Category: In the News

“The Heatles” finally make return appearance

Chris Bosh had been insistent he wanted the ball more inside shots.

He Miami teammates listened to him Thursday night.

Bosh erupted for 24 points — his biggest scoring effort since Feb. 16 and one of his top nine games this season — to lead the Heat’s 94-88 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. 

It couldn’t have come at a better time for the slumping Heat, which had dropped five straight games coming into Thursday’s game.  

“We had everything riding on this game, really, to be honest with you,” Bosh told the Associated Press.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Bosh’s big game was the most by an opposing forward or center this season in a non-overtime game in which both Lakers’ big men, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol both played more than 30 minutes.

The game snapped the Lakers’ eight-game winning streak as the Heat scored the final six points of the game after Kobe Bryant’s 3-pointer tied  the game with 2:26 left.

Bryant was clearly frustrated at the end of the game. And with the Lakers remaining in Miami Thursday night, he spent more than an hour after the game working on his shooting touch as his team prepares for a big game at Dallas Saturday night. 

Here’s a look at those who had big games and others who struggled Thursday night across the association.

STUDS

Miami F Chris Bosh: Notched 24 points and nine rebounds in the Heat’s 94-88 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, snapping their five-game losing streak.

Dallas F Dirk Nowitzki: Scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and was a team-best plus-20 in the Mavericks’ 127-109 triumph over New York.

Denver C Nene: Tallied 22 points, seven rebounds and was plus-22 in the Nuggets’ resounding 116-97 victory at Phoenix.

Dallas F Shawn Marion: Made the most  of a rare start, producing totals of 22 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a plus-11 in the Mavericks’ triumph over the Knicks.

Dallas G Jason Terry: Hit 9-for-15 from the field and was plus-9 in a 21-point effort against the Knicks.

Denver G Ty Lawson: Notched 20 points, 11 rebounds, four steals  and was plus-22 in the Nuggets’ victory over Phoenix.

Miami G Dwyane Wade: Produced 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals in the Heat’s victory over the Lakers.

Miami F LeBron James: Tallied 19 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and was plus-8 in the Heat’s streak-busting win over the  Lakers.

New York F Amar’e Stoudemire: Scored a game-high 36 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Knicks’ loss to Dallas.

Los Angeles Lakers G Kobe Bryant: Scored a team-high 24 points in the Lakers’ loss to the Heat.

Phoenix C Marcin Gortat: Produced 14 points, a career-high 18 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in the Suns’ home loss to Denver.  

DUDS

Phoenix G Vince Carter: Clanked through a 2-for-11 shooting effort, including missing all five 3-pointers, in the Suns’ loss to Denver.

The Phoenix Suns: Clanked through a 41.1 shooting night with 19 turnovers in a critical loss to their playoff hopes, dropping 1½ games behind Memphis for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Los Angeles Lakers F Lamar Odom: Went 4-for-11 from the field and was minus-14 in the Lakers’ loss at Miami — snapping an eight-game winning streak.

New York F Carmelo Anthony: Struggled through a 5-for-15 shooting night and was minus-11 in the Knicks’ loss at Dallas.

Spurs sweating defensive breakdowns

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

Before Spurs players could hit the court Wednesday for their longest practice of the season — a 2 1/2-hour marathon in preparation for Friday’s game at Dallas — they first had to sit through the horror film that was their 110-80 loss at Miami two nights earlier.

In between, players discussed summer vacation plans — namely, how long they hoped to put them off.

“The way we are playing now, it will be a quick exit in the playoffs,” point guard Tony Parker said. “We need to forget about our record and go back to playing good Spurs basketball.”

Throughout the franchise’s championship past, the term “good Spurs basketball” has been synonymous with “playing some semblance of defense.”

That was the emphasis Wednesday, and it will continue to be during the season’s final month for the Spurs, who are trending downward defensively at the precise moment they’d hoped to be hitting their stride.

With 15 games left, and a seven-game lead in the loss column on Dallas and the L.A. Lakers, the Spurs (54-13) appear a shoo-in for a No. 1 playoff seed. How far they go with the top slot, coach Gregg Popovich said, will be largely tied to the strides they make — or don’t — on defense.

During the past five games, the league-leading Spurs have allowed teams to shoot 47.7 percent and average 104.6 points, numbers that rank in the bottom third of the league. This month, the Spurs have posted three losses to probable playoff teams by a combined 62 points.

