NBA FanHouse

No Call for LeBron, No Win for Cavs

Brett Pollakoff — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:05:00 EST

Filed under: Bulls, Cavaliers, NBA Last Night, NBA Referees, NBA Videos

The Bulls went into Cleveland on Thursday and pulled out a hard-fought win over the Cavaliers. It was a low-scoring, defensive struggle, as neither team shot the ball very well, so it's not surprising that the game came down to the final play.

LeBron James drove to the basket with three seconds left and his team trailing by one, and was met by two defenders when he got there -- Luol Deng, who was guarding him from the play's outset, and Joakim Noah, who came over to help at the last second. James appeared to jump into Noah, and there was definitely contact. But somewhat incredibly, the refs swallowed their whistles, and the Bulls won the game.

Was it the right call? Read on and judge for yourself.

The action starts at the 2:25 mark:

It's not that I necessarily think that a foul should have been called there, and in fact, I'm of the opinion that the refs should let the players decide the game whenever possible, and only intervene in the closing seconds if the call is an obvious one.

But watching this as it happened, I think anyone who's seen LeBron drive like that and get contact on the final possession was stunned to see the officials not blow the whistle. LeBron, like most of the game's biggest stars, will historically get that call 98 times out of 100, even if it's a questionable one.

Mike Brown's discussion of the no-call seemed to back up the officials, although he believed that Noah might have been still on the move when the contact was made.

"I still don't understand that rule," Brown said. "I thought [LeBron] drove the ball, and Noah came across the paint, and as he came across the paint he jumped. I understand the rule of verticality as if you're in the spot, and you jump straight up and somebody runs into you, then it's a no-call.

"But I've got to find out if you're going across the lane and you meet somebody on the other side ... I don't know."

Fortunately in this case, the refs did know, and appeared to make the correct call. It will be interesting to see if the early-season trend of the officials favoring the rules over the game's stars will continue as the season goes on.

No Call for LeBron, No Win for Cavs originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ron Artest: I Wanted to Choke Ariza

Brett Pollakoff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:24:00 EST

Filed under: Lakers, Rockets, NBA Last Night

There weren't too many fireworks between Ron Artest and his former teammates during the Lakers' overtime victory in Houston on Wednesday, other than a double technical called on him and Trevor Ariza in the first quarter.

But judging by what Artest had to say afterwards, there certainly could have been.

Artest claimed that the Rockets were being extra-physical with him in hopes of getting him ejected. And after taking a shot from Ariza early, Artest admitted that thoughts of getting violent out there definitely crossed his mind.

"I wanted to (choke Ariza) because he hit me with the elbow," Artest said. "But then I thought about David Stern, and I thought I wasn't going to do this. I got hit with three or four elbows. It's just not fair. I don't want to fight."

A kinder, gentler Ron Artest. Thank the heavens.

After picking up the first quarter technical foul, Kobe Bryant could be seen whispering something into Artest's ear, and Ron remained calm for the rest of the game. This was the concern of many heading into the season: would Bryant and Phil Jackson be able to contain the volatility of Ron Artest?

We're just four games into the season, but after Wednesday's potential meltdown in a hostile Houston environment was averted, the answer so far is a resounding "yes."

Ron Artest: I Wanted to Choke Ariza originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:24:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Doing Lines: Kobe and Wade Go for 40

Brett Pollakoff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:01:00 EST

Filed under: Grizzlies, Heat, Hornets, Lakers, Mavericks, Nuggets, Rockets, Suns, NBA Last Night

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

The last time we got together, three different players scored 40 points or more on the same night. Well, maybe it's not as rare of an occurrence as we thought, since we were just a single point away from it happening again on Wednesday.

Chris Paul missed by one with 39, but Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade each delivered, with 41 and 40 respectively.

Dwyane Wade's 40 points, four rebounds, and five assists were just enough to carry his team to a close road victory over the Wizards. Gilbert Arenas had 32 of his own in the loss, but did it on a far less attractive 9-for-27 shooting line, as opposed to Wade's 14-for-26.

Chris Paul was dazzling, and had 39 points (on 14-for-23 shooting), five rebounds, seven assists, and a couple of steals. On the other end of the court, Jason Terry had 18 in the fourth quarter (and 35 in the game), on 12-18 shooting and 4-5 from three-point land, But ultimately, his two missed free throws down the stretch may have done as more to influence the game's final outcome than his scoring did.

Kobe Bryant had an outstanding line of 41 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. He did it by shooting a tidy 50 percent from the field, and you could tell from the opening minutes that even on the second night of a back-to-back, that Bryant wouldn't allow himself to be outshined by his former teammate, Trevor Ariza.

Speaking of Ariza, he and Ron Artest basically canceled each other out. Besides the pair picking up double technicals early, there weren't any fireworks to report, and both finished with an identical 15 points. Not only were their numbers similar, so was their play: each hit a clutch three-pointer with under 30 seconds left in regulation, Ariza's coming after Artest's to send the game into overtime.

Other notable numbers from Wednesday's action:

Carmelo Anthony finally cooled off a bit, managing just 22 points on 8-24 shooting. But when you have rookie Ty Lawson coming off the bench for 23 points in 28 minutes, on 9-10 shooting, the end result was still a blowout win for the Nuggets.

