Dragic Push Suns Pass Spurs

Dragic was 2-for-12 in the first two games of the series. But forget about that. Dragic broke a Spurs opponent playoff record, a guy named Charles Barkley set it 17 years ago -- by scoring 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting in the fourth, and the Suns took another big step toward advancing to the Western Conference Finals with a 110-96 victory and a 3-0 series lead.

The Spurs led 72-71 heading into the fourth quarter before Dragic scored more than half of the Suns' 39-point supernova in the final quarter. The Spurs had advantages in the paint (40 points to the Suns 34) and second-chance points and battled to a draw in other usually key categories, and the Spurs' chances looked hopeful with an 8-for-16 performance from 3-point territory. It was the first time this series the Suns failed to crack the 20-point mark in a quarter. By turning again to their defense, and watching the Spurs miss 5-of-8 from the free-throw line, the Suns were able to cut the Spurs' 18-point lead through the opening 3:35 of the second quarter to four with two minutes before halftime. San Antonio shot 9-for-21 from the floor in the second quarter and was unable to make a shot for 5 minutes and 42 seconds while Phoenix went on a 19-4 run.

LeBron, Cavs Appear to Be Just Fine After Game 1

Things were shaky for the Cavaliers for much of their 101-93 victory Saturday night over visiting Boston in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Entering the game, there were all kinds of questions, and maybe a few concerns, regarding James' right elbow -- which ached so badly that he shot his final free throw of the first round with his left hand. An MRI revealed nothing more than a strain and a bruise, but no one was sure how it would hold up against the physical Celtics. But 35 points, seven rebounds and seven assists later, it appears James and his elbow is both just fine. He also drained eight of his first nine foul shots, finishing 8-for-11 on the night.

Williams finished with 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting. After watching Rondo do his best Oscar Robertson imitation for the majority of the first half, Williams finally seemed to have seen enough in the third quarter. It all started with the Cavs trailing 69-60 and five minutes to go. That's when Williams dribbled down the middle of the lane on a fast-break and dunked right over top of Celtics forward Paul Pierce. He hit a 15-footer following the dunk, then a floater in the key following a basket by Boston's Kevin Garnett. In case all that wasn't enough, Williams buried a pair of free throws a minute or so later. By the time he was finished, the Celtics still led 73-68 with 3:10 left in the third, but it was clear the wheels were coming off. And by the time the fourth quarter started, the Cavs had taken a 79-78 lead.

The teams exchanged a few baskets, with James knocking down a floater to make it 96-93 with 1:45 to go. Forty seconds later, O'Neal followed in his own miss (well, actually two misses) to make it 98-93. The Celtics turned it over on their next possession, and James capped the scoring with a 3-pointer at the 22-second mark.

Durant Leads Thunder to First Playoff Win

Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant was struggling through another tough shooting night against the Los Angeles Lakers, hitting just one of his first seven shots and just four of his first 16 when he stood in the team huddle and knew what he had to do.

So Durant went out and set a career high in rebounds with 19, played stout defense against Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarter and still managed to score 29 points in leading his Thunder to a thrilling come-from-behind 101-96 win over the Lakers. Bryant was held to just four points in the fourth quarter on 2-for-10 shooting. He had helped torch the Thunder on Tuesday night in L.A. with 15 points down the stretch of Game 2. Bryant had been guarded by defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha most of the game with Jeff Green and James Harden also taking turns. But seeing Durant come out on him for the final 12 minutes was not something the Lakers' superstar was expecting. He still managed to lead the Lakers in scoring with 24 points on 10-for-29 shooting. But Bryant, for one of the few times in his career, did not have a single free-throw attempt.

Durant's 29 points led all scorers, while his sidekick Westbrook added 27, grabbed eight rebounds and dished four assists. OKC limited Los Angeles to just 46 second-half points, 21 in the fourth quarter when the Lakers were just 8-for-20. Also Oklahoma City outrebounded the Lakers 53-39 and doubled them on the offensive glass, 14-7. The Thunder also ran on the Lakers, outscoring them 23-7 on the break.

In addition to Bryant's 24, Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol each added 17 with Gasol pulling down 15 rebounds.

Trail Blazers Steal one in PHX

The Portland Trail Blazers won in impressive fashion with a 105-100 victory.

