The 2012-13 Basketball Season Is Here

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A romp for the Heat, who top Bulls 115-78



MIAMI (AP) For the first time in these playoffs, the Miami Heat were facing some real adversity.

They responded with a technical knockout.

After nine technical fouls, two ejections and a whole lot of extracurricular pushing and shoving, the end results were as follows: The biggest postseason win in Heat history, the biggest postseason loss in Chicago Bulls history, and tons of fresh venom pulsing through the veins of this now-tied Eastern Conference semifinal series. Miami won 115-78, a stunning outcome for a game that was basically back-and-forth for much of the first half.

That is, until the Heat started embarrassing the Bulls, and the Bulls started embarrassing themselves for good measure.

"No matter if you win by 20, 30, or one point, it's a 1-1 series,'' Heat star LeBron James said. "They came in and did their job. They got one on our floor and took home court. So, we've got to try to go Chicago and get it back.''

Game 3 is Friday in Chicago, where the Heat will have to win at least one game if they're going to win the series.

Ray Allen scored 21 points in only 19 minutes, James finished with 19 points and nine assists, and the Heat led by as many as 46 points. Sure, the Heat have lost home-court advantage when they dropped Game 1. But this domination made the reigning NBA champions look like the clear-cut team to beat in this title race once again.

"We're still in the hole,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Technically, yes. In actuality, maybe not.

"Today, something was different,'' said Bulls guard Nate Robinson, who made 3 of his 10 shots. "Not just with our play, just today was just weird.''

Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson were ejected in the fourth quarter for Chicago, and the league will almost certainly review some of the things said and done in a game that was close for the first 20 minutes. The Bulls were called for six player technicals, the most by any team in a playoff game since Boston had that many against Indiana in 2005.

"I don't know how many techs we got. ... I would call that not keeping your cool, not being very Zen,'' Noah said.

Bulls forward Carlos Boozer, who scored only eight points, said he didn't fault his teammates for speaking their minds - although cameras suggested that Gibson's language was more than a little colorful.

"Things don't go your way, you're competitors, you want to go out there and do everything you can when you feel you're being cheated,'' Boozer said. "You're going to say something about it. But regardless we don't place the blame on anybody else, we put it on our shoulders and we'll play better.''

The Heat had three technicals assessed, a season-high for them.

Norris Cole scored 18 points for Miami, which got 15 from Dwyane Wade and 13 from Chris Bosh. The Heat led 42-38 with 3:42 left in the first half, before going on an absurd 62-20 run.

Yes, 62-20.

It was that one-sided. Miami shot 60 percent to Chicago's 36, outrebounded the Bulls 41-28, and enjoyed huge edges in points off turnovers (28-7) and fast-break points (20-2).

The only stat that Chicago dominated: Technicals, where the Bulls outpaced Miami 6-3.

"We got sidetracked and you can't do that,'' Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "We allowed frustration to carry over to the next play. ... You come in here, you're not going to get calls. That's reality.''

Marco Belinelli scored 13 for the Bulls, who got 12 from Noah and 11 from Robinson.

For much of the first half, it was everything expected from a Bulls-Heat game, especially after Chicago took Game 1 on Monday night. It was physical - Udonis Haslem sent Robinson flying on the game's first possession, and Belinelli hammered Wade on the ensuing Miami trip, one that ended with Wade getting the first of the game's nine technical fouls for throwing the ball into the Bulls' guard.

James wore a T-shirt that said "Up To Me'' before the game, and it appeared the message had some literal meaning. After being held to two first-half points in Game 1, he went 6 for 6 in the opening quarter of Game 2, as Miami took a 25-20 lead.

"I wanted to be aggressive,'' James said.

It was still close late in the second, before the Heat ended the half on a 13-3 run, one where Cole and Robinson looked like they were playing 1-on-1 - and the Miami guard was getting much the best of Chicago's postseason hero so far.

Robinson made a 3-pointer to get Chicago within 49-41, then turned and said some words toward Cole. So Cole quickly had an answer, hitting one corner 3-pointer over Robinson and letting him know about it, then making another 30 seconds later to give Miami what was then its biggest lead of the night.

Of course, it didn't stay that way.

"You just stay the course and understand what we're here for and it's to win the basketball game,'' James said. "We were able to do that tonight.''

James didn't score in the third quarter - he missed all three of his shots - and still was dominant, with five assists in that period alone, as the Heat turned it into a laugher. They outscored the Bulls 30-15 in the third, stretching the lead out to 31 points as Chicago missed 13 of its 17 shots in the period.

"We're capable of much better and we're going to have to be a lot better,'' Thibodeau said.

Then in the fourth, with the game already lost, the Bulls lost what was left of their composure.

Noah got ejected with 10:13 left, and while that mess was being sorted out, Gibson got two more technicals and joined his teammate in the visiting locker room.

"I just wanted to let the referee, I wanted to let him know, how I felt about the game,'' Noah said.

Even TNT announcer Steve Kerr, a former Bulls player, questioned the officiating at that point.

"I don't blame Gibson,'' Kerr said as Gibson left the court, television cameras catching him direct a stream of what appeared to be profanities toward either referees, players or both.

The Heat never got that wrapped up in the shenanigans, or at least, didn't seem to be bothered by it all.

"Sometimes, it's going to be very physical,'' Wade said. "But it's the playoffs.''

Wade said losing Game 1 was Miami's first true taste of adversity all season, and he was eager to see how the Heat responded. He said the team simply looked itself in the mirror and challenged itself to do better.

"We did a pretty good job,'' James said.

That being said, the job is far from done. Chicago's "Madhouse on Madison'' now awaits, and by the time most players were dressed after the game Wednesday, Noah was already looking ahead to Friday.

"We didn't play well, but it's not the end of the world,'' Noah said. "It's 1-1, and it's going to be a big game in Chicago.''

NOTES: Jimmy Butler's streak of consecutive minutes played ended when he took a seat 12 seconds into the second quarter. He logged more than 160 consecutive minutes. ... The Heat were 9 for 18 from 3-point range. ... James didn't score in the second half. ... Miami's biggest postseason win had been a 35-point victory over Orlando on April 24, 1997.

 

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Spurs top Warriors 102-92 for 2-1 series lead



OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Down and dominated during most of the first two games at home, the San Antonio Spurs once again showed why nobody should ever count them out.

Tony Parker scored 25 of his 32 points in a sizzling first half, Tim Duncan added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and the Spurs quieted the Golden State Warriors and their rowdy sellout crowd in a 102-92 victory Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

"We made shots and they didn't have as good a night shooting the ball,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Sometimes it's as simple as that.''

Kawhi Leonard finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Parker added five assists and five boards to help the Spurs wrestle back home-court advantage from the Warriors after withstanding a brief fourth-quarter rally.

San Antonio outshot Golden State 50.6 to 39.3 percent and curbed streaky shooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for the first time in the series.

Thompson scored 17 points on 7-of-20 shooting, while Curry had 16 points on 5 of 17 from the floor and sprained his left ankle again in the final minutes. Curry was icing his ankle in the locker room and his status moving forward is unclear.

Andrew Bogut added 11 points and 12 rebounds for Golden State but was saddled with foul trouble most of the second half. Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Sunday in Oakland.

After falling behind by 10 points entering the fourth quarter, the Warriors scored the first nine of the period in fewer than 2 minutes. They capped the run by slicing San Antonio's lead to 79-78 when Bogut blocked Duncan's layup, and Draymond Green started a three-point play by drawing a foul on Duncan with a pull-up jumper.

Parker put San Antonio back ahead by seven with a 3-pointer before leaving briefly with an apparent left leg cramp. Trainers wrapped his leg while he was on the bench and he showed no signs of slowing down when he returned.

With Parker on the bench, Duncan converted a three-point play and Leonard added a layup to cap an 11-1 run that gave San Antonio a 90-79 lead with 5:39 to play.

Most of Golden State's yellow-shirt wearing crowd of 19,596 silenced after Curry came off a curl and his left ankle - which he sprained in Game 2 in the first round against Denver but seemed to be back to full strength - landed awkwardly when he planted his feet to receive the ball. Curry limped around but stayed in the game, with nervous chants of "Curry! Curry!'' breaking out.

The Warriors moved within five points on Harrison Barnes' pull-up jumper with 2:48 to play but never got closer. After starting 3-0 at home in the playoffs, Golden State fell short again in maybe the biggest basketball game in the Bay Area in decades.

The Warriors have not held a series lead beyond the first round since the 1975-76 season, when they went up 2-1 and 3-2 against Phoenix in the conference finals and lost. That also was last time the Warriors made the conference finals, though there were only three rounds in the playoffs at that time.

"We talked about it, even after winning Game 2, this is going to be a heavyweight championship fight,'' Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. "This is a different animal that we're going against. They have four future Hall of Famers. They're not going to lie down.''

After trailing for 95 of 106 minutes in the first two games of the series, San Antonio had by far its best start behind its All-Star point guard.

Parker scored 13 points in the first quarter on 6-of-8 shooting, including a desperation bank shot after getting fouled by Green that gave the Spurs a 32-23 lead. The largest lead for San Antonio, which went ahead by 11 points throughout the second quarter, previously was five - all the way back in the second overtime of its Game 1 comeback win.

All-Star forward David Lee sparked Golden State with his first appearance in the series after tearing his right hip flexor in the first-round opener against Denver and originally deemed out for the season. Lee, held scoreless in a brief appearance in the Game 6 clincher over the Nuggets, instantly put back an offensive rebound while getting fouled by Tiago Splitter to start a three-point play that sent fans into a frenzy.

Lee finished with five points and two rebounds in three minutes.

Parker swished a pull-up jumper over Green to put the Spurs up 57-48 at halftime. He had 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting in the first half, while Curry (9 points) and Thompson (3 points) combined for 12 points.

The Warriors erased the deficit a little more than halfway through the third quarter when Curry's quick 3-pointer evened the score at 65-all. Bogut exited with 6:34 remaining in the period after picking up his fourth foul, and the Spurs surged ahead by 11 behind a quick burst from Manu Ginobili with Golden State's big man buried on the bench.

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NOTES: Duncan received a technical foul for shoving Bogut while running back on defense in the first quarter. The whistle came after Bogut had just dunked and dangled his legs around Duncan's shoulders trying to regain his balance. ... San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York, general manager Trent Baalke, QB Colin Kaepernick and running back Frank Gore were sprinkled throughout the crowd along with other team executives. ... Rick Barry, the MVP of the 1975 NBA Finals won by the Warriors, and comedian Dave Chappelle also were shown on the videoboard wearing yellow shirts.

 

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James, Bosh lead Heat past Bulls, 104-94



CHICAGO (AP) So much for South Beach style. The Miami Heat showed again they can get down and dirty.

LeBron James came on strong down the stretch to finish with 25 points, Chris Bosh added 20 points and 19 rebounds, and the Heat followed up the most lopsided playoff win in franchise history with a 104-94 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Shaking off a shove to the court that earned Nazr Mohammed an ejection and James an accusation of flopping from Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, the four-time MVP came through down the stretch, scoring 12 in the fourth quarter.

Norris Cole matched his postseason career high with his second straight 18-point performance, and the Heat pulled out a tight win after blasting the Bulls 115-78 on Wednesday.

This time, Chicago refused to go quietly. Never mind that the Bulls were coming off the worst playoff loss in franchise history. Put aside the fact that the ailing Luol Deng and injured Kirk Hinrich (calf) remained sidelined, not to mention Derrick Rose, or that Mohammed got ejected in the second quarter for shoving James to the floor.

In the end, it was the Heat grinding out the victory.

"You can't win a championship being pretty and shiny,'' Bosh said. "You're going to have to get dirty. You're going to have to play physical. You're going to have to dive on the floor. You're going to have to do things that are extremely tough.

"I think people forget just two years ago we were a halfcourt, grind-it-out kind of team that was trying to beat you down. Just because we've moved to more of a free-flowing offense, we're more spread a little bit, that doesn't mean that we are just a run-and-gun team.''

The Heat prevailed on a night when James was off target most of the way, hitting just 6 of 17 shots and even getting blocked on a layup by Nate Robinson in the third quarter.

But he and Cole hit two big 3-pointers. Bosh perked up after two quiet games, finishing one rebound shy of the club playoff record, and Miami's bench outscored Chicago's 36-8.

"For (Bosh) to have 19 rebounds and for Norris to come off the bench and defend the way he did against Nate and also contribute offensively - a big-time drive in the fourth and a big-time 3 as well,'' James said. "Those two guys were the reason we won the game.''

Carlos Boozer led Chicago with 21 points. Robinson and Jimmy Butler each scored 17. Joakim Noah added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Marco Belinelli had 16 points, but the Bulls couldn't pull this one out.

