MIAMI (Reuters) – The Miami Heat suffered their worst home defeat of the ‘Big Three’ era as the defending NBA champions crashed to a 112-92 loss to a New York Knicks team without their star forward Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks have sole leadership of the Eastern Conference with a 14-4 record, ahead of the Heat who slip to 12-5, having also lost by 20 points to the Knicks in New York on November 2. …
* Heat suffer worst loss of ‘Big Three’ era * Knicks enjoy second 20-point win over Miami this season * New York move clear at top of Eastern Conference (Adds detail, quotes) MIAMI, Dec 6 (Reuters) – The Miami Heat suffered their worst home defeat of the ‘Big Three’ era as the defending NBA champions crashed to a 112-92 loss to a New York Knicks team without their star forward Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks have sole leadership of the Eastern Conference with a 14-4 record, ahead of the Heat who slip to 12-5, having also lost by 20 points to the Knicks in New York on Nov. 2. …
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers embraced their biggest test of the season in triumphant style on Wednesday, exploding in the second half to stun the NBA champion Miami Heat 107-100. Trailing 54-52 at the game’s midway point, the home team rocked LeBron James and his ‘Big Three’ team mates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, building a 20-point lead before fending off a late Miami rally to complete their fourth straight win. …
LOS ANGELES, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers embraced their biggest test of the season in triumphant style on Wednesday, exploding in the second half to stun the NBA champion Miami Heat 107-100. Trailing 54-52 at the game’s midway point, the home team rocked LeBron James and his ‘Big Three’ team mates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, building a 20-point lead before fending off a late Miami rally to complete their fourth straight win. …
The new-look Brooklyn Nets take on the defending champion Miami Heat in South Beach tonight and there are sure to be a lot of fireworks. The Nets have marketed their new team as a “Core Four” of guards Deron Williams and Joe Johnson, forward Gerald Wallace and center Brook Lopez, and the team has gotten off to a 1-1 start thus far.
However, let’s be honest. The Nets were a horrible team for the past five years and are suddenly trying to say they’re one of the NBA‘s best. Seeing as how the Heat were a decent squad before LeBron James and Chris Bosh came to join Dwyane Wade, not to mention that they now have won a title together, Brooklyn has zero right to claim a “Big Three,” “Core Four,” or whatever it is they’ll call themselves.
In fact, let’s have a look at the Nets’ so-called core. Williams is definitely one of the best point guards in the league and has averaged 18.5 points and 11 assists over his first two games. However, as a scoring point guard, his shooting percentage is just 42 percent. This shows that he’s a bit over reliant on his jumper, with almost half of his shots coming from long range.
That leads us to Johnson, averaging 16.5 points per game thus far. While the usual shooter is shooting 37 percent from long range, only about a fourth of his field goal attempts are from beyond the arc. As a whole, he is only shooting 41 percent from the floor and in the long run, that’s not going to help the Nets.
Now, let’s talk about Brook Lopez. He has great size at 7’0″ and 265 pounds, and his season averages of 20 points, seven rebounds and 1.5 blocks are decent for a center, although the rebounding could be better.
However, Lopez is shooting just 41 percent from the field and for someone at his position, that is simply unacceptable. Rather than trying to score points all the time, he should be playing defense and using his length to block more shots.
Though he’s currently hampered by a sprained ankle, Wallace could be the most effective player in the group. He’s averaged 10 points per game on the season, but his real talent is in being a pest to the tune of 1.5 steals per game.
Now take a look at Miami’s Big Three. James, Wade and Bosh are all players capable of taking control of a game and just running with it. James and Bosh were stars on their own teams before joining Wade in Miami, so this is truly a superteam.
More importantly, after losing in the NBA Finals in 2011, the Heat managed to win a championship in 2012 on the back of their killer trio. If there’s anybody that has bragging rights in tonight’s game, it’s them.
