NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - The Boston Celtics have a few days off to prepare for the second round of the NBA playoffs and a matchup with LeBron James.

Dwyane Wade has all summer to recruit him.

Ray Allen scored 24 points, making five 3-pointers in the second half to help Boston beat Miami 96-86 on Tuesday night and eliminate the Heat in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. The Celtics will play James and the Cavaliers in a seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal series that will open Saturday in Cleveland.

“I think it’s a great matchup. It’s great for basketball—such a classic series,” said Paul Pierce, who scored 21 points on Tuesday. “They’re the team to beat right now. They showed it through the course of the season the way they played. We know this is going to be a tough series, another really, really tough series.”

Wade scored 31 points, far short of the franchise postseason-record 46 he had Sunday in Miami to help the Heat stave off elimination in Game 4. Now that the Heat are done, he can become a free agent—the No. 2 prize in one of the hottest offseason markets in memory.

“I can’t predict the future,” Wade said, his mood somber but his outfit resplendent. “It’s going to be a very important summer. It’s going to be a busy summer. But right now I’ve still got to get this out of my system first. I’m a good sportsman, but I don’t take losing well.”

Rajon Rondo scored 16 points, adding 12 assists and eight rebounds as Boston opened a 21-point lead and then held on after Miami cut the deficit to 73-70 with 10:14 to play. Allen drove and drew a foul and goaltending call on Joel Anthony to make it six points, then hit a 3-pointer 90 seconds later to extend the lead to eight.

Kevin Garnett made a pair of outside shots and Pierce made one from inside to make it a 12-point game with 6 minutes left. With 1:18 remaining and Boston leading by 10, the scoreboard showed the disco-dancing “Gino” video the Celtics has been using to celebrate victories since the championship run in ’08.

“It’s never too early to play ‘Gino’ in this building,” Garnett said.

The Cavaliers beat Chicago 96-94 later Tuesday to clinch their first-round series in five games. But even before it was over, the Celtics were already thinking about James.

“We just have to come out with a defensive mindset, keep LeBron from getting on fire,” center Kendrick Perkins said in the on-court, postgame scoreboard interview while the Cavaliers and Bulls were early in the third quarter.

The Celtics hooked up with James and the Cavaliers for seven games in the conference semis in 2008 on the way to Boston’s unprecedented 17th NBA championship. But Cleveland has since surpassed Boston in the standings and earned the home-court advantage through the NBA finals.

Asked directly if the Celtics can beat Cleveland—the Cavs and Bulls were tied in the fourth quarter at the time—Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, “Well, I’ll let you know.”

The Celtics led by as many as 21 points in the third before Miami scored 16 of the next 18 points to make it 69-62. Wade scored 13 in what turned into a 24-6 run that cut the deficit to 73-70 on his three-point play with 10:14 left in the game.

Wade scored 20 in the second half in all; he also finished with 10 assists and eight rebounds. But he was just 10-for-24 shooting and 2 for 7 from 3-point range in the game. He missed all three of his 3-point tries in the fourth quarter as the Heat tried to eat away at the remainder of the Celtics’ big lead.

Wade, who averaged 33.2 points in the series, can now join James on the free agent market, with the possibility that the two could wind up together in Miami next year or another team that would be an instant title contender.

“This will be my last first-round exit for a while, I can tell you that,” Wade said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to build, and being with some great players next year, continuing to beef up our roster.

“I think I put myself in a great situation three years ago, to sign this deal, to make sure my team stayed competitive. We’ve got some work to do, the front office has (work) to do. You just have to see things being done, being accomplished. If we see that,” he told a Miami-area reporter, “we’ll be talking again.”

It was the second straight night a Boston team clinched a playoff series at the TD Garden. On Monday, the Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 to advance to the NHL’s Eastern Conference semifinals and a matchup with either the Montreal Canadiens or Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Celtics made four 3-pointers in the first 4:37 of the third quarter and took a 67-46 lead with 7 minutes left. But Mario Chalmers hit back-to-back 3 pointers and Wade followed soon after with a pair of free throws and a pair of 3-pointers to make it 69-62 with 2:18 left in the third.

Miami cut it to three before Allen drove and drew a foul and goaltending call on Joel Anthony.

vs(From the Associated Press) - LeBron James pulled his right arm tightly to his chest, unable to do anything but grimace as the final seconds expired on Cleveland’s series-clinching win.

The Bulls were finally out of the way.

But for the Cavaliers, moving on in the NBA playoffs wasn’t pain free.

James, playing despite an injured right elbow that went numb and forced him to shoot a free throw left-handed in the closing seconds, just missed a triple-double as the Cavs advanced to a playoff date with Boston by beating Chicago 96-94 in Game 5 on Tuesday night in perhaps Vinny Del Negro’s final game as Bulls coach.