Derek Fisher played 34 minutes, and somehow managed to record 0 points, 0 rebounds, and 0 assists -- and he's the point guard! But he did manage two steals, including the one on the game's final play where he stripped the ball from Trevor Ariza.

Allen Iverson once again came off the bench, but in his second game of the season, was more productive in that role. A.I. scored 18 points (on 8-12 shooting) and handed out seven assists in 28 minutes of action.

Amar'e Stoudemire had 19 points and 11 rebounds in the first half against the Orlando Magic. It was the first flash of the old, explosive Amar'e we were used to seeing before his injury last February. Unfortunately, it didn't last in the second half, as he finished with 25 and 14, and the Suns suffered their first loss of the season.

Doing Lines: Kobe and Wade Go for 40 originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:01:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chris Paul's Play, Mavs' Missed Free Throws Keys to Hornets Win

Brett Pollakoff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:35:00 EST

Filed under: Hornets, Mavericks, NBA Last Night

Chris Paul was dazzling on Wednesday against Dallas, in what really was a must-win for the Hornets if they were going to have any sort of confidence in their ability to play with the top teams as the season goes on. Paul dragged his team to a win with 39 points, on 14-for-23 shooting, including three of four from three-point land.

But as great as Paul was and as below average as Dallas was (Dirk Nowitzki was held to just 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting), if we're going to be honest, his Hornets were fairly fortunate to be able to pull this one out.

Jason Terry had 18 in the fourth quarter (and 35 in the game), which was more than a sufficient replacement for Nowitzki's disappearance, and in fact, should have been enough for the Mavs to come away with the victory. But with 13 seconds left and a two-point lead, Terry was fouled, and missed one of two.

Paul turned it over on the next possession, and appeared to be fouled on the play, but got no call from the officials. With just nine seconds left now, and the Mavs up three headed to the free throw line, David West used some choice words to let the referees know they should have blown the whistle there, and picked up a technical.

If Dallas makes just one of their next three free throw attempts, it's a two possession game, and with so little time left, it surely goes in the books as a W for the Mavericks. But incredibly, they missed all three. Terry missed the technical free throw, and Jose Juan Barea -- a 94% free throw shooter coning in -- missed both of his.

New Orleans freed Peja Stojakovic on the next possession for a three, which he calmly drained to send it into OT. Riding that momentum, the Hornets pulled away in the extra period for an ultimately gritty, and much-needed victory.

The upcoming schedule isn't exactly easy for this team, as it includes road games against the Lakers and Suns, sandwiched by home contests against the Raptors and Blazers. But if they end up going on a little winning streak and surprising some teams that (on paper) appear to have the advantage, you can point to Paul's performance in this one -- along with a very fortunate late-game stretch -- as the starting point.

Chris Paul's Play, Mavs' Missed Free Throws Keys to Hornets Win originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NBA HouseCast: Magic Fall, Celtics Impress, Lakers Survive

Brett Pollakoff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:35:00 EST

Filed under: Celtics, Heat, Lakers, Magic, Mavericks, Pistons, Rockets, Suns, Trail Blazers, NBA Last Night, Thunder

Welcome to the NBA FanHouse podcast, where our writers get together a few times a week to talk about everything going on in the world of hoops. Want to participate? Leave a comment, or follow us on Twitter @NBAFanHouse.

In a Wednesday edition of the HouseCast (and our first of the season), Matt Watson and Matt Moore joined me to discuss this week's Power Rankings. Of course, we couldn't do that without mentioning that once again, the top-ranked team -- Orlando, in this case -- went down the very same day the rankings were published.

We also recap a busy and interesting night of action, one where the Celtics remained dominant, the Suns remained undefeated, and the Lakers remained underwhelming, while barely surviving the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

Download MP3

NBA HouseCast: Magic Fall, Celtics Impress, Lakers Survive originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chris Paul, Rondo Exchange Words

Brett Pollakoff — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:32:00 EST

Filed under: Celtics, Hornets, NBA Last Night, NBA Videos

Chris Paul is the best point guard in the game today, and Rajon Rondo isn't too far behind at the position, probably in most people's top five. But besides being great at what they do, these guys have something else in common: they play the game with a noticeable chip on their shoulder.

So it shouldn't come as any surprise that when the two went head-to-head in Boston on Sunday, things got a little heated during the game, and words were exchanged on the court after the final buzzer had sounded.

As the Celtics' announcers said, it looked like in the aerial view that Rondo was the instigator there, but then again, Paul was in the Celtics' bench area, and it's not exactly customary after a road loss to head over there to shake hands after a game.

Afterwards, Paul got in a sarcastic shot at Rondo, before quickly throwing some praise his way to soften the blow of the wisecrack.

"Rondo is a lucky guy, to play with guys like Pierce, (Ray) Allen and (Kevin) Garnett," Paul, who scored 22 points with eight assists, said with a sly smile.

Asked if that was meant as a slight toward Rondo, the two-time All-Star said, "No, no. He is a great point guard and he's a champion. It's my hope to achieve that."

I can't ever remember instructions from a team's PR guy to the media making it into a game recap, but this quote from a member of the Celtics' media relations staff -- since it was hilarious -- did exactly that.

