76ers Try Not to End Postseason with a Whimper: A Fan's Outlook (Yahoo! Contributor Network)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 05:20:00 PDT)
The Philadelphia 76ers have gone back and forth between prosperity and misery against the Boston Celtics. Sixers fans like myself have gone through similar mood swings, as the teams looks overmatched in one game and then capable of winning this series in another - and sometimes looks like both these things in the same night. But if the Sixers don't prove capable of winning this series in Game 6 on May 23, their season will be over.

Haslem has started to play his game, not Bosh's (The SportsXchange)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 01:31:19 PDT)
If nothing else, this Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Indiana Pacers has allowed Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem to return to his roots.

Pacers might face elimination game without Granger (The SportsXchange)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 01:31:14 PDT)
The Indiana Pacers were bound to be blown out at some point in their series against Miami. Too bad it happened on national television. And too bad it caused them to put their backs against the wall.

James and Wade lead Heat past Pacers, 115-83 (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 01:26:20 PDT)
MIAMI (AP) Dwyane Wade was bleeding after taking a smack in the head from Tyler Hansbrough, who became the target of a retaliatory shot from Udonis Haslem a few moments later.

Larry Bird calls his Indiana Pacers “soft” following the team’s physical Game 5 loss to Miami (Ball Don't Lie)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 23:15:02 PDT)
He might not be right, and it might be an overreaction, but in the words of Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski , "you knew Larry Bird wasn't going to sit this one out." In the hours following Indiana's Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat , in a physical affair that saw the Pacers blown out while taking in the two nastiest of the three flagrant fouls doled out on the evening, the Pacers president and 2012 NBA Executive of the Year called his team "soft," in a short discussion with Indianapolis Star beat writer Mike Wells following the game. And, if there was any confusion, Bird spelled the word out. Here's Wells' brief, but impactful discussion with the pissed-off Hall of Famer :

Heat retaliate after Pacers' hit on Dwyane Wade with force, nastiness and LeBron James
(Tue, 22 May 2012 22:55:42 PDT)
Miami played like a hockey squad protecting its stars and Indiana appears to be done in the East semifinals

Heat and Pacers physical battle turns nasty
(Tue, 22 May 2012 22:26:34 PDT)
MIAMI (Reuters) - There has been a nasty edge to the playoff series between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers and after more blood in Tuesday's latest encounter, the Heat's Dwyane Wade said the physical clashes were getting close to crossing the line. Wade was left with bleeding above his eye after being struck by Tyler Hansbrough in the second quarter of the Eastern Conference semi-final. That incident may have motivated a worse foul when Miami's Udonis Haslem slammed both his arms into the face of Hansbrough in the game's second flagrant foul. ...

Dexter Pittman’s elbow to Lance Stephenson’s throat is just one of three nasty hits in Miami/Indiana’s Game 5 (VIDEO) (Ball Don't Lie)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 22:10:43 PDT)
Remember last week, when Indiana Pacers afterthought Lance Stephenson was spied on the Pacer bench making a "choke" symbol toward Miami Heat superstar LeBron James as he missed free throws in Game 3 of the teams' second-round series? And how LeBron apparently didn't care enough to give Stephenson the time of day following ? Well, it appears Heat Counterpart in Scrubbishness Dexter Pittman wanted to give Stephenson the time of day, just as soon as a big enough blowout hit in Game 5 to warrant an appearance from both Stephenson and Pittman, two players who combined for just 742 minutes during the regular season, some court time. And enough time for Pittman to exactly his stupid, pointless, ultimately ineffective and downright dangerous "revenge" on Stephenson with a shot to his throat, with just 19 seconds left in Game 5. Watch:

James and Wade on fire as Heat scorch Pacers
(Tue, 22 May 2012 21:22:52 PDT)
MIAMI (Reuters) - With LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on fire, the Miami Heat pounded the Indiana Pacers 115-83 on Tuesday to take a 3-2 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference playoff semi-final.

James, Wade lead Heat to 115-83 win over Pacers (The Associated Press)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 21:20:32 PDT)
MIAMI (AP) Suddenly, the road back to the Eastern Conference finals no longer looks daunting for Miami.

Heat roll over Pacers to lead series
(Tue, 22 May 2012 21:16:36 PDT)
Miami got their swagger back as they scored the opening three points and never trailed in easily beating Indiana 115-83 in game five to take a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference series.

Behind the Box Score, where the Miami Heat split the Indiana Pacers in two (Ball Don't Lie)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 21:10:51 PDT)
Miami Heat 115, Indiana Pacers 83 (Heat lead series, 3-2) When the prognosticators started putting together their predictions for this series-swingin' Game 5, most leaned heavily on a Miami blowout win, and while I understood that educated guesswork, I didn't agree with it. Yes, NBA history often points to a big home team win in these sorts of games, but nothing had really changed in the Miami and Indiana rotation to make me think that this wasn't going to be yet another tough, close game. Just as we saw in Games 1 through 4, the Heat have mostly struggled without Chris Bosh providing spacing, and Indiana's defense wouldn't choose this time to take a break, would it? And though the Heat are fantastic, it's hard to overcome the presence of those (like starting center Ronny Turiaf and Shane Battier) who don't have to be guarded, right? Well, Indiana's defense was actually pretty stout. They forced the Heat into tough shots and made Miami move the ball. And after that movement the Heat started, with Shane Battier leading the way, hitting the long range shots they hadn't earlier in the series. Good start for Miami (with Battier dropping nine points in the first quarter after eight points in the first four games), but still good enough Indiana defense in the halfcourt. The Indiana offense? That's what destroyed the Pacers. Awful, awful decisions, spacing, a lack of patience and no impact once the team attempted to get in transition. As a result, even though the Heat's halfcourt offense wasn't especially astonishing (not until the Pacers gave up in the fourth quarter, at least), the team still piled up a whopping 115 points.