They were within 85-83 when Cole scored on a finger roll with about four minutes left and Miami started to take control from there. James answered a 3-pointer by Belinelli with one of his own, and after Boozer hit a jumper for Chicago, Cole buried another 3 for the Heat to make it 96-88 with 1:48 remaining.

Finally, the Heat could breathe a little easier. Nothing about this one was easy, though.

Playing in Chicago for the first time since their 27-game win streak ended there, the Heat got all they could handle.

The Bulls made it clear early on they were going to put up a fight, and that had nothing to do with all the pushing and shoving.

Yes, there was plenty of that again. After Noah and Taj Gibson got ejected in Game 2, things got tense early on in this one.

There was Miami's Chris Andersen landing on a driving Robinson late in the first quarter, and Noah giving the Heat forward a shove while he was still down.

Things reached a boiling point early in the second.

With James dribbling upcourt, Mohammed said he reached in because he wanted to take a foul and stop a potential break. Their arms got tangled. Mohammed fell, and when he got up, he gave James a hard shove to the court.

Both players picked up technicals. Mohammed got tossed with 9:29 left in the half, and that, he said, he didn't deserve. He did, however, point the finger at himself for delivering that shove, but he also insinuated that James flopped.

"I mean you saw the play,'' Mohammed said, laughing.

Thibodeau came right out and said James did just that.

"From my angle, I just saw a guy basically, flop,'' Thibodeau said. "And I'm going to leave it at that.''

James sat there for a few moments before his teammates helped him up and opted not to retaliate.

"I'm here to play basketball,'' he said.

For the Bulls, the ejection forced an already short-handed team to get by without another player.

"That's the way our league is now,'' Robinson said. "It's not like back in the day when Isiah Thomas and guys damn near had fights back in the day and nobody use to get kicked out. But you've got to play through it.''

All that overshadowed the fact that the Bulls were hanging with the Heat and were down just 52-50 at halftime after taking that ridiculous beating in Game 2.

Chicago got Boozer involved in the early going and he responded with 14 points in the first half after averaging just seven in the first two games of the series. Belinelli had 12, hitting three 3-pointers. But like Boozer, he also picked up three fouls.

Bosh also asserted himself for Miami with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the half, and Cole scored 11 in the first two quarters.

"We knew that being at home the Bulls were going to be a little more aggressive,'' Bosh said. "Probably a little bit more passionate and a little bit more intense. Those were storms we were going to have to weather.''


Notes: Gibson said he was not surprised the league fined him $25,000 for the outburst toward an official that led to his ejection from Game 2. He also sounded relieved that the punishment from the league on Friday was not worse. "I knew I was going to get hit,'' he said. "I was just hoping it wasn't a suspension, but I deserved (the fine).'' ... Bulls great Scottie Pippen got a loud ovation when he presented the game ball before the opening tip. ... Has this been a physical series? Despite all the pushing and shoving in the first two games, Heat F Udonis Haslem said before this one that idea was being "overexaggerated.'' He added, "Everybody wants to say it's physical, but the Clippers and Memphis just got over a physical series, and everybody thought that was fun to watch. Now this is a physical series. It's just two teams playing at a high level, and that's it.''

 

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Grizzlies take 2-1 lead beating Thunder 87-81



MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) The Memphis Grizzlies call it grit and grind, and it got them through another ugly game.

Marc Gasol scored 20 points and hit two free throws with 1:03 left to put Memphis ahead to stay, and the Grizzlies held off Oklahoma City 87-81 Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in this Western Conference semifinal.

Gasol scored 16 in the second half as Memphis remained unbeaten at home in the postseason.

The Grizzlies pulled out the win in a choppy performance for both teams following a three-day layoff since Game 2 with the Thunder beating them at their own game, dominating the boards and in the paint. After struggling at the free throw line in Oklahoma City, the Grizzlies hit all six at the line in the final 1:03 to clinch it.

"We just stayed after it like we've done all year long,'' Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. "It's not always pretty. Tonight wasn't pretty, but it was pretty for us because we got the win.''

Game 4 is Monday night in Memphis, and Hollins wants one more home win for a franchise in its second Western semifinal in two seasons. The Grizzlies lost to Oklahoma City in seven games in 2011 after splitting Games 3 and 4 in Memphis. But they are 18-1 at home since Feb. 8.

"I'd rather take my chances with where we're sitting now and try to win all of our home games,'' Hollins said. "We got a long way to go, and we got to keep battling.''

Kevin Durant scored 25 points, but only two in the fourth quarter. A 91 percent free throw shooter in the regular season, Durant missed two with 39.3 seconds left. Durant also had 11 rebounds and five assists.

"It's frustrating, but we can't hang our heads,'' Durant said. "We have to keep playing and keep improving. We just have to learn from it. We have to embrace the tough times and get better from it. I believe in my teammates.''

Though his teammates, with Russell Westbrook out with a knee injury, need to give him more help.

The Thunder had their worst scoring and shooting performance this postseason. Reggie Jackson had 16 points for Oklahoma city, and Kevin Martin and Serge Ibaka each added 13. Jackson and Ibaka also grabbed 10 rebounds apiece. Durant went 3 of 11 from the floor in the second half, and his teammates went a combined 23 of 69 for the game.

Tony Allen had his best game in this series, scoring 14 points for Memphis. Jerryd Bayless added 11. Zach Randolph scored only eight points but had 10 rebounds.

"It was definitely a good feeling because we didn't play the best Grizzlies' basketball that we know we can play as a team,'' Randolph said.

Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks insisted he liked the shots his Thunder took, even though they didn't get as many wide-open looks beyond the arc as they did in the first two games.

"We are hopeful that we get those same shots in the next game,'' Brooks said.

The Grizzlies built leads repeatedly, getting to as much as 10 in the second quarter.

Memphis won despite not winning in the categories the Grizzlies usually dominate. The Thunder outrebounded them 51-44, with a 14-5 edge on the offensive glass. The Thunder also outscored the Grizz 44-30 in the paint, with a 23-7 edge on fast-break points.

The Thunder didn't score after Derek Fisher hit a 3-pointer with 1:58 left, a shot tying for the eighth and final time at 81. The Grizzlies' edge came from getting to the line where they hit more free throws (23 of 28) than Oklahoma City even took (12 of 19).

"Obviously, they beat us in a lot of different areas tonight,'' said Memphis guard Mike Conley, who hit all four free throws in the final minute. "For us to come away with the win, we are very happy. We will take it, but it just goes to show we have a lot of work to do. We have to do better the next game.''

The rust from the layoff showed early for both teams. Ibaka missed not one but two dunks in the first half, Thabo Sefolosha had an airball and the Grizzlies, who had been so good at limiting turnovers, had five in the first quarter alone.

Hollins switched up his defense on Durant from the first two games in Oklahoma City.

He didn't put Allen, who finished fifth in voting for Defensive Player of the Year, on Durant until the final minutes of Game 2. This time, he alternated Allen with Tayshaun Prince defending Durant throughout the first half. Allen played Durant most of the third, and that helped limit Durant to 2 of 7 shooting in the quarter as the Thunder went 4 of 20 from the floor.

"He is a great defender, don't get me wrong,'' Durant said about Allen. "But it's the Grizzlies' team defense. I need to make the right plays for my team. I missed a few shots in the second half.''

Memphis led 66-60 at the end of the third quarter. The Grizzlies pushed that to 71-62 on a 3 by Keyon Dooling and a 19-foot jumper by Darrell Arthur. Then the Thunder scored six straight, the last on a dunk by Martin forcing Hollins to take a timeout.

The Grizzlies, who had hit only one of their first nine 3-pointers, hit 3 of 5 in the third quarter to take a 77-70 lead when Pondexter knocked down a 3 with 6:29 left. Pondexter also helped defend Durant in the fourth quarter.

The Thunder led 45-44 at halftime. Durant scored 14 of the Thunder's first 24 points as he connected on five of his first six shots.

The Grizzlies grabbed their biggest lead at 28-18 on a 28-footer by Bayless. Then Gasol picked up his second foul with 9:02 left and went to the bench for the rest of the half.


Notes: DeAngelo Williams, the former Memphis running back now with the NFL's Carolina Panthers, and rapper Lil Wayne had courtside seats with Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones also on hand. ... Durant extended his streak with 20 or more points to 35 straight playoff games. ... Durant had his second-lowest scoring game this postseason, a point off the 24 he had in the opener against Houston. ... The Thunder went 17-4 after a loss in the regular season. ... The Grizzlies had their 14th straight postseason sellout.

 

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Pacers protect home court, beat Knicks 82-71



INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Indiana Pacers kept everything in front of them Saturday night.

The Pacers didn't let the Knicks get away from them on fast breaks, didn't let the Knicks get good 3-point looks and didn't even give New York a chance to challenge late.

Instead, Roy Hibbert, Paul George and Indiana showed what it can do when it plays its game.

Hibbert finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while George nearly came up with another postseason triple double, leading the Pacers to a crucial 82-71 Game 3 victory and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.

"That's how we play Pacers basketball,'' George said. "We just locked in, and it was just helping one another on the defensive end.''

Sure, Indiana could have been sidetracked by the embarrassing 26-point loss at New York in Game 2. Or it could have gotten caught up in the pregame banter about Amare Stoudemire's impending return or J.R Smith's sudden illness.

But the Pacers never got distracted.

Coach Frank Vogel's bunch followed the same game plan it has all season -- locking down defensively, winning the rebounding battle and protecting its home court.

Check, check and check.

Indiana limited the Knicks to 35.2 percent shooting from the floor, allowed just three 3-pointers and forced 15 turnovers. And, of course, the league's No. 1 rebounding team dominated the glass again, finishing with a 53-40 rebounding edge and a 20-10 edge in second-chance points.

It was enough to allow the Pacers to overcome a 28 for 80 shooting performance that included a season-high 33 3-point attempts.

"They outrebounded us, they won the hustle today, the little things,'' Carmelo Anthony said. "It all came down to us not scoring the basketball. ... We can't beat anyone scoring 71 points.''

It's the same formula Indiana won Game 1, and now, if Indiana wins a fifth straight home playoff game Tuesday night, it will head back to Madison Square Garden with a commanding lead over a longtime rival.

How did the Pacers do it again? They relied on scoring balance and in-your-face defense.

HIbbert kept loose balls alive in his best playoff performance of this postseason. Vogel called it his best playoff game ever.

George struggled to score, finishing with 14 points, but he also finished had eight rebounds and eight assists and caused plenty of consternation for Anthony and others on defense.

David West got off to a slow start but finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds and George Hill knocked down five 3s and he finished with 17 points.

"We didn't change much in terms of our physicality,'' West said. "I just thought we were a little bit more precise defensively in terms of our communication and we shored some things up. We didn't allow them to get some of the things they got in the second game in New York.''

The Knicks had only one player in double figures. Carmelo Anthony scored 21, but the NBA scoring champion went j6 of 16 from the field, managed only two points and no baskets in the fourth quarter and finished well below his playoff scoring average of 29.3.

He was hardly alone.

Smith gave it a go although his shooting woes continued. He went 4 of 12, scored nine points and walked directly to locker room when he was replaced midway through the fourth quarter. A few minutes later, he came back into the game and is now just 11 of 42 from the field in the series.

Stoudemire looked rusty in his return, making just 3 of 8 eight shots -- one a dunk, another on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the third quarter -- and finished with seven points and two rebounds.

The Knicks led once in the game, for just 76 seconds, and barely escaped the ignominy of setting a franchise playoff record for fewest points in a game. The all-time low is 67. New York didn't hit 68 until Kenyon Martin's dunk with 1:39 to play.

"Offensively, we just didn't have anything,'' coach Mike Woodson said. "I thought defensively, we hung in there and did what we had had to do, but we just didn't have any offensive pop and we have to figure that out.''

And fast or the second-seeded Knicks will spend the rest of this series playing catch-up.

New York had a chance midway through the third quarter when it closed the deficit to 44-41. But instead of faltering, as the Pacers did in Game 2, they thrived on New York's miscues.

When Tyson Chandler was called for his third foul, he lost his cool and was whistled for a technical foul. That allowed the Pacers to score three points on the possession. West followed that with a 19-foot jumper and after Chandler went 1-of-2 from the free throw line, Indiana seized control with a 9-0 run that made it 58-44.

Stoudemire's buzzer-beater to end the quarter got the Knicks within 62-51 and New York eventually got as close as 65-57 with 9:10 left. But Indiana answered with seven straight points and never let the Knicks challenge again.

"Our guys usually do what you emphasize,'' Vogel said. "We don't want to do it at the expense of giving up things up at the rim. But we were able to guard the paint and the 3-point line, and that's the goal.''