That all being said, who do the Nets have that gives them the right to claim a “Big Three” status? They have an impulsive shooter in Johnson, a soft center in Lopez and a point guard who drove a Hall of Fame coach to resignation in Williams.
Last I checked, that wasn’t the recipe for a championship, and in tonight’s game against the defending champion Heat, the Brooklyn Nets are going to learn that the hard way. As much potential as the team has, they have no place placing themselves among the elite yet.
Read more Brooklyn Nets news on BleacherReport.com
Five is a very important number when discussing Rajon Rondo’s connection to Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce (and Ray Allen). It speaks to the uninspired, downtrodden nature of the Boston Celtics, and also to their triumphant, glorious achievements.
Five was the position that Boston finished in the Atlantic Division back in the 2006-07 season.
Paul Pierce played excellently that year with 25 points, six rebounds and four assists per game. But he played sparingly. Just 47 games of action for Pierce as he battled a stress fracture in his foot. Al Jefferson was the big man proving that he was a future All-Star, but elsewhere, the team was laden with also-rans and young unproven players.
Among the bevy of young guns was Rajon Rondo.
But add all these factors up and you get 24 wins and that fifth place finish, last in the Atlantic Division.
In the summer of 2007, Boston missed on the top two picks in the draft, but hit on two big trades, netting Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in exchange for Jefferson and various flotsam.
Five was the number of Atlantic Division titles captured by the Celtics in this great era.
In 2007-08, they exploded for 66 wins and the title. The Big Three of Pierce, Garnett and Allen were otherworldly and Rondo was asked to merely not mess things up. Garnett, Pierce and Allen along with veterans like P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell, James Posey and Eddie House displayed such an intense desire to win that title in 2008.
Seeing that hungry desperation every night couldn’t help but rub off on Rondo.
But he was still thought of as an accessory, an unknown, maybe even dangerous, variable. The veterans Cassell and Eddie House were brought in to shore up the point position.
In the Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Rondo played just 27 minutes a game (he had played 33 per game in the postseason up to that point) as the Celtics gave more playing time to their veterans. It’s curious to note that Boston was 3-0 when Rondo played 30-plus minutes in that series and 1-2 when he didn’t.
In the closeout blowout of the Lakers, Rondo registered 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals. Perhaps it was this performance that finally sealed Boston’s fate that Rondo was the point guard of their present and future.
The very next season (2008-09), it became quite clear that Boston’s little general was no longer an accessory but a necessity, especially after Garnett went down to injury that spring.
That postseason (2008-09), Rondo averaged 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. These are numbers unheard of in the postseason, unless you’re Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jason Kidd or Magic Johnson. But without Garnett, the Celtics couldn’t triumph, losing in seven games to the Orlando Magic in the second round.
Rondo’s development, though, had been staggering.
He had always been a bit petulant, a bit hard-nosed, but now he was commanding the floor. His emergence led to the pronouncement of a Big Four in Boston and deservedly so. The veterans had helped create the Rondo we know and now they began to benefit from their creation.
Rondo’s pinpoint passes, piercing drives and swift hands created numerous easy baskets for his aging teammates.
In 2010, they were (perhaps) a Kendrick Perkins knee injury away from a second title. Last season, they surprisingly took the Miami Heat to a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals. When first acquiring the Big Three, common appraisal was that by this time, Garnett, Pierce and Allen would either be retired or mothballed on the end of the bench.
Allen is now in Miami and having his career prolonged by another Big Three. In Boston, Garnett and Pierce are continuing their own longevity thanks to Rondo. Now more than ever, the guard has been asked to step up and assume more offensive and defensive burden. More importantly, Rondo has to assume more of the leadership burden.
All that’s left of the title core is Rondo, Pierce and Garnett: a new, but still familiar, Big Three in Boston.
Great players sometimes make a promising player great. Perhaps Garnett, Pierce and Allen did that to Rondo.
Great players certainly make other great players’ lives easier. Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo certainly did that for one another.
