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EYE ON BASKETBALL: James' burst wasn't unlike the 10-point run he used to close out the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, in that he visibly gained confidence after hitting a three-pointer, instantly switching into attrack mode. Two perimeter jumpers and another one close in from James pushed Miami out of Chicago's reach, as the Bulls were unable to execute offensively down the stretch, scoring just two points in the final 7:15 of the fourth quarter. Even after that run, and a 29-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist, 3-steal box score line, James wasn't in the mood to take the credit. Instead, he singled out reserve forward Udonis Haslem. "He definitely gets the game ball tonight," James said in a post-game interview.
HEAT INDEX: When the Heat needed an offensive boost in the first half, they got it from Haslem. He was dunking -- exploding off that same foot that required surgery and a long, grueling rehab. He was knocking down that familiar 15-foot jumper, the one that brings back memories of those big shots he hit the last time the Heat went this deep into the playoffs in 2006, and would win a championship. He was lifting a team that badly needed a boost off the bench. When Miami needed defense, effort and energy, Haslem was the human one-stop shop who supplied each of those needs, too. He was rebounding on both ends. He was aggressively rotating to the right spots to provide help. He was igniting a Heat defense that badly needed a spark.
HOT HOT HOOPS: All of the memories of the Game 1 debacle now appear distant. If the Heat take care of business in Miami – and this team has yet to lose in South Beach during the playoffs – then the most hated team in the NBA will go back to Chicago with a 3-1 edge. The Heat lost their first four games to the Bulls this season, but now the Big Three and Company should feel great about how they won this game. The Heat played stifling defense, holding the Bulls to just 3-of-20 shooting from downtown and limiting Rose to a 7-for-23 shooting night. Miami out-rebounded Chicago, with Wade, James and Chris Bosh combining for 27 of the Heat’s 45 boards. And Spoelstra has to like that in the fourth quarter, Miami executed nice plays and forced the Bulls out of their comfort zone.
ESPN CHICAGO: The Bulls did not play their game Wednesday night, especially in the second half. They scored just 10 points in the fourth quarter. They allowed Miami to set the tone, and the Heat seemed to get to all the loose balls the Bulls were grabbing Sunday night. The Bulls looked as frustrated on offense as they have all postseason. Rose didn't drive to the rim as much as he had the past few weeks and settled for too many jumpers. Carlos Boozer was a nonfactor in the game, scoring just seven points and going 3-for-10 from the field. After looking so confident after Game 1, the Bulls looked like a team searching for answers in Game 2. Usually Rose comes up with one late for the Bulls, but on this night he couldn't overcome James.
BALL DON'T LIE: The Bulls rallied yet again behind the bench play of big men Omer Asik and Taj Gibson, but Asik was forced to leave the game with the a bloody cut he sustained with the score knotted at 73-73, and the Heat took over following that. LeBron James loomed large, as you'll read everywhere else later tonight, and Dwyane Wade was constantly on point both offensively defensively throughout, but Haslem was absolutely the difference in a ferocious physical battle. "When the ball was up on the board," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau sighed after the game, "they were in a fight."
TRUE HOOP: According to the Elias Sports Bureau, there have been more than 2,500 instances of a player in the shot clock era (since 1954-55) taking at least 25 true shot attempts in a playoff game. Among those games, Nowitzki's 93.9 percent in Game 1 was the highest true shooting percentage, by far. Next closest was Vince Carter’s true shooting percentage of 82.5 from his 50-point game in the 2001 playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. Expanding the sample in which a player had 25 true shot attempts in either a regular season or playoff game since 1996-97, there are more than 8,500 such instances. Incredibly, Nowitzki’s Game 1 is still the highest in that span, beating outRay Allen’s 90.1 mark from a 2002 regular-season game against the Charlotte Hornets, in which Allen scored 47 points on 15-for-23 shooting from the floor and 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
ESPN DALLAS: According to the Dallas Mavericks' Chandler, there's no negative history between the two centers who were whistled for double technicals only 70 seconds into the series opener of the Western Conference finals. Oklahoma City 's Perkins has an opposing opinion about his rivalry with Chandler. "Me and Tyson never got along. I'm serious," said Perkins, whom the Thunder acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Boston Celtics. "He don't like me, I don't like him and that's pretty much how it's been. Everybody always looks at me as kind of like a dirty player if you're on the opposite team, but he's just as dirty as anybody else."