Notes: The Pacers are 4-0 at home with an average victory margin of 16.5 points. ... New York is now 0-3 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse this season. ... Saturday's loss marked the first time New York lost in this year's playoffs while holding a team to fewer than 90 points. The Knicks are now 5-1. ... Movie director Spike Lee showed up inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse for Game 3 in a Knicks jersey and orange hat.

 

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Warriors beat Spurs 97-87 in OT, even series 2-2



OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) His spirits down, his left ankle limp and his team's season hanging in the balance, Stephen Curry wondered whether he could recover for the biggest game of his career until a text message popped up on his phone around 2 a.m. Saturday.

Curry called back his mother, Sonya, and vented his frustrations about his latest - and most inopportune - injury setback. Finally, she spoke up to calm his concerns.

"She just reminded me and battled tested me to rely on my teammates for support,'' Curry said.

What followed was a Mother's Day masterpiece.

Curry scored 22 points to go with six rebounds and four assists on a bum ankle, rallying the Golden State Warriors past the San Antonio Spurs 97-87 in overtime Sunday to even the Western Conference semifinal at two games apiece.

"It seems like every time you get on a roll and feel somewhat healthy there's a setback,'' said Curry, who shot 7 of 15 from the floor, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. "And it just tests you. It changes your routine. It changes your outlook on the game, your preparation. You've got to deal with the injury and the adjustments you're making as a team.''

Game 5 is Tuesday in San Antonio.

Curry and the Warriors overcame the obstacles with contributions from all over.

Rookie Harrison Barnes had a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds, Jarrett Jack added 24 points in reserve and Andrew Bogut grabbed 18 rebounds to help Golden State erase an eight-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation. The Warriors scored the first nine points of overtime to whip the yellow-shirt wearing crowd of 19,596 into a frenzy and give this topsy-turvy series yet another twist.

Even Warriors coach Mark Jackson doubted whether Curry could play, especially after his star point guard took an anti-inflammatory injection in the morning to ease the soreness in his sprained ankle and still had trouble getting loose. Jackson cornered Curry outside the chapel service at the arena to see how he felt.

"He said, "I'm going to give you what I got, coach.' That's not the language he speaks. I knew right away that he was not 100 percent,'' said Jackson, who conferred with general manager Bob Myers in his office before letting Curry play. "Once again, it's that same spirit flowing through that locker room that refuses to quit.''

Even for all of the theater Curry provided, the Spurs seized control of a sloppy slugfest at the start until going cold shooting when it mattered most.

Tony Parker, wearing a black sleeve around his bruised left calf, poured in 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting but never broke free the way he did in scoring 32 points the previous contest, saying the injury limited his ability to elevate. Manu Ginobili had 21 points and Tim Duncan added 19 points and 15 rebounds as the Spurs ran out of steam in the end.

"We put ourselves in a position to win the game and it's frustrating because we feel like we gave it away,'' Duncan said.

Golden State outshot San Antonio 38 to 35.5 percent. The Warriors also outrebounded the Spurs 65-51.

"They did a good job in overtime. Just as simple as that,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

Ginobili hit a mid-range jumper and a 3-pointer, and Kawhi Leonard put back a rebound for an easy layup to put the Spurs ahead 80-72 with 4:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. With the series slipping away from the Warriors, their home sellout crowd sat down and fell silent for one of the few times in the fourth quarter all postseason.

Jack hit three jumpers and Klay Thompson added another to pull the Warriors even with less than a minute to play in regulation. After Parker provided a jumper to put the Spurs ahead 84-82, Thompson dribbled to his right and banked in the tying shot over Leonard with 30 seconds left.

Both teams missed shots to win in regulation, and the Warriors turned the extra session into a runaway.

Curry capped the overtime spurt with a floating layup, drawing a foul on Duncan to begin a three-point play that gave Golden State a 93-84 lead. San Antonio missed its first nine shots - and two free throws by Danny Green - to start overtime until Green's corner 3 with 1:29 remaining.

By then, it was too late - Curry had taken control again.

"He's a player that you may see him playing on one leg, one arm, and you got to guard him,'' Ginobili said. "So you got to respect him. He can really go off at any time.''

The upstart Warriors are once again on the brink of something big.

The franchise hadn't won two games beyond the first round since 1977, when it pulled even with the Lakers in the conference semifinals through four games before losing in seven. This time, all the odds seemed against them again.

The tight turnaround from Friday night's game to the early afternoon start Sunday surely didn't help Curry's cause.

Curry clearly favored his left ankle and never showed any burst off the dribble, often getting face-guarded by Spurs defenders and taken out of the offense. Some of his teammates even wondered whether he'd respond.

"Watching him warm up, I said, "Man, there's no way this kid is playing,''' Jack said. "Then watching him run around on one leg, he looked like Isiah Thomas against the Lakers in the finals, man. The performance he put on down the stretch, making plays, making shots, defensively, I sat back and was honestly in awe.''

With Curry quieted on the perimeter early and Bogut benched in foul trouble most of the first half, the Warriors missed 13 straight shots and went scoreless for 7:10. The Spurs scored 14 unanswered points during that spurt, Ginobili made his first four 3s and the Spurs later took a 41-30 lead midway through the second quarter on Green's put-back dunk.

The Warriors had been 0-3 when trailing after three quarters this postseason until Curry and company came back.

Curry hadn't checked in with his family when he spoke to reporters while soaking his feet in a bucket of ice in the locker room afterward. But he knew they were all watching from North Carolina with his brother, Seth, who was graduating from Duke.

"It was,'' he said, "a big day for the Currys.''

NOTES: Warriors All-Star F David Lee, who had five rebounds in a little less than 8 minutes, said surgery is "more than likely'' on his torn right hip flexor after the season but plans to keep playing sparingly in the playoffs. Lee, hurt in Game 1 in the first round against Denver, had had been uncertain whether a procedure would be necessary. ... The Warriors had never hosted an overtime playoff game in the Bay Area. ... It was the most points Ginobili had scored since he had 21 against New Orleans on Jan. 7. ... Game 6 is Thursday in Oakland and Game 7, if necessary, would be in San Antonio on Sunday.

 

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Grizzlies beat Thunder in OT for 3-1 series lead



MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) The Grizzlies pulled off a huge rally to move within a victory of the franchise's first Western Conference final.

Tony Allen scored on a driving layup to open overtime and the Grizzlies held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-97 Monday night to push the defending Western Conference champions to the edge of elimination.

The Grizzlies shook off a first half in which they couldn't hit shots and the Thunder seemingly couldn't miss in building their largest lead in this series at 17 points.

But Memphis has yet to lose on its home court this postseason and now is 19-1 here since Feb. 8. They won their third straight overall and seventh in eight games to grab a 3-1 lead in this best-of-seven series with a win that left coach Lionel Hollins very impressed with the comeback.

"We are a team that just plays hard and doesn't quit,'' Hollins said. "We scratch. We claw. They said grit and grind. I don't know what the heck that means, but we go out and we just battle. We compete. We're not the most talented team that's in the playoffs when we started out. We're not the most talented team that's left in the playoffs. But we go and compete.''

The Grizzlies have won only two playoff series in their rather short history. They know what a 3-1 lead means.

"We have an opportunity in front of us that we can take advantage of,'' Grizzlies guard Mike Conley said. "I know our guys are focused. We're treating it one game at a time. We know they're going to fight like they have their backs against the wall just like they did tonight. They're going to play with a sense of urgency, and we have to be ready.''

Game 5 is Wednesday night in Oklahoma City, and the Thunder have played in the Western finals each of the past two playoffs. But they don't have Russell Westbrook in this series, and Kevin Durant hasn't been able to make the key plays at the end now in three straight games.

"It's not over yet, and we understand that,'' Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "It's the first to four. They're in a good position, but our challenge is not impossible. It's something that we can do. We just have to focus one possession, one game at a time. Hopefully, we can do that and come back here Friday night. There's a barbeque festival right?''

The Grizzlies outscored the Thunder 9-3 in overtime as Oklahoma City went 1 of 8 from the floor.

Durant scored 27 points. But the man leading the league this postseason in scoring missed all five of his shots in the extra period, including a layup in the final seconds. Durant went 2 of 13 in the fourth quarter and overtime and had only five points. He did score on a driving layup that forced overtime.

The All Star played 48 minutes and was just short on his shots as the game wore on. Asked why he drove for the tying layup in regulation instead of a 3to win, Durant said he saw a wide-open lane.

"I just went to get as close as I could and try to send it to overtime, which we did,'' Durant said. "They made more plays than us in overtime, and they got the win.''

Durant got the help from his teammates that he had been needing. Kevin Martin scored 18 points, Serge Ibaka had his best game of the series with 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Reggie Jackson had 15. Nick Collison even added 10. Even with a break early in the second quarter, Durant played 48 minutes, 19 seconds.

Not that Durant will acknowledge he's tired.

"Well, it is midnight, and my bedtime is usually around 12 o'clock or so,'' Durant said. "I'm a little sleepy because it's past my bedtime. But other than that, I'm good.''

Conley led Memphis with 24 points and Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph each had double-doubles. Randolph had 23 and 12, while Gasol had 23 and 11 along with six blocks on the day the Defensive Player of Year was named to the NBA's second All-Defensive team along with Conley, who had four steals.

Allen, who finished with 10 points, had three steals on the day he edged LeBron James for most points for the NBA's All-Defensive team.

In 2011, the Grizzlies were the team that blew the big lead in the first half of Game 4 with the Thunder pulling out the win to even up the series. They also wasted home-court advantage last year in the playoffs in the opening round against the Clippers.

This time, the Thunder were up by as much as 17 in the first half and 12 in the third. But Memphis used a 20-8 run in the third to get back into this game. The Grizzlies had a chance to close out the win when Ibaka blocked a shot by Randolph just before the buzzer in regulation before doing just that in overtime.

"Two years ago when we went three overtimes and we weren't feeling like this two years ago, so it feels good,'' Randolph said. "But we're focused, and we know what we got to do Wednesday. Come out and play. They're going to come out and play hard. It's not over yet.''

But Allen scored to open overtime, then Randolph rebounded a miss by Gasol and scored on a putback. Derek Fisher, who missed his first four shots, finally hit a 3-pointer. But the 38-year-old veteran also had his inbound pass stolen by Allen with 21.1 seconds left and Memphis up 100-97.

"We came up a little short,'' Brooks said.

The Thunder spent most of the past two days talking about the need to make shots. They did just that to open the game, hitting three of their first five in scoring the first seven points and led 29-18 at the end of the first quarter for their biggest lead in this series. Ibaka found his shooting stroke after struggling through this series, and he had nine points in the first 12 minutes, including a 3-pointer, with seven rebounds.

Oklahoma City had its biggest lead on a corner 3 by Durant that gave Oklahoma City a 46-29 lead with 4:26 left.

Memphis showed signs of life trimming the Thunder's lead to 56-48 at halftime. Oklahoma City thought it had a double-digit lead when Ibaka beat the buzzer with a putback off a missed Durant 3. But officials reviewed the play and waved the bucket off.

Tayshaun Prince said the Grizzlies talked at halftime in the locker room happy to get it under 10. The pep talk was simple.

"We just told ourselves: "Look, we can't play no worse than we did in that first half,''' Prince said.

Notes: The Grizzlies sold out their 15th straight postseason game. ... All three Grizzlies' wins in the series have been by six points each. ... The Thunder now have lost three straight. They lost three straight only once during the regular season. ... The Grizzlies have won 11 games when trailing by at least 17 points since Hollins' first season as head coach in 2009-10. That's the most in the NBA in that time.

 

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James, Heat beat Bulls 88-65 for 3-1 series lead



CHICAGO (AP) LeBron James and the Miami Heat didn't even give the Chicago Bulls room to breathe, practically squeezing the playoff life out of them to take a commanding lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal.

Another effort like this will seal it.

James scored 27 points and the Heat nearly matched a franchise record for fewest points allowed in a playoff game, pounding the listless and short-handed Bulls 88-65 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in the series.

"We worked for it,'' said Heat forward Chris Bosh. "I never like to say that things are easy.''

The Heat sure made it look that way, though.

The 65 points allowed were only two more than the all-time postseason low for a Miami opponent, and it was easily the worst offensive performance by a Chicago team in the playoffs.

Never before had the Bulls scored fewer than 69 in a playoff game nor 10 or less in a quarter during the postseason, but both those marks fell on a night when they were dominated on both ends of the floor.

Miami led by 11 at the half and put this one away in the third quarter, outscoring Chicago 17-9 in the period.

Now the Heat will try to wrap up the series at home Wednesday night, taking what they hope will be the next step toward a second straight championship.

It's hard to believe the Bulls won the series opener the way the past three games have gone.

Miami pounded Chicago in Game 2, coming away with its most lopsided playoff victory while handing the Bulls their worst ever postseason loss - and the Heat continued to roll from there.

James had his usual complete game with eight assists and seven rebounds Monday.

