The 2014 NBA playoffs continued its conference semifinals tour with two more unfortunate blowouts.
After a consistently riveting first round, the Miami Heat returned for a quick dismissal of the Brooklyn Nets. The San Antonio Spurs, meanwhile, made the Portland Trail Blazers look unworthy of even qualifying for the postseason in Game 1 of their series.
But the show must go on. And on that note, let’s move to the recaps.
Miami 107, Brooklyn 86
Sometimes a champion just needs a little rest when it comes down to it.
Despite losing all four regular-season contests with Brooklyn, the LeBron James-led Heat thoroughly controlled the Nets in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, winning 107-86 on Tuesday night.
After sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats in the first round, a fully charged Miami squad took its time with Brooklyn in the opening half.
The Nets actually generated an early 12-9 lead behind two three-pointers by Paul Pierce. An Alan Anderson jumper even made it 20-19 later on.
But in a theme that would continue throughout the game, Ray Allen drilled a three for the final points of the first quarter, giving the home team a two-point lead.
Joe Johnson and Co. knocked down a few threes of their own in the second, including Deron Williams’ 26-footer as time expired.
A patient offensive attack by Miami, however, helped maintain its three-point advantage at half. Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers dropped in six points apiece.
And then the two-time defending champs made their push.
Following another three from Williams at four minutes into the third, Chris Bosh pumped in seven straight points. Wade, James and Chalmers followed with an additional eight.
Before the Nets knew what hit them, they were down 13 entering the fourth quarter.
Brooklyn never cut into the lead from that point forward and lost by 21. Two more Allen makes from downtown and a Udonis Haslem layup officially sealed it.
The 17 points each from Johnson and Williams represented the only two Nets starters who scored in double figures. Pierce added eight points, Kevin Garnett finished with zero and Marcus Thornton supplied 11 off the bench.
James powered the Heat with a game-high 22 points, with Allen not far behind at 19. Bosh contributed a 15-PTS, 11-REB double-double, Wade went for 14 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST and 2 STL and Chris Andersen totaled four blocks.
Miami owned the glass (37-32 REB), generated better ball movement (22-11 AST), was efficient from the field (56.8 percent) and outscored Brooklyn 52-28 in the paint.
Game 2 between these hated foes is set for Thursday night at 7:00 PM ET.
San Antonio 116, Portland 92
There’s routes—and then there’s double-digit demolition derbies.
The Spurs executed a 24-point, wire-to-wire showcase on Tuesday night, taking Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals 116-92 over the Blazers.
But unlike the previous matchup, the more rested team didn’t fare well.
Portland closed out its first-round series on Friday, yet came out sluggish and off the mark from the get go.
The Blazers missed their first six shots, lost possession twice and saw San Antonio jump out to an 8-0 lead over the opening 3:28.
And that’s also when they made their acquaintance with one supremely motivated Tony Parker.
The 31-year-old floor general assuaged any doubts over matching up with the younger Damian Lillard and set the tone with six early points.
Parker never let up and finished with a game-high 33 PTS and 9 AST.
Lillard, on the other hand, struggled on both ends, amassing just 17 PTS and 3 AST on 6-of-15 shooting from the field.
As for the game as a whole, the writing was on the wall when a layup by the seldom-used Aron Baynes—amidst a sea of Blazers, mind you—made it 22-9 with 2:28 left in the first.
Shortly thereafter, the home squad’s 13-point lead at quarter’s end ballooned to 26 at half.
Notwithstanding a quick six-point salvo by Mo Williams and Robin Lopez, there was simply no stopping the NBA’s No. 1 seed.
No amount of timeouts by head coach Terry Stotts could save the Blazers. And for all intents and purposes, the remainder of this lopsided contest was all but a formality.
San Antonio cruised the rest of the way and won by two-dozen.
Portland, unfortunately, was outmatched in every way imaginable.
Lillard’s crew lacked any semblance of offensive rhythm, couldn’t make shots and was a team-wide defensive liability.
The Spurs, for their part, executed to perfection on both offense and defense.
They spaced the floor, distributed the ball crisp and efficiently and drilled high-percentage shots from both inside and out.
They also limited the Blazers to nine assists, forced 20 turnovers and held them to just 37.8 percent shooting and below 100 on the scoreboard.
Six different Spurs scored in double figures. In addition to Parker, Marco Belinelli drained a trio of threes en route to 19 PTS, Kawhi Leonard put up 16, Tim Duncan added 12 and Baynes and Patty Mills went for 10 apiece.
Duncan and Tiago Splitter also combined for 20 boards, while Splitter and Leonard racked up seven steals.
Surprisingly enough, Manu Ginobili going 0-of-6 from the floor had zero bearing on the outcome of this postseason contest.
For the Blazers, Aldridge led the way with 32 PTS and 14 REB and Lopez supplied a 10-PTS, 11-REB double-double. No one other than Lillard crossed the 10-point threshold.
This Western Conference battle between the young and old continues Thursday night at 9:30 PM ET—and hopefully with a more compelling result.
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