NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - Manu Ginobili stepped off the podium and bumped into Dirk Nowitzki. They shook hands. Nowitzki gave his longtime foe a congratulatory slap on the back and Ginobili disappeared down the hallway.

He was off to celebrate a playoff series win. Just like old times for the Spurs.

“We’re thrilled that we beat them,” Ginobili said. “We’re really proud of it.”

Nowitzki then sat down for a playoff ritual of his own—dissecting yet another first-round failure by the Mavericks.

Ginobili scored 26 points and San Antonio survived blowing a 22-point lead to finish off the Mavericks 97-87 in Game 6 on Thursday night, getting payback after Dallas eliminated the Spurs a year ago in the opening round.

The seventh-seeded Spurs will play the sixth-seeded Suns in the Western Conference semifinals starting Monday night in Phoenix.

The Mavs, meanwhile, slump away into another too-early summer.

Dallas lost in the first round for the third time in four years. The Mavs head into an interesting offseason for a team that’s won 50 games for 10 straight seasons, but has only one trip to the NBA finals to show for it.

“Going into the playoffs as a No. 2 seed, it is all we could have wanted,” Nowitzki said. “We just happened to see a tough No. 7 seed that got rolling at the right time.”

Said Mavs guard Jason Terry, “As of right now this season is a failure.”

Nowitzki nearly carried the Mavs to an unbelievable comeback, getting 25 of his 33 points in a remarkable second half. But George Hill, the hero for the Spurs in Game 4, scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to keep the series from going back to Dallas.

The Spurs continue their roll after coming off their worst regular season in the Tim Duncan era, which perhaps makes this series all the more impressive.

It will technically go down as an upset. San Antonio is only the fifth No. 7 seed to win a first-round series, and the first since the opening round became a best-of-7 in 2003. It hadn’t been done since New York beat Miami in 1998.

But with a healthy Big Three and a championship pedigree, the Spurs could hardly be called underdogs.

And with no clear favorite in the West, they might be as good a finals pick as any.

“The only reason (the Spurs) we’re the 7 seed is because they’ve been hurt all year,” Mavs center Brenden Haywood said. “This could have been the Western Conference finals. The teams are that good. This isn’t like a monumental upset or anything. You all are talking like this is the NCAA tournament and the 15 seed just beat the 2.”

As for the Mavs, it was yet another early playoff disappointment.

It comes three years after the Mavs came into the postseason as the No. 1 seed, only to be knocked out by No. 8 Golden State. The Mavs were the NBA’s best road team in the regular season, but went 0-3 in San Antonio and couldn’t pull themselves out of a 3-1 deficit.

This one is especially tough for team owner Mark Cuban, who plunked down an extra $30 million for a deal at the trade deadline that brought Caron Butler from Washington.

Cuban, who needled San Antonio earlier in the series by saying he hated the Spurs, congratulated them afterward and said he’d root for his Texas rivals the rest of the way.

He followed that up with a cryptic comment.

“I’m not proud of the NBA. I’m not proud of my inability over the last 10 years to have an impact like I want to have,” Cuban said. “So I kind of feel like I owe fans an apology. But that’s just the way this business goes.”

Cuban declined to elaborate.

Butler scored 25 points and rookie Rodrigue Beaubois had 16. But aside from them and Nowitzki, no other Dallas player scored more than six points.

Among the questions facing the Mavs is Nowitzki, who could choose to become a free agent this summer. He’s steadily said he won’t, but after the game, Nowitzki was noncommittal about his future.

“I haven’t really thought about my future,” he said. “I guess I have some time now to think about my future and think about my options.”

He and the Mavs will have a long time to sulk over this one.

Plagued by slow starts in this series, Dallas got off to its worst yet when it mattered most. The Mavs trailed 22-8 after the first quarter, hitting just four of their first 18 shots. By halftime it was 47-34, a franchise playoff low for Dallas.

Nowitzki, who had four fouls in the first half, shrugged off the foul trouble and put Dallas ahead 57-56 with a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter. But Ginobili immediately fired back with a 3-pointer, and Dallas never led again.