Bosh finished with 14 points after scoring 20 and grabbing 19 rebounds in Game 3, and the Heat won again despite another quiet night from Dwyane Wade (six points), whose right knee was bothering him again. He appeared to aggravate it on a fallaway jumper during the game but was able to return after getting re-taped.

"It's frustrating at times, but you just try to do what you can,'' Wade said.

Norris Cole also struggled with seven points after back-to-back 18-point performances, but the Heat had more than enough in this one.

They shot about 49 percent while the Bulls set a franchise playoff low at 25.7 percent. Chicago was particularly bad from the outside, going 2 for 17 from 3-point range.

The Bulls again were missing ailing Luol Deng and injured Kirk Hinrich (calf), and a team that kept finding ways to win despite being short-handed all season simply appeared to run out of steam, even though coach Tom Thibodeau rejected that idea.

"No,'' he said. "I think the thing is they're (Heat) a great team. We have to come out with great intensity - but we also have to make shots.''

There's no denying the Bulls have been in a tough spot all year with Derrick Rose recovering from knee surgery and just about every other major player sidelined at some point. They've been hit particularly hard in the postseason, too.

"They're in a tough situation,'' James said. "They've had some injuries and illnesses and whatever's going on. They don't have their full roster, but that's not for us to worry about. They beat a very good Brooklyn team (in the first round) without their full roster.''

Carlos Boozer had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double in the postseason but was just 3 of 14 from the field. Jimmy Butler scored 12 and Joakim Noah grabbed nine rebounds, but it was a miserable night for Chicago - particularly Nate Robinson. With Cole and Mario Chalmers harassing him and the big men helping out, he missed all 12 of his shots and did not score.

He said he fell hard on his left shoulder on a pick-and-roll at one point, although he couldn't remember exactly when, and had it wrapped in ice afterward. Then he took off the wrapping and threw it hard to the floor.

"Go back to the drawing board and figure it out,'' he said.

Richard Hamilton scored 11 points in a rare postseason appearance, and the former All-Star guard made it clear afterward he's not thrilled with his reduced role.

"Lot of stuff in life you don't understand,'' he said. "This (playoffs) is what I was brought here for. To not be able play and help my teammates, it's hard, it's rough. But I try to stay positive. I don't try to rock the boat.''

Hamilton said he and Thibodeau have talked. Then, he reiterated, "It's hard to understand.''

James scored 15 points and Bosh added 12 in the first half to help the Heat take a 44-33 lead at the break, but that doesn't even come close to telling the complete story.

Consider this.

Miami shot just under 53 percent, with the Bulls at about 27 percent. Chicago was also 1 of 11 on 3-pointers, and the only conversion from long range came from Hamilton.

"We're kind of putting screws and bandages everywhere. It's frustrating,'' said Bulls forward Taj Gibson. "Every night and every day.''

Notes: The Heat and Bulls were well represented on the NBA's all-defensive first team, with James and Noah being selected. ... Thibodeau had nothing to say about the $35,000 fine from the league for comments he made about the officiating in Game 3. Asked if he was surprised by the amount, he said, "I've got no comment on that. We're just getting ready for Game 4.'' ... Deng was listed as active after initially being ruled out for Chicago. Hinrich and Rose were inactive.

 

[fastbreak]

Parker leads Spurs past Warriors for 3-2 lead



SAN ANTONIO (AP) Gregg Popovich urged his San Antonio Spurs to raise their energy to almost maniacal levels, because winning the battle on the boards and for loose balls was critical against the athletic Golden State Warriors.

The Spurs responded to their coach's message, outworking and outmuscling Golden State to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

Tony Parker had 25 points and 10 assists, and the Spurs held the Warriors' starting backcourt to 13 points for a 109-91 victory Tuesday night.

The Spurs outrebounded the Warriors 38-36, forced 14 turnovers and limited them to 16 second-chance points.

"Our energy was good,'' Parker said. "We got the 50-50 ball; that was huge for us tonight. It was a tough turnaround for us in Game 4. We missed an opportunity at the end and we realize that. Tonight we played for 48 minutes.''

Kawhi Leonard added 17 points, Danny Green scored 16 and Tim Duncan had 14 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio.

Harrison Barnes scored 25 points, Jarrett Jack added 20 and Carl Landry 16 for Golden State, but Stephen Curry was held to nine points.

"I was terrible, plain and simple,'' Curry said. "They outplayed us as a team. Individually, I didn't have anything on either end. (I was) a step slow, my shot wasn't falling and I was trying to make plays but defensively I lost a little focus.''

Parker took advantage, going 9 for 16 and turning the ball over only twice in 34 minutes.

His energy was just as big a spark.

Parker dove over Jarrett Jack midway through the third quarter to corral a loose ball, rising to lead a fast break that resulted in a dunk by Green.

Even Popovich displayed more energy, chasing referee Ed Malloy down the sidelines from the free throw line to just past midcourt while screaming and motioning for a timeout with 9 minutes left in the game.

The added energy was especially evident against Curry and Klay Thompson.

The Spurs held Mark Jackson's self-proclaimed "greatest shooting backcourt'' in NBA history to 6-for-22 shooting. Curry was 1 for 7 on 3-pointers, while Thompson was held to four points while not even attempting a 3.

"The series for us is all about the defense,'' Popovich said. "(Leonard and Green) did a good job; (there were) other people who did good work out there. We got a lot of mismatches. They love those mismatches, so we have to play intelligently. I thought we did that tonight.

"But we followed up the defense with a board. There is no stop until the board is secured. That was our main emphasis going into the game.''

Curry has not missed any time since turning his left ankle late in Game 3, but the injury seemed to limit his explosiveness.

Leonard stripped Curry and then outran him to the ball midway through the first quarter, feeding Parker for an uncontested layup. Curry appeared to grimace when he attempted to push off to sprint for the loose ball.

"It is sore, but I came in feeling good,'' Curry said. "I was pretty optimistic about how I could play tonight, but it didn't go that way.''

He played only 4 1/2 minutes in the fourth quarter, leaving the game for good with 4 minutes left and San Antonio leading 102-84.

"It got to a point where they had made plays and I had to look towards Game 6,'' Jackson said. "It was just being smart, that's all. I didn't want to see him get hurt. Obviously, he wasn't 100 percent. I just felt if we were going to make a run, let's make a run and then maybe get him back in, but it was just a long night for us.''

The Spurs led for all but the opening 6 minutes of the game and moved one game closer to advancing to their 12th conference finals in franchise history.

"Nobody talks about getting this over with like you've got a rash,'' Popovich said. "Like you can take a pill or put some cream on it, it's going to be gone. This is a war. They're a class team; they bust their ass at both ends of the floor. It's not about getting rid of anything. It's about going and playing and that's about it.''

San Antonio went on a 12-2 run to take a 102-84 lead with 4 minutes remaining. The Warriors missed two shots and had two turnovers to facilitate the Spurs' run.

San Antonio shot 72 percent in the first quarter, pounding the ball inside for layups and kick outs to open shooters in taking a 10-point lead.

Duncan battered Andrew Bogut early, making San Antonio's first three baskets on a drive and a jumper over the Australian and on a layup against Landry off a hard pick by Tiago Splitter.

San Antonio went on a 15-0 run on a series of drives to the basket and low-post moves, taking a 27-15 lead.

Curry and Thompson were held to a combined four points on 2-for-10 shooting in the opening 16 minutes, but Barnes had 13 points and Jack seven.

"We just missed shots,'' Curry said. "Early in the game I got a little off balance a couple (times) trying to get a foul. They play good defense. We didn't get into a rhythm. We just missed shots.''

Curry did not make his first 3 until there were 2 minutes left in the first half.

The Spurs stopped going inside in the second quarter, helping Golden State rally.

The Spurs returned to attacking the basket in the third, resulting in another double-digit lead.

NOTES: Duncan surpassed Shaquille O'Neal and tied Wilt Chamberlain for second on the career postseason list in double-doubles with his 143rd. Magic Johnson heads the list with 157 during his Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Lakers. . Parker passed Chauncey Billups for fourth in postseason assists among active players with 832. New York's Jason Kidd (1,258), the Lakers' Steve Nash (1,061) and Boston's Rajon Rondo (845) are ahead of Parker. . Richard Jefferson, who played with San Antonio from 2010-2011, continues to receive a chorus of boos from the Spurs' fans whenever he enters the game or makes a shot.

 

[fastbreak]

Pacers rout Knicks 93-82 to take 3-1 series lead



INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Indiana Pacers finally figured it out.

When given the chance to take command of a playoff series, they can't give it back. On Tuesday night, they didn't.

George Hill scored 26 points and Paul George had 18 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, leading the Pacers past the New York Knicks, 93-82 and to within one win of their first conference finals appearance since 2004.

"We wanted it,'' George said. "For us to come out with that edge, still, after being up 2-1 and being on our floor for Game 4, for us to be up and ready and have an edge to play, it just speaks to how focused we are right now.''

It was a far cry from what Indiana experienced a week ago in New York. Or last year at home against Miami.

Last week, the Knicks rallied from a Game 1 loss, using a 30-2 run to blow out Indiana at Madison Square Garden and even the series.

A year ago, the Pacers held a 2-1 lead over Miami but gave away Game 4 and never won again. Miami went on to win the NBA crown.

So the Pacers went into Tuesday night determined not let it happen again, certainly not with former stars Reggie Miller and Rik Smits in the house watching their old team hand it to their old rivals.

"I just think that our focus has been better than it was,'' Indiana's David West said. "We might have surprised ourselves going in there and getting Game 1. Naturally, we may have had a little letdown, but we talked about maintaining our home court and our focus in these two games and we were able to accomplish that. Our next goal is to compete hard with an opportunity for a close-out game in a tough environment.''

The Pacers were strong defensively again, had another big rebounding advantage (54-36) and never really let the Knicks challenge them in the second half. They can wrap up the series Thursday night in New York.

Desperate New York tried everything to change the script. Nothing worked.

Kenyon Martin played 29 minutes and J.R. Smith logged 31 1/2 despite missing practice Sunday and Monday because they were ill. Guard Iman Shumpert started even with a sore and swollen left knee that had the Knicks so worried they brought an orthopedic doctor to Indy to examine it Tuesday. The doctor determined there was no structural damage.

Amare Stoudemire was called for four fouls in 11-plus minutes in his second game back since March 7 and had only four points and four rebounds.

NBA scoring champion Carmelo Anthony finished with 24 points before fouling out with 2 minutes left in the game. He took only four shots in the fourth quarter and was held without a basket over the final 12 minutes for the second straight game.

Smith, the NBA's top sixth man, scored 19 points, most coming in a futile attempt to rally his team late.

And on a night New York shot just 35.6 percent from the field and 28.6 percent on 3-pointers, the ugliest part may have been how the Knicks lost their composure, giving away points on technical foul calls, arguing with the refs, even smacking the press table in frustration.

"I can't lose hope,'' coach Mike Woodson said. "It takes four games to get out of this series. We go home, we handle our business and we get back here on Friday and see if we can force Game 7.''

Game 6 would be Saturday, but given the Knicks' track record at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, it might not matter.

New York dropped to 0-4 at Indiana this season. The Pacers and Memphis Grizzlies are the only playoff teams that are unbeaten at home. Indiana has won all five home games by double digits and has won five of its last six overall.

New York is convinced it can get things turned around quickly after losing five of its last seven, mostly because of horrendous shooting.

"It's do or die, we got to win the next game,'' Anthony said. "But there's no need for anyone to hang their heads at this point. We've still got a game to play, we've still got to play basketball and we've got to do it being very confident and knowing and believing that we can do it.''

How bad was this one?

New York tied the score at 14, then allowed the Pacers to go on a 9-2 run to make it 23-16 after one quarter. The Knicks never got as closer than five the rest of the way, and never led Tuesday night.

Instead, Indiana methodically extended the lead by fighting off New York rallies.

After the Knicks got within 35-30 in the second quarter, Indiana pulled way to make it 48-34 at halftime. When New York closed to 54-43 in the third, Indiana scored seven straight. And when the Knicks finally cut the deficit to 69-61 in the fourth, Indiana went on another 7-0 run to retake control.

But if the Pacers have learned anything over the past year, it's this: The series is not over.

"I think we have to go into New York like we're in an elimination game, like we're going about to get eliminated and play like we're down 1-3,'' Hill said. "I think if we do that and play with the same type of energy and passion that we played with tonight, we can come away with a win. But it's not going to be easy.''

Notes: The defending WNBA champion Indiana Fever were honored during a break in the game. ... Miller, the former Pacers star working the game for TNT, waved to the crowd that was chanting his name after a highlight reel from a previous Pacers-Knicks series was shown on the replay board. ... Former Indy 500 winner Mario Andretti and Colts players Robert Mathis, Cory Redding and Samson Satele all attended the game. ... Smith and Anthony were a combined 16 of 45 from the field on Tuesday.