ESPN LOS ANGELES: Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won five world championships as a Los Angeles Laker and remains the NBA's all-time leading scorer, believes the franchise owes him a statue outside Staples Center and feels "slighted" that it hasn't already happened. There are five statues outside the arena recognizing Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Chick Hearn, Wayne Gretzky and Oscar De La Hoya. Abdul-Jabbar believes it's high time the Lakers do the right thing and make him the sixth athlete so honored. "I don't understand (it). It's either an oversight or they're taking me for granted," Abdul-Jabbar told The Sporting News in a recent interview. "I'm not going to try to read people's minds, but it doesn't make me happy. It's definitely a slight. I feel slighted."The six-time NBA MVP sounded even more offended in a statement released subsequently by his business manager."I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success," Abdul-Jabbar was quoted as saying.
ESPN BOSTON (MAY 17th): Speaking at a small engagement prior to the award ceremony that included the Mayor Thomas Menino, Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, and fellow Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn, (Bill) Russell said the statue's true significance is its relationship to the mentoring program. “Well, [the statue] makes me a little uneasy, because it seems almost like a tombstone," Russell joked. "I don’t want to engrave my tombstone yet, but it’s tied in with the mentoring program and there’s very little that I would not do for the mentoring program." Said Mayor Menino: "That's why we want to have a statue as part of his mentoring program, because I've known Bill for many years and mentoring was always an important part of his life, not just because the statue is here today. But I've known him for a lot of years, and he's always one to say, 'What's happening with the kids? How are we mentoring those kids?' and that's what Bill Russell's all about." The design of the statue is still being determined by the Bill Russell Legacy Committee, which includes Heinsohn, who will lend a hand in determining what the statue will look like. When asked what he would prefer to see the statue look like, Russell admitted he didn't know. "I'm one of those guys that, I can wait and see," Russell said, choosing instead to keep the focus on educating the children of the future.
CELTICSBLOG: Said bluntly, undersized power forwards with "lots of heart" are a dime a dozen in the NBA. The draft is full of power forwards. You can't turn around in the Vegas Summer League without knocking over an undersized power forward. Is Baby one of the better ones? He was at the beginning of the year. But will he continue to be? Sorry, but guys with weight issues don't tend to have a long shelf life in the NBA. I think we've reached the point where Davis has "earned" a decent payday with his overall season but probably will either plateau or decline from this point on. In short, he's worth about what they paid him, he'll likely get more than that elsewhere, and I wouldn't want to give him one cent more to keep playing here. I'm sure Danny will listen to offers for a sign-and-trade, but I wouldn't bank on that getting us much value in return.
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER: LeBron James said he was happy the Cavs won the lottery. James, of course, was their first pick in 2003. "I'm happy for the franchise, I'm happy for the fans," James said during the Miami Heat shootaround before Game 2 of the Eastern finals against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. "I think it is a good step for them. ... But I've got a lot more things to worry about now than the lottery."
THE BASKETBALL JONES: David Kahn has done a lot of stupid things in his two seasons as the Minnesota Timberwolves’ president of basketball operations. There was the time he took a point guard with two consecutive lottery picks, thereby ensuring that the presence of the bad one would keep the good one from ever coming to play in the NBA. There was also the time he gave Darko Milicic $20 million, then compared him to Chris Webber while talking to Chris Webber. And let’s not forget the time he was fined $50,000 because he talked about Michael Beasley smoking reefer. Not everything he’s done has been dumb, but he’s certainly got more than a few pairs of Bad Idea Jeans. Last night, he added another track to his greatest hits compilation — tentatively titled “Kahn Scum” — after the Timberwolves failed to get the No. 1 pick in the lottery. From ESPN:
"Wolves general manager David Kahn said he knew Minnesota was 'dead' when it got down to the final three of himself, Utah executive Kevin O’Connor and Nick Gilbert.
'This league has a habit, and I am just going to say habit, of producing some pretty incredible story lines,' Kahn said. 'Last year it was Abe Pollin’s widow and this year it was a 14-year-old boy and the only thing we have in common is we have both been bar mitzvahed. We were done. I told Kevin: ‘We’re toast.’ This is not happening for us and I was right.'”
Whoops, you just blamed the Timberwolves’ lack of lottery luck on an NBA conspiracy that wants to make a widow and a 14-year-old born with a nerve disorder in to “some pretty incredible story lines.” Totally said that out loud, David Kahn.
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