Now let’s see how long this great player in Rondo can prolong and salvage the careers of the great Garnett and Pierce.
Another five years may seem a bit too long, but then again, we thought the same thing back in 2007…
Read more Boston Celtics news on BleacherReport.com
Five is a very important number when discussing Rajon Rondo’s connection to Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce (and Ray Allen). It speaks to the uninspired, downtrodden nature of the Boston Celtics, and also to their triumphant, glorious achievements.
Five was the position that Boston finished in the Atlantic Division back in the 2006-07 season.
Paul Pierce played excellently that year with 25 points, six rebounds and four assists per game. But he played sparingly. Just 47 games of action for Pierce as he battled a stress fracture in his foot. Al Jefferson was the big man proving that he was a future All-Star, but elsewhere, the team was laden with also-rans and young unproven players.
Among the bevy of young guns was Rajon Rondo.
But add all these factors up and you get 24 wins and that fifth place finish, last in the Atlantic Division.
In the summer of 2007, Boston missed on the top two picks in the draft, but hit on two big trades, netting Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in exchange for Jefferson and various flotsam.
Five was the number of Atlantic Division titles captured by the Celtics in this great era.
In 2007-08, they exploded for 66 wins and the title. The Big Three of Pierce, Garnett and Allen were otherworldly and Rondo was asked to merely not mess things up. Garnett, Pierce and Allen along with veterans like P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell, James Posey and Eddie House displayed such an intense desire to win that title in 2008.
Seeing that hungry desperation every night couldn’t help but rub off on Rondo.
But he was still thought of as an accessory, an unknown, maybe even dangerous, variable. The veterans Cassell and Eddie House were brought in to shore up the point position.
In the Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Rondo played just 27 minutes a game (he had played 33 per game in the postseason up to that point) as the Celtics gave more playing time to their veterans. It’s curious to note that Boston was 3-0 when Rondo played 30-plus minutes in that series and 1-2 when he didn’t.
In the closeout blowout of the Lakers, Rondo registered 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals. Perhaps it was this performance that finally sealed Boston’s fate that Rondo was the point guard of their present and future.
The very next season (2008-09), it became quite clear that Boston’s little general was no longer an accessory but a necessity, especially after Garnett went down to injury that spring.
That postseason (2008-09), Rondo averaged 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. These are numbers unheard of in the postseason, unless you’re Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jason Kidd or Magic Johnson. But without Garnett, the Celtics couldn’t triumph, losing in seven games to the Orlando Magic in the second round.
Rondo’s development, though, had been staggering.
He had always been a bit petulant, a bit hard-nosed, but now he was commanding the floor. His emergence led to the pronouncement of a Big Four in Boston and deservedly so. The veterans had helped create the Rondo we know and now they began to benefit from their creation.
Rondo’s pinpoint passes, piercing drives and swift hands created numerous easy baskets for his aging teammates.
In 2010, they were (perhaps) a Kendrick Perkins knee injury away from a second title. Last season, they surprisingly took the Miami Heat to a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals. When first acquiring the Big Three, common appraisal was that by this time, Garnett, Pierce and Allen would either be retired or mothballed on the end of the bench.
Allen is now in Miami and having his career prolonged by another Big Three. In Boston, Garnett and Pierce are continuing their own longevity thanks to Rondo. Now more than ever, the guard has been asked to step up and assume more offensive and defensive burden. More importantly, Rondo has to assume more of the leadership burden.
All that’s left of the title core is Rondo, Pierce and Garnett: a new, but still familiar, Big Three in Boston.
Great players sometimes make a promising player great. Perhaps Garnett, Pierce and Allen did that to Rondo.
Great players certainly make other great players’ lives easier. Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo certainly did that for one another.
Now let’s see how long this great player in Rondo can prolong and salvage the careers of the great Garnett and Pierce.