 

[fastbreak]

Grizzlies edge Thunder 88-84, reach 1st West final



OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) With their trademark grit-and-grind mentality, the Memphis Grizzlies are making history for a franchise with little prior postseason success.

Zach Randolph had 28 points and 14 rebounds, Mike Conley added 13 points and 11 assists and the fifth-seeded Grizzlies advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time in franchise history by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 88-84 on Wednesday night.

"This is the first time, so it definitely means a lot. I'm happy, but we've still got work to do,'' Randolph said. "I want to win a ring.''

The Grizzlies, who got swept out of the playoffs in their first three trips and had won just one postseason series before this season, have already made it farther than ever before but still aren't satisfied.

"We're trying to do something really special. We want to go as far as we can go,'' coach Lionel Hollins said. "To get there, we had to get through Oklahoma City. And now, we have to get through either Golden State or San Antonio to get further.''

In a series filled with games that went down to the wire, the finale fit right in - even though the Thunder trailed by 12 with 3 minutes left.

Kevin Durant missed a 16-foot jumper from the left wing to tie it with 6 seconds left, finishing off a miserable shooting night for the three-time NBA scoring champion. Durant ended up with 21 points on 5-for-21 shooting, the third-worst performance of his playoff career.

"I gave it all I had for my team. I left it all out there on the floor,'' Durant said. "I missed 16 shots, but I kept fighting, I kept being aggressive. That's all I can ask for.''

The Thunder, who made it to the NBA Finals last season, were eliminated in five games. The top seed in the West went 2-6 after All-Star guard Russell Westbrook had knee surgery two games into the first round.

"I believe in our guys. I'm disappointed we didn't win this series. I felt that we were good enough to win this series,'' coach Scott Brooks said.

Serge Ibaka had 17 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 1:26 to play during a desperation comeback try for the Thunder. Reggie Jackson's 3-pointer finished off the 16-6 rally, cutting the deficit to 86-84 with 14.3 seconds remaining.

Randolph missed both free throws with 11.3 seconds on the clock to give the Thunder one last chance to save their season. Durant got the ball beyond the 3-point line on the left wing and navigated around Tony Allen before missing the jumper.

"That's the shot that we wanted. ... That's the shot I will live with 100 times out of 100 times,'' Brooks said.

Allen got the rebound, was fouled and made two free throws to close it out.

After letting a 14-point lead get trimmed to two, the Grizzlies regained control with a 12-2 run to start the fourth quarter and go up 76-64 with 6:03 remaining. Randolph had seven points during the stretch, including five from the foul line.

It was just a big enough cushion to finish off a series of games that all came down to the wire. The first three games featured a go-ahead basket in the final two minutes, and Game 4 went to overtime. Memphis won the final four games.

"They fought hard, they did everything that they could. Tonight, they really came back in the second half and just kept coming, kept coming,'' Hollins said. "We just were fortunate to just make enough plays to win the game. That's the way we've been all year, but we'll take it. They battled us and gave us everything they had.''

The Thunder fell to 1-4 in elimination games over the past four seasons. Two of Durant's worst performances came in those games, with a 5-for-23 outing against the Lakers in Game 6 of the 2010 first-round. His worst shooting performance in the postseason was against the Grizzlies in Game 6 of the 2011 West semifinals.

Durant played all 48 minutes.

"He wasn't going down. He didn't want to sit and watch and go down,'' Brooks said. "He wanted to play.''

Oklahoma City got a breath of life with a bizarre play midway through the third quarter when Derek Fisher's missed 3-pointer turned into a four-point possession. Allen, who was on the bench, waved his arms to try and distract Fisher on his shot and a shirt slipped out of his hands and onto the floor near Fisher's feet.

Referee Marc Davis ruled that Fisher's 3-pointer should count, and Durant hit the free throw resulting from a technical against Allen to get the Thunder within 60-53. Oklahoma City got as close as 64-62 by the end of the quarter, after Fisher's 3-pointer and a layup by Thabo Sefolosha.

But the Thunder missed eight of their first nine shots to start the fourth quarter to fall behind by 12, then couldn't quite recover with their star struggling so badly.

"He really wanted to carry his team. He was back home, he was trying to get a win tonight and he came out really trying,'' Hollins said. "Throughout the course of the series, we just tried to put pressure on him, keep fresh bodies on him. ... They had to play him and he had to be the go-to guy, and we knew that. We just tried to just make him work for everything.''

Notes: NBA Commissioner David Stern attended the game and sat eight rows from the court. ... Sefolosha wore a brace on his sore left hand. He played just six minutes in the first half, then played the entire third quarter. ... It was the second straight game the Thunder scored the first seven points, only to give up the lead a few minutes later. ... Nick Collison picked up three fouls in the first 2:35 of the second quarter and got pulled. ... After the third-quarter buzzer, Jerryd Bayless made a shot from three-quarters court that did not count.

 

[fastbreak]

Heat rally past Bulls to advance, 94-91



MIAMI (AP) Knowing his team needed him at his best, Dwyane Wade retreated to the Miami Heat locker room after the third quarter for some quick treatment on his aching right knee.

When he came back, he was good as new.

And now he can rest until the Eastern Conference finals.

LeBron James scored 23 points, Wade added 18 and had a brilliant 45-second sequence that proved crucial, and the Heat clawed back from an 11-point second-half deficit to beat the Chicago Bulls 94-91 on Wednesday night and close out their second-round series in five games.

"We gave it everything we had,'' James said. "I have no energy left.''

The Heat outscored Chicago 25-14 in the fourth quarter to escape and advance.

"I knew the fourth quarter was going to be tough so I wanted to re-tape my knee,'' said Wade, who has been battling bone bruises on his knee for several weeks. "I knew I was going to come back into a grind. Our trainers did a great job of getting it taped it enough so I could come out and play.''

Did they ever.

Wade had a blocked shot, defensive rebound, offensive rebound and putback slam - all in a late 45-second span - to help cap a wild night of wild comebacks. The Heat blew an early 18-point lead, then pulled off a late rally to finish off the depleted Bulls, who still had two chances on their last possession to force overtime.

But Nate Robinson and Jimmy Butler missed 3-pointers, time expired, and Miami moved on to face Indiana or New York next week.

"Dwyane is uncanny,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "When the competition is at its highest, and its fiercest, he finds a way.''

Carlos Boozer finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulls, who were without Derrick Rose for the 99th straight game, as well as Kirk Hinrich (calf) and Luol Deng (illness). Robinson scored 21 points, Butler had 19, and Richard Hamilton 15 for the Bulls, who dropped the final four games of the series.

"Obviously we're disappointed in losing the series,'' Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "But I was never disappointed in our team. I thought our team fought hard all year long. There was no quit in them.''

True - all the way to the end.

A team that played without the 2011 NBA MVP in Rose, and dealt with a slew of other issues along the way, was within a couple shots from forcing the reigning champions to fly back to Chicago for a Game 6 on Friday night.

"We've got warriors here,'' Boozer said. "If we're healthy next season, we're going to be pretty good.''

The Heat say they have more than a few of those warrior-types as well, including Wade, who said privately before the game that he was amused about constant speculation surrounding his knee - which has been banged up for weeks.

When the stakes were highest Wednesday, he was there for the Heat.

"I'll go on and on about how great he is,'' James said. "I really don't care for the trash talk that he receives.''

Shane Battier opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to get Miami within five. Another 3-pointer from Battier - over Boozer, his fellow Duke alum - came not long afterward, and he connected on a pair of free throws after being fouled on a 3-point try to cut Chicago's lead to 81-79.

Norris Cole had a pair of baskets, the second being a left-handed driving dunk, to put Miami on top, and the Heat found a way to close it out from there, even though it wasn't easy, by any measure.

Robinson's 3-pointer with 1:43 left got the Bulls to 94-91. No one scored again, even though there were plenty of chances both ways.

When it was finally over, the Heat lingered on the court in celebration. Wade held on to the game ball as he shook a few fans' hands, and he, James and Bosh exchanged some high-fives - the last three Miami players to leave the floor.

"I had a good couple of minutes,'' Wade said. "I knew they've seen a lot of LeBron and Norris. I knew they weren't prepared for me to attack which is what I was able to do.''

Miami will open the East finals at home next week, and it'll be a playoff rematch from its march to the title last season. If Indiana beats New York - the Pacers lead that series 3-1 - on Thursday night, then the Heat and Pacers will meet in Game 1 in Miami on Monday night. If the Knicks extend the Pacers to at least six games, then the East finals would open Wednesday night, regardless of opponent.

The Heat will almost surely be big favorites against either Indiana or New York, though it's certain either opponent would enter a series against Miami with plenty of confidence. The Knicks went 3-1 against the Heat this season, outscoring them by 11.5 points per game and winning both of their games at Miami convincingly. The Pacers went 2-1 against the Heat, winning twice in Indianapolis and losing their lone game in Miami.

To put that in some more perspective, the Heat went 2-5 against the Knicks and Pacers, and are now 72-12 against all other NBA clubs this season.

"It only gets more difficult and more challenging,'' Spoelstra said. "That's what competitors want.''

Then again, given how Miami has played over the last 3 1/2 months, the notion of the Heat losing to anybody four times might seem downright impossible. The Heat lost at Indiana on Feb. 1. They won at Toronto two days later, the first victory in what became a run of 27 straight wins - and the start of a stretch that has seen Miami go 45-3 in its last 48 games.

More than half the league - 17 of the other 29 teams - didn't win 45 games, total, this season, even including playoffs.

"They're a great team. A great team,'' Thibodeau said. "They're not going to beat themselves. You have to beat them.

No one would have thought the ending would be so exciting after the way this one started.

Marco Belinelli took the Bulls' first shot, a woefully short airball. Joakim Noah took their second shot, a very long airball. Their third possession was a turnover, and the night was shaping up like a Chicago disaster.

It was 10-0 before half the crowd was in their seats, and 22-4 just past the midpoint of the opening quarter. Since the start of Game 4, in barely over 53 minutes of play, the Heat had outscored the Bulls by 40 points. Everyone in the building - except for the 20 or so guys in red uniforms or wearing suits on the Chicago bench - had to be thinking that the series was over.

If so, then they were all wrong.

Game 5 turned into a microcosm of the Bulls' season. They were unfazed, unflappable, unrelenting in the face of being counted out.

And before long, the massive deficit was a thing of the past.

"We kept fighting,'' Noah said. "And kept fighting.''

Boozer went 6 for 7 in the opening quarter, his layup late in the period getting the Bulls within seven before James scored to end the first and give Miami a 30-21 lead. The Bulls were unbothered, and just kept getting stops on one end, making baskets on the other. Butler's 3-pointer with 4:46 left in the half gave Chicago its first advantage of the night, 38-36.

To recap, the game started with a 22-4 Heat run - and in the 13 minutes that immediately followed, the Bulls rebutted with a 34-14 burst.

By halftime, it was 53-47. In the third, after Chicago briefly led by 11 - remember, they were down 18, making that a 29-point turnaround - the Bulls took a 77-69 edge into the final 12 minutes.

"We grinded it out,'' Boozer said. "We had chances. We just fell a little bit short.''

And Miami moved on, now halfway home in its quest for a second straight title.

NOTES: Miami is 6-0 in its last six chances to close out a series. ... The Bulls had 16 turnovers, which Miami turned into 27 points. ... Hinrich's calf injury was improving, the Bulls said, but not to the point where he could play.

 

[fastbreak]

Spurs hold off Warriors, advance to West finals



OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Slow at the start of the series and strong at the end, the San Antonio Spurs wore out the Golden State Warriors the way they have so many other opponents.

Tim Duncan had 19 points and six rebounds, Kawhi Leonard added 16 points and 10 rebounds and the Spurs held off a furious final rally to beat the Warriors 94-82 in Game 6 on Thursday night and advance to the Western Conference finals.

"They've got great character. They're competitive. They know there's not a million chances to do this sort of thing. They wanted it,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of his squad.

Tony Parker shook off a poor start to score 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and Tiago Splitter added a career-playoff high 14 points for San Antonio, which had a 13-point lead in the third quarter dissolve to two in the final minutes.

Stephen Curry shot 10 of 25 from the floor to score 22 points on a nagging left ankle, and Jarrett Jack had 15 points as the injury-saddled Warriors finally tired. Rookie forward Harrison Barnes also suffered a head injury in the second quarter, returned in the third and was sidelined in the fourth with a headache.

The Spurs outshot Golden State 45 percent to 39 percent and outrebounded them 46 to 40.

Second-seeded San Antonio will open the conference finals at home against Memphis on Sunday. The fifth-seeded Grizzlies eliminated Oklahoma City in five games.

