NBA: Rivers defends playoff record as Sixers prepare for Raptors

LOS ANGELES -- Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers defended his record in the NBA playoffs on Wednesday as his team prepared for a nervy game-six duel with the Toronto Raptors.

After surging into a 3-0 series lead, the Sixers have missed two chances to clinch the series, losing game four last Saturday before being defeated at home on Monday in a lackuster 103-88 defeat.

The nature of Monday's loss -- and the fact that Sixers star Joel Embiid is nursing a thumb injury -- has raised the prospect of Philadelphia becoming the first team to blow a 3-0 series lead in NBA history.

It has also invited scrutiny of Rivers' record in the playoffs. 

The Sixers coach is the only coach in the NBA who has blown multiple 3-1 playoff series leads in his career. 

Rivers' Orlando Magic were pipped in seven games by the Detroit Pistons in 2003 after taking a 3-1 lead in the playoffs, and the Los Angeles Clippers suffered the same fate twice during Rivers’ reign, losing in 2015 to the Houston Rockets and in 2020 against the Denver Nuggets.

Rivers bristled on Wednesday when quizzed by reporters about his history of playoff near-misses ahead of Thursday's game six in Toronto.

"Well, it's easy to use me as an example," Rivers said. "But I wish y'all would tell the whole story with me. All right?

"My Orlando team was the eighth seed. No one gives me credit for getting up against the Pistons, who won the title. 

"That was an eighth seed. I want you to go back and look at that roster. I dare you to go back and look at that roster. 

"And you would say, 'What a hell of a coaching job.' Really."

Rivers added that his Clippers team in 2015 was hobbled by an injury to Chris Paul, while the team that lost to Denver in 2020 were playing in the unique fan-free environment of the pandemic bubble in Orlando.

"The 2015 Clipper team that we lost 3-1, Chris Paul, didn't play the first two games, and was playing on one leg, and we didn't have home court," Rivers said.

"And then the last one (in 2020) to me, is the one we blew. That's the one I took. We blew that. And that was in the bubble. 

"And anything can happen in the bubble. There's no home court. Game seven would have been in LA."

"But, it just happens. So I would say with me, some of them is ... I got to do better always. I always take my own responsibility. And then, some of it is, circumstances happen. 

"This one, let's win it, and we don't have to talk about it."

Agence France-Presse

Clippers outgun Warriors in epic Game Seven shootout

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Clippers overcame a week of turmoil and the Golden State Warriors to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs.

Clutch free throws down the stretch and four starters with 20 or more points lifted the Clippers to a 126-121 victory in Game 7 of the Western Conference quarterfinals before a sellout crowd of 19,543 at the Staples Center.

“Because of the week, I’m going to remember this game for a long time,” Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers said.

Racist comments about African-Americans by Clippers owner Donald Sterling last weekend threw the franchise into disarray and resulted in Sterling being banned for life by NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

Sterling’s statements hung over the club like a dark cloud but lifted — at least temporarily — as the Clippers claimed a big win in an intense affair.

With the series on the line, the third-seeded Clippers prevailed with clutch free throws and baskets down the stretch to advance to the second round for only third time since the club moved to Los Angeles. They will face the second-seeded Thunder in Oklahoma City in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday.

“I’m just happy we pulled it out,” said Paul, who had 22 points, 14 assists, four steals and only two turnovers in 42 minutes. “It’s going to sound crazy, but it was all about tonight. Everythig else was in the past. We didn’t want to dwell on that stuff, and not to diminish how serious everything’s been in the past week or so, it was all about basketball tonight.”

Forward Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 24 points. Guard Jamal Crawford had 22 points and guard J.J. Redick added 20. Center DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 18 rebounds.

Redick’s two free throws with 12.1 seconds remaining were the difference.

“They made the necessary plays in the last two minutes of Game 7,” said Golden State forward Draymond Green, who finished with 24 points, hitting 5 of 8 3-point shots and grabbing seven rebounds. “We gave ourselves a chance to win in the last two minutes. They made a couple of plays to pull away (and) we didn’t.”

Guard Stephen Curry had 33 points and nine assists for the Warriors.

“Looking at the matchup, we thought we had a shot in the series,” said Curry, who connected on 7 of 17 shots from the field, including 3 of 7 from behind the arc, and all 16 of his free throws. “It’s hard to say it’s a failure of the season, but we fought and left it all on the floor.”

Forward Andre Iguodala’s 3-pointer gave the Warriors a 107-106 lead with 4:27 left in the game, but Paul found Jordan for an alley-oop dunk to give Los Angeles a one-point advantage with 3:39 left.

Two free throws by Curry gave Golden State the lead again with 2:22 remaining before Griffin scored inside and drove home a Redick pass for a dunk for 112-109 lead with 1:54 left.

Jordan jammed a Paul miss with 1:15 left to give Los Angeles a five-point advantage before two free throws by Curry pulled Golden State to within 114-111.

Griffin scored inside on a circus move, pushing the lead to five again with 56 seconds remaining. Green hit one of two free throws to slice the margin to 116-112 with 46.4 seconds left.