“I think we took a lot of their energy, a lot of their effort getting back into it after being so far down,” said Duncan, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds. “Hopefully we used that against them and closed the game out.”

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.

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - Dwyane Wade watched the 3-pointer drop perfectly through the net, then turned upcourt and extended the fingers on his right hand.

And he screamed.

“In kid-friendly terms,” Wade would say later, “I was telling him he was hot.”

That hand—that player—had never been hotter in a postseason game, either. And that’s why Miami’s season isn’t over.

Playing what might have been his final game in Miami, Wade scored 46 points, 30 in the second half—both franchise records—and the Heat beat the Boston Celtics 101-92 on Sunday in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. He made 16-of-24 shots, 5 of 7 from 3-point range, and outscored the Celtics 19-15 in the fourth quarter.

“Phenomenal,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

“Greatness,” offered Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

Heat forward Quentin Richardson went even further, likening his teammate to a superhero.

“Sometimes, you know, he puts on the cape, man,” Richardson said. “There’s not a lot of things you can do when he’s playing that way.”

Boston would concur.

The Celtics still lead the best-of-seven 3-1, and get a chance to close it out in Boston on Tuesday night. But their worst fear came true Sunday.

Miami has hope.

“They did what they were supposed to do, which is defend the home court,” Celtics forward Kevin Garnett said. “And now we’re thinking the same thing going back home.”

Richardson scored 20 points and Michael Beasley added 15 for the Heat, who wasted an 18-point, first-half lead before digging deep to extend the season.

Rajon Rondo led the Celtics with 23 points. Garnett had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Paul Pierce scored 16 and Ray Allen added 15 for Boston, which was bidding for its first 4-0 sweep of a series since 1986.

“It’s not a big deal,” Rondo said. “We just have to close it out now in five. We’re confident.”

So is Miami.

Especially Wade.

Leg cramps kept him off the court for the deciding moment of Game 3, the jumper that Pierce hit at the buzzer to give the Celtics a 100-98 win. So he spent Saturday getting his body right, chugging fluids, jumping into the cold tank, hanging out in the pool with his mother Jolinda, visiting from Chicago.

On Sunday, it showed, never more than down the stretch.

He shot 5 for 6 in the fourth quarter and made all four 3-pointers, all coming in a 5-minute stretch and the last putting Miami up 93-82 with 6:12 remaining.

“I just thought, time to be aggressive,” Wade said. “Very aggressive. So I was shooting all those shots, no matter what was going to happen. And I started to make a couple, so I got hot at the right time. Just wanted to will my team to this victory.”

Of course, it’s never easy for Miami against Boston.

The Celtics were 6-0 against Miami this season, and had won 14 of the last 15 between the clubs since April 2007. And yes, Boston made a big run, getting within 96-92 on a free throw by Allen with 2:36 left.

Then a funny thing happened.

Or, more precisely, three funny things.

Not only did Allen—a 91 percent foul shooter this season—miss the second, he missed two more with 1:50 left, keeping it a two-possession game. And when Dorell Wright missed a jumper with 1:29 left, Beasley swooped in, got the rebound and scored, making it 98-92.

Exhale, Miami. The season will go until at least Tuesday.

Wade will opt to become a free agent after the season, and on the slim chance that this was his final home game in Miami, it was nothing short of scintillating.

“He just put it all on his shoulders,” Pierce said. “And did a good job of it.”

Trailing by six entering the final quarter and needing a rally to keep the season alive, Miami opened the fourth on a 25-8 run, fueled mostly by Wade. He hit a pair of 3-pointers about a minute apart, stopping after the second one to scream at his right hand, giving Miami an 85-80 lead.

“When his back is against the wall,” Spoelstra said, “it’s an utter defiance.”

Miami played that way pretty much all day.

Garnett scored the opening basket, only to have Miami reel off the next 12 points. Richardson made his first four shots, three of them from 3-point range, staking Miami to a 15-5 lead.

Wade scored 14 in the first, Richardson ended up with 13, and the Heat seemed well on their way, up 31-14 late in the opening quarter.