"Rajon has requested you not ask anything about Chris Paul now, tomorrow, or any other time,'' Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss said.

Most people that aren't fans of either one of these teams are probably laughing at this mini-incident this morning, because Paul and Rondo are the same guy. They're both great players, but they play the game in a way that makes you hate them when your team is on the court playing against them.

On Sunday, each found out what it was like to play against themselves, and they weren't at all happy with what they saw.

Chris Paul, Rondo Exchange Words originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:32:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Doing Lines: Kobe, 'Melo, Mayo Drop 40

Brett Pollakoff — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Grizzlies, Hawks, Lakers, Magic, Nuggets, Raptors, Suns, NBA Last Night

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

It's not every day that we get to see a player hit for 40 points or more in an NBA game. So on Sunday, when we had three different players meet or surpass the mark, it's definitely something worth discussing.

Especially when two of them did it in the same game.

Anytime the Grizzlies take the court, you can just throw defense right on out the window, because no matter what you do, Memphis is going to light it up with their dizzying array of deadly scorers.

Okay, not usually. But the Grizz had no trouble keeping pace with the Nuggets for most of the night, led by a career-high 40 points from O.J. Mayo. Mayo got there by going 17-25 from the field, and also grabbed five rebounds and handed out four assists.

On any other night, Memphis probably leaves with a win. But not when Carmelo Anthony is on the opposing team, and puts up 42 points of his own, on 15-26 shooting, with seven boards and five assists. It was the first time in his career that Anthony has posted consecutive 40-point games, after going for 41 in his team's Thursday night victory at the Rose Garden over the Blazers.

One more 40-point performance to mention, and that was Kobe Bryant going for 41 against a plucky Atlanta Hawks team. Bryant also had eight rebounds, five steals, and three assists -- all to make sure that the defending champion Lakers didn't dip below .500 after the team's first three games.

Other notable numbers from Sunday's action:

Joe Johnson had 18 points in the first quarter for the Hawks, but finished with just 27.

Chris Bosh had 35 points and 16 rebounds in a losing effort to the Orlando Magic. Dwight Howard had 24 and 11, but most importantly, he hit 14 of his 16 free throw attempts.

Channing Frye had 25 points and five rebounds, but that's not the interesting part: he made six three-pointers for the second straight game (this time on 10 attempts), and now has 13 threes on the season. This is a season career-high for him in made threes, after only three games as a Phoenix Sun.

Doing Lines: Kobe, 'Melo, Mayo Drop 40 originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here's What's Jumping Out of (NBA) Box

Matt Steinmetz — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:20:00 EST

Filed under: Bobcats, Bulls, Kings, Raptors, Wizards, NBA Last Night, Thunder

Couldn't help but notice some interesting box score lines from a busy Friday night of NBA games. Among them ...

Gerald Wallace, Charlotte: 4-for-20 from the field, 0 assists in 53 minutes. You almost have to try not to get an assist in that many minutes. And for what it's worth, five of Wallace's misses were actually blocked. To be fair, we'll mention Wallace's 15 rebounds, but even they come with a caveat. New York, the Bobcats' opponent, shot 38 percent from the field and the game went into double OT. In other words, there were plenty of misses.

Gilbert Arenas, Washington: 23 points on 9-for-22 from the field, 7 turnovers and 4 assists. Arenas made it look easy the other night when he had 29 points and nine assists in a win over Dallas. So ... maybe there are going to be some ups and downs for him.

Nick Young, Washington: 0-for-8 from the field in 12-plus minutes. It's not the eight misses we're focusing on, it's that he got up eight shots in little more than a quarter's worth of work.

John Salmons, Chicago: 2-for-14 from the field. To say Salmons is off to a terrible start shooting the ball is an understatement. He's now 5-for-29 from the floor through two games.

James Harden, Oklahoma City: 8 assists in 16-plus minutes. That's not bad for a two guard, especially when you're talking about a rookie.

Jose Calderon, Toronto: 3 assists and 3 turnovers in 34 minutes. Hey, it's just one game, but we're talking about a player here who had a 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio last season and a 5-to-1 turnover-to-assist ratio two seasons ago. Is the fact the ball isn't going to be in Calderon's hands as much -- with Hedo Turkoglu on board -- going to be a factor?

Kevin Martin, Sacramento: 9-for-29 from the field. No excuse for taking that many shots ... unless you're knocking down more than half of them.

Jason Thompson, Sacramento: 4-for-16 from the field in 39 minutes. That kind of shooting really mitigates those six offensive rebounds.

Here's What's Jumping Out of (NBA) Box originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spurs Look Winded in Loss to Bulls

Matt Moore — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:18:00 EST

Filed under: Bulls, Spurs, NBA Last Night

You're going to have to forgive us here in the early season for a bit. If we don't report on trends that are developing, we're ignoring what we're seeing. If we do tell you what we see, we're over-emphasizing games that are so young in this season that they can't even legally get into a screening of New Moon.

Basically, that's my way of imploring you to remember that we do take these things with a gigantic mountain of salt, but here's what happened. And trust me, the Spurs are going to want to brush this one off.

