BasketballLeBron denies Celtics momentum

Beginning of Story Content

Forty-eight hours can make a world of difference in sports.

On Saturday night in Boston, you could almost sense a momentum shift in the Heat-Celtics series. After outplaying Kevin Garnett for two games, Chris Bosh wilted in the hostile Game 3 environs of TD Garden as Boston clamped down defensively, their old big three blowing away Miami's young big three. Then, as if to signal that a higher power was pulling for the Celtics, Rajon Rondo pulled a Willis Reed by returning after doing a Plastic Man imitation with his left arm, Dwyane Wade and the parquet floor.

Rondo's one-armed performance after the injury evoked legends like Jack Youngblood playing Super Bowl XIV with a broken femur, and in an ideal world, would serve notice to those out there who still consider basketball players in general to be soft.

But give Miami credit for taking the series back Monday night. It was the sort of statement game for LeBron James that you'd expect from the best player in the NBA. Gone was Boston's defence collapsing on him in Game 3 -- in Game 4 he took his team on his shoulders and proved nobody on the Celtics roster can adequately defend him outside. The fact the game was still up for grabs late put the onus on a missed wide-open Rondo layup and a broken Boston pick and roll at the regulation buzzer.

A year ago about this time, we were treated to all sorts of rumour and innuendo about James' collapse against the Celtics (speaking of which, Delonte West is performing admirably off the bench in this series). This time he appears determined to not let that happen again. And Bosh followed up one of his worst-ever games by simply outhustling Garnett again. That's why the series is now 3-1 for Miami and over.

A rematch of the '06 Finals coming. Mavericks-Heat.

Thunder vs. Thunder?

The knock on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs (even though this is basically the same basketball they've played all season) has been the perceived one-upsmanship between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Now that national eyes are on this small-market team, rumours of a rift persist, helped along by a shouting match after Westbrook put up 30 shots in a loss to Denver, and a supposed sighting Monday night of Durant mouthing "he won't give me the ball" to Thunder assistant coach Maurice Cheeks.

But that aside for a moment, the epic 133-123 triple-overtime win over Memphis goes miles in developing this team. For all the heat on KD and Westbrook, it's easy to forget how young this team really is. The average age of their starting lineup is a remarkable 23.4. Of course your two biggest stars -- both 22 -- are going to have noticeable ball-distribution issues. The knock on Westbrook being a gunslinger when it counts can be tempered by the fact it was Durant who put away Memphis in the third overtime.

The team's youth is the major reason why they won't win the championship this year. But what they're learning will serve them well a year from now. "That was fun. That was special," Durant told reporters after the game.
While you've got to give Memphis credit for playing the way they are, their shooting can only stay hot for so long. And ultimately, they tired out Monday night. A guy with ZBo's body just can't play an extra half game at full speed.

Lakers meltdown leaves many questions

Few things were more spectacular to behold than the Lakers' collapse at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. In retrospect, you got the feeling all year that Phil Jackson knew this team wasn't going to win anything. So when Pau Gasol figuratively checked out in the playoffs, there wasn't much of a threat left behind a historically stubborn Kobe Bryant.

And what's a post-season in the NBA without a choke being attributed to off-court distractions? This one comes from rumours Gasol's breakup with his girlfriend (reportedly urged by an unnamed teammate's wife) caused his dip in post-season production. We all deal with distractions differently. When I lost my Syracuse hat in '05, I couldn't eat, let alone play an effective power forward.

Regardless, so begins an off-season of question marks for the Lakers. While Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum's antics at the end of Game 4 were slightly reminiscent of the Detroit Pistons when they were swept by the Bulls in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, they won't besmirch Jackson's career. And I don't believe, like many do, that Jackson is an overrated coach.

Sure, you can argue he always had superstars, and you can reiterate that the triangle was all Tex Winter. But what did those Bulls and Lakers teams win before he became head coach? In sports -- especially in the NBA -- coaching can be as much ego management as X's and O's. Scott Brooks may only discover this more and more as time goes on. Is Jackson the best coach in NBA history? Not even close. But there's a reason was called the Zen Master.

Canucks enter draft

Best of luck to the GTA's own Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph, who both decided to stay in the NBA draft rather than return to the University of Texas. Thompson will likely be Canada's first-ever NBA lottery pick, and while he had indicated a desire to stay in Austin, financial reasons made his decision to go pro logical. Joseph may be taking something of a risk, but the projected second-round pick is simply taking advantage of what's being described as a shallow draft class. Would have loved to see these guys join fellow Canadians Myck Kabongo and Kevin Thomas with the Longhorns, but you've got to look out for yourself.

End of Story Content

Back to accessibility links