That duo combined for two in the second quarter, though, and Boston began chipping away.

Thanks in large part to Glen Davis tripping over his own feet and tumbling to the court in a green heap, Beasley had an alley-oop dunk with 8 minutes left until halftime, putting Miami up 42-24.

The rest of the half was all Boston, which quickly turned the arena mood from celebratory to concerned. The Celtics outscored Miami 19-7 to close the second quarter, with the Heat making six turnovers and missing eight of their next nine shots after the Beasley dunk, and the lead was down to only 49-43 at the break.

“They played how they were supposed to play,” Allen said.

In the third, Wade did the spectacular. Boston did the steady, which worked better.

Wade drove past Allen down the middle of the lane, dunked over the outstretched arm of Garnett and walked into the second row of seats, tying the game at 64 as the crowd roared.

But Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo all had big baskets late in the third, and the Celtics took a 77-71 edge into the final 12 minutes.

But the fourth, thanks to Wade, was all Miami.

“I’m a rhythm player,” Wade said. “And once I get in that rhythm, I think I can make any shot.”

Each Heat player had a sheet of paper at his locker when he arrived Sunday, the words “Easy vs. Hard” typed across the top.

“Making everyone go to Boston,” the sheet said, “is hard.”

And it was.

Getting the Celtics to fly back to Miami will be even tougher.

vs(From the Associated Press) - LeBron James insisted there was nothing unusual about the shot, that he’s perfectly comfortable taking it.

Never mind that he unleashed it from nearly halfcourt.

James’ jumper—from a spot that requires a heave for many players—was just part of the show on a day when he delivered his fifth career postseason triple-double with 37 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. That led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 121-98 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday and a 3-1 lead in their first-round series.

“I’ve done some great things in the past, I’ll do some great things in the future,” he said. “But we’re in the present now, and I’m feeling pretty good.”

The Cavaliers led by 10 at halftime after scoring 38 in the second quarter and broke it open with a 37-point third, putting them in position to close it out at home on Tuesday.

James was at it again after scoring 40 and 39 the previous two games, connecting whenever he wanted and from wherever he wanted. He was 6 of 9 on 3-pointers, including a jumper from just inside midcourt at the end of the third that made it 99-76.

“I can comfortably shoot that shot,” James said. “It was a regular jump shot for me. Comfortably, I can walk and dribble into a halfcourt 3.”

James certainly made it look easy against the Bulls.

“He was extremely active all over the place,” coach Mike Brown said. “He really set the tone defensively. He was terrific for us on the weakside. He was great for us on the ball, and he talked defense the whole game.”

He had plenty of help from Antawn Jamison, who scored 12 of his 24 in the third quarter, not to mention Mo Williams (19 points).

Chicago got 21 apiece from Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, who also pulled down 20 rebounds, but the Bulls settled for jump shots once they fell behind. Now, they are on the verge of their second straight first-round exit after a thorough beating by the Eastern Conference’s top seed.

“I just think we weren’t very tough mentally today,” Noah said. “We were playing good ball and then just collapsed. We’re a young team and have to learn from this.”

The Cavaliers were simply locked in after a two-point loss in Game 3. They shot 53 percent and outscored Chicago 40-34 in the paint after being dominated there 94-70 the previous two games.

The Bulls were leading 43-40 after Luol Deng hit a 17-footer with just over five minutes left in the half. Then, Cleveland took over.

“When we had the lead, we should have run some more effective plays, run some pick-and-rolls and attacked the basket,” Rose said. “And even if you couldn’t make the shot, you could dump it off to a big and maybe they could get to the line.”

James scored nine as the Cavaliers ended the half on a 22-9 run, hitting a 3-pointer that put Cleveland ahead 47-45 with 3:36 left, and they continued to build on it.

James nailed a 22-foot fadeaway from up top just before the halftime buzzer, right after a short bank shot by Rose, to make it 62-52. Cleveland quickly put it away after returning from the locker room, scoring the first seven of the third, with James’ floater making it 69-52. But it was his shot at the end of the quarter that left everyone else in awe.