The San Antonio Spurs consider themselves a championship contender. Loaded with talent both young and old, they consider themselves ready to compete with the Lakers for the Western Conference crown. But to do so they'll need to get the highest seed possible to face weaker opponents in early rounds. And in order to get that high seed, they'll need to win back-to-back games on the road. On Thursday they looked like that might be more of a challenge than they're ready for at this early stage, as the Spurs fell to the Chicago Bulls 92-85.

It was a night where the Spurs shot 19 percent from 3-point land, shot only 42 percent overall, and were beaten on the offensive glass, 15-8. But the most glaring thing you came away with in this game was that for a team that was supposed to have reloaded to get rid of that "old, tired" description that's hung around them for years, even when they were winning championships, the Spurs were blown away by the Bulls' speed, energy, and athleticism.

Tim Duncan did what he does, scoring 28 points on 19 shots with 16 boards and 3 blocks, a simply sublime performance. But Manu Ginobili was the only other Spur in double digits with 12, while Tony Parker shot 4-11, Richard Jefferson 3-9, and Roger Mason 0-4. Rookie sensation and instant hype machine DeJuan Blair had only 6 points and 4 rebounds in 12 minutes, good for a rookie, but close to what he'll probably produce night in and night out.

The Spurs were unable to close off penetration lanes, unable to block out Joakim Noah and Luol Deng (10 offensive rebounds combined), and unable to lock down Derrick Rose, who finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists with just one turnover. The Bulls consistently were able to produce quality ball rotations leading to open three pointers. If the Bulls had shot better than their putrid 19% from the arc, the difference could have been greater. As it was, Luol Deng looked capable of filling in some of the gap from Ben Gordon's departure, Derrick Rose looked like he was progressing, Joakim Noah is a top 10 center in the league right now, and Kirk Hinrich provides both shooting and defensive toughness with quality minutes.

Perhaps most startling is that the Spurs, normally so resolved mentally, could have such a flat night so early. Just last night they walloped the Hornets, running them ragged and dominating them defensively. But against a Bulls squad who arguably have a better roster 1-10 than the Hornets, the Spurs looked not only slow and languid, but lost.

I'd expect an unpleasant conversation happened in the locker room after Thursday's game and that the Spurs will answer. But the loss might also be best served as a reminder to the Spurs not to believe the hype, and that like they always preach, they've got to keep pounding that rock with the hammer if they want to collect the one for the thumb.

Spurs Look Winded in Loss to Bulls originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:18:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LeBron James Appears on the Daily Show, Gets Recruited by Jon Stewart

Will Brinson — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:50:00 EST

Filed under: Cavaliers, Knicks, NBA Last Night, NBA Media Watch, NBA Videos

Jon Stewart returned from hiatus for the first Daily Show in three weeks, and he came back with a pretty large bang. Not only did he thrash Joe Wilson and Glenn Beck (par for the course), but he also welcomed on this fella named LeBron James.

James, as you may know, is fairly decent at basketball. Stewart, in case you didn't know, is a huge Knicks fan. What would amount to "recruiting violations" in college ensues. Watch the video after the jump.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

LeBron James

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Healthcare Protests

LeBron James Appears on the Daily Show, Gets Recruited by Jon Stewart originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kobe Bryant Appears on Tonight Show

Will Brinson — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lakers, NBA Fans, NBA Hair Watch, NBA Last Night, NBA Media Watch, NBA Videos, Interviews

There are some oddly interesting parallels between Kobe Bryant and Conan O'Brien; athleticism aside, of course. Both are seen as "rebels" -- to a degree -- and both are now champions (again, to a degree), with both having stepped out of the shadows of their former big men (Shaq/Leno). Or something. Either way, you could see a fantastic difference in Kobe's personality on the "Tonight Show" last night, owing mostly to his legacy being nearly complete. Hand-pounds to the Drs. of Hoop.

Kobe Bryant Appears on Tonight Show originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RoundCast: LeBron Done in Cleveland?

Will Brinson — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:15:00 EST

Filed under: Cavaliers, Magic, NBA Last Night, Playoffs, NBA Rumors

Bloggers knee-jerking on the phone + roundtable style = RoundCast.

Okay, we might be overstating it, but the fact of the matter is that a spectacularly played Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final led Moore, Watson and I to discuss LeBron James' future ... both immediate and long term.

After Cleveland managed to take last night's game into overtime, the Magic then reversed the fortunes of this series with a strong overtime period before putting the Cavaliers in a do-or-die situation. Unfortunately, that's a scenario that involves Mo Williams "not being horrible" and "being a man of his word." We take him to task, naturally.

Oh, subscribe to our iTunes Feed. Support the Revolution.

RoundCast: LeBron Done in Cleveland? originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Wed, 27 May 2009 04:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chauncey Billups Punks Kobe Bryant on an Inbounds Pass

Will Brinson — Fri, 22 May 2009 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: NBA Last Night, NBA Media Watch, NBA Videos

The "ball off the defender's back --> easy layup inbounds pass" is one of the truly great punkings that one can pull off on a basketball court. It rarely happens, though, outside of movies, and when it does, it never happens to good players. Just people like Zach Randolph. And Shawn Bradley. But last night, Chauncey Billups pulled a fast one on Kobe Bryant, literally using No. 24 for an easy bucket. Via the Drs. of Hoop, obviously.