"It's going to be a rough one,'' Duncan said about the conference finals. "If you thought this was physical, it's going to turn up about 10 notches.''

The Spurs lost to the Thunder in the conference finals in six games last season after going ahead 2-0 at home. They haven't been to the NBA Finals since 2007, when they won their fourth title with a sweep of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"I think everybody on the team, we all want to go one more time,'' Parker said. "It's been a long time.''

The Spurs became the first team to win consecutive games in the series and hand the sixth-seeded Warriors consecutive losses in the playoffs - and they did it at just the right time.

The Spurs quieted a standing-room-only crowd late in the third quarter and seemingly seized control for good. Instead, the Warriors roared back.

Klay Thompson, who had 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting, made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter that sliced San Antonio's lead to three. Then Curry's pull-up jumper brought the Warriors within 77-75 with 4:52 to play.

Parker was 1 for 13 before hitting a corner 3-pointer before Leonard followed with two free throws to put the Spurs up seven.

Jack made a jumper and two free throws to bring the Warriors back again. Then Leonard hit another shot from beyond the arc to put the Spurs ahead 85-79.

Curry and Thompson each had consecutive 3s rim out on the same possession that could've kept Golden State close. But Parker hit another 3-pointer to put San Antonio up 88-79 with 1:15 remaining and send some of the yellow-shirted crowd of 19,596 to the exits.

"I just kept believing in me,'' said Parker, who added eight assists and finished 3 for 16 from the floor. "My teammates, they were behind me. They would keep telling me, "Keep shooting, they'll go in.'''

In the end, most of the Warriors' faithful still stuck around.

Fans serenaded the home team with chants of "Warr-i-ors!'' in the final seconds. Curry also grabbed the microphone after the game and thanked fans at half court, breaking the huddle with the crowd, "Just us!''

The Warriors had only made the playoffs once since 1994 before this season and hadn't won two games beyond the first round since 1977.

"It's inspiring to think of what we were able to accomplish this year and the foundation that has been laid,'' Warriors coach Mark Jackson said.

Added Curry: "It will take a minute to realize the accomplishments we have made, for a Warriors team to be in this position, it's a good thing, and we can build on this for next year.''

The Spurs showed incredible ball movement and had the Warriors playing from behind most of the way. San Antonio's first 10 field goals came on an assist, going ahead by 10 points in the second quarter and maintaining that cushion until late.

Golden State stayed close despite more injury setbacks in a season full of them.

Andrew Bogut walked gingerly to the locker room with 8:31 remaining in the second quarter to get his troublesome left ankle re-tapped. At one point, he told Jackson he "couldn't move.''

"I was running on fumes the whole series,'' said Bogut, who had three points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes.

In the second quarter, Barnes fell awkwardly while leaping to contest a layup from Boris Diaw. Barnes hit the court hard and his teammates immediately called for the training staff to attend to him as the arena fell silent. He received six stitches above his right eye at halftime and ran on the court late to start the third quarter, bringing fans to their feet roaring once more.

At least for a moment.

Barnes left the game in the fourth quarter because of a headache. The team said he had passed a concussion test and followed NBA protocol before he returned. Barnes finished with nine points and four rebounds in 31 minutes.

The steady Spurs kept making the Warriors work for every shot and grinding out points on the other end. San Antonio took a 61-48 lead late in the third quarter before Golden State started its final surge.

"The entire series was tough,'' Duncan said. "They were a great challenge. We expected them to be. A series is about adjustments and we found some ways to counter what they were doing and win these last two games.''

NOTES: NBA Commissioner David Stern, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and prospective Kings owner Vivek Ranadive attended the game. ... The Spurs are 10-1 in closeout games since the start of the 2007 playoffs. ... Parker's worst shooting performance in the playoffs with more than five shot attempts came when he was 1 of 12 against New Jersey in the 2003 NBA Finals won by the Spurs. ... The Warriors fell to 4-1 after a loss in the playoffs.

 

[fastbreak]

Anthony has 28, Knicks beat Pacers to stay alive



NEW YORK (AP) For the New York Knicks, it was about playing harder, even if not really much better.

Saving their season would be more about effort than execution.

"Tonight it was just one of them days where you just got to leave it out there on the basketball court,'' Carmelo Anthony said.

Now they have to do it two more times.

Anthony scored 28 points and the Knicks avoided elimination in the Eastern Conference semifinals with an 85-75 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 on Thursday night.

Reserves J.R. Smith and Chris Copeland each had 13 points for the Knicks, who trail 3-2 and will need a victory Saturday in Indiana to force a seventh game back here Monday. They are trying to become the ninth NBA team to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a series.

"I was totally impressed because we met the challenge,'' Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "I think as a coach you come into games like this and you want to see who's going to step up and make plays, and I thought we did that tonight. We were the better team in terms of doing that.''

Anthony, who didn't make a basket in the fourth quarter of either game in Indiana, made a jumper midway through the fourth quarter after Indiana closed within four points. He followed with two free throws, Raymond Felton made a layup, and the Knicks were never in jeopardy again.

Paul George had 23 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Pacers. They played without point guard George Hill because of a concussion and committed 19 turnovers.

"We've just got to play more solid. There's no other way to put it,'' Pacers coach Frank Vogel said.

George battled foul trouble and couldn't contain Anthony quite as well as he had while the Pacers easily won the previous two games.

Anthony made his first two shots as New York raced to a 7-0 lead in a game it never trailed. He finished only 12 of 28, but got plenty of bench help.

"We didn't shoot the ball very well but we made shots at the crucial time,'' Anthony said.

David West had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who were trying to reach the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2004.

"We didn't play well. It was a bad game for us and we were still there,'' George said.

The winner will face the defending NBA champion Miami Heat in a series that will start Wednesday.

New York didn't really shake its scoring slump, shooting only 41 percent from the field, but put together a few runs during the game to open just enough space against a Pacers team that shot 36 percent and was a dismal 19 of 33 at the free throw line.

They clearly missed Hill after learning about four hours before the game they would be without him.

Vogel said Hill was hurt after a collision with Knicks center Tyson Chandler during the first half of Indiana's 93-82 victory on Tuesday. Hill finished the game and scored 26 points, but experienced some headaches and showed concussion symptoms since and wasn't able to pass the league's concussion tests so he could play Thursday night.

The Knicks went back to their regular lineup, reinserting Pablo Prigioni, after going with a bigger group in Game 4 in a futile effort to match Indiana on the boards. The smaller group did a better job, getting outrebounded only 43-40.

"We're not going to go out without fighting,'' Chandler said.

The Knicks finally opened it up midway through the third quarter with a 12-4 run, started by Smith's bank shot and featuring a 3-pointer and follow shot from Copeland, who got more playing time while Woodson gave little to veterans Amare Stoudemire and the slumping Jason Kidd, who missed his only shot and remains scoreless in the series.

"Coaching is a feel. It's not always what players want at the end of the day, it's about winning,'' Woodson said. "That's all I'm in it for.''

Anthony made a jumper and a 3-pointer on his first two shots, and Iman Shumpert followed with another jumper for a 7-0 start. Smith got a big ovation when he checked in, which grew much louder when he made his first shot, dribbling back behind the arc for a 3-pointer that made it 17-12 with 2:56 left in the opening quarter.

Smith has endured a miserable stretch since elbowing Boston's Jason Terry in the fourth quarter of Game 3 in the first round. Suspended for Game 4, he hasn't relocated his shot since, hitting 28 percent in the first four games and has been criticized for not being focused after he was seen out a nightclub with singer Rihanna the night before Game 1 - a day game.

He was only 4 of 11, but hit the jumper that started the Knicks' run in the third quarter.

"Still didn't shoot the best but it always helps coming home and playing in front of these fans,'' Smith said. "Hopefully the little bit of rhythm that I did get carries me over.''

The Knicks extended their 19-15 lead after one to 32-23 on Copeland's 3-pointer with 7:06 remaining in the second. The Pacers chipped away for most of the half but couldn't take the large in part because of their sloppy free throw shooting, going 8 of 16 in the half that agonizingly wouldn't end when both Chandler and the Pacers' Sam Young committed fouls more than 30 feet from the basket in the final 2.4 seconds.

Notes: Kidd is 0 for 8 in the series, part of a 0-for-17 skid that began with Game 3 against Boston in the first round. The 40-year-old point guard, surely headed for the Hall of Fame, is 3 of 25 in the postseason and hasn't scored since hitting a 3-pointer against the Celtics in Game 2 on April 23. He played 5 minutes and Stoudemire played 6 1/2. ... The Phoenix Suns are the last team to win a series after trailing 3-1, beating the Los Angeles Lakers in 2006. The Brooklyn Nets forced Chicago to a seventh game in the first round but dropped Game 7 on their home floor. ... West was 5 of 13 in the first half. The other four Indiana starters were 5 for 23.

 

[fastbreak]

Pacers knock out Knicks with 106-99 win in Game 6



INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Indiana spent the entire season perfecting its defense.

On Saturday, it produced the biggest payoff for the Pacers in nearly a decade.

Roy Hibbert's block of Carmelo Anthony's dunk attempt midway through the fourth quarter spurred an 11-2 run that rallied the Pacers to a 106-99 victory in Game 6 of their second-round series, sending them into their first Eastern Conference final since 2004.

New York native Lance Stephenson scored nine points in the run, finishing with a playoff career-high 25.

"That's why they pay me the big bucks this summer, so I have to protect the paint,'' said Hibbert, who signed a $58 million contract last summer. "If all else fails, meaning the offense, I have to protect the paint.''

With players from both teams standing on the court as the final seconds ticked off and Pacers fans roaring in appreciation, the sellout crowd wasted little time breaking into chants of "Beat The Heat!''

For Indiana, it sets up a postseason rematch with the defending NBA champs, the team that eliminated them last May after the Pacers had taken a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven semifinals. The Heat wound up winning Game 4 at Indiana and followed that with two more wins as Danny Granger struggled with a knee injury.

Indiana used the lessons from that series as motivation to improve this season and wound up beating the Heat twice at home before losing the third game of the season series at Miami. The Pacers will return to South Florida for Game 1 on Wednesday night.

With Granger missing all but five games this season because of the lingering knee injury, the Pacers put an even greater emphasis on playing defense and it showed.

Indiana led the league in rebounding, defensive field goal percentage and defensive 3-point percentage while finishing second in points allowed per game during the regular season. It was no different in the playoffs, as the Knicks found out.

New York had another subpar shooting night Saturday, making just 40 percent of its shots, and again wound up on the wrong side of a 43-36 rebounding discrepancy. In the paint, New York was outscored 52-20, and Anthony, who finished with 39 points, scored just four points in the final 12 minutes when he went 2 of 7 from the field.

Iman Shumpert added 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers, and J.R. Smith scored 15. Nobody else was in double figures.

The combination, as it had been in the previous three losses to Indiana, produced the same frustrating result.

"They have a hell of a defense. They hold down the paint. They do a great job, do a hell of a job of controlling the paint, closing it down, making it tough for guys,'' Anthony said. "You've got to give them guys credit, especially when they got a chance to set. Roy Hibbert gets to sit in the paint, causes havoc.''

It's not just that.

The biggest question coming into Saturday's game was whether starting point guard George Hill would play. He took part in the team's morning shootaround, was cleared by the team doctors and wound up returning two days after missing Game 5 with a concussion. His return gave the Pacers a big boost.

Hill finished with just 12 points on 2-of-10 shooting but had five rebounds and four assists, and kept the Pacers composed enough to commit only nine turnovers - 10 fewer than Thursday night's loss in New York.

The results showed up everywhere on the floor.

Paul George had 23 points, five rebounds and four assists. David West added 17 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Hibbert finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks, none bigger than the stuff on Anthony that changed the game. Stephenson had 10 rebounds and three assists in his best postseason game ever.

The reason: He wanted to avoid a trip home.

"I just didn't want to go back to New York and play Game 7,'' Stephenson said. "Just get it done with now and I'd do whatever it takes to do that today. It showed tonight.''

The New York native made sure of it.

After George grabbed the rebound off of Hibbert's block, Stephenson took a pass from West and scored on a layup to tie the score at 92 with 4:51 left in the game. Stephenson followed that with a steal and drove in for a layup, drawing a foul and completing a three-point play. After grabbing another rebound and making two more free throws, West tipped in a miss and Stephenson closed the decisive spurt with another layup. Suddenly, the Pacers led 101-94 with 1:53 to go.

New York never got another chance to tie the score or take the lead again despite making a far more typical 13 of 30 from 3-point range.

"It's tough to go out this way,'' coach Mike Woodson said. "I didn't make it happen for us and that's what's disappointing.''

The Pacers have a far different goal now as they get ready to face LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Miami.

"We're not satisfied with where we're at,'' coach Frank Vogel said. "We feel like there's no ceiling on this team this year.''