“Seeing him do that is always fun to watch,” Williams said. “It takes a lot out of a team. We’re already up 20 and he’s hitting shots like that. You just sit back like an opponent and wonder what can we do.”

If the Bulls are demoralized, they weren’t about to let on.

“I know that we have to play another game,” Rose said. “My confidence level is high and my team will follow me.”

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - The first order of business after Game 3 for Doc Rivers was making a plea to his Boston Celtics, begging them to not fixate on finishing off a first-round sweep.

Good luck, Doc.
These Celtics have everything going their way against the Miami Heat—and a big chunk of rest before the second round starts might be Boston’s just reward.

Paul Pierce’s 21-footer at the buzzer Friday night gave Boston a 100-98 win over Miami in Game 3 of the teams’ Eastern Conference first-round series. The Celtics lead 3-0, and will try for a sweep in Miami on Sunday afternoon.

“We’re going to be a team that’s tough to beat four times,” Pierce said. “But it’s very demoralizing, I think, for the other team when you go down 3-0.”

There’s an understatement.

No team in NBA history has rallied from a 0-3 deficit in a series, and the hole the Heat are in looks even deeper than that. Miami is 0-6 against Boston this season and 1-14 since April 2007.

But as far as looking ahead to the second round, Rivers is understandably leery.

“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep playing. I told our guys, I don’t want to hear about that. I told them right after the game, we’ve got to focus on basketball. All the other stuff, you focus on the process and the results will happen. Whatever happens out there, it happens. We’ve got to get our job done.”

Pierce got it done Friday.

Game tied at 98, less than 20 seconds left, the Heat had exactly what it wanted—the ball in Dwyane Wade’s hands. The 2006 NBA finals MVP tried a straightaway 3-pointer and missed with 14 seconds left, which is where the game and perhaps the season slipped away from Miami.

Wade crumpled to the court in a heap, his left calf cramping for the second time in the final quarter. He had to be carried back to the Miami bench by Heat reserve center Jamaal Magloire and trainer Jay Sabol, and the Heat huddled together to figure out what to do.

There was no such conversation 60 feet away in the Boston huddle.

Pierce demanded the ball. Rivers agreed. Pierce dribbled the clock down, took the shot over Heat forward Dorell Wright, and the Celtics stormed Miami’s floor in celebration.

“Great player made a great shot,” Wade said. “I couldn’t really see it too much. But I did see the ball go in the basket.”

Pierce finished with 32 points and Ray Allen added 25 for the Celtics, who got 17 from Rajon Rondo and 16 from Kevin Garnett.

Wade finished with 34 points, eight assists and five rebounds for the Heat, who rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take the lead. Michael Beasley scored 16 points, Wright scored 15 and Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers each scored 10 for the Heat.

“We’ve just got to go out there Sunday and give them another fight,” Wright said. “That was definitely a backbreaker, right there.”

That long-awaited offseason of 2010, when the Heat are expected to revamp their roster, is closer than Miami ever expected.

“It hasn’t really set in yet,” Wade said. “Down 3-0 hurts. This team’s good. They’ve got a lot of veteran guys who step up to the billing.”

Especially on the road, which is where Boston has excelled all season.

The Celtics were the only playoff team this year to win more games on the road than at home, and they’ve had a flair for drama in Miami. Back on Jan. 6, Rondo caught a lob from Pierce and laid in a buzzer-beater to force overtime, and the Celtics went on to a 112-106 win.

That one hurt Miami plenty. This one was considerably worse.

“We certainly fought the fight in terms of bringing the appropriate level of intensity to the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That was there. Couldn’t ask for much more in terms of effort plays and just bringing the fight.”

Pierce said after the game that the value of rest, especially for a veteran team like Boston, cannot be understated.

Still, Rivers’ words resonated with some Celtics after the game. They know Sunday probably won’t be a cakewalk.

“The job is never really done until we close it out,” Allen said. “You can’t worry about their mental state. … As a team we need to worry about what we’re doing here in the locker room.”

That being said, Boston’s confidence probably hasn’t been higher all season, and a team two years removed from a championship is starting to get that playoff feeling again.

