delivering a performance no one ever had on San Antonio.
The ball never found Curry's hands on that final play of the second overtime, and promised to linger until Game 2 on Wednesday night, promised to leave this shooter with remorse. Curry watched Ginobili steal his night, steal his winning shot, and he left the AT&T Center hell-bent on retribution. Soon, he will get that final shot, that final word, and maybe he'll even get it in this series. The kid's coming now, coming hard. Soon, there will be no stopping Stephen Curry.


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Okay so for the Pacers/Knicks game tonight, if melo tries to do it all on his own the knicks will probably end up faltering because the team will not be moving the ball enough. Pretty much the most important point for the knicks. The pacers turn the ball over a lot. Its crucial the knicks make them pay for that. Woodson says that he will go with the same starting lineup, but if things arent going well you have to think that he will move melo to the 3 and put kmart at the 4 for longer periods of time to get melo easier looks away from the pacer big men. Defensively, i was very surprised to see the pacers score 100+... dont think that happens again this series


JR smith is catching a lot of heat again for supposedly going out to party on saturday night (not sure if its true) and he did the same thing before game 5 vs Boston... the guy has been so good this whole season and people thought his off the court shenanigans were behind him. If he doesn't put that to rest, it could hurt him during contract negotiations..
joey crawford should put the pacer big men into foul trouble early... just a warning :shh:
 
Joey C not really a Knicks guy, likes to 'steal the show' at the Garden. Last game he officiated with NY was the home loss to Boston in Game 5. Not sure what orders he received from his boss though...
 
Well he's sterns right hand man. Dont think he wants NY to go down 0-2 going to Indy...Think the Knicks will get some calls especially early.


FYI. The Knicks are 0-5 in playoff series where they lose the first game at home
 
[h=2]PACERS AT KNICKS, 7 P.M. ET[/h] May 7, 2013 · 5:35PM
TV: TNT

  • Steve Novak (back spasms) will dress after missing Game 1. “We’ll try to get him in if we can,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.

  • Amar’e Stoudemire, who hasn’t played since March 7 with a right knee debridement, scrimmaged three-on-three on Monday and will do so again Wednesday before practicing Friday; he took Tuesday off and will also rest Thursday. If there are no setbacks, he could also suit up for Game 3 on Saturday in Indianapolis. “Friday we’ll try to get him in a five-on-five setting and then if he doesn’t have any setback we’ll probably dress him on Saturday,” Woodson said.

  • Down 0-1, Woodson stressed the importance of Game 2 to reporters at shootaround: “This is a major game for us tonight.We don’t want to go to Indiana down two games. So this is a major, major game for our ball club.

  • The Knicks will start Pablo Prigioni, Raymond Felton, Iman Shumpert, Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler.

  • The Pacers will start George Hill, Lance Stephenson, Paul George, David West and Roy Hibbert. Anthony will start out guarding West.

  • Woodson said he had no plans to move Anthony back to small forward after he was beaten up a bit playing power forward in Game 1 against West. “Melo’s played big guys all year,” Woodson said Monday. “The last I checked statistic-wise, we’ve been pretty damn good this year with Melo playing at the four spot so I don’t see any reason to change at this point now.” Pacers coach Frank Vogel seemed to agree: “Their small lineup the last six weeks of the season allowed them to be the best team in the NBA,” he said.
– Adam Zagoria
 