Redick’s jumper made it 118-112, but Paul was called for a foul on a 3-point attempt by Curry. He hit all three free throws to cut the lead to three before Griffin found Jordan for a jam with 22:3 seconds remaining.

Green’s trey with 13 seconds left got the Warriors to within 120-118.

The Warriors came out blazing, shooting 72.2 percent from the field in the first quarter and 58.5 percent in the first half to take a 64-56 lead at the break. They also hit 9 of 13 (69.2 percent) from behind the arc compared with 3 of 11 (27.3 percent) for Los Angeles, which converted 51.3 percent (20 of 39) of its attempts from the floor.

Overall, Golden State converted 14 of 25 3-pointers (56 percent) and 49.4 percent (39 of 79) overall. The Clippers hit only 33.3 percent (8 of 24) of their treys and 55.4 percent (46 of 83) overall.

NOTES: Mark Jackson quickly dismissed speculation that he felt pressure that Game 7 might be his last as coach of the Warriors. “I take every day like if could be my last day doing everything, so it’s pressure every single day,” Jackson said. … This was the first time the Clippers hosted a Game 7. They had played in three overall, winning at Memphis in 2012 and losing at Phoenix in 2006. The franchise lost to the Washington Bullets in 1975 when it was the Buffalo Braves. … Golden State has not captured a Game 7 since May 14, 1975, when it defeated the Chicago Bulls in the Western Conference Finals en route to the NBA title by beating the Bullets.

source: interaksyon.com

Celtics beat Heat on Jeff Green’s buzzer-beating fadeaway three-pointer

MIAMI — It didn’t have all the same players involved, but the Heat-Celtics rivalry proved it can still make for quite a game.

Forward Jeff Green hit a buzzer-beating, fall-away 3-pointer over LeBron James as the Boston Celtics stunned the Miami Heat 111-110 on Saturday night at American Airlines Arena.

“I was in the first row because I faded back so far,” Green said. “I ended up on some lady’s lap, but I saw it when it went through.”

While James said before the game that the matchup was no longer a rivalry without former Celtics coach Doc Rivers and forwards Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, Boston won its third in a row after starting the season 0-4.

Green, who scored 43 points in a loss to Miami last season, seems to have a knack for stepping up to the challenge when facing the Heat.

“They are the best team. They won back-to-back championships,” Green said. “You got to get up playing these guys.”

Green led the Celtics with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field.

James hit two free throws with three seconds left to turn the Heat’s two-point lead into a two-possession game that appeared to ice the game against the young, scrappy Celtics.

But forward Gerald Wallace scored on a layup to cut the lead to 110-108 with 1.6 seconds left. Wallace fouled Dwyane Wade, who missed one free throw and then intentionally missed the second.

“Just 0.6 left, I was trying to hit the rim, but it didn’t go as planned,” Wade said.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “That clearly did not work.”

Rookie Celtics coach Brad Stevens benefited from an NBA rule that would not have worked in his favor last season at Butler — the opportunity to advance the ball to midcourt on a late timeout.

“In college basketball, that game would be over because you have to go the length of the court in .6 seconds; that is almost impossible,” he said. “In this, you have a chance to catch it facing the basket and shoot with .4 seconds or more.”

Wallace made the cross-court inbounds pass and rookie center Kelly Olynyk set the pick that freed Green.

Guards Avery Bradley and Jordan Crawford scored 17 and 15 points, respectively, and forward Jared Sullinger pitched in 12 for Boston.

James played through a sore back and finished two rebounds short of a triple-double with 25 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. James scored 11 in the fourth quarter as the Heat constantly went to him late.

Forward/center Chris Bosh scored 20 points and Wade had 18.

Green ranked his buzzer-beater as the No. 2 moment in his career, with No. 1 being the driving layup he made as time expired against the Cleveland Cavaliers last March because his heart surgeon was able to witness it.

Miami was outrebounded 39-31 and beaten off the dribble and surrendered driving lanes to the basket and open shots.

“This game has always had … an energy and a karma about it, and we did too many things where we did not deserve to win that game,” Spoelstra said.

Forward Michael Beasley found ways to score against Celtics forward Kris Humphries early. The Heat forward had the Miami crowd frenzied in the second quarter when he scored all 10 of his points in just his second game since his return this season to the organization that drafted him No. 2 overall in 2008.

Beasley was one of three Heat players — along with James and Bosh — to score in double figures in the first half. He did not play in the second half.

“In the second half, I really just didn’t feel that we had to force a 10-man rotation,” Spoelstra said.

Like Beasley, point guard Mario Chalmers and center Chris Andersen each added 10 points.

Crawford scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the Celtics up 60-59 at halftime.

NOTES: Despite being bedridden all day with soreness in his lower back, James started in his normal role. “I got out (of) bed twice today,” James said. … The Celtics came to Miami to play on the second night of a back-to-back after winning 91-89 in Orlando on Friday. … Miami PG Mario Chalmers was fined $15,000 by the NBA for his hit on Blake Griffin in Thursday’s 102-97 win against the Clippers … Olynyk got his first career start after Brazilian C Vitor Faverani started the Celtics’ first six games.

source: interaksyon.com