“It’s coming at the right time,” center Kendrick Perkins said.

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - The Vince Carter(notes)-Dwight Howard duo again wasn’t so dynamic — just good enough to win.

For now, that’s all the Orlando Magic need.

Carter finished with 19 points, Howard scored 15 and the Magic took a 2-0 series lead with a 92-77 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night.

“Fortunate thing for us,” Carter said, “is we have a lot of weapons.”

The Magic’s star combo was less than stellar, but took over when it counted most. They combined for 21 second-half points to help Orlando build a 20-point lead and hold on late.

Still, they know they’ll have to be better to compete for a title.

“I can’t allow it to frustrate me,” Howard said. “Really just trying to keep my head. It’s bigger than myself. We’re playing for something bigger.”

Charlotte is simply playing for a win.

Stephen Jackson(notes) showed no effects from his hyperextended left knee to score 27 points, and Gerald Wallace(notes) had 15 points for the Bobcats. But their 21 turnovers are a big reason why they’re heading home still searching for the franchise’s first playoff win.

Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Saturday in Charlotte.

“They’re being more aggressive,” Jackson said. “They’re being the more physical team. They’re making the first hit. They’re just out there playing like they want to win more than we do. We’re waiting until they hit to respond, and then it’s too late.”

This one wasn’t the prettiest playoff basketball.

The Bobcats went more than eight minutes to start the game with only three points, and had just one field goal with six turnovers during the stretch. The goods news for them: The Magic were almost as bad early.

The first half was a turnoverfest for both teams, and nobody could consistently hit a shot. Things were so out of sorts that the normally sharpshooting J.J. Redick(notes) even badly missed the free throw from Charlotte coach Larry Brown’s technical foul in the second quarter.

The Magic were 24 for 35 on free throws, while the Bobcats were 13 for 18. That wasn’t enough for Brown.

“We had three players that played tonight that got to the foul line, and one of them took one shot, one free throw,” he said. “Can’t play that way. Maybe we’ve got to get more respect, I don’t know.”

The Magic put together the closest thing to a run, and they slowly went ahead 41-30 at the half on Ryan Anderson’s(notes) 3-pointer. With Charlotte’s 14 first-half turnovers, though, they could’ve been up more.

Eventually, they would. The Magic’s star pairing finally showed up.

Howard used a drop step, spun right and hammered home a rim-rocking dunk over Tyson Chandler(notes) that started a big Magic push. He had nine points in the first five-plus minutes of the third before picking up his fourth foul, again relegating him to the bench.

Then, Carter took the reins.

Orlando’s biggest offseason acquisition, Carter sliced his way through the lane for several layups late in the third quarter. He anchored a run that put the Magic ahead 75-55 after three quarters with their entire bench standing, waving towels, shouting and smiling as they pulled ahead big.

After Charlotte trimmed the lead to eight with 3:16, Carter followed with a jumper. Then Jackson missed a layup, and Jameer Nelson(notes) raced down court to convert a three-point play that sealed Orlando’s win.

Jackson stood with his head band knocked sideways, pleading with official Bennett Salvatore for a whistle. It wouldn’t come.

“I knew my headband didn’t get knocked off by itself,” Jackson said.

The Magic now find themselves in a position that was unfamiliar in last year’s NBA finals run: a little series cushion.

They were down 2-1 to Philadelphia, trailed Boston 3-2 and went down 2-0 to the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals. Beating Cleveland in the conference finals in six games was the only series Orlando didn’t trail in last season.

vs(From the Associated Press) - Tony Parker(notes) saw the crowd gathered around Richard Jefferson(notes) and couldn’t resist teasing him.

“Man, one big game,” Parker said, smiling. “Look at all this.”
Jefferson took it in stride. After all, he was probably glad Parker didn’t woof or bark.

Knowing he was among the guys Spurs coach Gregg Popovich thought “played like dogs” in the opener, Jefferson bounced back by scoring 17 of his 19 points in the first half to help San Antonio beat the Dallas Mavericks 102-88 in Game 2 on Wednesday night. The win ties their first-round series at a game apiece, with the next two games in the Alamo City.