The Suns need to discover somebody who can cover Andre Miller. The Trail Blazers got off to a rousing start in their best-of-seven first-round series Sunday night by shutting down Stoudemire and the Suns on the way to a 105-100 surprising lost. The Blazers became the only one of the eight lower-seeded teams in the NBA playoffs to win their first playoff game.

They won Sunday thanks to Marcus Camby's defense on Stoudemire and the Suns' failure to cover Andre Miller. He shot 10-for-17 for 31 points, including an incredible 10-for-10 on free throws. In addition to his outstanding defense, Camby had 17 rebounds and three blocks. Camby made him work and didn't give him anything easy.

For the Suns, Nash had 25 points and nine assists. Stoudemire shot a modest 8-for-19 for 18 points. The Suns have had trouble scoring against the Blazers this season. They'd only averaged 98 points against them (compared to their league-leading 110 points per game overall).

The Blazers gave the Suns two chances in the closing moments of the game. The first was when Camby missed an easy break-away dunk in the final minute. Then Jared Dudley had a 3-pointer from the left corner that would have cut the Blazers' lead to one point. But he missed. The second was after Richardson hit a 3-pointer cut it to 103-100 with 12.5 seconds left, Bayless missed two free throws. That gave Nash one last 3-pointer from 28 feet up top to tie the game. He was well short, and the Blazers finally closed it out.

Bulls Best Raptors For Final Spot In Playoffs

Clearly the Chicago Bulls wanted this game more than the Toronto Raptors. Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose led the Bulls to a 104-88 victory over the Toronto Raptors, breaking a tie as they moved into sole possession of eighth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race with two games remaining for each team. Noah was brilliant, finishing with 18 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists as his energy fueled his teammates in the second half, not giving them the option of letting up. Noah was active from the opening tip until he was pulled with less than two minutes remaining. Toronto struggled from the floor, shooting just 41 percent for the game for the game. Sonny Weems and Andrea Bargnani scored 18 points apiece for the Raptors, but neither could find a steady rhythm. After saying all season that he needs the ball in his hands to be effective, Hedo Turkoglu had the ball and made the most of it, finishing with nine assists to go with a career-high 19 rebounds, but they didn't matter as the Raptors lost their opportunity to take full control of their playoff destiny. The Bulls outscored Toronto 26-17 in the third and went into the fourth ahead by 19. The Raptors trailed by as many as 25 in the final quarter.

The Cavaliers Achieve 60th Win

The Cleveland Cavs completely dominated the Atlanta Hawks in a 93-88 victory. In all three meetings this season, the Cavs played their best ball in the fourth quarter and the Hawks played their worst. The Cavs also totally dominated in the loose ball and rebounding departments, grabbing a whopping 55 boards to the Hawks' 36. LeBron James scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. He was particularly outstanding in the fourth, coming up with his usual collection of game-changing plays and highlight-reel moments. As important was Mo Williams who is starting to pick it up when the Cavs need him most. The Cavs have won 17 of their previous 19 overall, including 10 in a row at home. They also became the 18th team in league history to win at least 60 games in back-to-back seasons.

Robinson helps Celtics edge the Pistons

Recently acquired Nate Robinson, from the New York Knicks, made three 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter in Boston's 105-100 road victory over Detroit on Tuesday night. Coming off a 2-game losing streak the Celtics needed this game to get back on track. Following Saturday's shocking home loss to New Jersey, Rivers was ready to try anything. He called Robinson into his office and told the very small point guard he would add a play to make him more comfortable. The catch was that Robinson had to act like a coach and teach the play to his teammates.

The spark didn't begin until the fourth quarter. The Pistons led 75-72 but Robinson's 3-point outburst fueled a 17-6 run that put the Celtics ahead to stay. Glen Davis provided the first spark, scoring Boston's first six points in the quarter.

Boston overcame an ordinary performance from its starting five, thanks to the spark started by Nate Robinson.

Cavs Beat Celtics In Surprising Fashion

The Boston Celtics were stuck with a backbreaking performance. They come out hot, gaining double-digit leads behind team offense and smothering defense. Then the third quarter comes around and everything they were doing well began to go down the drain. It's same episode, over and over again. Then the third quarter comes around and everything they were doing well goes in the tank. It's same episode, looping over and over again. It happened on February 7, when they blew an 11-point halftime lead to the Orlando Magic, getting outscored 36-11 in the third quarter. And it happened Thursday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, when a double-digit advantage was deleted by a 35-14 fourth quarter, the Paul Pierce-less Celtics eventually losing, 108-88.

