Have you learned to enjoy a good ol’ fashioned blowout yet? If not, these playoffs may be leaving you asleep with the remote control in your hand. For those of you who didn’t make it to the latter stages of Miami’s trouncing of the Indiana Pacers, here are three videos you’ll want to watch, along with my super-brief thoughts on each one of them.
I’m not advocating nasty retaliations of this nature (and this play really was dirty, no Steve Kerr overreaction), but this is the situation in which Lance put himself by being a toolbag. Hopefully he comes away injury-free, but also having learned his lesson. As for Dexter Pittman, he ought not to be suspended. As Charles Barkley so humorously put it, “that would be punishment to Indiana. He’s one of their best players.”
***Look ma, no shoes!
If you’re Leandro Barbosa you’ve got to find a way to score on a kickless Mike Miller. Miller has never been known for his defense (even with both sneakers on), and Barbosa had three chances to attack. First, he was unable to evade Miller in transition. Next, he opted out of an iso and passed the ball to George Hill. Lastly, he settled for a three-point shot despite having six seconds with which to work. Rather embarrassing sequence for Barbosa.
***LeBron James is really good. Like, good enough to redirect an awful pass by Mario Chalmers directly into the hands of a streaking Dwyane Wade whilst falling out of bounds.
Other stuff LeBron James is good enough to do? How ’bout come within three assists of consecutive 30-point triple-doubles in back-to-back playoff games with enough pressure resting squarely on his shoulders to create a sufficient supply of diamonds for an entire rap label?
Welcome to NBA247365.COM’s second-ever live blog! Check back often throughout Lakers/Thunder game five for my insightful thoughts and astute observations!
-Pregame: As if you needed another reason to love Charles Barkley, he just called Kobe’s recent criticism of Pau Gasol “B.S.,” stating that Kobe “threw it away” in game two and played “turr’ble” in game four. Truth.
-Pregame: More Charles: “When you do it the way you want to and you still lose, that’s not good.” That’s pretty much what I said after game two.
-Pregame: “Derek Fisher plans to eliminate LA,” says Craig Sager. He also plans to miss three layups and play bad defense.
-11:00 1st: Ramon Sessions has badly missed a three and a pair of free throws on LA’s first two possessions. He better get his sh!t together if he doesn’t want to be Kobe’s next scapegoat.
-8:10 1st: Kobe is playing very aggressively. He’s already taken three shots, made two, and picked up an energetic (yet regrettable) foul in the backcourt.
-6:46 1st: Russell Westbrook has picked up a technical foul and a delay of game. Reggie Miller says he needs to “channel his emotions.” Westbrook’s emotions only come with one channel, and it’s loud and obnoxious. It’s called MTV.
-4:44 1st: Andrew Bynum takes a seat with two fouls, and Serge Ibaka immediately gathers OKC’s seventh offensive rebound… and slams it home.
-4:16 1st: James Harden checks into the game, gets called for fouling Kobe on a jumper. He returned the favor, though, drawing Kobe’s second foul on a drive to the basket. The foul I called “regrettable” has just become “stupid.”
-1:45 1st: Kobe is now scoring buckets from outside the paint… with his left hand. He came to play today—15 first-quarter points—but he’s gonna need some help, ’cause the Thunder have established their tempo. Jordan Hill now has two fouls, which matters ’cause Bynum does too.
-0:00 1st: Did you know that the “25 Lighters” song performed by ZZ Top in that Jeremiah Weed commercial is actually an old-school Texas anthem from the legendary Screwed Up Click? You do now.
-0:00 1st: Instead of showing commercials for Adam Sandler’s new [read: terrible] movies, they should just show assorted 30-second clips from Billy Madison. T-t-t-today junior!
-11:35 2nd: Ramon Sessions blows a layup-line finish. Seriously, he had a clear path from five feet and still missed it. I’d say his struggles are taking a mental toll at this point.
-9:10 2nd: It’s been a few years now, but I still see Devin Ebanks and think I’m looking at Trevor Ariza.
-6:51 2nd: The Thunder are doing an excellent job of converting turnovers and bad shots into transition scores. The Lakers need to be careful not to allow this thing to get too up-and-down.
-5:24 2nd: Andrew Bynum picks up his third foul. It wasn’t a good call.