“You could see it in his eyes that he was motivated,” Parker said. “Nobody likes to play bad and he knew he didn’t have a good first game. Knowing his mentality, we knew he was going to come back.”

Jefferson matched the measly four points he had in Game 1 points before some fans were even settled into their seats. He was 7 of 9 by halftime, and was at his best during a 12-1 run late in the second quarter that broke the game open for good. He got it started with a fadeaway jumper and a finger roll, then added a reverse layup after the Mavericks somehow lost track of him.

“My teammates were looking for me, coming off the pick-and-roll and throwing it back to me,” Jefferson said. “That’s pretty much my game. After I struggled the last game, I think there was a concerted effort to get me involved.”

Tim Duncan(notes) was San Antonio’s second-half star, scoring 17 of his 25 points then, often just in time to douse Dallas rallies. He also had 17 rebounds.

“We went to Tim just about every other time down the stretch,” Popovich said. “He came through by scoring and rebounding at the other end.”

Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki(notes) went from hardly missing in Game 1 to hardly making. The Spurs didn’t even smother him; merely knowing they were creeping his way threw Nowitzki out of whack. He missed six of his first seven shots, and even missed a free throw after having made 88 in a row.

“If they give me those same looks on Friday, I’ll take them,” said Nowitzki, who finished with 24 points, down from 36 in the opener.

The Mavericks played their best only after they seemed to have buried themselves—down 16-5 early, they got within one by the end of the quarter; down 80-60 late in the third quarter they scored 12 straight points; back down 13 early in the fourth, they clawed within five. However, they never led and have now given away home-court advantage.

Game 3 is in San Antonio on Friday night, and the folks down there are probably especially looking forward to seeing Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who fanned the flames of the rivalry in recent days by repeatedly saying, “I hate the Spurs.”

“We’ve lost at home to them many times, so we’ve just got to stay humble, keep working hard, knowing full well that it’s going to be a long series,” Manu Ginobili(notes) said.

San Antonio built its leads by playing smart.

The Spurs held onto the ball (only nine turnovers, down from 17 in Game 1), forced their way to the rim, then took advantage of the space that opened up for longer-range jumpers. In the game-breaking second quarter, their inside-out attack produced 34 points on 68 percent shooting.

“They were a hot-shooting team and we were unable to keep them from being a hot-shooting team,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “When the ball’s in the air, it’s anybody’s ball. They came up with all those plays. They got the loose balls and they were more opportunistic.”

Ginobili had 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:48 left that he punctuated with a celebratory punch as fans began rushing toward the exits.

Parker, still coming off the bench, had 16 points and eight assists.

None of the other “dogs” made a big dent in the stat sheet, but they didn’t have to. Jefferson filled the scoring void and everyone else filled their roles.

“We just played sharper than we did the other night, by that I mean not fouling and taking care of the ball,” Popovich said. “We were focused.”

Jason Terry(notes) was a non-factor most of Game 1 for Dallas, but he hit his first two shots and kept looking for his shot all night. He finished with 27 points. Caron Butler(notes) scored 17.

The Mavs got only five points from their center tandem of Erick Dampier(notes) and Brendan Haywood(notes), all from Haywood. Jason Kidd(notes) was 1 of 7 for five points and Shawn Marion(notes) had just six.

“When we’re cold on the offensive end we’ve got to dig in defensively a little bit better,” Haywood said. “We’ve got to lock up a little better and we didn’t do that tonight. They had way too many offensive rebound opportunities and they scored almost every time they got an offensive rebound.”

Sure enough, San Antonio scored 23 second-chance points, Dallas just nine. That 14-point difference matched the final margin.

NBA Playoffs Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - Andrew Bynum(notes) leaned over, his hands on his knees, his chest heaving from his first minutes of game action in nearly a month.

Other than being out of breath, Bynum displayed little rust in teaming with Pau Gasol(notes) to dominate the middle in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 87-79 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder in their playoff series opener Sunday.