James scored 19 points—16 in the second half—and added 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Cavs finally saddled the stubborn Bulls to win the series 4-1. After making one free throw, James then hoisted and missed the second with his left with 7.8 seconds left and the Cavs only ahead by four.

James doesn’t know when he injured the elbow, which he said bothered him the entire second half. He revealed after the game that he underwent an MRI and X-rays two days ago.

“It bothers me because I don’t know what it is,” James said. “Hopefully it doesn’t continue to bother me. But I’m not concerned. Cleveland fans have nothing to worry about. They have no reason to panic. I don’t think it’s that serious.”

Antawn Jamison scored 25 points and Shaquille O’Neal 14 for Cleveland, which will face Boston, reuniting teams that don’t like each other and who played a testy seven-game series in 2008.

Game 1 is Saturday.

“A lot of people are saying they’re too old, but we know they’re going to come out and give us their best shot,” said Jamison, who was not with the Cavs the last time Cleveland met Boston in the postseason. “It’s going to be a hard-fought series. It should be fun.”

Derrick Rose scored 31 points and Luol Deng 26 for Chicago, which had several shots roll in and out in the final minutes.

Given little chance against the league’s top team during the regular season, the Bulls gave the top-seeded Cavaliers all they could handle.

Delonte West had 16 points and O’Neal racked up fouls during the second half against Chicago’s big men.

The Cavs were intent on closing out the series at home but they couldn’t shake the Bulls, who were trying to send the series back to Chicago for Game 6.

When Jamison buried a 3-pointer with 3:30 left, Cleveland was up 93-84, and for the first time all night Cavaliers fans finally started thinking about a matchup with the Celtics, who eliminated Miami earlier.

The Bulls, though, had other plans.

Deng hit a jumper and two free throws before Rose, who made Cleveland defenders look silly all series, made four straight from the line to pull the Bulls within 93-92 with 1:32 remaining. Two free throws by James then gave Cleveland a three-point lead with 1:11 left.

Rose then tried a short shot in the lane that went halfway down before spinning out.

Cleveland’s Mo Williams, who shot a dismal 2 for 13, then missed a baseline runner but the ball went out of bounds off Chicago’s Joakim Noah. The Bulls did get the ball back on a steal, but Rose forced up an awkward left-handed layup over Anderson Varejao that was short.

James grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He made his first attempt to make it 96-92, but with his elbow causing him pain, he tried his second shot left-handed and it was way off the mark.

“I knew we were up four,” James said. “I would have shot it right-handed if I had to make it. I’ve never had problem with my elbow before.”

Down four, the Bulls got a layin by Deng just before the buzzer.

James, who wore a sleeve on his right arm for the second straight game, refused to address his injury before the game.

“I don’t know what is up with it, but I’m ready to play,” he said.

So were the Bulls, who fought until the end to prolong their season—and for Del Negro.

Chicago, which had to win down the stretch to earn the No. 8 seed, entered the playoffs amid controversy surrounding its coach. Del Negro reportedly got into a physical confrontation with vice president of basketball operations John Paxson last month, an incident the team downplayed but could have long-term effects.

“I don’t even think about that stuff,” Del Negro said when asked if he thought he had coached his final game. “I enjoy the experience, I enjoy the competitiveness. It’s about the players to me. I’m proud of the guys, I’m proud of the way they stuck together. They played hard and played through adversity.

“I can’t worry about that. I don’t worry about it. I know how hard my staff has worked and what we’ve done here the last two years. How anyone wants to judge that will judge it and we’ll move on. I’ve been too fortunate in my career and my life to worry about those things. Those decisions will be made now moving forward.”

Rose said he would hate to see his coach fired.

“We both came in as rookies. It would be devastating,” Rose said. “But it’s not up to me, it’s up to the front office. They’re the ones that drafted me, so I guess I’m behind them.”

Rose said it would be hard to imagine the Bulls firing their coach after making the playoffs.

“It would be unusual, especially since it’s our second time (in the playoffs),” Rose said. “But the league changes constantly. I guess that’s how it is in the NBA. It’s tough to coach up here.”

Cleveland’s plan in the fourth quarter was to force the ball inside to O’Neal and let the Big Diesel power his way to the basket.

O’Neal drew two fouls in a five-second span on Chicago’s Brad Miller, who was doing all he could to keep the 325-pounder out of the lane. Del Negro and the Bulls assistants protested the second foul and Miller had to be grabbed by his teammates before he got called for a technical.

One minute later, O’Neal got Noah to reach in and commit his fourth foul. The Cavs immediately went into O’Neal again, and this time he spun on Noah and dunked on the Bulls’ outspoken center, sending the nervous, sellout crowd into a momentary frenzy.



vs(From the Associated Press) - Caron Butler saw a path to the basket and didn’t care that Tim Duncan was in his way.

