Holy blowout—the 2014 NBA playoffs surged ahead Saturday with two unfortunate lopsided matchups in the conference semifinals.
The Brooklyn Nets defended their home court against the two-time champion Miami Heat via a dominant third quarter. The Portland Trail Blazers, meanwhile, failed at doing the same versus the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs.
Neither game was well, a game, over the final 12:00.
But the show must go on. Let’s move to the recaps.
Brooklyn 104, Miami 90
Much like the old adage that says records were made to be broken, NBA playoff predictions were also made to be wrong.
The Nets finally asserted themselves in the Eastern Conference semifinals, winning 104-90 over the Heat in Game 3.
By breathing life into the series in such a dominant fashion at home, they also refuted the prognosticating masses that called for a sweep by the defending champions.
Brooklyn began its Saturday night resurrection by establishing a lethal presence from distance. Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce combined for a trio, helping put the Nets up 15-10 in the early goings.
LeBron James drained one of his own on Miami’s subsequent possession. He and Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade then collected 10 straight points, which regained the lead for the Heat.
Fiery backup center Andray Blatche responded by knocking down a jumper and hitting five of six three throws. An and-one driving layup and 28-footer from James orchestrated yet another lead change with 0:31 left in the first quarter.
Shaun Livingston capped off the back-and-forth affair by drilling a 36-foot heave as the buzzer sounded with Miami ahead 30-29.
The Heat maintained their advantage until the 4:11 mark of the second quarter. But Johnson’s fourth three-pointer quickly swayed things in Brooklyn’s favor. A rare make by Deron Williams and Livingston’s short jumper further ensured the Nets lead at halftime.
And as it turns out, it was one they wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the game.
After two straight jumpers from Wade and James’ hit from the charity strip mid way through the third quarter, Miami never again came within three points of the lead.
Smooth-shooting Mirza Teletovic drilled three from downtown, Williams added one of his own and Brooklyn generated a 14-point cushion entering the fourth.
Suffice it say, five of the Nets’ 15 total three-pointers and two of Kevin Garnett’s 10 points on the night effectively put the kibosh on this hardwood showcase.
Six different Nets scored in double figures. Johnson led the way with 19 PTS, while Blatche contributed a 15-PTS, 10-REB double-double. Pierce added 14 PTS and Williams produced a team-high 11 dimes.
Brooklyn compiled a plus-13 in total assists, out-rebounded the Heat by 16 and recorded a 60 percent clip from distance.
Miami’s Big 3, for their part, combined for an impressive 60 PTS. But James went a quarter and a half between buckets, while Bosh went two full quarters between scoring any points at all. Wade, despite hitting 9-of-18 from the field, logged a plus/minus of negative-10 while on the floor.
The Heat registered a mere 10 fast-break points and logged just 13 assists on 31 made baskets.
Game 4 between these most unfriendly of Eastern foes airs Monday night at 8:00 PM ET.
(Spurs have led for 137 minutes, Blazers for just 1/33 seconds, tied for 6 minutes)
San Antonio 118, Portland 103
What can you say—the wily ole vets are simply taking the young guns to school.
The Spurs dominated the Blazers for the third straight game, winning 118-103 at the Moda Center on Saturday night.
Despite a return to friendly confines, Portland failed to return to its first-round glory.
LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard facilitated an early 13-12 lead with 10 combined points in the first quarter. Unfortunately, that was the last time the home team enjoyed an advantage of any kind for the remaining 42:11.
Forever underrated point guard Tony Parker exploded for 12 of his 29 points in the opening frame. He proved once again that the younger but less experienced Lillard was no match for him on the defensive end.
Following a Dorell Wright layup 33 seconds into the second quarter, seven different Spurs helped maintain their double-digit cushion for the next 11:27.
The scoring barrage began with a Marco Belinelli 24-footer, continued with five points each from Patty Mills, Boris Diaw and Danny Green, and ended with Parker drilling two unconscious threes and scoring six consecutive points.
Lillard’s 12-footer fortunately reduced the deficit to a “modest” 20 points at halftime (60-40).
Surprisingly enough, the Blazers showed sustained signs of life through the first half of the third quarter.
Underappreciated point forward Nicolas Batum knocked down three from distance and scored 11 points during the pivotal stretch. Portland was astonishingly back to within eight points of the lead at the 6:22 mark.
Alas, the fortune was short-lived. Tiago Splitter and Kawhi Leonard’s nine points and Diaw’s savvy-rebound-turned-easy layup with four seconds left increased San Antonio’s lead to 14 points after three.
It never returned to single digits.
The venerable Tim Duncan closed things out with nine of his 19 points in the final quarter. Leonard—who’s otherwise known as the Spurs’ all-encompassing future—piled on another eight.
In addition to Parker and Duncan’s leading totals, Leonard finished with 16 PTS and 10 REB. Mills added 10 off the bench, while Manu Ginobili posted 14 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST and 2 STL, including a flawless 10-of-10 from the line.
San Antonio drained all 25 of its free throws, committed just seven turnovers and outscored the Blazers 44-34 in the paint.
Four of five Portland starters went for 20-plus, but only Batum hit at a high percentage. His 20 PTS, 9 REB, 7 AST and 2 STL on 8-of-13 shooting were indeed the lone bright spots for the home squad.
Both Aldridge (9-of-23) and Lillard (7-of-21) missed an unsightly 14 shots. The former’s perfect mark of 7-of-7 from the line shrunk beneath his 0-of-6 total from downtown.
Even though the Blazers matched the Spurs in overall rebounds and assists, their 22 points surrendered off turnovers amounted to the fatal blow in the box score.
San Antonio will aim for a series sweep when these teams meet again on Monday night (10:30 PM ET).
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