Bynum ignited the Staples Center crowd with a monster one-handed dunk over a defenseless Nenad Krstic(notes) in the second quarter that pushed the Lakers’ lead to 17.

“It kind of got me going,” Bynum said. “It hyped the team up. That’s the kind of player I can be—exciting.”

Gasol scored 19 points, Bynum added 13 and Kobe Bryant(notes) had 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting after missing four of the final five regular season games to rest his swollen right knee and broken right index finger.

“I just have less margin for error with the finger,” he said. “You just got to make adjustments, change your stroke up a little bit.”

Kevin Durant(notes) led the Thunder with 24 points on 7-of-24 shooting in his playoff debut—under the 30.1 average of the NBA’s youngest-ever scoring champion. Former UCLA star Russell Westbrook(notes) added 23.

“I was frustrated,” said Durant, who tossed up some airballs and went 9 of 11 from the line. “I was missing shots I normally make. They felt good leaving my hand. If I made 4-5 more shots, maybe it’s a different game.”

Bynum made a difference for the Lakers.

He returned from a 13-game absence because of a strained right Achilles’ tendon, teaming with fellow 7-footer Gasol to pull down a combined 25 rebounds and deny the Thunder key second-chance baskets. Bynum tied his career playoff high with four blocks.

“I had a couple little twinges, but nothing serious,” he said. “Conditioning in the first quarter was tough. The more I keep playing with this aggressive nature, I’ll get better.”

Game 2 in the best-of-7 series is Tuesday at Staples Center.

“We could’ve definitely played a lot better, but at this stage you just got to win games,” Bryant said. “It doesn’t really matter how.”

History is on the Lakers’ side against the NBA’s youngest team, with an average age of 25 years and 42 days. When coach Phil Jackson wins Game 1 of any series, his teams are 45-0.

“We eked the game out,” Jackson said. “In the second half, we played not up to what we want to play. The energy wasn’t what it could be.”

That wasn’t a problem in the beginning.

The Lakers came out blazing against the overwhelmed Thunder, pounding the ball inside to Bynum and Gasol while shooting 54 percent and taking a 27-13 lead in the first quarter.

“They really play off each other, take their time and shoot a high field-goal percentage,” Lamar Odom(notes) said. “They make the game easy for us as a team.”

In the playoffs for the first time since moving from Seattle two years ago, the Thunder shot 26 percent, leading to their fewest points in an opening period all season.

“Our effort was really good,” coach Scott Brooks said. “We just didn’t have anything going (offensively). We were holding the ball and standing around too much.”

Oklahoma City settled down the rest of the way, but never got closer than six points against the defending champions, who are seeking a third straight trip to the NBA finals.

“When you have Bynum, Gasol and Lamar Odom all in at the same time, I mean it’s a lot of reaching, a lot of hands and that’s a lot of length,” Westbrook said. “It’s tough for us, but I think we’re going to continue to play, continue to compete and we’ll have a chance.”

With Bryant, Gasol, Derek Fisher(notes) and Ron Artest(notes) on the bench to start the fourth, Jordan Farmar(notes) scored the Lakers’ first five points despite a strained left hamstring to stretch a six-point lead to 11.

Bryant and Odom hit consecutive 3-pointers, extending the lead the Lakers held the entire game to 77-66.

A pair of free throws by Durant got the Thunder to 79-73 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining. They never got any closer. Fisher hit a 3-pointer that pushed the Lakers’ lead to 84-74 before Bryant picked up his fifth foul.

“We could’ve came here and got a `W,”’ Durant said. “We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Westbrook carried the Thunder early in the third, and Durant scored their final five points to leave them trailing 64-56 going into the final 12 minutes. Fisher, Artest and Odom were in foul trouble and Bryant scored a single point on a free throw as they played to a draw in the third.

The Thunder outscored the Lakers 26-20 in the second quarter, when Los Angeles got away from the inside game of Bynum and Gasol and settled for jump shots instead. Their 17-point lead dwindled to 47-39 at the break.