Notes: New York failed to become the ninth team to rally from a 3-1 deficit. ... Indianapolis 500 pole winner Ed Carpenter made the short trip from the track to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where he is a regular attendee. ... Colts coach Chuck Pagano also attended the game. ... The Knicks were 18 of 18 from the free throw line.

 

[fastbreak]

Spurs rout Grizzlies 105-83 in West finals opener



SAN ANTONIO (AP) The San Antonio Spurs opened the Western Conference finals resembling the past champions who've been there so many times before.

The Memphis Grizzlies looked like the first-timers still trying to adapt to their first conference finals appearance.

Tony Parker had 20 points and nine assists, Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points and the Spurs struck first by beating Memphis 105-83 on Sunday.

San Antonio raced out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter, then came up with a response when Memphis rallied to get within six in the second half. Both teams pulled their starters with over 5 minutes left and the Spurs leading by 21.

"I can promise you this: Nobody's happy in our locker room, because we were up 2-0 (in the West finals) last year and we lost,'' Parker said. "It's just one game. It means nothing. We still have a long way to go.''

The Spurs avoided a repeat of their Game 1 loss when the teams met two years ago in the first round. The Grizzlies went on to knock San Antonio out of the playoffs as the top seed that time.

Memphis has lost its opener in each round in this year's playoffs, recovering from an 0-2 hole in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers and an 0-1 deficit against Oklahoma City in the West semifinals.

Game 2 is Tuesday night in San Antonio.

"We just didn't play well. It's not anything specific,'' coach Lionel Hollins said. "It's just that we were running too fast, we missed some layups, we were taking bad shots and our defense was really awful. And the Spurs played well.''

The NBA's stingiest defense wasn't up to its usual standards, allowing the Spurs to hit 53 percent of their shots and a franchise postseason-record 14 3-pointers while All-Star power forward Zach Randolph struggled. Randolph had just two points, getting his only basket with 9:26 left in the game.

He had a playoff-best 28 points and 14 rebounds in his last game, as Memphis eliminated defending West champ Oklahoma City in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

"Obviously, he's their best scorer. He's a beast inside,'' Parker said. "We know he's not going to play like that every game. It's just sometimes it happens.''

The Grizzlies started to rally as soon as Randolph came out of the game for the first time in the second half.

Quincy Pondexter made a baseline cut for a layup off Darrell Arthur's pass, then hit back-to-back 3-pointers during a 10-0 burst. Jerryd Bayless' two-handed, fast-break dunk off a steal got the Grizzlies within 62-56 with 3:43 left in the third quarter.

The comeback was short-lived, though.

Bayless missed a 3-pointer on the next trip, and Manu Ginobili was able to make one at the opposite end to spark an 11-1 response that immediately restored the Spurs' lead to 16 by end of the quarter. Leonard hit a pair of 3-pointers and Gary Neal had one as San Antonio kept pouring it on in the fourth.

The four regular-season meetings were all won by the team with more points in the paint, but perimeter shooting proved to be a bigger factor in the playoff opener. Memphis, which was second in the NBA by holding opponents to 33.8 shooting on 3-pointers, let San Antonio make 13 of its first 24 from behind the arc and finish 14 of 29.

Danny Green connected three times and scored 16, and Matt Bonner hit four of his five attempts for 12 points.

"We did a good job of moving the basketball, finding each other, trusting each other,'' Green said. "Luckily we made some today.''

Pondexter led Memphis with 17 points, Marc Gasol scored 15 and Mike Conley had 14 points and eight assists.

"We were just so hyper, just running all over the place on defense,'' Hollins said. "We'd have four guys in the paint and nobody would be out on the perimeter guarding anybody. And that's not how we play defense.''

The Spurs asserted themselves early, scoring on their first seven possessions and also getting a couple head-to-head defensive stops from their veterans while claiming a quick 23-8 lead. Parker swiped the ball from Conley on Memphis' second possession, running out for a layup, and Hollins burned a timeout in the first 2 minutes.

Tim Duncan snuffed out the ensuing play by blocking Randolph's shot, and the Spurs' strong start continued. Bonner hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 17-point edge late in the first quarter, and San Antonio pushed out to a 43-23 advantage following consecutive baskets by Parker with 6:06 left before halftime.

It was the largest first-half deficit for the Grizzlies during the playoffs.

"Every time we made a mistake defensively, they made us pay every time,'' Gasol said, who had three baskets in a push that helped Memphis get within 51-37 at halftime. "It was over-help or no help or whatever it was, they made you pay.''

Notes: Memphis' only other deficit larger than 20 this postseason came in the first-round opener against the Los Angeles Clippers. L.A. didn't lead by 20 until the final minute of a 112-91 victory. ... Tracy McGrady got a standing ovation when he checked in with the Spurs up by 20 midway through the fourth quarter. ... The Spurs had 13 3-pointers in Game 1 of their second-round series against the Clippers in last year's playoffs.

 

[fastbreak]

LeBron saves Heat at buzzer of Game 1



MIAMI (AP) LeBron James caught the inbounds pass, changed direction and immediately attacked the rim.

There was no one in his way.

There was no stopping him, either.

James made a layup as time expired in overtime, capping a 30-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist effort as the Miami Heat found a way to outlast the Indiana Pacers 103-102 in a wildly back-and-forth Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday night. There were 18 ties and 17 lead changes, the last two of those coming in the final 2.2 seconds.

"Two teams fought hard,'' James said. "We were able to make one more play.''

If this is how this series is going to go, then get ready for a classic between teams that absolutely wanted to face the other with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.

Paul George saved the Pacers at the end of regulation with a 32-footer with 0.7 seconds left, and then made three free throws with 2.2 ticks left in overtime to give Indiana a one-point lead. George pumped his fist gently after the third free throw, then extended his index finger skyward as the teams retreated to their benches to get ready for the final play.

He just left James too much time, and the Pacers left their best shot-blocking option on the bench. Roy Hibbert wasn't on the floor for the final play, and without a 7-foot-2 barrier to contest him, James made the winner look easy.

"Two great teams just throwing punch for punch,'' Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "Our spirit is very high, very confident. We know we can play with this basketball team.''

Vogel said he left Hibbert off the floor for the final play out of concern of what defending champion Miami would do with Chris Bosh in that scenario. Afterward, he acknowledged he might have different thinking next time.

"I would say we would probably have him in next time,'' Vogel said.

Game 2 is Friday night in Miami.

Officials reviewed James' play at the end, though it was clear he beat the clock, and the Pacers walked slowly toward their locker room, lamenting one that got away - by no fault of George's.

"Gut-wrenching,'' Hibbert said.

George was fouled by Dwyane Wade on the play where the Pacers had to think they had stolen the series opener. Referee Jason Phillips said Wade hit George, and the Pacers' star made all three free throws for the 16th lead change of the night.

The final lead change came moments later.

"Welcome to the Eastern Conference finals,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Back and forth the whole way.''

Wade scored 19 points, Bosh had 17 and Chris Andersen had 16 on 7-for-7 shooting for Miami.

George scored 27 for the Pacers, who got 26 from David West and 19 from Hibbert. The Pacers have won only two series in NBA franchise history after dropping a Game 1.

"It just felt like everything was in our favor,'' George said.

The final few seconds of regulation were stunning, with Ray Allen - the sixth-best free-throw shooter in NBA history - missing one that proved big, and George making a miracle happen.

Trailing by two with 17.7 seconds left, the Pacers had to foul Allen, who surely would have been their last choice. But he missed one of the two free throws, and it remained a one-possession game. Indiana brought the ball into the frontcourt, called time, and then seemed to have nothing really working as the final seconds of regulation ticked away.

So George simply made something happen.

From 32 feet - from the newly applied Eastern Conference finals sticker on the side of the court, technically - George connected with 0.7 seconds left, tying the game and giving Indiana life.

Allen didn't get much of a desperation shot off at the end of regulation, and to overtime the teams went.

"It took an overtime to get it done,'' Spoelstra said. "Glad to get that one.''

The Pacers kept landing the first punches in the extra session. George made a pair of free throws to open the OT, and Andersen tied it with a pair of his own. Hibbert scored from close range, and Wade answered with an easy one after a runout for the 16th tie of the night.

George was far from done. He went past James, got into the lane, tossed up a shot after contact and started what became a three-point play that put the Pacers up 99-96. Miami had three chances at the tie - a desperation 3-pointer by Shane Battier as the shot clock was expiring, then a 3-point try by Bosh and another 3 attempt by Battier.

All missed.

But Bosh grabbed the rebound of the last Battier shot that bounced off the rim in that sequence, scored while being fouled by George with 49.7 seconds left, calmly swished the free throw and the teams were - what else? - tied again at 99-all.

James scored on a drive with 10.8 seconds left in the overtime, and George answered with the three free throws. With Hibbert on the bench, Indiana had one plan for James on the last play.

"We wanted LeBron to shoot a jumper right there,'' George said.

He was just better.

And after 3 hours, 18 minutes, it was over.

"We're excited about the win,'' James said. "But we have to get better going into Game 2.''

NOTES: Celebrities in attendance included Jimmy Buffett and Anna Kournikova. ... James picked up two first-quarter fouls for just the ninth time in 125 career playoff games. ... West's 18 first-half points were his most before halftime since March 24, 2011, when he had 20 through two quarters against Utah. ... From the not-often-seen department, a lane violation against the Pacers that led to James getting a second (and successful) chance on a missed free throw, and a 5-second call against Wade, both of those coming in the first half.

 

[fastbreak]

Pacers steal Game 2 from Heat, 97-93



MIAMI (AP) David West punched two passes from LeBron James away in the final minute, then punched the air.

He had plenty of reason to celebrate.

The Eastern Conference finals are tied, and home-court advantage now belongs to West and the Indiana Pacers.

Roy Hibbert scored a postseason career-high 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, West broke up two passes by James for huge turnovers, and the Pacers evened the East title series at a game apiece with a 97-93 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 2 on Friday night.

"We haven't done anything yet,'' Hibbert said. "We haven't closed the series out. We won one game. A lot of us feel we should be up 2-0.''

Paul George scored 22 points, George Hill added 18 and West finished with 13 for the Pacers, who handed the Heat just their fourth loss in their last 50 games, closed the game on a 13-5 run - and denied one of the game's best playmakers in James twice in the final moments to finish it off.

"There's only like one person that's more scarier than that,'' Hill said, speaking of James. "And that's, you know, God.''

The series resumes with Game 3 on Sunday night in Indianapolis.

"It's one of the best basketball games I've ever been a part of,'' Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "It wasn't about LeBron making mistakes down the stretch. He played one of the best basketball games I've ever seen anybody play. We were just able to make a couple plays late in the game.''

More specifically, West made a couple plays late in the game.

"These are two close, competitive games that can go either way,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We had our opportunities. Enough opportunities.''

With Indiana up 95-93, West intercepted a pass that James was throwing to Ray Allen with 43 seconds left. Indiana didn't cash in that mistake, instead turning the ball over with a shot-clock violation.

So on the next Miami trip, West denied James - who led all scorers with 36 points - again.

James drove to the right block, spun and tried passing out toward the perimeter. West got his right hand on that pass, knocking it off-course and into the hands of Hill, then extended his hand skyward.

The Pacers - just as they did in the second-round series last year - knew they were winning Game 2 in Miami. Hill made two free throws with 8.3 seconds left to clinch it, and just like that, the series was tied.

Game 1, Miami won it with James coming through at the end.

Game 2, the Pacers simply took away the MVP's opportunity.

"We've been able to maintain our composure throughout the year,'' West said. "That's helped us throughout these playoffs and especially in environments like these.''

The Heat got 17 points from Chris Bosh and 14 from Dwyane Wade. The Heat led 88-84 in the fourth quarter, only to let the lead, the game and the home-court edge slip away, and James had almost an expressionless look afterward.

"Nothing broke down,'' Wade said. "He's going to be hard on himself. He saw guys open, but West was able to get his arms out there at the last moment.''

Lance Stephenson scored 10 for the Pacers.

The Heat trailed for virtually all of the game's first 30 minutes, then tied the game three times in the third quarter - but Indiana always had a response. When the game was tied at 60, the Pacers scored seven of the next 10 points. Tied at 67, George quickly had a layup to put the Pacers back on top. Tied at 69, George struck again, this time with a jumper.

With 5.1 seconds left in the third, George drove the lane and finished a highlight-reel dunk over Miami's Chris Andersen while getting fouled, the free throw putting the Pacers up by five. James connected on a long 3-pointer to close the quarter, then he and George exchanged a few words afterward and slapped each other's hand as if to say, "here we go.''

Sure enough, the show was just getting started.

"We had our chance tonight,'' Bosh said.

