|
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Sayson: A near-win without Artest
By Homer Sayson
Secondovertime
CHICAGO – Two days after he etched his name in basketball immortality as the second youngest player to score a triple-double in his NBA playoffs debut, LeBron James made history again yesterday in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series between the Cavs and Wizards at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
This time, though, LeBron’s legacy was written in red ink.
The 6-foot-9, 245-pound James rammed into a wall of 10 turnovers, joining fellow superstars Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Moses Malone as the only players to commit double-digit turnovers in a postseason game.
Besides being unable to take care of the ball, LeBron also couldn’t find his shot. He made just seven-of-25 field goals and 1-of-6 3-pointers. He did finish with 26 points, nine rebounds and two assists, but it was big letdown from his 32-point-11-rebound and 11-assist output last Saturday.
With LeBron held in check, the Wizards stole Game 2, 89-84, knotting this Round 1 series at one game apiece. LeBron credited the Wizards for causing his woes, “I know that hard fouls are going to happen. They did a good job of trying to foul me before I got the ball up. It’s just playoff basketball.”
Held to just 48 points on 15-of-47 shooting in Game 1, the Wizards Big Three of Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison bounced back with a fury last night, making 26-of -57 shots for 72 points. The trio also had 22 rebounds and 8.0 assists among them.
When Washington fell back early, 8-23, it seemed as though a blowout was in the works. But the Wizards’ playoff experience came through as they stunned the Cavs with a spectacular 18-0 run to seize both the lead and the momentum.
The Wizards were 31-of-78 from the field (39.7 percent) and 8-of-20 from beyond the arc (40 percent). They were out-rebounded, 40-47, but they only had 11 against the Cavs’ 16 turnovers. Cleveland was miserable all night, missing 53 of its shots and sinking just 3-of-12 3-pointers.
SPURS LEAD 2-0. Without Ron Artest, who was suspended for elbowing Manu Ginboli in the head in Game 1, the Spurs cakewalked towards a 2-0 lead when their best-of-7 series against the Kings resumed yesterday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
But the Kings refused to lie down in surrender, giving the Spurs a run for their money before finally falling in overtime, 119-129.
Even without Artest, the Kings played with so much energy, going 42-of-87 from the field and out-rebounding the Spurs, 47-34. In the end, though, the Spurs’ endgame poise proved impossible to shake.
The Kings were 4.9 seconds away from an upset, but victory proved only to be so near yet so far as Brent Barry sank a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.
Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 32 points and 9.0 assists. He sizzled with 10-of-20 from the field, 9-of-12 from the stripe and 3-of-8 from three-land.
Ginobili had zero turnovers, which betrayed his freewheeling style of play. Tim Duncan had a quiet 14 points but he made a lot of noise under the boards, grabbing 13 rebounds. Tony Parker had 22 points and 10 assists, while Brent Barry came off the bench for 22.
Kevin Martin made the most of his time as a starting small forward in place of the grounded Artest. Martin delivered 26 points and 8.0 rebounds and he was perfect from the line, 10-for-10. Bonzi Wells had 28, while Shareef Abdur Rahim added 27 for a Kings team which made just 3-of-10 treys.
NETS EVEN SERIES. The New Jersey Nets avoided what would have been a disastrous 0-2 hole, beating the Pacers in Game 2 of their series yesterday (90-75) at the Continental Airlines Arena.
Vince Carter, held to a 12-of-33 shooting in Game 1’s loss, limited his field attempts and improved his accuracy. He made 12-of-20 shots and finished with 33 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. It proved more than enough.
Anthony Johnson, who made the game-winning free throws last Sunday, led the Pacers with 17 points and 6.0 assists, but the modest effort couldn’t bail out Indiana, which struggled mightily, converting just 28-of-79 field goals and 7-of-25 trifectas.
(homsay@hotmail.com)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 27, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