The Celtics were playing like the better team (eight-point halftime lead), the Cavaliers playing like the team with the best player in LeBron James (21 points at the half).

In the first half Cleveland was playing flat. The change was drastic. Cleveland's defense before the break can be described generously as slow. Help rotations were frequently missed and frustration had begun to spread across the Cavs faces.

But when Shaquille O'Neal was taken out of the lineup with a sprained thumb, the defense quickened. Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams gave the Cavs a nice offensive boost -- Williams draining three consecutive triples in the fourth, but it was Anderson Varejao who changed the game with a great defensive performance.

"The star of the game for them was Varejao," Rivers said. "He was absolutely amazing with his energy, with his defense; he kept the ball alive.” Varejao's quantitative contributions of 14 points and 10 rebounds, on top of a number of affected shots and tipped boards, pale in comparison to James' 36 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

More Wizard Trades

The Wizards let go another great player, Antawn Jamison. All-star forward Antawn Jamison to the Cavaliers in a 3-team trade Wednesday. According to early reports the Wizards will receive Cavaliers center Zadrunas Ilgauskas and a first round pick, while sending away newly acquired forward Drew Gooden to the Clippers. Antwan Jamison perimeter skills make him a valuable addition to the Cavaliers. there was a lot of pre-deadline trade talk centered around Cleveland making a deal for Amar'e Stoudemire, but the Cavs landed Antawn Jamison from Washington in the three-team deal. Jamison is a better fit in Cleveland than Stoudemire would have been, giving the Cavs a power forward who can shoot from the perimeter. Jamison also helps the Cavs perimeter defense. Last year the Cavs had a lot of problem guarding against great forwards like Paul Pierce and Rashard Lewis and Jamison can really help on the defensive side of the ball.

Lets Talk Trades

The Washington Wizards acquired Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson. The Wizards clearly haven't been having a good season and the ownership feels as though its time for a change. Butler, a two-time all-star, is having his worst season since joining the Wizards in 2005. He has been unable to adjust to new Coach Flip Saunders's offense and is averaging just 16.9 points per game and shooting 42.2 percent from the floor. He has been mentioned in recent weeks in trade rumors involving several teams, including Houston and Portland.

Caron Coming Through In The Clutch

The Washington Wizards shocked the Orlando Magic 92-91. In the beginning Orlando looked as though they were going to ran away with the game 32-13 after one quarter. Even with Butler and Foye scoring just two points each in the first half, the Wizards started chipping away at the lead. A tip-in by Antawn Jamison made it 50-35 at halftime. Butler closed the 3rd period with a long 3-pointer, then opened the fourth quarter with another jumper to give Washington its biggest lead of nine, 76-67. Butler and Foye scored an outstanding 49 of their 53 points in the second half. Butler's late 4th quarter jumper from the corner with a half-second left completed his season-high 31 points in a game in which the Wizards (17-32) once trailed by 21 points. It was the Wizards second victory in two tries this season against the division-leading Orlando Magic (33-17).

Kevin Durant MVP in Thunder victory over Warriors

On Sunday January 31, 2010 Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant scored 45 points in a great all-star performance against the Golden State Warriors. He shot 16-21 from the field and was stout on the defensive side of the ball with 2 steals. He was also 100% from the free throw line 11-11 and pulled 11 boards. Warriors Head Coach, Don Nelson, was stunned at what he was watching. "Amazing performance. He had 45 points on 22 shots or whatever it was (21). Unbelievable. We had a lot of different people play him. He was terrific, sensational. I'm glad he made the All-Star team, I thought it was about time." Nelson said.

As Kevin Durant stepped to the free throw line in the final seconds the OKC crowd began to chant M-V-P, M-V-P. Durant just smiled at the fans and calmly sank his 44th and 45th of the game. Just a few more performances like that and the MVP trophy could be in his future

Oklahoma City's third-ranked field goal defense was tested from the very beginning as the high scoring Warriors shot a blazing 62.5% in the first quarter. Even though the Thunder had a tough time playing defense they still made most of their field goals at the beginning, 56.3%, to lead 29-26 after one.

Oklahoma City played much better defense in the second holding the Warriors to a more rational 45.5%, but the Thunder offense suffered as the Thunder only hit 37.5% of their baskets and were outscored to trail by one, 55-54 at the halftime break.