-3:34 2nd: Kobe just drove baseline and threw down a two-handed reverse dunk in traffic. It wasn’t quite the one on Latrell Sprewell, or the one against the T-Wolves, but it was f@cking nasty. Oh, and now he’s dunking again.
-1:17 2nd: Ron Artest’s offensive game has looked fairly fluid and effective over the past five minutes or so. I’d say OKC needs to ramp up their defensive effort, because Artest isn’t supposed to be looking competent.
-0:32 2nd: Ron Artest is called for a flagrant foul after nearly blocking Thabo Sefolosha’s layup attempt on a run out. There was a little body contact, but it was only a borderline foul, let alone a flagrant. As Artest told the referee, the call was bullsh!t. The Thunder are now shooting a series of technical free throws.
-Halftime: Lakers trail just 54-51 despite foul trouble and tempo issues. They’re actually in okay shape… they just need someone not named Kobe to step up and contribute some offense in the second half.
-11:09 3rd: Andrew Bynum picks up his 4th foul as he reaches in on a driving Kevin Durant. Poor decision by Bynum, but Mike Brown will leave him in the game.
-8:00 3rd: Thabo Sefolosha commits the cardinal sin of basketball as he saves the ball under his own hoop. The poor decision results in yet another Kobe Bryant dunk—his third, I believe.
-5:49 3rd: Kobe dunks again… off of a steal this time. He’s got 30 points now, and there’s a lot of time left in this close elimination game. He’s gonna take enough shots to drop 50, and the Thunder should be a bit concerned. All of his shots have been going in. Lakers up two.
-4:09 3rd: HUGE sequence of events for the Thunder: First, Nick Collison earns OKC their 12th offensive board by slamming a putback dunk, and then Russell Westbrook turns a Laker turnover into an and-one opportunity by throwing in a crazy, running shot.
-1:05 3rd: Kobe Bryant knocks down his first three in four games.
-11:03 4th: As the Lakers fail to score with Kobe on the bench, the Thunder extend their lead to 11 with a pair of tough jumpers from James Harden and Kevin Durant. Don’t expect Kobe to sit for much longer.
-9:25 4th: With a KD three and a Westbrook layup this thing has quickly gotten out of control from a Laker perspective. Now trailing by 16 points, LA hasn’t scored since the third.
-6:40 4th: Kobe drives to the rack and dunks another one. How many dunks is that, six? It’s got to be five or six.
-2:41 4th: Russell Westbrook hits a pull-up jumper to put OKC up 103-86. Russ has 28 points, and this game is over, folks. The Thunder somehow managed to play their own game while also beating the Lakers at theirs (14 O Rebs, 30 points on the break).
-1:05 4th: Royal Ivey sighting.
-FINAL: OKC 106, LAL 90: Pretty sure I just saw Ron Artest shake James Harden’s hand. Kobe Bryant finished with 42 points. Kevin Durant tells Craig Sager he doesn’t feel like the Spurs ever make mistakes. That’s cause they never do, Kevin. Good luck.
Blake Griffin may have been swept out of the semifinals, but hey, at least he got there! As a second (or third, depending on how you choose to look at it)-year Clipper, that’s actually one hell of an accomplishment. On a lighter note, back-to-back POTDs over the same defender… that’s quite an accomplishment too. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure it’s ever been done before. Way to go out with a bang, Blake!
Sometimes I feel that Griffin is treated more critically than other young players. Maybe it’s because this was supposed to be his third season, or because he was so impressive as a rookie and showed little development ’11/12. I think he’s going to continue to improve, though. He’s got a strong work ethic and a lot of natural ability (dur). I must admit that even I’m not as high on him as I was when he was a rookie, but I still have great expectations for the rest of his career. If nothing else, I’m sure he’ll end up owning the all-time record for POTDs.
Not long ago, I recall listening to a little sports talk radio (not something I typically do, so don’t judge me) as I embarked on a six-hour drive from Massachusettes to Maine. It was the week before the Super Bowl and fans had been asked to call in to make their predictions. One caller mentioned a certain defensive lineman, and specified that in order for his team to win said defensive lineman would be required to have a dominant game. The host agreed with the caller, and I thought oh yeah, this is why I never turn this sh!t on.
How could anyone feel so confident in such a specific assertion? Based on the couple of decades I’ve spent watching sports, if I’ve learned anything it’s that they’re unpredictable. I’ve always felt that it’s a bit, well, stupid to act as if I know exactly what needs to happen right down to an individual detail in order for one team to win.
