If anyone other than LeBron and Wade can give the Heat some scoring in any given game, they’re hard tough to beat. Today it was Haslem. Chalmers did it in Game 3, but Wade’s epic stinkbomb left them with no chance.
I think the Heat will win in 7, and if Bosh is able to come back for the conference finals they’ll be back on track.
I heard this morning that Bosh would not be able to start the conference finals if they make it. Maybe half way through the series he could return. Hopefully it won’t matter because the Pacers will remember they have superior post players and take the next couple games.
Darn, I must have missed that. What happened?
All I can say is Friday’s games sure did a lot to shut up those conspiracy theorists who claim that NBA referees favor teams behind in the game and/or series. Thank god we’ve don’t have to hear them anymore.
(Combined FTs on Friday for teams behind in the series: 78; for those ahead: 47. )
Well, the conspiracy theorists out there would point out that when a team is based around a single main scorer, getting the person guarding that scorer into foul trouble will have a big impact far beyond those six free throws. But surely not enough impact to swing a three point game, so again, I’m sure the ‘conspiracy theorists’ will go away now.
I think the proper conspiracy theory is that referees are often swayed by home crowds. The teams playing games 3-4 at home are lower seeded, and as such are likely to be behind in the series during those games. By putting a referee who has been shown to be more susceptible to home crowds in one of those games, you can give a bump to the home team without intentionally playing favorites.
I listened to the game on the radio, so I couldn’t say if it was conspiracy-theory-bad officiating, but it was interesting that David West and Roy Hibbert, Indiana’s 2 big guys who really give them an edge against Miami, were both in foul trouble yesterday.
OKC’s had a great run, but I don’t see them getting past the Spurs, not the way the Spurs have been playing. The Thunder’s scoring will keep them in it, but sooner or later the Spurs are going to do to them what they did to everyone else. Their defense is too good.
Spurs and Thunder should be really interesting. It’s a matchup of two very deep Midwest teams with the Thunder having advantages in youth and defense and the Spurs having experience a very strong offense.
Likewise, anyone (semi-neutral) catch the Celtics last night?
Was the 2:1 free throw edge-- this time in favor of the Celtics – a big wet make-up kiss from the refs for Friday’s series-extending travesty, or were the fouls actually distributed that way?
[I did see Friday’s game, and do not think the FT disparity reflects actual fouls. For the record, at least three times the national announcers mentioned that they disagreed with calls or non-calls favoring the 76ers]
Tim Legler was tough on the refs in the Pacers/Heat game last night. I didn’t see it, but apparently they should have called a flagrant 2 on Haslem and ejected him at some point. Legler thinks Haslem should be suspended for the next game, but doubts that it will happen. It sounds like there were a ccouple flagrants from both teams. Hansborough had one and another guy from Miami had one. Those teams are getting a little chippy. Hopefully it will wake up the Pacers, because they must have been asleep last night.
Larry Bird called his team out for playing soft, so I expect a very physical game 6.
You can see replays here. It looks a little like an old-fashioned Heat vs. Knicks game. I didn’t see the plays live, but my judgment after the fact was that the Hansborough play was called correctly as a flagrant foul, and Haslem should have been tossed. I don’t know if he’ll be suspended. Pittman should get a long suspension, not that losing him really matters in the first place. Even with those guys out, West and Granger both got banged up and the Heat were playing angry, so Miami could close this out in game six.
He should know. Some of those Detroit, Philly, and Houston games had him get hammered. Didn’t stop him from scoring.
Looks like the Heat decided to take care of business the past two games. Lebron and Wade combine for 69 in a 12 point decision that really didn’t look that close.
I think the Celtics have a better shot at beating the Heat than the Sixers. As in, I think the Sixers have about a 5% chance of beating Miami and the Celitics have about a 7% chance.
Hopefully the Thunder/Spurs don’t kill each other in their series to the point where the winner is too gassed in the championship series. That would probably apply more to the Spurs.
THis is some rough rough offensive basketball… wow… like late fifties era shooting percentages…
The celts… look old… and slow… I still think they’ll finish philly off in this second half… but Miami should have no trouble with either team…
Yes, Miami completely worked the Celtics over. BUT! it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t bitch about the refs a little. When the C’s came back and tied it up early in the 3rd quarter I really thought there was a string of horrible calls helped right the ship for LeBron and the Heat.
Ok, I think I’m done mourning. Every year, after the Lakers lose, I lose a bit of interest in the NBA and miss the next few days. This year isn’t as bad as last year when we were expected to win, and I never had much hope for the Lakers to beat the Thunder so it made it easier to take. Although the 2 and 3 point losses kind of ratcheted up the pain a little more than a normal loss…
I really like the Spurs and Thunder. These two teams are playing great and seem almost invincible. I caught the 2nd half of the game over the weekend and I have to say that even after the Thunder lost, they still were very much in the game. Their late game leads usually are a result of them running the hell out of the other team. But the Spurs are so disciplined, so I don’t see the Thunder having much success in running them out of the court. They have to make their outside shots to win, and so far in the first 2 series, they have made those shots when it counted. I don’t know who exactly will win, but I think this is the real championship series
Well, one of them does.
As much as I hate to say it, there’s absolutely no way the Thunder can win the next 4 out of 5. None. In fact, a sweep isn’t out of the question.