TV: TNT


Neither team will make changes in their starting lineups but tweaks are expected in the rotations and some defensive assignments. Grizzlies guard Tony Allen didn’t get as much playing time Sunday as he normally does, but he probably will tonight and will likely spend much of his time guarding Thunder sixth-man Kevin Martin, who scored 25 points in the first game of this series and 25 in the last game of the Houston series. “We weren’t bad, we held them to just 93 points,” Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins pointed out before the game, “we just weren’t consistent enough with our defense.”
Thunder forward Kevin Durant said his team will also make changes, “we gotta make adjustments too, we didn’t play so well in that third quarter (of Game 1) we got down 12 or 13 points so we gotta do a better job of controlling the ball.”
It’s not just the start of third quarters that’s giving OKC troubles, the beginnings of games have been problematic also. The Thunder have been sluggish on offense and ineffective on defense in the first five minutes of each half for five straight playoff games. “It’s a concern but we’ve been able to overcome that,” Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. “But we can’t continue to see that game after game.” Thunder center Kendrick Perkins thinks it’s all mental, “I think we just come out too casual, especially in the third quarter.”
Durant is shooting 48.7 percent overall in the playoffs but just 27.3 percent on 3-pointers.
– Randy Renner


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For Wednesday, I like the heat to crush the bulls.... those open jumpers will fall.



the warriors/spurs game....line screams to take the dog again but i just cant do it... i lean over, just dont see the spurs being capable of playing better defensively... and they should be a lot better offensively for the full game
 
GSW/Spurs is a tough one because you have no idea how the Warriors will react. Likely probability is they fade but this team has something about them, would rather wait til Game 3 before taking a position...
 
The Heat are 5-0 to Under these playoffs (based on opening lines).

Chicago has scored 90+ reg. pts in 5 straight games for only the 2nd time this season. They've yet to manage the feat over 6 straight games. Chicago is 2-5 SU & ATS this season playing a game off having scored 90+ reg. pts in their 4 previous games.

Chicago's reg. season & playoffs scores (the latter bolded) @Miami (in the LeBum era) -
87, 85, 85, 93, 72, 96, 93 & 93 pts = 88.0 ppg (reg. season = 88.2 ppg, playoffs = 87.6 ppg).
 
Now on the line: LeBron as Ray Allen

May, 8, 2013 May 8
9:50
AM ET

<cite class="source" style="margin-bottom: 10px;"> By Tom Haberstroh
ESPN.com
Archive </cite>

nba_lbj_allen_d1_576.jpg

<cite>Getty Images</cite>
LeBron James unveiled a new free throw routine in Game 1 and it looks very familiar.

MIAMI -- In his quest to perfect the game of basketball, LeBron James now appears to be perfecting the Ray Allen free throw.

Did you catch it in Game 1?

Dribble, dribble, dribble. Spin the ball. Collect. Rise off the heels. Release.

That’s the signature sequence of Allen’s free throw routine. He’s used it for years, propelling him to an 89.4 percent career free throw shooting percentage which ranks fifth-highest in the history of the NBA.

And now James appears to be trying to mimic it.

Jump over to the Heat’s website for team writer Couper Moorhead’s breakdown and you can watch the side-by-side video. The only difference between the two forms? James holds the ball slightly longer before starting his release. Other than that, James has it down pat.

Game 1 of the East semifinals was the first time we've seen it, but the osmosis makes sense if you’ve been hanging around the Heat practices this season. After every practice, James and Allen have partnered up for free throw shooting and jump-shooting drills. And if there’s one weakness in James’ game these days, it’s at the charity stripe. Literally. In reports this season, opposing scouts have listed free throws as his only weakness.

After finding out about his fourth MVP in five years over the weekend, James told reporters about his next big project.

“My free throw shooting,” said James, who has shot 74.7 percent at the line over his career. “I want to -- I need to shoot in the 80s. That’s my next goal. And then, just continue to do what I’ve been doing the last couple of years. But my free throw shooting is what I really want to zone in on.”

Sure enough, in his first game back since those comments, James unveiled his latest routine, which no longer features a deep bending of the knees. That’s something that Allen has tried to fix.

“The other day, we just looked at it and [James] was talking about missing,” Allen said at Tuesday’s practice. “I told him, ‘You got to stop dipping so much on your free throw. Keep it more consistent, the ball more in front of you.’”

