Tag: Udonis Haslem

Haslem, Pittman suspended for fracas with Pacers

The NBA has suspended Miami center Dexter Pittman for three games and Miami forward Udonis Haslem for a game for their actions during the Heat’s Game 5 victory over  Indiana.

Pittman’s penalty came for striking the neck and shoulders of Indiana guard Lance Stephenson.  And Haslem has been suspended for striking the head and shoulders of Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough.

Both Pittman and Haslem had their Flagrant Fouls Ones upgraded to Flagrant Foul Twos, as did Hansbrough. His penalty came after he struck the head of Miami’s Dwyane Wade on a foul that preceded Haslem’s foul, opening a cut over Wade’s eye.

Haslem will serve his suspension on Thursday when the Pacers host the Heat in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Pittman will begin serving his suspension in Game 6.

The departures will hurt the Heat, who are already struggling with their inside depth with Chris Bosh out with an injury. The Heat will have only three inside players for Game 6 and likely will have to activate seldom-used reserve Eddy Curry for Thursday’s game.

Haslem was a huge factor in the Heat’s Game 4 victory in Indiana, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Three ‘Heatles’ trump Nowitzki again in Game 3

The Miami Heat outnumbered Dallas and Dirk Nowitzki again Sunday night.

The balanced Miami offense took advantage of solid performances from Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James  to cruise to an 88-86 victory in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. It provides the Heat with a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series.

Wade went for 29 points  and 11 rebounds. Bosh notched 18 points including the game-winner with 39.6 seconds left. And James had a solid 17 points and nine assists.

Their collective effort overcame a monster game from Nowitzki, who scored a game-high 34 points but received little help from the rest of his Mavericks team.

Nowitzki had a chance to tie the game at the end of regulation, but he misfired on a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer that would have tied the game with Udonis Haslem providing tough defense.

“It was a good offensive play, and a good defensive play,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after the game. “And he happened to miss.”

Nowitzki pulled the Mavericks into a chance to win the game at the end by scoring 12 straight points down the stretch on six free throws, a layup, a dunk and a tough jumper that tied it at 86.

But on the Mavericks’ final two possessions, Nowitzki threw a pass out of bounds and missed off the back iron as time ran out.

Dallas players know they must provide more help for Nowitzki in order to square the series when Game 4 is played on Tuesday night.

“We have to have somebody step up besides Dirk,” Dallas guard Jason Kidd told reporters after the game.

Miami’s balance enabled them to reclaim homecourt advantage on Sunday. They can gun for much more when the series resumes for Game 4.

STUDS

Miami G Dwyane Wade: Notched 29 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in the Heat’s 88-86 Game 3 victory over Dallas.

Miami F Chris Bosh: Despite playing with a painful swollen left eyelid, he produced 18 points including the game-winner with 39.6 seconds left in the Heat’s victory at Dallas.

Miami F LeBron James: Went for 17 points, nine assists, three rebounds and two steals in the Heat’s triumph over the Mavs.

Miami F Udonis Haslem: Scored only six points but was plus-5 and provided the defense to contest Dirk Nowitzki’s potential game-tying shot at the buzzer in Miami’s victory at Dallas.

Dallas F Dirk Nowitzki: Went for a game-high 34 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, blocked three shots and was a game-best plus-12 in the Mavericks’ loss to Miami.

DUDS

Dallas G J.J. Barea: Went 2-for-8 from the field with four turnovers in the Mavericks’ loss to Miami.

The Dallas bench: The Mavericks’ backups went a collective 8-for-24 from the field (33.3 percent) with five turnovers and were a collective minus-23 in their loss to Miami.