Another five years may seem a bit too long, but then again, we thought the same thing back in 2007…
Read more Boston Celtics news on BleacherReport.com
MIAMI, Oct 25 (Reuters) – When LeBron James was first introduced to Miami Heat fans, after his 2010 free agency move from Cleveland, he made a promise that was latched upon as being typical of the brash, bragging coming from South Florida. Talking about winning multiple championships, James famously said: “Not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven,” while Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, his partners in the ‘Big Three’ smiled with approval. …
In 2010, when the Miami Heat introduced LeBron James and Chris Bosh alongside Dwyane Wade with the pomp of a political convention and/or planetarium laser show, it was popular to call the group a Big Three set of stars. In their two seasons together, though, a hierarchy has developed, with James standing as clearly the best of the bunch and Wade becoming a secondary (yet still super) star. Bosh, however, has become something very different from what he was in Toronto: a very important player to everything the Heat do, but not the sort of player who controls the ball or needs a certain number of shots. He’s more like an All-Star who just happens to be a role player.
Bosh seems to have accepted this role, because he’s able to gain fame while also doing pretty cool things like winning championships and hanging out with second-tier recording artists. At Heat Media Day, Bosh even unveiled a new nickname to reflect his new reality. From Joseph Goodman for Heat Check (via SLAM ):
It wasn’t long ago when everyone wondered if Rajon Rondo would ever get it. There were constant comparisons to Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Derrick Rose as to what skills make a point guard elite.
Rondo has heard it all before; but somehow, he seems to drive his team deeper into the playoffs than the aforementioned guards.
He has participated in two NBA Finals, winning one of them.
Yes, I said participated.
As much as the Rondo revolution has taken hold of Celtics Nation, he initially just did what he was told. While it is true that he had a terrific Game 6 performance in the 2008 NBA Finals with 21 points, 6 steals and 8 assists, he was a essentially a rookie and really had no say in the offense or what to do with the ball.
His run in the 2010 NBA Finals, I contend, still had Doc and the ‘Big Three’ hesitant to fully trust him in crunch time.
Doc Rivers should have allowed Rondo to control the game more when Kendrick Perkins got hurt in the 2010 NBA Finals. In my view, former Celtic Ray Allen was rendered ineffective and the Celtics had the advantage at point guard. That was the moment that defined the Boston Celtics as already being Rondo’s team.
This three-time All-Star is still building a case for superstar status, yet was relegated to playing the waiting game when it came to his 2012 All-Star selection. Rondo was apparently bothered by the All-Star snub and really didn’t want to play when he was selected as an injury replacement for former Atlanta Hawk Joe Johnson.
The storyline used to be that it was the “Big Three” who carried Rondo and that the Celtics were doomed once they were gone. But a funny thing happened through his growth process as an NBA player. The more he remained H.B.I.C. (head ball-handler in charge), the more the team depended on him. All this from a guard who is supposedly offensively challenged.
We have become so enamored with guards who are primary scorers that we forget that there are other ways to score. What he lacks in scoring, he produces in other ways for the team. His gaudy 11 assists per game and knack for getting offensive rebounds are part of the intangibles that he possesses.
Now, he has become increasingly aware of how his forays to the hoop provide the team with more free throw attempts. This was the one area of his game that he lacked confidence in, only now he understands it is more about him getting the opponent in foul trouble. Add that to his ever-improving elbow jumper and he is the most dangerous man with the ball not named LeBron James.
The 2012 playoffs showed what Danny Ainge had seen in a skinny, 21-year-old point guard from Kentucky back in 2006, and it proved that he could run the show for the Boston Celtics.
This offseason, management surrounded Rondo with the athletes that he needs to run with in order to keep the team in the conversation as a contender. It is apparent that Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge have fallen under the spell of the mesmerizing world of ’Rondo-ball’ and continue to believe in their mercurial point man.
He is willful, stubborn and the “mad-hatter of passing” on the hardwood, all in one. All of these things are what drive him and allow him to show marked improvement in a game where others are always saying he can’t.
Read more Boston Celtics news on BleacherReport.com