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| Rajon Rondo scored 20 points and the Boston Celtics found a way over come a slow start and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-89 on Wednesday night. |
Our View: Rondo added 12 points in the win. Game 6 is in Cleveland on Friday night, with the deciding game in Boston on Sunday - if necessary.
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| Kevin Garnett was 12-of-20 from the field and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe, scoring 26 points and the Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-89 on Wednesday night to move within a win of the Eastern Conference finals. |
Our View: Game 6 is in Cleveland on Friday night, with the deciding game in Boston on Sunday - if necessary.
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| Paul Pierce led all scorers as the Celtic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-89 on Wednesday night to move within a win of the Eastern Conference finals. Pierce scored 29 points and hit critical free throws down the stretch. |
Our View: The ex-Jayhawk added seven rebounds to his Game 5 statline.
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| Delonte West dropped 21 points and make some late fourth quarter steals to give Cleveland a fighting chance. But in the end the Celtics outlasted the Cavs 96-89 on Wednesday night. |
Our View: West added two rebounds and four assists in the losing effort.
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| LeBron James had 35 points for the Cavaliers on Wednesday night but it wasn't enough as the Celtics won Game 5 by the score of 96-89 to take a 3-2 series lead. |
Our View: James added three rebounds and five assists in the loss.
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| The Toronto Raptors have picked up the option on rookie forward Jamario Moon for next season, according to SLAM Sports. |
Our View: Moon averaged 8.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, making him a no-brainer for retaining. He ranked first among the NBA Rookies in steals (1.03), second in blocks (1.38), third in rebounds (6.2), fourth in minutes (27.8), and 10th in scoring (8.5).
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| Magic general manager Otis Smith is open to trading J.J. Redick this offseason, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Redick has two years remaining on his rookie contract. |
Our View: Redick has averaged less than 12 minutes per game in 76 contests since becoming the 11th overall pick. The team clearly hasn't tried to get him much involved in their offense, and the sharpshooter would probably benefit from a change of scenery.
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| Kobe Bryant did not practice on Tuesday, but he says he'll play on Wednesday night. The MVP tells the Los Angeles Times that his sore back felt better on Tuesday than it did on Monday. "There's the possibility he may not shoot the ball well, but that doesn't really concern us that much because he'll find a way to do what is necessary in the ballgame at some level," head coach Phil Jackson adds. |
Our View: There's no way Kobe is going to give the media or the Jazz any clear indication of how much he is or is not hurting at this point.
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| Stephon Marbury is excited about the hiring of new head coach Mike D'Antoni. "It's new life. Having a guy who's an upbeat coach, an upbeat style, [it'll] make us play different," Marbury tells the ESPN.com. "I changed my whole workout regimen to get ready for him. I've been doing what Karl Malone did, running up the mountains. I think from watching how the Suns play and the way he allowed Steve Nash to orchestrate certain situations, I could see myself fitting into that." |
Our View: Marbury will have to prove he's over his ankle surgery before he tries to win any MVP awards. The point guard hasn't had a very good run lately, but we agree that D'Antoni may be a nice fit to bring out the old star.
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| Tyson Chandler bruised his left foot on Tuesday night, but he says he's be ready for Game 6 on Thursday. "I landed funny, and I kind of lost feeling in it," Chandler tells the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "But I'll be fine." |
Our View: The Hornets can't afford to take a step back now that they have the Spurs on the ropes, and Chandler probably won't let a sore foot keep him from the important Game 6.
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| After being ejected in Game 4 for a flagrant foul on Utah's Ronnie Price, Laker big-man Ronny Turiaf has not been suspended for today's game in LA. |
Our View: Turiaf's energy will be needed tonight if Kobe Bryant is in anyway limited.
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| Game 4 was the first contest of the series that Andrei Kirilenko didn't foul out. |
Our View: The reason: Kobe's (Kirilenko's defensive assignment) bad back and tweaked ankle. The league's MVP wasn't nearly as difficult to guard with the ailments.
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| Vladimir Radmanovic is still starting for the Lakers, but Vlad Rad is slumping as of late. The swingman is averaging just four points per game over his past three, and not surprisingly he has seen his minutes decline in favor of Sasha Vujacic. |
Our View: A major part of Radmanovic's struggles is his 2-for-10 mark from beyond the arc over the last three contests.
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| If Kobe Bryant is as limited as he was in Game 4, the Lakers may be in some trouble. With Bryant looking far less explosive than usual with a bad back and tweaked ankle, Kirilenko blocked several of Bryant's shots and limited the superstar to an awful 13-of-33 shooting from the floor. |
Our View: The Lakers need to balance out their offense if they plan on holding serve and winning Game 5 tonight in LA.
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| Lamar Odom has been Kobe's side kick during the playoffs. But Wednesday's Game 5 between Utah and L.A. will come down to how healthy Kobe Bryant is. The reigning league MVP recently told the Los Angeles Times that he will play in Game 5, despite nagging back pain. |
Our View: The question is: how well will Kobe be able to play? Odom can't possibly carry the load in the Lakers offensive scheme. He played 51 minutes in the Game 4 loss, a number that could affect him in Game 5 tonight.
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| After scoring 30 or more points in four of six playoff games against the Wizards, LeBron James hasn't scored more than 21 in any game of this series. |
Our View: During Game 4, James was seen aggressively chewing out teammate Aleksandar Pavlovic over Sasha's defense. While James is often seen as a one-man band, four other Cavaliers (Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Wally Szczerbiak, Daniel Gibson, and Delonte West) are averaging at least 9.5 points per game in the postseason.
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| While Kevin Garnett is generally seen as the "man" in Beantown, Paul Pierce is still the team's captain. And at this point in the series, it's time for the captain to step up from his 2-for-14 shooting performance in Game 4. |
Our View: He has mostly been mediocre the past four games, not managing more than 19 points in any of them and shooting just 18-for-52 from the floor (34.6 percent).
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