Hibbert was creating one problem after another for Miami, so James took it upon himself to challenge him in the fourth. And with about 8 minutes left, he swatted a putback attempt away from the 7-foot-2 Indiana center, starting a play that ended with Chalmers scoring at the other end to give Miami an 85-84 lead.

On the next possession, James tied up a rebound with Hibbert, then won the ensuing jump ball. Not long afterward, Bosh made a 3-pointer and Miami's lead was up to 88-84 - its biggest of the night.

"We just didn't finish the game like we're capable of,'' Spoelstra said.

Indiana scored the next five points to reclaim the lead. James' three-point play with 3:32 left put the Heat on top 91-89, and Hibbert answered that with a jump hook over the reigning MVP to tie the game for the 10th time.

Frantic to the finish, again. And this time it went Indiana's way.

"Heck of a basketball game, wasn't it?'' Vogel asked afterward.

If there was any remaining lament from losing Game 1 on the final play of overtime, the Pacers didn't show it. They trailed for all of 15 seconds in the first half, and after neither team held a lead of more than seven in the series opener, Indiana found itself leading by 10 late in the first quarter and by 13 with a minute to go before intermission.

Hibbert was either unguarded or unguardable, making six of his eight shots in the first two quarters and getting to the line on the way to a 19-point half. West, Hill and George combined for 27 more before the break, and when Hibbert scored with 1:25 left the Pacers' lead was 53-40.

The Heat needed less than a minute to erase more than half of that deficit.

James made a pair of free throws with 59.1 seconds left, Chalmers had a layup and Mike Miller - who hadn't taken a shot since May 8, but checked in with 3:23 remaining in the half after Allen and Shane Battier continued to struggle from the outside - connected on a 3-pointer as time expired, pulling Miami within 53-47 at the break.

And when Indiana went up nine early in the third quarter, Miami responded with another burst, this time an 11-2 run highlighted by a spectacular reverse dunk by James and capped by two baskets from Wade, the last of which knotted the game at 60-all.

By then, it was clear.

Just like Game 1, this one wouldn't be decided until the end.

NOTES: South Florida resident Jozy Altidore of the U.S. men's national soccer team was among those in attendance, two days before he's set to report to Cleveland and begin training camp for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Other celebs in the crowd included newly retired football star and Miami Hurricanes great Ray Lewis, Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and Rosie O'Donnell. ... The Pacers were called for four technicals (one a defensive 3-second) in a 4-minute span of the second quarter. ... Indiana reserve Sam Young sprained his left ankle in the third quarter. ... Indiana was not planning to fly home after the game, instead staying in Miami one more night and avoiding getting back to Indianapolis around 4 a.m. or even later.

 

[fastbreak]

Spurs take 3-0 lead, beat Grizzlies 104-93 in OT



MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Tim Duncan is doing his very best to get the San Antonio Spurs back to the NBA Finals one more time.

The 37-year-old center took control in overtime for a second straight game, this time scoring the first five points as the Spurs rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 104-93 Saturday night.

That put them a win away from their first finals since 2007.

"He was huge for us the other night in overtime and got it done for us, and he did it again tonight,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the two-time MVP. "That's why he is considered as great as he has for the last 17 years. He's been unbelievable. He feels a responsibility to carry us in those kinds of times, and he did it again tonight.''

Duncan wants to get back to the finals after being on the verge last year. He said he was more aggressive in overtime after being a bit tentative with his shot in regulation.

"I'm not worried about how old I am or whatever, whatever it may be,'' Duncan said. "I'm very focused on having another opportunity to make it to a championship and try to win, that's all.''

The Spurs grabbed a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals and now have won five straight this postseason. With the memory of blowing a 2-0 lead a year ago in the West finals to Oklahoma City, when they lost the next four, the Spurs shook off their sloppy play early and pushed the young Grizzlies to the edge of elimination in the first West final played in Memphis.

The Grizzlies knocked off the Clippers after trailing 0-2 and upset the West's top seed in Oklahoma City in the semifinals. Now their task is even tougher with Game 4 in Memphis on Monday night.

"We've been fortunate to get this far, and we've got to play better if we want to continue,'' Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said.

Memphis set up for the final shot to win in regulation, but guard Mike Conley missed on a runner at the buzzer. He said he went a little too deep in the paint on the shot.

No NBA team has lost a series when leading 3-0.

"It is frustrating, but you know it gives us hope at the same time knowing that we can fight our way back,'' Conley said. "And we have had chances to win each of these games. This was a tough one to swallow, but it was a good learning lesson. There's no group of guys I'd rather be with down 3-0 to try to fight back in it.''

San Antonio, which didn't lead this game until the opening minute of the fourth quarter, can wrap up the series Monday in Memphis and get back to the finals for a shot at their fifth title as a franchise.

"One of the best wins I've witnessed being a Spur,'' Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said.

The Spurs hit eight of their 10 shots in overtime, with Duncan scoring seven of his 24 points. He also had 10 rebounds. Tony Parker had five of his 26 in overtime, and even Tiago Splitter, playing with four fouls, scored six in the extra five minutes to finish with 11.

"For whatever reason, we didn't panic,'' Parker said of a start that included four turnovers in the first quarter. "We knew they wanted to come with a lot of energy in the first half. We played our game and came back.''

Mike Conley led Memphis with 20 points. Marc Gasol had 16 points and 14 rebounds, Zach Randolph added 14 and 15, and Quincy Pondexter had 15 points. But the Grizzlies, who thrived at the free throw line in knocking off Oklahoma City, got there only 18 times and made only 10.

The Grizzlies last led 85-84 with 1:04 left in regulation on a 15-footer by Gasol. After that, they managed only to tie it up twice, the last on a layup by Randolph with 4:28 left in overtime. Duncan scored and knocked down the free throw with 4:10 remaining to put the Spurs ahead to stay.

The Spurs dominated the Grizzlies in the paint, outscoring Memphis 58-42 to offset their 17 turnovers, which the Grizzlies turned into 25 points. After the Grizzlies outscored San Antonio in the first quarter, the Spurs outscored them in each of the final three periods and overtime, where they had an 18-7 edge to put away the win.

Memphis, which had a lead for only 90 seconds in San Antonio, opened up with its trademark grit and grind defense, forcing eight turnovers in the first quarter to grab an 18-point lead. The Spurs quit turning the ball over and whittled away that lead to set up a doozy of a fourth quarter where the teams swapped the lead 11 times with 10 ties - all in the final 17 minutes.

"They went small real quick, and we couldn't contain the pick and roll ...,'' Gasol said. "It's painful to watch.''

With neither team leading by more than two in the final 8 minutes of regulation, fans stayed on their feet, holding their "Believe Memphis'' towels trying to will the Grizzlies to yet another win.

Ginobili scored seven of his 19 points in the quarter, and he put the Spurs back up first with a layup with 1:19 left and then a pair of free throws with 54.5 seconds remaining. But Ginobili also picked up his fourth foul, giving Tony Allen a chance to split free throws and tie it up at 86 for the ninth time. Ginobili then missed a 3-pointer with 20.9 seconds left with Allen getting the rebound.

With the Spurs taking control in their second straight overtime win in this series, they pushed their lead to as much as 11 down the stretch and sent fans heading toward the exits.

The Grizzlies lost for the first time at home this postseason and just their second since Feb. 8. Conley, who led the NBA in total steals this season, set the tone with a steal on the Spurs' first possession.

Parker, who set a career high in the postseason with 18 assists in Game 2, finished with seven turnovers. San Antonio turned it over eight times in the first, with the Grizzlies stealing seven of those, prompting Popovich to pull his starters and go with five fresh Spurs.

"It was one of the worst starts I've ever seen,'' Popovich said.

Memphis went up by as much as 18 and was ahead 29-13 at the end of the first quarter.

The Spurs opened the second quarter with an 11-2 run and hit 10 of their first 15 to pull within 42-36. The Grizzlies went into halftime up 44-40.

In the third, the Spurs pulled within a point six different times only to see the Grizzlies hit another bucket to hold onto the lead. San Antonio closed the quarter with a 12-4 run and trailed 65-64 on a bucket by Duncan.

The Spurs picked up in the fourth quarter and finally got their first lead of the game on a corner 3-pointer from Danny Green - his first bucket of the game - with 11:45 left to set up the back and forth quarter.

Notes: Duncan had his 144th postseason double-double, moving into second by himself behind Magic Johnson. ... Conley's five steals in the first quarter were the most in a quarter of a playoff game over the past 10 postseasons, according to Elias Sports Bureau. He finished with five turnovers. ... The Grizzlies had their 16th straight postseason sellout. ... The Spurs now have played five overtime periods this postseason, the most in franchise history. ... The Grizzlies are 1-2 in overtime games this postseason.

 

[fastbreak]

Heat offense puts away Pacers 114-96 in Game 3



INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Miami put LeBron James right in the middle of the action Sunday night, and this time, the Indiana Pacers didn't have an answer for him or his Miami Heat teammates.

By moving James to the post, the Heat won the scoring battle in the paint, kept Indiana at arm's length and pulled away for a 114-96 victory and a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

"I made a conscious effort to get down in the post tonight, to put pressure on their defense,'' James said. "The coaching staff wanted me to be down there tonight, and my teammates allowed me to do that.''

It was a move reminiscent of when the Los Angeles Lakers played Magic Johnson in the post in place of the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during the NBA Finals more than two decades ago.

And it worked just as well.

James rebounded from the two late turnovers that cost Miami in Game 2 by scoring 22 points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out three assists. Hours after Dwyane Wade learned he would only be tagged with a flagrant foul from Game 2 and not a suspension, he finished with 18 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Chris Bosh added 15 points and three rebounds and all five Miami starters reached double figures.

The move allowed Miami to outscore Indiana 56-32 in the paint.

Perhaps that much should be expected from a team with this much scoring punch and that has won 23 of its last 24 on the road.

The other stuff, not so much.

Miami committed a playoff franchise-low one turnover in the first half and finished with only five. James finished with none.

The Heat shot 54.5 percent against a team that finished the regular season with the NBA's best defensive field goal percentage and also made 24 of 28 free throws. They matched the highest scoring output in a quarter during this season's playoffs with 34, broke the franchise playoff record for points in a half (70) and fell one point short of tying the third-highest point total in a playoff game in franchise history.

But the biggest difference between the first two games and Sunday night's rout was what James' work on the inside.

"It was something we wanted to get to just to help settle us and get into a more aggressive attack,'' coach Erik Spoelstra said of the decision to post up the 6-foot-8 James. "We wanted to be a little more aggressive, a little more committed to getting into the paint and seeing what would happen. LeBron was very committed and focused not to settle.''

Now, with Game 4 scheduled for Tuesday, it's the Pacers turn to adjust.

David West led Indiana with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Roy Hibbert had 20 points and 17 rebounds. Paul George finished with 13 points and eight assists, not nearly enough to keep the Pacers perfect at home in the postseason.

Indiana, which fell to 6-1 at home in the playoffs, must win its next home game to even the series again.

The hit couldn't have been harder. The sell-out crowd, dressed in checkered flag colors as a tribute to the Indianapolis 500 that took place earlier in the day, expected more.

James refused to let the hometown fans make a difference.

"He (James) was in the post doing a lot of work, and I think we have to do a better job of helping Paul out,'' Hibbert said. "LeBron can't get five or six dribbles to get a post move. ... We have to make adjustments. He's obviously a low-post threat but we have to make adjustments.''

Miami took advantage of a wild first quarter to build a 34-30 lead, then turned the game with James taking control in a 12-point second quarter.

He scored half of the points in an 8-2 run that gave the Heat what was then their biggest lead of the series, 42-32. A few minutes later, James did it again, making a 15-footer with 1.3 seconds left in the half to give Miami a 70-56 halftime lead and the franchise record.

"We had to not play the score, play the lead, play the game,'' James said.

Indiana opened the second half looking more like the team that had given Miami fits in Games 1 and 2. The Pacers hit back-to-back 3-pointers and got a three-point play from George Hill. When Lance Stephenson followed that with 1 of 2 free throws, the lead had been cut to 74-67.

It didn't last.

Miami countered with a 9-4 run, extended the lead to 91-76 after three and made it 99-78 early in the fourth and Indiana never challenged again - with the 18-point margin matching Indiana's worst home loss of the season - even though James scored only four second-half points.

"If you're not perfect guarding them, they'll do what they did to us tonight,'' Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "Sometimes when you are perfect with your coverages, they still find a way to make baskets. But we didn't have a great defensive night.''

Notes: Miami's best scoring half before Sunday was a 68-point effort against Chicago on April 24, 2006. Miami's Chris Andersen has made 16 consecutive shots in the playoffs. ... Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh attended the game. Harbaugh drove the pace car at the Indy 500... The victory was Miami's first at Indiana this season. The Heat lost both regular-season games in Indy.