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2024 NBA Playoffs

Can Cavs Defend Home Court vs C’s?

May 11, 2024 by Digital Sports Desk

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have wrestled home-court advantage away from the top-seeded Boston Celtics. The next task is not giving it right back.

After splitting two games in Boston, the fourth-seeded Cavaliers look to make a big statement when they host the Celtics on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference second-round series.

After being crushed 120-95 in Game 1, Cleveland thrashed the Celtics on Boston’s home floor in Game 2 and notched a 118-94 victory.

Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell understood that it was a huge breakthrough but immediately turned the attention to Game 3 — suddenly the most important game of the playoffs for both teams.

“It’s always good to get a win on the road, but at the end of the day, it’s one game,” Mitchell said after scoring 29 points. “So it was good to get the win. We did a lot of really positive things. But, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.

“You got to go take care of home court. It’s nice to get this win, but at the end of the day, we got one day to prepare and get ready to protect home court.”

Boston is looking to bounce back quickly after it appeared it was going to roll through the series following the dominating Game 1 performance.

Trailing by as many as 29 in the second half of Game 2, after being tied at halftime, was a stunning development to the Celtics.

“Just get ready for Saturday,” said Boston star Jayson Tatum, who had 25 points in Game 2. “Nobody was in there defeated, deflated. I mean, you never want to lose, especially in the playoffs.

“There’s a lot of things we can learn from, and we get it — the world thinks we’re never supposed to lose. We’re supposed to win every game by 25. And it’s just not going to be like that all the time.”

Mitchell was one of three 20-point scorers for Cleveland on a night in which his club shot 54.7 percent from the field. Evan Mobley had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Caris LeVert scored 21 points off the bench.

Mobley was a big factor on the defensive end as Boston shot just 41.3 percent from the field. Tatum and Jaylen Brown (19 points) were both 7 of 17 from the field and Derrick White (10 points) was 3 of 11. White scored 25 points in Game 1.

“That’s where he’s at his best, continuing to protect the paint,” Mitchell said of Mobley. “Especially having him guard on the ball, and being able to deter them on their shots and layups. …

“It’s not easy attacking Evan like that, so just having him able to be that dominant, but also give us offensive production, was big time.”

Mobley’s play in the interior was huge with center Jarrett Allen (ribs) again sidelined. Allen has missed five straight games and is listed as questionable for Saturday.

Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis (calf) will miss his fourth straight game.

Filed Under: Boston Sports, Celtics, NBA Tagged With: 2024 NBA Playoffs, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA

Cavaliers Look to Even Series

May 9, 2024 by Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The visiting Cleveland Cavaliers look to even their second-round Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Boston Celtics when the teams play Game 2 of the best-of-seven series tonight. The top-seeded Celtics pulled away in the second half of Game 1 to earn a 120-95 victory on Tuesday.

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“Obviously there’s a lot of areas that we can improve on,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Facing a team like Boston, I think it’s good to be able to play them and see them, and then play them again because you’re not used to the speed, the spacing, the shooting — all those things — until you get up against them. Especially coming from the series that we just came from (against Orlando) that was more of a half-court slugfest. … We’ll learn from it and we’ll be better on Thursday.”

Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell said the improvement has to start on offense. The fourth-seeded Cavaliers have failed to score 100 points in six of their eight playoff games.

“We got (42) 3s up and we hit 11,” said Mitchell, who scored a game-high 33 points in Game 1. “I think the biggest thing now is just being able to hit and knock them down.”

Boston received 32 points from Jaylen Brown and 25 from Derrick White, who sank seven 3 pointers.

“I think the most important thing is to win,” White said. “I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter if I score zero or score however many I scored (Tuesday). When we win, I’m doing enough.”

Cleveland was held to 15 points in the second quarter and trailed 59-49 at halftime. Boston led by 15 points after three quarters and opened the fourth on a 10-2 run.

“I thought we created some open shots,” Bickerstaff said. “I think we got some of the looks we were looking for; they just didn’t go. I think we missed four or five layups in that second quarter. Typically, we make those. We got some open 3s from guys who we wanted to take them. We’ll make more of those as the series goes along.”

Brown said it would be a mistake to read too much into the Game 1 result, especially since Cleveland had little time to recover after it advanced with a Game 7 victory over Orlando on Sunday.

“Anything can happen,” Brown said. “It’s the NBA playoffs. We’re just taking it one game at a time and that’s all we can control. And we try to come out, be the harder playing team. We stick to our agenda and we let the chips fall where they may. It’s gonna be tough for a team to have to beat us four times. But as long as we come out, we execute both ends, we’re the harder playing team, I think we’ll be fine.”

After Thursday, the series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 (Saturday) and Game 4 (Monday). The Celtics won two of their three games against the Cavaliers during the regular season, but Cleveland won the only game it played at home.