Chauncey Billups Punks Kobe Bryant on an Inbounds Pass originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Fri, 22 May 2009 10:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RoundCast: The Lakers Are So Screwed

Will Brinson — Fri, 22 May 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: Cavaliers, Lakers, Magic, Nuggets, NBA Last Night, NBA Media Watch, Playoffs, NBA Rumors

Bloggers knee-jerking on the phone + roundtable style = RoundCast.

Why are the Lakers in trouble? Well, first of all, they didn't hold serve at home -- that's a tremendous problem, even if we should have known this series was going seven games before it ever started. But they're worse off than that because Matt Moore and I were the only available bloggers for the RoundCast tonight, and you know we took them to town. For a freaking hour no less. But it's Friday, kids, and you ain't got ... well, you might have a job, and you might have stuff to do, but that doesn't mean you can't do it while aurally ingesting some NBA knowledge.

Oh: Subscribe to our iTunes feed. Support the Revolution.

RoundCast: The Lakers Are So Screwed originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Fri, 22 May 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Master of Panic? Van Gundy's Magic Never Freaked Out

Tom Ziller — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:38:00 EST

Filed under: Cavaliers, Magic, NBA Last Night, Playoffs

Amid a midseason war of words, Shaquille O'Neal faulted his old coach Stan Van Gundy for his frenetic, loud sideline direction, infamously calling SVG a "master of panic." Magic players including Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat have alluded to the accusation late this year -- a seemingly worrisome development.

But if Van Gundy's style does create unnecessary anxiety for Orlando, it sure didn't show up in Game 1 Wednesday.

Orlando's offense is predicated on making a ton of threes. This isn't completely dependent on opponents doubling down on Howard -- that helps, but the Magic also rely on penetration, ball movement and the transition game to get off clean looks from deep.

In the first half of Game 1, Cleveland covered the perimeter beautifully. By bringing only a late double on Howard in the post, the Cavaliers forwards and guards were able to stay home and restrict the number of open threes Orlando's wings could take.

But the Magic, trailing by double-digits for 2-1/2 quarters, didn't panic. At no point did the Magic begin jacking up contested threes, despite their deficit and dependency on the deep ball. The Magic took 21 three-point shots for the game. By my count, 18 of those were open. One of the three contested deep shots was Courtney Lee's (ugly) third-quarter buzzer heave. Orlando was completely in control of their offense the entire game.

The Magic won't take contested threes -- the first half proved as much. The studio crew (and color commentator Doug Collins) criticized Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu for being passive in the first half, but that's not quite right. They played Orlando's offense -- they didn't heave up bad shots that define "panic." They waited for the open shot, which was hard to come by in the first half as Cleveland almost conceded Howard's inside dominance in order to shut down the three-point line. You'd think designated scorers like Shard and Hedo would be gunning away down 16 on the road to the best team in the league. But that's just not Orlando's modus operandi. And it's a good thing!

But the Magic do adjust. No coach is said to be as prepared as Van Gundy going into any given game. His whiteboard is, of course, legendary, and his devotion to strategy nearly unmatched. And he figured out how to beat the vaunted Cleveland defense (besides continuing to feed Dwight, which worked well in the first half). Van Gundy had Turkoglu and Lewis work themselves into open shots inside the arc. Like a point guard and center, Turkoglu and Lewis ran the side pick-and-pop to perfection on a few possessions. The two scorers and Rafer Alston ran more draw-and-kick action than usually, using the size or quickness advantages created by Mike Brown's defensive strategy to use LeBron James as a free safety of sorts.

Brown put LeBron on Alston or Anthony Johnson so the MVP could help on Howard from behind. relying on the other wings to cover the three-point line. It worked ... until the penetration mismatches granted to Hedo and Lewis opened up the entire floor. Mickael Pietrus benefited from that. Alston benefited. And in the end, Lewis benefited.

Lewis' turnaround was particularly amazing. One of the league's most frequent and most accurate deep shooters, Lewis took only one three in the first half ... and it came in the opening minutes of the game. He ended up hitting three of four, including the game winner over an Anderson Varejao who inexplicably defended against the drive. Varejao is a smart, energetic defender. But the Cavaliers wanted to prevent the clean three all game long. On the last defensive possession -- coming out of a time-out in which LeBron yells "One stop!" at everyone -- Varejao gives up the open three to prevent penetration. Cleveland's defensive gameplan crumbled in the second half, and that final, fatal shot served as a perfect snapshot. LeBron made the right defensive play, staying in Turkoglu's face. Varejao did not. One mistake is all it takes.

It would never have gotten to that point -- to the point in which Rashard Lewis could take an open three with the game on the line -- if Van Gundy or the Magic had panicked and started jacking up contested threes instead of calmly, progessively opening up the floor with dribble penetrations and set plays. A panicked team would have blazed ahead with improbable, unsustainable hot shooting ... or lost by 30. Neither result would have the locker room warm and fuzzy: it's either a fluke or a blow-out. But a controlled, prepared team -- like Orlando in Game 1 -- came away with a narrow victory that actually means something today. The Magic know they have the chops, mental and otherwise, to beat the Cavaliers. They just need to execute.