It’s just one game, but James shot 7-for-9 in Game 1 with his new routine, which is slightly below his goal of 80 percent. We'll see if it sticks. As close observers know, James has been notoriously inconsistent over his career, switching his routine almost on a week-to-week basis.

Over the past couple of seasons, James has dabbled with a step-over move; he lunges forward after his release, which was borderline illegal. He doesn't do that anymore. Earlier this season, he went three dribbles and up. Not anymore; now, he twirls the ball as Allen does before rising.

To some, it's maddening that James hasn't developed into an elite free throw shooter yet. To others, it's a nice reminder that he is human. James has been working on his free throws throughout his career, but he's made it his top priority after sharpening his post-up game and 3-point shot to the point that they're both strengths.

And now he has Allen as his personal coach.

"I’ve been consistently in the top five in the NBA in free throws," Allen said, "so what better person to learn it from?”

James is learning through competition. The two future Hall of Famers engage in a little battle every day after practice, something they call "the swish game." The rules are simple: two points for a made free throw that doesn't touch the rim, one point for a regular made free throw, and minus one point for a missed free throw. First to 21 points wins. And James does beat Allen on occasion, but not enough that LeBron will tweak the master's formula. It's the other way around.

The swish game may help James reach his goal of 80 percent, but Allen has set a higher goal for James: the 50/40/90 club that Kevin Durant joined this season. That's 50 percent from the floor, 40 percent from 3-point land and 90 percent from the free throw line. Durant became NBA history's eighth member of the club, joining sharpshooters Larry Bird, Steve Nash and Steve Kerr, among others.

One player missing from that club? Ray Allen. He wants to see James get there.

"We’ve been talking about 50/40/90 all the time, and the free throws right now is his nemesis," Allen says. "He’s great in every other aspect. This year, we’ve shot over a thousand free throws together. We’ve been trying to find a way to get him comfortable."

James has a long, long way to go before he reaches that 90 percent plateau, but it's certainly on his mind and has been for some time now. But if James can develop into a deadeye free throw shooter through his Allen impersonation, the Allen signing this past offseason will be worth it based on that alone.
 
TV: TNT

  • Bulls forward Luol Deng (back) has yet to join the team in Miami so he will miss tonight’s Game 2. Coach Tom Thibodeau continues to list him as “day-to-day.” Thibodeau refused to speculate if Deng would return this series.
  • Guard Kirk Hirnich (calf) was ruled out before the game. The Bulls evaluated him after the morning shootaround, but reduced swelling wasn’t enough for him to return.
  • Thibodeau shot down a report that claimed there was a chance injured guard Derrick Rose would suit up. Thibodeau said, “Nothing’s changed with him.”
  • After Nate Robinson’s strong finish, the Heat will entertain the idea of defending him with LeBron James in the fourth quarter. Miami has used the strategy in the past against Rajon Rondo, Rose and other top point guards.
  • The Heat’s Erik Spoelstra finished second to Denver Nuggets coach George Karl in the league’s Coach of the Year voting. Spoelstra received 24 first-place votes after earning none the previous season.
–Zachary Paul
 
WARRIORS AT SPURS, 9:30 P.M. ET
TV: TNT


Golden State coach Mark Jackson was iffy about his starting lineup going into Game 1, but he’s certain now. “My lineup is the same way,” Jackson said prior to Game 2. That includes rookie Festus Ezili, who started and got about six minutes primarily guarding Tim Duncan before he came out and finished with just 12 minutes in the double-overtime game. “Six minutes is a good amount of time to start the game and set the tone, and he did a good job,” Jackson said. “I thought he gave us great minutes.”
Tiago Splitter will play tonight for the Spurs after missing Game 4 of the first-round with the Lakers and Game 1 against the Warriors with a right ankle sprain. He won’t have his usual starting spot, with Boris Diaw starting again.
The flu bug appears to have finished its course with Duncan, though Spurs coach Gregg Popovich would not indicate if Duncan has his wind back from the stomach bug. It caused him to miss all but a few seconds of playing time from the 4 1/2-minute mark of the fourth quarter onward in Game 1. “He’s good to go,” Popovich said.
Jackson also indicated he’s ready to use Stephen Curry for extended minutes tonight. Curry played all but four seconds of the 58-minute contest in Game 1 two nights ago. “There’s more than enough time to rest your body,” Jackson said. “He said he felt good, he said he was fresh. I really don’t know how many minutes he’ll play tonight. He’ll play a bunch, that’s for sure.”
 