“We’re not as good in that area as we used to be,” Popovich said. “We’re still struggling and trying to get better.”

Of the past nine NBA champions, only one — the 2005-06 Miami Heat — finished the season worse than sixth in field-goal percentage defense. Coming into Wednesday, the Spurs were tied with Dallas and Philadelphia for 10th.

After Wednesday’s epic practice and film session, veteran center Antonio McDyess attributed the team’s defensive woes to “a lack of communication, getting back on defense, assignments where we’re supposed to be someplace and we’re kind of off.”

“Going into the playoffs you have to be more focused,” McDyess said. “In the last four or five games, like Pop said, we lost focus on a lot of things.”

Ironically, the Spurs’ communication breakdown could be rooted, at least partially, in a personnel move designed to improve defensive consistency.

Four games ago, Popovich installed McDyess, a 14-year pro, as his starting center in place of second-year big man DeJuan Blair.

“As we get closer to playoff time, theoretically, I want to start the games with a bit more experience on the defensive end of the court, a little bit more size,” Popovich said. “We’ve been saving McDyess’ minutes all year for the stretch run and the playoffs.

“It might work, it might not, but it seems logical.”

Not only did the lineup shift produce a new combination among the starting frontline, it left Blair and Matt Bonner — two players who haven’t spent much time on the court together this season — paired on the second unit.

In four games since the switch, the Spurs have surrendered 110, 107, 103 and 104 points. Monday, Miami’s Chris Bosh had a good deal of his 30 points at the expense of Blair and Bonner.

“Some of the guys are not in sync with each other,” McDyess said. “I don’t think we’ve seen Matt and DeJuan playing a lot with each other this year. We’re trying to get them used to playing together.”

In light of the lineup changes, perhaps the Spurs’ defense needed to take a step back to readjust before it could take a step forward.

Perhaps.

“That’s no excuse against Miami,” Parker said. “Our defense was terrible.”

The Spurs have exactly one month to iron out the kinks. The postponement of their vacation plans depends on it.

Tough road trip now tougher for Spurs

DENVER — Even before their captain went down in a heap Monday against Golden State, the Spurs viewed their upcoming three-game road trip with a wary eye.

On the docket: Denver, then Portland, then Memphis — three teams still fighting for Western Conference playoff seeding and, in the case of the eighth-place Grizzlies, their playoff lives.

With All-Star power forward Tim Duncan likely out for all three games with a sprained left ankle, an already tough trip got that much tougher for the Spurs.

“It’s going to be very hard, because all three teams are playing great,” Manu Ginobili said. “They are all tough at home, and they need wins. Hopefully, we can win at least two.”

Two of the three teams on the itinerary — Portland and Memphis — have handed the Spurs two of their more embarrassing losses of the season.

The Trail Blazers smacked the Spurs 99-86 on Feb. 1, the first night of their rodeo road trip. On March 1, the Spurs went into Memphis and, with Tony Parker sidelined, were blasted 109-93.

The Spurs are 3-0 this season against Denver, tonight’s opponent at the Pepsi Center. However, the Nuggets are 10-4 — and undefeated at home — since dealing Carmelo Anthony to New York at the trade deadline.

All three of those opponents feature fearsome big men against whom Duncan would have been of use.

“With Tim out, everybody is going to have to pick up the slack,” said Antonio McDyess, who will slide to the power forward slot to make way for a new starting center. “The bench, the starters, everyone.”

Either rookie Tiago Splitter or second-year man DeJuan Blair will likely take Duncan’s place in the starting lineup, but Parker said it will be up to him and Ginobili to shoulder most of the extra burden.

Blair back: After missing Monday’s game with a sprained left wrist, Blair is expected to be available tonight in Denver. After Tuesday’s practice, Blair and general manager R.C. Buford called the decision to sit him against Golden State precautionary.

“I could have played but picked a night to sit out,” Blair said. “I’m back now and just going to fight through the pain.”

What’s up, Docs?: Citing team doctors, Spurs TV analyst Sean Elliott told FSN Southwest viewers in the second half Monday that Duncan could miss two weeks with his injury.

“If he’s that good as a doctor, I think he should change jobs,” Ginobili cracked.

Parker, meanwhile, couldn’t resist a playful jab at the team’s medical staff, which earlier this month offered a prognosis of 2-4 weeks on his calf injury that healed in five days.

“We’ll see if the doctor is accurate this time,” Parker said. “He wasn’t accurate with me.”