Take the talk radio caller’s prediction, for example. What if that defensive lineman gets carted off with two broken legs on the opening drive, but the offense explodes for 40 points? How can he be so sure that something like this isn’t about to happen? Unless he’s a psychic by day, he can’t… yet he, like so many others, continues with his “analysis.” On the off chance that he’s right, he gets to say “I told you so!” If he’s wrong (and he probably will be), no one remembers anyway.
Yesterday, ESPN’s Magic Johnson submitted his prediction for Miami’s critical game four. According to my dad, who, for some reason, is always citing predictions made by the “experts” (stop doing that, dad), Magic decided LeBron’s magic number was 40.
Three hours later, LeBron toes the free-throw line. He’s got 38 points, and Miami leads by six with 11 seconds to go.
As I spent the first three paragraphs explaining, I’m not an advocate of most predictions, particularly ones of the highly-specific variety. However, I must admit that I agreed with Magic’s assessment of yesterday’s situation right from the get-go. I wouldn’t have put a number on it—Magic just so happened to get lucky and hit it right on the nose—but I would’ve been willing to say the Heat needed a dominant offensive performance from LeBron James in order to win game four and avoid a perilous situation.
Having seen the game, I think it’s fair to say Miami would be down 1-3 had LeBron been anything less than imperious.
The Heat got off to another horrendous start, trailing 9-0 at the nine-minute timeout. The role players were already proving their ineptitude, dribbling off their feet and fumbling passes that should’ve led to layups. Dwyane Wade hadn’t yet shown any sign that he was going to do anything, and, to make matters worse, the Pacers looked as good as the Heat did bad.
Finally, with nearly four and a half minutes gone, LeBron was able to find a lane to the basket and cut through it for a powerful slam dunk. About a minute later he spotted a wide-open Shane Battier for a slump-busting three-pointer. He set up another couple of threes for Mario Chalmers, then scored three straight field goals of his own (all of which came in the paint) to finish out the first quarter. Throw in a free throw and he’d racked up 9 points and 3 assists in the opening 12 minutes. However, the Heat still trailed by seven. The problem? Aside from the 18 points LeBron contributed to, Miami hadn’t scored any.
LeBron continued to plug along through the early stages of the second quarter. He scored 6 more (and created an easy deuce for Joel Anthony) to bring his squad to within one at the six-minute mark. They trailed by 8 at the half, though, due to Indiana’s solid outside shooting and some aggressive play from Darren Collison. James’ total was 19.
Coming out of the half, LeBron scored Miami’s first five. Next, he contributed what may have been his finest highlight and helped to spark a 25-9 run all in the same play. That play was a gorgeous no-look bounce pass to Dwyane Wade, who converted it into an easy layup. Wade, who has been inconspicuously quiet throughout much of the season, exploded for another 12 points in the quarter. LeBron continued to be aggressive as well, tacking nine more onto his total amidst Wade’s outburst. Incredibly, the two of them had actually scored 28 consecutive Miami Heat points until Udonis Haslem broke it up with a pair of free throws. I don’t recall how Udonis found himself at the line, but to say LeBron got him there would be a pretty safe bet. After all, he’d already racked up eight assists.
Despite the incredible play of both James and Wade, the lead was just six to start the fourth quarter. Still, I recall feeling quite confident in the Heat as it had become clear that the big two weren’t about to be stopped—especially LeBron, who had simply entered into beast-mode. Repeatedly, he manhandled the Pacers in the paint. On one possession he scored between three defenders at the rim, and on another he noisily hammered a stick-back dunk. “Nothing you can do,” said Hubie Brown.
Finally, after 43 minutes and 54 seconds of unstoppably-powerful play, LeBron had scored his 40 points (and picked up 9 assists along the way). Of his 23 attempts, all but 5 came within 14 feet of the basket. Each of his field goals were scored inside of that same zone. From the opening tip to his final free throw, LeBron’s will had been imposed.
As crazy as this may seem, LeBron’s 40 points may not have been his most important contribution. I’m 100% positive that Dwyane Wade does not drop 30 if LeBron doesn’t do such a fantastic job of setting the table. Dwyane is a great player, but he’s been struggling mightily (to say the least). He needed a little help to rediscover his rhythm, and LeBron absolutely delivered in that regard. If Wade can build on his game-four success, then yeah, I’d say LeBron did something more important than score 40 in yesterday’s victory.