Master of Panic? Van Gundy's Magic Never Freaked Out originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Thu, 21 May 2009 09:38:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don't Knock the Magic Triples

Tom Ziller — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:25:00 EST

Filed under: Cavaliers, Celtics, Magic, NBA Last Night, Playoffs

Much of the year, Orlando's reliance on the three-point shot earned scorn from observers, who (en masse) dubbed the style as likely to fail in the playoffs. As recently as Game 5, Dwight Howard himself questioned the strategy to keep taking threes with a lead -- it was seen as a risky move. You live by the three, you die by the three ...

... or so they said. The Magic took more threes than anyone but the run-and-gun Knicks this season, but still finished with the sixth-best shooting percentage from deep. The threes weren't tics of the inside-out offense Stan Van Gundy employed, waiting to be turned off when the circumstances warranted. The threes made up Orlando's offensive identity. Without shooting them, the Magic die.

Sunday's Game 7 win is a great example of how the threes work for Orlando.

The whole premise of the inside-out offense with shooters playing the 1-4 positions relies on Howard drawing attention, which creates space on the perimeter for shooters. The shot is rarely a straight kick-out from Howard to a shooter -- the Magic are great at swinging the ball to exploit slow rotations. Boston does not rotate slowly -- the Celtics defense rarely gives up open catch-and-shoot threes.

Orlando took 10 open catch-and-shoot threes Sunday night. That made up half their three-point attempts. The Magic hit seven of those.

The open catch-and-shoot three is one of the most efficient shots in basketball, and Orlando gets them off constantly. This year, Van Gundy added some layers to the offense, using Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu penetration to help create defensive movement from the opponents. We saw this in spades in Game 7 (though obviously not from Nelson). Paul Pierce couldn't knock Hedo out of his comfort zone; with Kevin Garnett out, the Boston defense had to collapse more than the coaches would like. That left shooters like Rafer Alston (2-4 on catch-and-shoot), Mickael Pietrus (3-3) and J.J. Redick (1-2) wide open. Further, Hedo benefitted from the penetration of Alston and Rashard Lewis to hit all four catch-and-shoot threes he took.

Boston ended up as the best three-point shooting team this year by percentage, though the Celtics took relatively few in comparison to other teams (some 800 fewer than Orlando). But the lack of inside presence and meaningful penetration left Boston with few open three-point opportunities. Of Boston's 14 non-garbage time three-point attempts, only six could be considered open. That's half as many as Orlando got. Orlando hit more open threes than Boston attempted. That's huge! And it reaffirms that a three-based offense -- provided your shooters get open threes off the pass, not Golden State-style off-the-dribble pull-ups -- can work at the highest levels of the NBA, against the best defenses.

For what it's worth looking forward, Cleveland forced opponents to shoot 33.3% from three this season, the league's best mark by a substantial amount. Cleveland didn't limit three-point attempts as well as Boston (or Orlando, for that matter), but the Cavaliers obviously worked to make things uncomfortable for opposing shooters.

And by the way, Orlando shot 39.3% from three against Cleveland in three games this season, which is better than their overall 2008-09 mark. In four games last season, Orlando shot better than 40% from three against the Cavs. This should be a helluva series.

Don't Knock the Magic Triples originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Mon, 18 May 2009 09:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With Loss, Atlanta Faces Questions

Tom Ziller — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:28:00 EST

Filed under: Cavaliers, Hawks, Mavericks, Nuggets, NBA Last Night, Playoffs

Cherry Picking recaps the previous day's NBA playoff action.

Progress looks like this. Atlanta, long a laughingstock of the NBA, made the playoffs last season. This year, the Hawks advanced to the second round. Progress, right?

Well, from my seat it doesn't look like a whole lot of progress. More than offering new hope for tomorrow, the struggle against Miami followed by obliteration at the hands of Cleveland has pointed out Atlanta's specific deficiencies. The shortcomings are intrinsic to this roster, the problems part-and-parcel with the strengths. I fail to see how the Hawks can get much better from here.

To recap, the Cavaliers had an answer for every Atlanta attempt at competition. LeBron lives in his own galaxy, but you should be able to deal with Mo Williams, Anderson Varejao, Delonte West. Maybe any team would have looked silly against Cleveland. Maybe the Cavs will embarrass Orlando or Boston. So thoroughly a beatdown as Cleveland delivered to Atlanta, though, seems out of the question. The Hawks couldn't compete in any game of the series. How do they expect to actually beat Cleveland someday?

Mike Bibby is a free agent; he has professed his desire to remain in Atlanta, but we'll see if his contract demands fit in the ownership group's traditionally tight budget. Joe Johnson will have one year before freedom. The Hawks can extend him (yeah, right) or wait for the inevitable courtship next summer. Marvin Williams joins exiled Josh Childress in restricted free agency. "Milk" is a popular player all of a sudden, a No. 2 pick coming into his own, injuries be damned. He could get offered some decent cash.

So, you see, the Hawks need to work just to maintain the status quo. And the status quo got swept with every game ending in a double-digit margin! Adding Childress could help a bit, but Maurice Evans actually played well this season. The real needs are point guard and center, where the incumbents are decent (Bibby) or great in limited form (Al Horford) and the back-ups are inconsistent at best. But do we really believe Rick Sund will go out and get real help?

