Miami Heat 101 Boston Celtics 88, Heat will meet OKC in the Finals

LeBron James took over in the fourth quarter to push the Heat past the Celtics and date with the Thunder in the NBA Finals.

LBJ scores 31, Wade 23. Rondo 22 Pts 10 Rebs, 14 Assists for Boston

NBA Western Conference finals and Eastern Conference finals are both at 2-2

Celtics beat Heat in OT, tie East finals at 2-2, Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists, and scored the final three points of the Celtics' 93-91 overtime victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday night that evened the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece.

Getting a huge break when LeBron James fouled out for the first time since joined the Heat, the Celtics recovered after blowing an 18-point lead in regulation and moved two games away from a third trip to the NBA finals in five years.

Garnett added 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, while Paul Pierce scored 23 points before fouling out. Ray Allen finished with 16 points.

James had 29 points and Wade scored 20 after another dismal start for the Heat, who host Game 5 on Tuesday.

In the West, Game 5 is Monday night in San Antonio. Oklahoma City needs at least one road win to advance, and Thunder coach Scott Brooks said Sunday there's no time like the present.

Since James Harden joined Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in 2009, the Thunder had been 2-8 against San Antonio heading into this series. Now they return to Texas with a chance to hand the Spurs three straight losses for the first time all season.

Spurs players didn't meet with reporters Sunday. Coach Gregg Popovich, back at Spurs headquarters trying to solve his team's first skid since April 9-11, said their attitude hasn't changed from when they were winning 20 straight games.

Also not likely to change much are the defensive looks the Spurs threw at the Thunder in a 109-103 loss on Saturday. That's because, as far as Popovich is concerned, there is little to plan for when three typically unheralded offensive players shoot a combined 22 of 25 for 49 points.

That's what Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison did in Game 4, giving the Thunder a rare dose of balance on a team that leaned on its Big Three for nearly 70 percent of its scoring before this series. Ibaka was especially unstoppable, going 11 for 11 and finishing just one basket shy of the most perfect-shooting playoff game in NBA history.

NBA West and East Finals are Set!

The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder have simply rolled through this postseason. There's the 18-game winning streak that has the Spurs flirting with history. Seventeen combined playoff games and just one loss. The Thunder sending home the last two NBA champions, and no other playoff teams besides these two that can boast a series sweep.

The matchup of Russell Westbrook vs Tony Parker is very interesting.

 Sunday, May 27, 2012

Game 1:
Oklahoma City 47-19 (Road: 21-12)    8:30pm ET
San Antonio 50-16 (Home: 28-5)

Heat-Celtics in East finals

It's a rematch: Miami and Boston will meet in the playoffs again, this time with a spot in the NBA finals at stake.

Boston's 85-75 win in Game 7 over Philadelphia on Saturday night earned the Celtics a trip to Miami, where the reigning East champion Heat will host Game 1 of this year's conference title series Monday night.

Boston took the regular-season series from Miami 3-1, though the last of those meetings was in the final game of the season and came on a night where LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all sat out for Miami, while Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen got the evening off for Boston.

The lineups will look more normal Monday, though Bosh will remain sidelined because of a strained lower abdominal muscle.

It'll be a quick turnaround for Boston, with Game 1 in Miami starting about 46 hours after Game 7 against the 76ers ended. The Heat finished off their East semifinal series against Indiana on Thursday night, took Friday off and held a light practice Saturday - focusing on themselves and not starting to work in details either the Celtics or the 76ers.

New Big 3 vs Old Big 3 + Rondo

Game 1: May 28 8:30pm EDT @MIA (TV: ESPN)

Rondo leads Celtics to 85-75 Game 7 win over 76ers

Rajon Rondo leads the Celtics with 18 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds in Game 7 against the 76ers to to an 85-75 victory and into an Eastern Conference finals matchup with the Miami Heat.

The Celtics will open the third round of the NBA playoffs in Miami on Monday night.

Bouncing back from his worst game of the playoffs and snapping out of a 32-minute slump in which he had just two assists and five points - Rondo scored nine straight Boston points after Paul Pierce fouled out to help the Celtics turn a three-point edge into a double-digit lead.

Rondo had 11 points in the fourth quarter, including his first 3-pointer in five games, made all four of his free throws down the stretch and grabbed his 10th rebound in the final minute - chucking it over his head and into the frontcourt to help the Celtics dribble down the clock.