Pacers lose the game and perhaps some players (The SportsXchange)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 21:01:09 PDT)
MIAMI -- Now it's the Indiana Pacers' turn to be concerned. Very concerned.

Mike Miller hustles in only one shoe during Heat's blowout of Pacers
(Tue, 22 May 2012 20:25:19 PDT)
Mike Miller scored plenty of hustle points in Game 5 for the Heat.

Heat 115, Pacers 83 (The SportsXchange)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 20:01:12 PDT)
MIAMI -- Now it's the Indiana Pacers' turn to be concerned. Very concerned.

Granger out of Pacers-Heat game with ankle injury (The Associated Press)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 19:06:06 PDT)
MIAMI (AP) Indiana forward Danny Granger left the Pacers' Eastern Conference semifinal game against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night early in the second half with a sprained left ankle.

The 10-man rotation, starring Bob Cousy (Ball Don't Lie)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 15:05:34 PDT)
A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out. C : Hardwood Paroxysm . 'Waiting For the Train with Bob Cousy and Chuck Cooper.' PF : The Classical . Danny Chau takes on the Russell Westbrook phenomenon. SF : SB Nation . Tom Ziller reflects on the ill-starred 2007 NBA draft. SG : Grantland . Who else is giddy at the thought of Wilt Chamberlain vs. Elgin Baylor, first to 21? PG : The Basketball Jones . Many laughs from Trey Kerby as he profiles OKC Thunder fans.

The Jamaican national team reminds me that it has multiple NBA players (Ball Don't Lie)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 12:45:34 PDT)
Last Thursday, I wrote a post discussing reports that Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert, who has made multiple appearances in international competition as a member of the Jamaican national basketball team, was seeking his release from that club in the hope of becoming part of Team USA this summer. In it, I wrote that Hibbert was the island nation's "only legitimate NBA player (unless you count Patrick Ewing Jr., maybe, and you shouldn't)." This did not sit particularly well with the Jamaica Basketball Association , according to a statement emailed to me Tuesday by JaBA communications director Keisha Hill: Dear Mr. Devine, We at the Jamaica Basketball Association have read with interest your article on Mr. Roy Hibbert seeking a release from the Association to play for the USA Team. It is a good article however we would like to clarify a statement that was made in reference to our international players. In your article as highlighted below you stated that Patrick Ewing Jnr is the only other legitimate player that is involved with our national programme. [...] This statement actually misses a few key facts, which we hope you will correct.

A closer look at a big night for Brandon Bass, who ate well because Rajon Rondo kept feeding him (Ball Don't Lie)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 09:00:05 PDT)
With injuries reducing Ray Allen to a shell of his former self and the combination of pain and enveloping Philadelphia 76ers defense limiting Paul Pierce to just 38 percent shooting from the floor through four games of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Boston Celtics needed another source of offense to alleviate the pressure on primary scorer Kevin Garnett and primary facilitator Rajon Rondo if they were to take a series lead over the Sixers on their home court in Game 5. On Monday night, that source was Brandon Bass, who exploded for a season-high 27 points and six rebounds in a 101-85 win that gave Boston a 3-2 edge and put Philly on the brink of elimination as they head back to Pennsylvania for Game 6 Wednesday night. After the biggest performance of his seven-year NBA career — his 27 points matched a career high and set a new postseason high-water mark — the former LSU standout credited the attention drawn by his better-billed teammates for giving him the chance to operate. From Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press : ''We've got a few good players on the team that they had to focus on,'' said Bass, who left the game to a standing ovation with 2 minutes left and Boston leading by 18. ''That left me open, and I was able to take advantage of my opportunity.'' That was especially true during a third-quarter explosion that saw Bass hit 6 of 7 field-goal attempts and make all six of his free throws for a total of 18 points. That's the highest-scoring quarter for a single player this postseason and, as NBA.com's John Schuhmann noted , just the fifth time a player has scored at least 15 points in one frame during these playoffs, putting Bass alongside LeBron James (who scored 17 in the fourth quarter of Game 3 against the New York Knicks and 16 in the fourth quarter of Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers), Tony Parker (16 in the fourth quarter of Game 3 against the Utah Jazz) and the man for whom Bass was traded this past offseason, Glen Davis (16 in the second quarter of Game 3 against the Pacers). It was an amazing effort at an absolute must-have moment by Bass, and it was also one orchestrated pretty deftly by Rondo, the Celtics' point guard and floor general, who repeatedly put Bass in position to make his monstrous contributions.

Column: Same skills, new mindset for LeBron? (The Associated Press)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 17:51:44 PDT)
Spectacular as it seemed, it was nothing we haven't seen from LeBron James before.

NBA roundup: Orlando fires coach Van Gundy, GM Smith (The SportsXchange)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 15:30:20 PDT)
The Orlando Magic said so long to coach Stan Van Gundy and general manager Otis Smith on Monday.

Magic fire coach Stan Van Gundy; GM also gone (The Associated Press)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 15:05:46 PDT)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) For months the Orlando Magic have been trudging through the aftermath of a preseason trade request by Dwight Howard that sapped the life out of the franchise as internal team issues quickly affected the product on the floor.