Let us not forget that this remarkable performance comes with an afterthought of 18 rebounds, too.
Given the situation—no Chris Bosh, a struggling Dwyane Wade, the pressure of both the media and a potential 1-3 deficit—I think this game may have been one of LeBron’s best yet. I’d say the 48-pointer against Detroit still tops them all, but other than that… this one is up there. Taking a quick glance at his playoff log, here are three other games that measure up statistically (well, minus the rebounds):
*4/28/06: CLE 97, WAS 96: 41 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 16-28 FG, 6-9 FT
*5/3/06: CLE 121, WAS 120: 45 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST, 14-24 FG, 17-18 FT
*5/20/09: CLE 106, ORL 107: 49 PTS, 6 REB, 8 AST, 20-30 FG, 6-10 FT
All great games. However, Cleveland was never in danger of losing that series with Washington, so the pressure isn’t nearly comparable. Cleveland did lose to Orlando in ’09, but the pressure still wasn’t anything like it is now. It’s championship or bust at the moment, and a second-round loss to the Pacers… can you even imagine the media sh!t storm that that debacle would bring about?
So, if you take the situation into account, I think it’s safe to say LeBron played one of his finest games ever yesterday—maybe even his second best. It’s a damn good thing he did, too… not many of those 40 points were to spare.
But he ain’t clutch, though.
Whether you like LeBron or not, I sincerely hope you were able to appreciate the display you saw yesterday. To say it was special would be an understatement.
Good afternoon, slam dunk enthusiasts! I was unable to get around to the Poster of the Day on Saturday, so today I will give to you a double dose of in-your-face action! Think you can handle that? If so, proceed.
Firstly, Kevin Durant on Jordan Hill. This dunk came during Friday night’s free-throw fest, just moments after Hill had stamped another KD stuff attempt return to sender.
Although Hill’s two-handed denial may have been even nastier than Durant’s revenge slam, I always consider the man who got the last laugh to be the winner. Either way, you gotta love it when two athletes find themselves meeting above the rim twice in one game. Twice in one minute, though? Not often will you see that.
Dunk rating on the Starbury Nastiness Scale:
7.5/10 Starbury Nasty Faces
Secondly, Blake Griffin on Tim Duncan. This dunk was a little out of the ordinary considering the man who threw it down. Griffin tends to go with his right hand, and he typically destroys the defender with full-body contact. On this play, though, Griffin elected to shift the ball to his left side and finish with his off hand in order to fly past Duncan.
Impressive versatility. However, unlike Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin did not get the last laugh in his duel with Tim Duncan. I’m not referring to San Antonio’s 24-point comeback, either. Duncan may be old and grounded, but he’s still one hell of a defender.
Youtube: Whether he and his Thunder (how stupid did that sound? No more singular team names, please) trail by one, two, or three (or even if the game is tied, as it was in this case) Kevin Durant’s preferred method of being an icy-cold motherf@cker is the three-point shot. Mysteriously, Ron Artest failed to stay within arm’s length. Durant didn’t really even have to make a move, and by the time Artest got a hand in his face the ball was well on its way to the hoop.
Yahoo!: So, um, why exactly does Pau Gasol not want to be traded, again? Dude should ask Kobe, “you want Kwame back?” Or he could simply remind Bryant, preferably via the media, who it was that threw the ball away late in game two. Or who has missed 62 percent of his 96 shots in the series, including all but one of his 12 three-pointers. Gasol could also take his criticism the historical route and mention the fact that Kobe has never won sh!t without himself or Shaquille O’Neal. Pau won’t do any of this, of course, because he isn’t a d-bag… but it’s funny to imagine what would happen if he did.
Youtube: If an old man happens to dunk on you in a pick-up game, he’s probably Kyrie Irving. Watch out for his nasty crossover move at 3:37… might get your ankles broke.
SBN: The Spurs were able to hold the Clippers scoreless for 14 straight possessions in the third quarter of yesterday’s comeback victory. Is that a big deal? I’m going to have to disagree with the author here and say it isn’t. The Clippers are a drought waiting to happen, and that’s been their problem all season long.