Andre Iguodala scored 18 points, and Holiday and Elton Brand had 15 apiece for the 76ers, who eliminated the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in the first round but couldn't do the same with the Celtics.

Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 13 rebounds for Boston, and Ray Allen hit a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers after missing his first five attempts.

The Celtics will now face the actual NBA MVP LeBron James along with Dwyane Wade and the rest of the Heat. Miami advanced to the conference finals by eliminating the Indiana Pacers in six games.

Miami beat Boston in five games in the conference semifinals last year. In 2010, the Celtics eliminated the Heat in the first round and then knocked James and the Cavaliers out in the second - his final game with Cleveland before defecting to Miami.

This will be an interesting matchup!

Boston Celtics 101-85 win over Philadelphia

In the East, Brandon Bass scored 27 points to spark the Boston Celtics to a 101-85 win over Philadelphia and move within one victory of a place in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Bass found his shooting touch in the third quarter, where he scored 18 points to net a playoff career high and help the Celtics pull away from the 76ers.

"When you're on a team with a point guard like Rajon Rondo, the ball just happens to find you," Bass said. "We have to come out (in Game Six) with the same defensive approach."

The Game Five win gave Boston a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven second-round series.

Kevin Garnett added 20, while Rajon Rondo tallied 13 points and 14 assists for Boston, who trailed early but outscored the 76ers 54-35 in the final two quarters.

Elton Brand lead Philadelphia with 19 points. Game Six is tomorrow in Philadelphia.

Garnett leads Celtics past 76ers, 92-91

Kevin Garnett scored 29 points - his most in the regular- or postseason this year - and added 11 rebounds to help Boston maintain home-court advantage in the best-of-seven, second-round series. Game 2 is Monday night in Boston before the series shifts to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4.

Rondo says he tripped

"Obviously I was upset about the call," Rondo said. "I said some words to Marc. I deserved the first tech. As I was walking, I thought he stopped. My momentum carried me into him. I even think I tripped on his foot. I didn’t intentionally chest-bump him. But that’s what it appears to be."

Rondo ejected as Celtics lost Game 1

Upset with a loose ball foul on Brandon Bass, Rajon Rondo screamed in the face of referee Marc Davis. Immediately upon receiving a technical foul, Rondo intentionally bumped his chest into Davis' back.

Drama is over Chris Paul Traded To Clippers

CP3 drama is over finally. The Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to a deal in principle with the league-owned New Orleans Hornets to acquire guard Chris Paul, according to sources close to the process. The Clippers, sources said, will send guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round pick to the Hornets for Paul. The Clippers will also receive two future second-round picks, according to sources.

As part of the deal, Paul has agreed to not opt out of his contract after this season – allowing the Clippers to keep him at least through the 2013-14 season.

Chinese great Yao Ming retires from basketball

Yao made it official Wednesday, telling a packed news conference in his hometown that a series of foot and leg injuries forced him to end his playing career at the age of 30.

Lamar Odom involved in a near-fatal car accident

Lamar Odom was involved in a serious car accident in New York on July 14, when his driver hit a 15-year-old boy and a motorcyclist.

Odom was in Jamaica, Queens for his cousin's funeral when the driver of his car service struck the two victims. The basketball player was not injured, but was reportedly visibly upset about the accident.

"Thank you for your support and prayers!" Odom wrote on Twitter on Monday.

MediaTakeOut.com, who first reported the incident, said that the pedestrian and motorcyclist were seriously injured in the crash. Odom's wife, Khloe Kardashian was not in the vehicle.

"Khloe wasn't in the car. It was a driver, and Lamar was in the back seat," Kardashian's publicist told the New York Post.

Odom, who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers and is the star of the TV realty show "Khloe & Lamar," married Khloe Kardashian in 2009 after dating for a month.

Source: OnTheRedCarpet.com

NBA warns Michael Jordan not to golf with playersJordan

Michael Jordan could lose $1 million dollars in fine at the American Century Classic golf tournament with the five NBA players scheduled to appear at the tourney.

The tournament's website notes that Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen, Sacramento Kings guard Jimmer Fredette, Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Kidd and New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams are all scheduled to participate.

Since the lockout began on July 1, the NBA has yet to publicly issue a fine to a team executive who violates its gag order policy.