Butler drove right at San Antonio’s big guy and tried jumping by him for a dunk. Duncan got a piece of the ball—but it caromed off the backboard and into the net anyway.

It was that kind of night for Butler and the Dallas Mavericks.

With Dallas facing elimination, Butler set an aggressive, energetic tone early and kept it up throughout a 103-81 victory over San Antonio on Tuesday night in Game 5 of their first-round series.

“That was fun,” Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki said.

The Spurs still lead the series 3-2, giving the veteran club two more chances to get into the second round. Only eight teams have ever blown a 3-1 lead, and Game 6 is in San Antonio on Thursday night.

But Dallas looked like a different team with Butler and Brendan Haywood finally providing the toughness and athleticism the Mavs were seeking when they traded for them during the All-Star break.

Butler scored a career playoff-best 35 points and had 11 rebounds, while Haywood provided a strong inside presence at both ends in his first start of this postseason. He had eight points, eight rebounds and four blocks, and was a big reason Duncan scored just 11 points.

Duncan went to the bench for good shortly after that inadvertent tip-in, the Spurs essentially acknowledging this game was out of reach with 6:19 left in the third quarter. Dallas was soon up by 22, then 26.

“Now it’s a series,” said Butler, who just two games before was benched for the second half. “We have to go to San Antonio and bring the same energy and play with the same tenacity and disposition as we played with for 48 minutes here. We got to bring it some way, some how.”

The Spurs were outplayed most of the first half, but trailed by only seven at halftime. Any hopes of turning things around with a throttling third quarter, like they did to win Game 4, vanished quickly with the Mavs scoring the first 10 points of the second half.

“Mostly it was the case of they came with the mental and physical toughness, and our starting group wasn’t very good in either category,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

Despite losing three straight and looking ripe for a knockout, the Mavericks spent the last two days insisting everything was fine, that all they had to do was get to a few more loose balls and keep the Spurs from shooting close to 50 percent, as they had all series.

Sure enough, San Antonio made a series-worst 36 percent of its shots (only 27 percent in the second half), with Dallas grabbing 11 more rebounds and committing six fewer turnovers. The Spurs had three turnovers during the Mavs’ game-breaking stretch early in the third quarter.

“We’re upset at the way we approached the game,” said San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili, who scored seven points in 19 minutes. “It’s something we’ll learn from. I hope that’s how we take Game 6, because we don’t want to come here for a Game 7.”

Tony Parker led San Antonio with 18 points, half coming during an 11-2 run at the end of the second quarter.

Dallas showed a new life from the start, inspired perhaps by Haywood starting instead of Erick Dampier, or just by their now-or-never situation.

San Antonio’s only lead was 6-4, and the Mavs followed that with a 12-2 spurt that included opportunistic plays like Jason Kidd slapping a rebound right to Shawn Marion for an easy layup. They ran plays through Haywood, something unheard of when Dampier starts, and Butler was scoring inside, outside and in between.

Butler, Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson were acquired during the All-Star break in a deal that cost Dallas four players and forced owner Mark Cuban to ante up another $30 million. It looked like a great investment when Dallas won 13 straight in February and March, not so much with the Mavs on the brink of elimination and with Butler shooting 38 percent in the series.

“We need him to attack. That’s basically what I told him—be aggressive at all times, we want you to shoot the ball and be a scorer for us,” Nowitzki said.

Butler made 12-of-24 shots, including 3-of-8 3-pointers, and hit eight free throws. He was relentless, too, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, seven in the second and 11 in the third. Because Mavs coach Rick Carlisle refused to empty his bench until midway through the fourth, Butler got eight more points in the final period.

“I wasn’t second guessing myself,” Butler said. “If the shot was there, I was taking it.”

Said Haywood: “I don’t know what got into him. All I know is we’re going to need it the next game.”

Nowitzki gladly played the role of sidekick, putting up 15 points and nine rebounds. Jason Terry had 12 points, while Marion and Kidd each scored 10. Kidd also had seven assists and seven rebounds.

Haywood took only three shots, making one—which is one more than Dampier has this series—but he got to the line plenty. However, he made only 6-of-12 free throws.

“It’s a different feel for the team,” Haywood said of him being the starting center. “I think it helps us with what we want to do. … If you’re talking about getting out and running early in the game, unless you’re starting (6-foot-8 forward) Eduardo Najera, you’re starting me because I’m the more mobile of the two. So that’s just one of the things that I think helps me and helps the team.”

Dampier turned out to be Dallas’ only player not to play. Najera wound up as the backup, but he won’t be much longer if he keeps playing rough.