WNBA.COM: Did you know the WNBA season tipped off on Friday? Neither did I. I wasn’t aware that Seattle got to keep its WNBA team, either. That’s just a slap in the face. It’s gonna be funny when Shawn Kemp’s daughters make up the entire starting frontcourt, though.
ESPN: Lots of interesting nuggets in this little article which dubs Kevin Durant “MVP of the playoffs.” First, it notes the defense he played on Kobe Bryant last night. Later, Russell Westbrook seems to express an understanding of Durant’s status.
Lakers 99, Thunder 96: Could you get into this game? If so, you’re a tougher soldier than I. Mentally, I tuned out after James Harden was called for three fouls he didn’t commit in a span of 90 seconds. I’m not crying conspiracy, but whatever it was that led to a total of 52 fouls and 70 free-throw attempts (42 of which were shot by the home team, who made an incredible 41 of ‘em)… it made the game borderline unwatchable. Was Joey Crawford’s involvement coincidental? I haven’t a clue, but I’ll repeat the same sh!t I’m always saying about him: when Joey Crawford involved, the officiating is always talked about. That’s why, in my humble opinion, he shouldn’t be involved.
In an attempt to get beyond the overzealous referees and break down a game that was likely interrupted by your slumber, let’s take a look at some non-free-throw numbers. The first one that jumps out at me sits in Ramon Sessions’ FG column: 5-9. Coming into game three, Sessions had made just two baskets in the entire series. Last night, he scored 6 of his 12 points in the first quarter as he was able to navigate his way to the rim, helping the Lakers get off to a great start. Not only did Sessions play well, but Steve Blake bounced back from death threats to keep the PG production cranking after Sessions took a seat. In addition to his surprising total of 8 rebounds (one of which was particularly important, as you’ll see in a moment) Blake made 4 of 5 shots as he scored 12 points of his own. He knocked down a couple big buckets in the middle of the third quarter to tie the game after the Lakers had trailed by five.
As for the Thunder, they were once again able to limit their turnovers, committing just nine. This allowed them to match their game-one total of 83 shot attempts, and they needed each and every one of ‘em considering the mere 39.8% that they hit.
Finally, if you’re anything like me, you probably took a look at the offensive rebounding numbers (vital to Laker success). You’ll notice that OKC actually out-boarded the Lakers 13-12, but…
0:52 94-93 Kobe Bryant misses 19-foot jumper
0:51 94-93 Pau Gasol offensive rebound
0:46 94-93 Kobe Bryant misses jumper
0:44 94-93 Steve Blake offensive rebound
0:33 94-93 Russell Westbrook shooting foul (Kobe Bryant draws the foul) 0:33 94-94 Kobe Bryant makes free throw 1 of 2
0:33 94-95 Kobe Bryant makes free throw 2 of 2
…yeah. As they so often do, the Lakers were able to secure themselves extra opportunities in a critical situation by preventing that one key rebound the opposition needed.
I do have to touch on the refereeing one more time. Following those Kobe free throws (his 15th and 16th of 18), this happened. First of all, fantastic f@cking crossover. Second of all, that should’ve been a foul on Ron Artest. They’d been calling little bumps and nudges all night long, and they should’ve called that one too. Consistency is key, and last night’s contest ended up lacking it.
Here I am at the final buzzer and I feel that this recap severely lacks detail. What more can I say, though? It was a three-hour foul-shooting contest (for a recap that makes it out to be something more, click here). It really did last three hours, too. I took a glance at my clock in the final minute of the fourth and it was 1:28 in the goddamned morning.
No one saw your fourth-quarter performance, Joey. The entire East Coast fell asleep. Tell Stern to start the game at 8:30 next time you feel like dominating.
9: Lance Stephenson scored 106 points this season. LeBron James scored 107 points in the 2011 Finals, and all he’s heard about since is how terribly he played.
8: Lance Stephenson is a 36% shooter. LeBron James is also a 36% shooter… from beyond the three-point line.
7: LeBron may not be the “Chosen One,” but I think it’s fair to say Lance Stephenson wasn’t “Born Ready.”
6: LeBron James has his own Nike sneakers. Both of Lance Stephenson’s children asked for a pair last Christmas.
5: Lance Stephenson hasn’t been in position to choke since college. LeBron skipped college, and there isn’t an NBA franchise that wouldn’t pay him $20 million to come choke in their uniform.