It's depressing, but it looks like simply making the playoffs and advancing a round will need to be good enough for Atlanta unless wholesale changes are made. Johnson, unfortunately, is not in the James/Wade class and will never be. (He happens to be a few years older than each.) Josh Smith has a value contract, Horford's a stud, and Williams is really coming along. But after all those strides this is the best the Hawks can do against the best? The distance left to climb is too far.

Doing Lines

Dirk Nowitzki and Carmelo Anthony were simply divine in the showdown in Big D. Nowitzki wrapped up with 44 points (his third career 40-point postseason game) and 13 rebounds. Anthony almost matched Dirk, totalling 41 points, 11 rebounds and five steals. It was the sixth time this decade opposing players each scored 40 or more points. (LeBron or Allen Iverson were involved in all five other instances.)

Let's also not ignore LeBron just because he didn't go over 40: King James had 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in an extremely slow-paced game. He's a bit off his point-per-minute pace for the playoffs now (32.9 points in 39.3 minutes). Small defeats, I supposed.

Watching Film

Denver held its collective breath on this one. With the Nuggets up 13 in the second, Antoine Wright wraps up 'Melo. (And not 54 hours too late! Err ... wait.) Wright holds on, 'Melo is tired of Huggy Time and swipes at Wright. But the best part is Jason Terry rushing in to tattle on 'Melo, with accusatory finger pointed and (clearly) the well-worn "OOOOOOOH!" emanating from his mouth. Nice try, JET.

On the Blockquote

Mike Woodson, quoted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

"They're playing at a championship level, I've seen that [as an assistant] with the Pistons in how we defended and shared the ball and they're playing that way."

Rick Carlisle, quoted by the Dallas Morning News:

"We were just nastily determined to somehow win."

Cleveland Plain Dealer:

One woman was spotted wearing a replica (hopefully) of one of [Zydrunas] Ilgauskas' All-Star jerseys -- as a dress. The white jersey fell to her knees.

With Loss, Atlanta Faces Questions originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Tue, 12 May 2009 09:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why Ron Artest Can Handle Tough, Playoff Basketball

Tom Ziller — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:08:00 EST

Filed under: Lakers, Rockets, NBA Last Night, Playoffs

Ron Artest took a Kobe Bryant elbow to the throat moments after teammate Luis Scola took a fierce shiver from Derek Fisher. Artest reacted rather dramatically, making sure everyone knew what Kobe had done. For his troubles, Ron-Ron got booted. Honestly, it's just as well: at that point, the Lakers were not on a path toward losing.

But Artest spent some time after the game explaining to reporters that he just wants Kobe to play fair, and for the referees to hold Kobe and the Lakers accountable for dirty play. It's not that Ron-Ron can't handle dirty play. Oh, he can handle it. He knows a guy who got killed in a pick-up game.

The unbelievable story is passed on by Houston Chronicle beat writer Jonathan Feigen.

"Uh, wow. I understand it's the playoffs. I remember when I used to play back home in the neighborhood there were always games like that. I remember one time, one of my friends, he was playing basketball and they were winning the game. It was so competitive, they broke off a piece of leg from a table and they threw it and it went right through his heart and he died right on the court.

"So I'm accustomed playing basketball really rough. When I came into the league, I was used to fighting on the court. That's how I grew up playing basketball. It took me a lot of years to back off and understand, that's not what the league is about. Now, I play fair and square and I lose fair and square.

WHAT! One of Ron's childhood friends got killed in a pick-up game by getting speared with a broken table leg? I demand to know more about this. I mean, there are some things you just don't do on the basketball court. Killing someone by throwing a broken table leg through their heart is one of the things. Consider it an unwritten rule.

If Kobe hears this story and doesn't get a little bit nervous, he's not human.

UPDATE: From the Associated Press in April 1991, via Sam Amick's Twitter ...

A 19-year-old basketball player from Queens was fatally stabbed with a broken-off table leg today after a fight broke out during a basketball tournament, the police said.

The player, Lloyd Newton, was stabbed in the back with a leg from the scorer's table at the championship game of a Y.M.C.A.-sponsored tournament at the Niagara Falls Boys and Girls Club, the police in Niagara Falls said. "An argument ensued about the score," Capt. Louis Curcione said, adding that one of the teams "thought they were getting gypped. A fight broke out between the players and about 40 fans in the stands," he said. "In the course of the fight, one person was stabbed in the back."

Also, here's video of Ron telling his story, via BDL.

Why Ron Artest Can Handle Tough, Playoff Basketball originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Thu, 07 May 2009 11:08:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dallas Self-Immolates Without Pressure

Tom Ziller — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:45:00 EST

Filed under: Knicks, Mavericks, Nuggets, NBA Last Night, Playoffs

In Game 1, Dallas committed a devastating 20 turnovers in its loss to Denver. Things were better in Game 2: the Mavericks coughed up the ball only 11 times, a decently low number considering the pace (93 possessions) of the game.

But of those turnovers, half came completely unforced. The Nuggets are a good defensive team, and all teams make mistakes. Every game. You expect the Nuggets to strip a few balls, force a 24-second violation or two. But on six plays in Game 2, Dallas lost possession because they lost focus, didn't communicate or got rattled. Those giveaways kill you, especially against elite great teams.