“They came out here and did what they were supposed to do,” Mitchell said. “Now we have to find a way to steal Game 2.”

–Field Level Media

Filed Under: Boston Sports, Celtics, NBA Tagged With: 2024 NBA Playoffs, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA

NBA Playoff Round-Up

April 27, 2024 by Digital Sports Desk

INDIANAPOLIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Pacers’ guard Tyrese Haliburton converted a three-point play with 1.6 seconds left in overtime, lifting the Indiana Pacers to a 121-118 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Haliburton gained separation after using a nifty crossover on Patrick Beverley before sinking a shot from the foul line. He added a free throw to complete his 18-point, 16-assist, 10-rebound performance and overcome a scintillating 42-point effort by Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton.

Myles Turner collected 29 points and nine rebounds and Pascal Siakam added 17 points and nine rebounds to help the sixth-seeded Pacers seize a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Sunday in Indianapolis.

Damian Lillard, slowed by an ailing Achilles tendon, overcame an apparent left leg injury late in the first quarter to finish with 28 points, eight assists and three steals. Bobby Portis collected 17 points and 18 rebounds for the third-seeded Bucks, who played their sixth straight game without two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (left calf strain).

Mavericks 101, Clippers 90

Dallas all-star Luka Doncic had 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to help Dallas beat visiting Los Angeles in Game 3 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Kyrie Irving scored 19 of his 21 points in the final 14 minutes for the Mavericks, who lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 is set for Sunday in Dallas.

Norman Powell and James Harden each had 21 points for the Clippers, who committed 19 turnovers. Ivica Zubac added 19 points and eight rebounds.

Timberwolves 126, Suns 109

Anthony Edwards recorded 36 points and nine rebounds as Minnesota beat host Phoenix to take a 3-0 playoff series lead for the first time in franchise history.

The Timberwolves will aim for a sweep in Game 4 of the best-of-seven, first-round Western Conference series on Sunday night at Phoenix. Rudy Gobert added 19 points and 14 rebounds and Karl-Anthony Towns added 18 points and 13 boards for third-seeded Minnesota.

Bradley Beal scored 28 points, Kevin Durant added 25 and Devin Booker registered 23 points and eight assists for the sixth-seeded Suns.

–Field Level Media

Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: 2024 NBA Playoffs, NBA Playoffs

HEAT Play Way Into NBA Playoffs

April 20, 2024 by Digital Sports Desk

MIAMI – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Miami’s Tyler Herro tallied a near triple-double of 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists and the host Heat punched their ticket to the 2024 NBA Playoffs with a convincing 112-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night. Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 21 points, six rebounds and six assists in the one-sided win in the final Eastern Conference play-in game.

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The Heat will face the top-seeded Boston Celtics on Sunday in the first round of the playoffs. Miami and Boston met in the two last East finals, with Boston prevailing in 2022 and the Heat winning last season.

Miami dominated Friday’s contest even with star Jimmy Butler sidelined with a ligament injury to his right knee. Butler was injured in Wednesday’s play-in loss against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Reserve bigman Kevin Love contributed 16 points and seven rebounds, and Bam Adebayo scored 13 points for the Heat.

DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points and Nikola Vucevic had 16 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for the Bulls. Coby White had just 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting after scoring 42 points against the Atlanta Hawks two nights earlier.

Javonte Green added 12 points off the bench, and Ayo Dosunmu had 10 on 3-of-15 shooting for Chicago.

Miami also defeated the Bulls last season in the battle for the final spot in the East. The Heat eventually lost to the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals.

Miami shot 46.3 percent from the field, including 14 of 33 from 3-point range.

The Bulls made 38 percent of their attempts and were 13 of 43 from behind the arc.

Chicago trailed 70-60 after a basket by Green with 3:15 left in the third quarter, and then Miami delivered the knockout punch.

[Read more…] about HEAT Play Way Into NBA Playoffs

Filed Under: Celtics, NBA Tagged With: 2024 NBA Playoffs, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, NBA

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TL's Sunday Notes | March 30

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While We're Young (Ideas) and March Go Out Like a Lyons
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Gotta Give Pitino the credit.  Constant and Full-Court Press made the difference and his players were in condition to wear down UConn. https://digitalsportsdesk.com/st-johns-defeats-mighty-uconn/
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Groundhog Day!

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TL's Sunday Sports Notes | Jan 12 - Digital Sports Desk

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In each round-up, there are far too many questions and not nearly enough definitive answers to the woes facing the New England clubs, the Celtics included. It might be time for some major shake-ups at...
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The first Sunday Sports Notes of 2025 | Including Some Predictions

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TL's Sunday Sports Notes | Jan 5 - Digital Sports Desk

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KEY DATES IN 2025: Everyone needs to circle these dates on their sports calendar: KEY DATES IN 2025: Everyone needs to circle these dates on their sports calendar:
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