4: LeBron James won MVP of the McDonald’s All American game. Lance Stephenson, according to DraftExpress.com, put on the following display: “bad shots, selfish play, terrible body language, cheap shots to the opposition, plenty of turnovers, predictably followed by him visibly blaming others for his own mistakes.”
3: LeBron James has an Olympic Gold Medal. Lance Stephenson was cut from the under-18 team.
2: Some folks will tell you that the money doesn’t make the man. I suppose there’s a lot of truth to that. However, let’s take two men with the same occupation, and say that one earns 20 times as much as the other. In this case, money is probably a good measuring stick to determine which man is better at his job, at least.
1: Someone else heckled LeBron one time. He responded by scoring 24 points in a quarter. Although he didn’t have an answer in game three, I wouldn’t be surprised if he came up with one in game four. Mr. Born Ready better hope LeBron doesn’t hang a triple-double on his Pacers and throw him a little shout out in the postgame presser. That just might be enough to get a non-guaranteed deal terminated by the Executive of the Year, who is known to value character.
With Thursday night’s 17-point victory, San Antonio matched Oklahoma City at 6-0 in the playoffs. Although it would be fair to say the Thunder have faced stiffer competition, it would be equally fair to say that there’s no team nearly as hot as Gregg Popovich’s band of forgotten veterans, who were supposed to be too old for this about two or three years ago. Turns out Tim Duncan is feeling mighty spry (“better than [he's felt] in the last four or five years,” as a matter of fact), and Tony Parker is playing the best basketball of his life, which makes sense seeing as he just turned 30 years old (yesterday was his birthday). Additionally, the dead weight that was Richard Jefferson has been sent to Golden State and Boris Diaw has been unable to locate a Burger King in San Antonio.
Yep, Diaw and the Spurs are in good shape, both literally and figuratively. To emphasize just how well they’ve been playing, here are some assorted stats and observations.
They’re on a 16-game winning streak over a month old. Tony Paker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginboli have taken a combined eight games off over the course of the streak, simply to rest.
They’ve topped 100 points in 15 of their last 16 games. Impressive offense, but get this: in 12 of those 15 games they were also able to hold their opponent under 100, leading to an average margin of +17.06 (!!!).
Not only are they 6-0 in the playoffs thus far, but they’ve trailed the Jazz and Clippers for a grand total of just 17 minutes and 36 seconds.
Tim Duncan has raised his scoring by 4 PPG from last year’s playoffs, yet he’s playing 4 fewer MPG. On a per 36 minute basis Duncan is nearly matching his ’07 output (within 2 PPG). That’s on three fewer shots per game through a series against Utah’s formidable front line.
As Richard Jefferson clunked his way to 39 points on 31 shots (38.7%), Danny Green played seven total minutes in the ’11 playoffs. In these playoffs Green has averaged 10 points per game on 12-28 from three (43%). Kawhi Leonard is also out-shooting Jefferson at 47% from three and 49% overall. Stephen Jackson hasn’t played a whole lot, but even he’s been able to knock down 9 of his 18 three-point attempts. All three of Green, Leonard, and Jackson defend better than RJ, too. Can you say addition by subtraction?
For the playoffs, the Spurs are out-shooting their opponents by an average of 6.5%. That more than doubles the next best mark of +3% (Oklahoma City). Take it beyond the three-point line, where San Antonio is shooting 7.6% better than their opponents, and things become even more unfair.
The bench is scoring 42 points per game. The bench only scored 30 points per game in ’07.
I’m sure the Spurs wouldn’t want me counting up their chickens before they’ve hatched, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that they’ll be one of our Western Conference finalists. The Thunder, up two games to none on the Lakers, figure to be our other Western Conference finalist. With the Heat suffering through injuries and the possible effects of their game-three meltdown, the East isn’t looking all that threatening.
So, raise your hand if you had the Spurs winning the 2012 NBA title in December. Now raise your hand if you have them winning it today. Finally, raise your hand if you feel like you’ve been here before, probably multiple times.
Paul Pierce looked bothered by his sprained MCL in game two, but there was no sign of any soreness in game three. Pierce took over at the end of the first quarter, scoring seven consecutive Celtic points. Four of those points came on back-to-back driving dunks, one of which came over Thaddeus Young.