How many ppl looking to back GS in Game 2 think again after getting told before the game that Curry scores 22 (44) pts, Jack 8 (15) pts, Bogut 6 (10) pts, & Green 5 (10) pts (what they scored in Game 1 is bracketed)? That's 79 combined Game 1 pts dropping to 41 combined Game 2 pts...

38 points less, and instead of losing by 2 pts they win by 9 pts. That is off the charts.

(edit: it seems I looked at the boxscore too early(?!) = adjustments required)
 
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Yeah, there is something about this Warriors team that is hard to read and as I said already, Jackson is my COY without a doubt.
They lost Lee and still won the series against Denver and now tied the series with the Spurs.
Still can't see them in WC Finals, but still, hat off to them...
 
divol said:
Yeah, there is something about this Warriors team that is hard to read and as I said already, Jackson is my COY without a doubt.
They lost Lee and still won the series against Denver and now tied the series with the Spurs.
Still can't see them in WC Finals, but still, hat off to them...
Click to expand...

They should have won both games in the Alamo. Nothing hard to see here, they are in the drivers seat for this series right now...
 
Main question is can the Warriors win at least one more from the Spurs or Spurs will do like the Heat and win the next three games...
 
My concern about that Spurs performance, outside of the obvious, was when the game was being decided (the 1st h) Duncan was the leading light. This has long ceased to be his team. That's not saying he isn't important to them, but nobody outside of TP (who had close to 13 @the h I think) showed up. Where were any of their up & comers? The Spurs will lose this series if TP &/or TD are expected/depended on to lead from the front in every victory they require.

This need is no better evidenced than in the result last night for GS. Generally where Curry goes, they go. But every now and then a team needs something other than from it's top duo, its LeBum & Wade, or Kobe & Gasol, or ... and last night GS got that, from Thompson, on a night that simply wasn't going to ever be Curry's night (expecting him to back up/go near his Game 1 effort was simply nonsense; here he grabbed 11 very early on, then very little by his standards the rest of the way) - whoever you want to align with Curry in making up GS's most important duo, is Thompson anyone's first choice? Now Curry's had his down game and gotten it out of the way, the stage is set for him to potentially light it up to the nth degree again in Game 3. The Spurs got away with so much more than just the W in Game 1. They got Curry's best shot (most likely of the series, which isn't to say he's not going to go close again to that G1 level) and didn't pay for it. They wasted that gift so badly in Game 2 (Curry's inevitable I'm-not-going-to-be-the-one-to-beat-you-tonight spot), it's almost an insulting thought to think they win the series from here. If they'd lost a close one that they'd been in all the way, I'd be less inclined to be so scathing, but let's be fair - they let a nobody not just beat them, but belt the crap out of them...

Thompson this season had had only 2 previous games where he'd totaled 30+ pts (30 vs MIN, and 32@CLE - hardly shabby efforts, but opponent wise? BFD). He'd made 7 3-ptrs in a game once, @PHI , shooting 58.3% (he had 8 last night @88.8%, 7 of them by half-time). He totaled 14 rebs (he hadn't managed DD in any previous game this entire season, and he does so on the night he's scoring as just described).