After getting ejected from Game 4 because of a flagrant-two foul on Ginobili, he was hit with a flagrant-one for a whack on Parker. With three flagrant “points” this postseason, his next will draw an automatic one-game suspension. His performance already has won over the fans, earning cries of “Ed-die! Ed-die!” in the second half.

“I’m not trying to hurt anybody out there,” Najera said. “I’m just trying to prove a point that we can do the same things they are doing.”

vs(From the Associated Press) - Kobe Bryant sometimes thinks the Los Angeles Lakers are an orchestra in need of a conductor. He picked up the baton in Game 5, driving the lane aggressively and defending Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook with zeal.

The result was a businesslike blowout that showed exactly what Bryant meant when he said the upstart Thunder had captured the mighty Lakers’ attention.

Pau Gasol had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Andrew Bynum added 21 points and the Lakers vigorously rebounded from back-to-back losses with a 111-87 victory over Oklahoma City on Tuesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in their first-round playoff series.

“Considering how inconsistently we’ve been playing, and the last game in Oklahoma, this was one of our better (games of the season),” said Bryant, who had 13 points and seven assists.

Gasol and Bynum followed Bryant’s no-nonsense lead, relentlessly scoring inside while giving up no easy buckets on the other end. Even Ron Artest shaved off his goofy blond dye job before playing another standout defensive game against Kevin Durant in support of Bryant, who volunteered to guard Westbrook.

“It’s like conducting an orchestra,” Bryant said. “You have guys that you can use and go to in certain situations.”

Bryant, Gasol and Artest rested their instruments in the fourth quarter, preparing for Game 6 on Friday night.

The defending NBA champions coolly shook off the eighth-seeded Thunder’s series-tying blowout win in Game 4 with a comprehensive thrashing of the postseason neophytes. Oklahoma City never recovered after missing its first 13 shots, and the Thunder must win again at home to avoid elimination.

“I wish I could say why, but they kicked our butts from the beginning,” said Durant, who had 17 points. “They had some dunks early on and got the fans excited, and they just kind of cruised from there. It was tough to come back.”

Although Bryant again didn’t put up astronomical offensive numbers, there was no need. He did his best work slowing Westbrook, limiting the Thunder’s star point guard to 15 points.

“I enjoy a challenge, and he’s been playing sensational,” Bryant said. “If we’re going to be eliminated, I don’t want to go into the summer thinking I could have done something about it, so I accepted the challenge.”

The Lakers led by 21 points at halftime and went ahead by 32 late in the third quarter of their third home victory in the series. Durant and Westbrook combined for 9-of-27 shooting for Oklahoma City, which never recovered after missing its first 13 shots.


While the Thunder are still learning about the demands of playoff basketball, the Lakers already have an advanced degree—and they showed off what they’ve learned during two straight trips to the NBA finals.

“We know what we needed to do,” Bynum said. “We got embarrassed, and we wanted to show them that we’re still the world champions. … We’re supposed to do that. The message will be sent in Game 6. Close ‘em out.”

Los Angeles jumped to a 10-0 lead before the Thunder’s first point on Westbrook’s free throw nearly 4 1/2 minutes in, and Oklahoma City couldn’t hit a field goal until Durant’s jumper with 5:49 left.

Bynum scored eight straight points underneath the basket as the Lakers finally turned their superior height into an advantage, rather than the anchor it became in Oklahoma City. Bynum had 11 rebounds amid 8-for-10 shooting, while Gasol scored 15 points in the third quarter to put away the win.

“We’ve been beat up before,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “The only thing you can do is come back and respond. We don’t get too high, we don’t get too down. The one thing that we always do is respond.”

After Los Angeles won the first two games, Oklahoma City evened the series and gained a wealth of confidence with back-to-back wins. The Thunder embarrassed the Lakers in Game 4, going ahead by 29 points and holding Bryant to 12 after the former MVP didn’t take a shot in the first quarter.

With the backing of a Staples Center crowd radiating unease even before the game, the Lakers played heady defense from the opening tip—including Bryant’s move to Westbrook, the speedy former UCLA point guard whose dribble penetration catalyzes much of the Thunder offense.

“I blame that on myself,” Westbrook said of his struggles against Bryant. “It was a different look, and I’ve just got to be confident in what I’m doing.”

Los Angeles led 31-16 after one quarter and steadily pushed the advantage heading into halftime, going up 55-34 on Bryant’s jumper with 7.7 seconds left. The Lakers made nearly 65 percent of their first-half shots while holding Oklahoma City to 26-percent shooting—and the Thunder fast breaks that shredded the Lakers in Oklahoma City were almost nonexistent, with just two first-half points on the break.

Los Angeles even got 14 points in a resurgent effort from Artest, whose shooting woes had overshadowed his defensive efforts against Durant in the series. The mercurial forward’s bald dome certainly seemed to indicate he’s done playing around as he chases his first championship ring.