Here's a look at those critical flubs, with a nod to the style of Kevin Arnovitz of ClipperBlog/TrueHoop. All times approximate due to poor TiVo skills. All names approximate due to poor note-taking skills.

Q1, 2:46 remaining: Jason Terry takes the ball to the right corner, inside of the arc. He's stopped by the defense and quickly passes the ball back out to the top of the key. He fails to realize that J.R. Smith is standing between himself and his teammate, directly in the the path of the ball.

Q1, 0:07 remaining: J.J. Barea drives to the rim with the clock winding down. His path is blocked, so he wildly kicks out. To Chauncey Billups. As with the Smith steal, Billups just had to catch the ball. NBA players tend to be pretty good at that. Well, except for Kwame Brown.

Q2, 3:56 remaining: Jason Kidd drives and wildly kicks out to Dirk Nowitzki at the elbow. Except Dirk Nowitzki is not at the elbow. He's somewhere else. The ball bounces into the backcourt, where Terry and Billups give chase. If Terry touches it, a backcourt violation will be called and Denver will have the ball out-of-bounds. If Terry does not touch the ball, Billups will pick it up, rifle a bounce pass to Smith in the paint, and the Nuggets will get an easy deuce. Terry did not touch the ball.

Q4, 10:46 remaining: James Singleton travels in the lane. He jumped, allegedly to shoot or pass. He did neither, and attempted to pass it off as a tippy-toe step. It is unclear why James Singleton is handling the ball, other than the fact that both Terry and Nowitzki were on the bench, despite their status as Dallas' best offensive weapons (it's not close) and despite a deficit on the scoreboard for the Mavericks. Also, it is unclear why James Singleton needs to execute a jump-pass (he really didn't look like he was planning on taking a shot), considering that the much smaller Billups was the defender in front of him.

Q4, 9:03 remaining: As with the Kidd turnover in the second quarter, Terry threw the ball to where he believed Nowitzki would be, but Nowitzki was not in that location. This resulted in what the play-by-play denotes as "Carmelo Anthony makes dunk."

Q4, 6:57 remaining: Kidd loses the dribble under mysterious circumstances. Men of Puerto Rican descent collide as a result of a Denver fast break. Anthony lets Barea know everything's cool. Kenyon Martin would not have been so forgiving.

***

Again, the Dallas offense hummed for the most part. But the Mavericks could have been more efficient. Honestly, from my seats (couch, comfortable) it looked like one of the least sharp offensive efforts Dallas has offered in the past couple weeks. Dirk's shooting and great opportunism from Ryan Hollins and Brandon Bass pushed the numbers into the green zone, but that masks the very real offensive problems displayed. I mean, Dirk and Terry have been playing together for years. Kidd has been with the team for 15 months. They have all spent some 90 games in Rick Carlisle's system. Offensive miscommunication shouldn't be happening so many times in one game.

Dallas has got to protect the ball better. Losing some balls to Denver's jabby, stabby hands is to be expected. But the unforced miscues can't be repeated if the Mavericks stand a chance to win.

Dallas Self-Immolates Without Pressure originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Wed, 06 May 2009 14:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who the Heck is Aaron Brooks?

Gary Washburn — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:50:00 EST

Filed under: Lakers, Rockets, NBA Last Night, Playoffs

Perhaps NBA fans wouldn't have had the opportunity to watch Houston's lightning quick guard Aaron Brooks had it not been for the night of March 9, 2006 at Staples Center, the same place Brooks burned the Los Angeles Lakers for 19 points in 36 minutes during Monday's 100-92 Rockets Game 1 win.

It was on that night that Brooks, then an inconsistent junior guard at the University of Oregon, staggered Washington's Ryan Appleby with a forearm shiver during the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament. Once a gifted prep star for Seattle's Franklin High School, the same school that produced Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry of Dallas, Brooks was considered an enigmatic player with a bad attitude, and it culminated with that cheap shot that caused Appleby to draw blood.

Brooks was suspended for the rest of the tournament, but he turned that mistake into success with a masterful senior season in leading the Ducks to the Elite Eight. Considered a late second-round pick at best when he arrived at the 2007 NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Orlando, Fla., Brooks brilliantly played his way into the first round with his quickness and shooting ability. The Rockets chose him 26th overall. There was a question as to whether Brooks could play point guard in the NBA because he was primarily a scorer at Oregon, but it took just 1 1/2 seasons for Houston coach Rick Adelman to anoint him the Rockets starting point guard by dealing Rafer Alston to the Orlando Magic just before the trade deadline.

As a starter for 34 games, Brooks averaged 13.2 points, 3.8 assists and shot 38 percent from the 3-point line. In seven postseason games, the 6-foot Brooks is averaging 15.9 points, four assists and nearly 46 percent from the field. Brooks struggled to reach his vast potential until that moment at Staples Center, after which he seemed to become a different person and player. It is not something he likes to discuss, but there is no coincidence that his rejuvenation occurred following that embarrassing incident. This new Brooks is fun to watch, a handful to cover for the Lakers and perhaps a future star in the NBA.

Who the Heck is Aaron Brooks? originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Tue, 05 May 2009 15:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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