It would seem that only GS's own inexperience can beat them now/only they can beat themselves, since it's the only reason they don't lead 2-0. My only reservation is we haven't seen basically anything from the Spurs yet (Game 1's regulation comeback was predicated on a choke underpinned by inexperience) except in OT, when they showed a glimpse of their usual mettle. Whether they can (or should that be, whether GS will allow them to) carry that over for a full 48 mins, time will tell. Spurs may win, but if they do and it's predominantly on the backs of TP & TD, then even down 1-2 I'd still like GS's chances. My main question for SAS can only be repeated, who is going to step up when TP & TD don't? They've both been up there in the stats through 2 games. There'll come a game when one doesn't (or, less likely, both don't), who then steps into the gap like Thompson did last night? Last night they needed such a person - TP & TD may have led the way, but the latter's 13 pt@the half is hardly spectacular, and GS's road defense is hardly the Wall of China. The door was there for an SAS nobody to walk through and announce himself, but it never got opened. In consequence, the series door seems to be closing on them real fast.
 
divol said:
Main question is can the Warriors win at least one more from the Spurs or Spurs will do like the Heat and win the next three games...
Click to expand...

Spurs can't play defense like the used to be able to and the warriors aren't scared or intimidated one bit.
 
I look at it the next way - Spurs know how to beat GSW. They did it many times in the last 2 seasons and before as well. To think that suddenly Spurs forgot how to play basketball, would be wrong I think.
On top of that, I would think that Spurs know how to get things done in the playoffs and they also always look to wrap the series the fastest way possible to avoid injury chances and to give their veterans some rest.
So I would think that they don't look at road games and think, we just need to win one road game.
They don't want Game 7, because it will mean that they will have little rest before WC Finals.

Many here spoke of Curry and Thompson, but for me, the two key figures were Jackson and Bogut.
Jackson really does an amazing job, but Bogut is their key player so far. He does a very good job on defense and on the boards and forces Spurs to take more three pointers than they would like (maybe).

Good teams know how to close out series and how to respond to losses and I can't help but feel that the loss in Game 2, was the price they paid for winning Game 1.
They were sure that they can close the gap, no matter how late in the game and how big a gap it was and realized it wasn't the case.

Looking at Denver - GSW series, Denver could have won two (if not all three) games in Oakland, but couldn't take the gifts that Warriors been giving them.
Spurs won't do the same mistakes.
If Warriors will have the same collapse they had in Game 1 of this series and in most of the games in the series against Denver, Spurs can win the next three games.

I think that Game 3 will be huge here and it's a very good chance that the team that wins Game 3, will also win Game 4.
Because both teams will give their best shot in Game 3 and if Warriors win it, Spurs will feel the heat and Warriors will start to believe they can do it.
If Spurs win it, they will be behind the wheel of this series and will be looking to wrap it up in Game 4.
 
The fact that they have beaten the warriors in the past means nothing.

Yes the spurs have phenomenal team chemistry and experience like no other group of players in the league. But the warriors are HOT. And that really could be all they need to make this a long series
 
This GS/SA series is eerily similar to the GS/Den series. GS lost a heart breaker to the Nuggs in game 1, then came back in game 2 and dominated (on the road). Same thing last night. They came home for 2 home games and won both. Actually 3-0 straight up at home this playoffs.

This Warrior team isn't at all intimidated by the Spurs. They're playing with a lot of confidence. Playing loose. Every game somebody picks it up. Klay last night. Guys like Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes have stepped up their game from the regular season. Bogut is healthy now and a presence in the paint. The spurs missed a lot of shots around the rim last night. It was weird.

The Warriors look at it as, were going to score. Can you keep up with us?
 
And i'll be the first to admit I thought the Spurs would own G.S., either winning 4:0 or 4:1. Damn was I wrong. Great learning experience for the dubs. Win or lose, they got a bright future for a change. Mark Jackson has totally turned this franchise around.
 
Opening line in Oakland suggests the books believe the Warriors are now the better team or would like us to think they are. Thought it would open a pick 'em at the very most...
 
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