Westbrook scored the Thunder’s final eight points of the half and their first two of the third, drawing them within six.

vs(From the Associated Press) - Dwight Howard(notes) was slapped, scraped, pushed and punished. His frustration built, simmering so much that he was sidelined in foul trouble.

Superman was grounded.

Luckily for the Orlando Magic, they had Mighty Mouse back.

Jameer Nelson(notes) scored 24 of his 32 points in the first half, and the Magic nearly blew a 22-point lead with Howard out before beating the Charlotte Bobcats 98-89 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Sunday.

After missing the first three rounds of the playoffs last year recovering from right shoulder surgery, Nelson is healthy again and ready to redeem his NBA finals flop.

“In the finals, I wasn’t myself,” Nelson said. “Not making any excuses, I was out there, so I should have helped my team out a little better. But it feels great being able to help these guys, and not be out there in a suit cheering them on as much as I did last year.”

Nelson was sorely needed in this one.

Vince Carter(notes) was 4 for 19, finished with 12 points and fouled out late. Howard had nine blocks but was limited offensively. He said he was so overanxious and hyped up that he couldn’t sleep the night before, text messaging teammate Carter.

“He was like, ‘I’m trying to sleep.’ I was like ‘I’m sorry. I’m just hyped,”’ Howard said. “I get hyper. My teammates, they do a good job of calming me down. I just have to not get so frustrated.”

Gerald Wallace(notes) had 25 points, and Stephen Jackson(notes) played through a hyperextended left knee to finish with 18 points in the Bobcats’ first playoff game in franchise history.

And they looked like it early.

“We were a little nervous starting off the game, and they knew it,” Wallace said. “They took advantage of it. They came out and punched us in the mouth, they made shots and we didn’t. They built themselves a lead at home, and left us trying to find our way back.”

They almost did.

Charlotte swarmed and slapped Howard on every opportunity near the rim. The Hack-a-Howard approach left the All-Star with five points and seven rebounds, and he was 1 for 6 on free throws.

The Magic sputtered in his absence.

“Their big guys are going to hit him every chance they get. And if he gets one foul retaliating, they’ve done their job,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “He can’t get any of those. He’s just going to have to understand no matter how many times they hit him, he can’t hit back. We need him on the floor.”

Wallace’s free throws trimmed Orlando’s lead to 85-80 late in the fourth, and they had the Bobcats on the brink of a stunning upset.

Howard then returned with a put-back dunk, Mickael Pietrus(notes) had a 3-pointer and the Magic eventually went ahead 92-84 to put the game out of reach.

Even with a dreadful game offensively, Bobcats coach Larry Brown said Howard’s presence on the other end was too much to overcome.

“If I read the stats correctly, he got five points and he was the most valuable player,” Brown said.

Charlotte’s gritty comeback attempt at least provided them with some hope that this best-of-seven series might not be so lopsided when it resumes Wednesday in Orlando. That also gives Jackson, who will have an MRI on Monday, an extra day’s rest. But will he miss Game 2?

“No way,” he said.

Charlotte just needs to find a way to contain Nelson, too.

The speedy point guard left Raymond Felton(notes) and D.J. Augustin(notes) in the dust, much to the dismay of new Bobcats majority owner Michael Jordan sitting on the baseline. But Orlando imploded with Howard sidelined as Charlotte twice battled back from big deficits and overcame what could have been a catastrophic blow.

Wallace dived for a loose ball and collided with Jackson late in the second quarter, injuring his teammate’s knee. Jackson laid on the floor in pain, and Nelson pushed the ball down court to hit a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer.

Jackson returned to score 10 points in the second half, but he sat out the final minutes of the fourth because of the injury, pleading with Brown to get back in the game.

“He’s mad at me,” Brown said. “I just didn’t feel comfortable putting him back on the floor.”

The Bobcats went down 65-43 on a 3-pointer by Lewis early in the third quarter. Howard would pick up his fourth foul, and the frustration began to set in for the Magic.

They just never slipped up enough to lose.

Nelson wouldn’t let them.

“I was just happy to have my little crib midget back,” Howard said, laughing. “He means a lot to our team. It just feels good seeing him out there.”