From Elias: LeBron James had 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists -- all team highs — in the Heat’s series-clinching win over the Knicks on Wednesday night. It was the 20th time in his pro career that James led his team outright in points, rebounds and assists in a playoff game. That’s by far the highest such total for any player in NBA history. In fact the only other players who did that in at least 10 games are Larry Bird (13) and Tim Duncan (11).
(Source: ESPN)
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From Elias: Josh Smith collected a game-high 16 rebounds, helping the Hawks achieve a 41-33 advantage over the Celtics in that category, as Atlanta survived by the minimum margin, defeating Boston, 87-86, in Game Five of their first-round series. Smith has 59 rebounds in the four games in the series in which he has played; his average of 14.8 rebounds per game leads all players on any of the 16 teams in this year’s playoffs.
Smith has had at least 12 rebounds in all four games in which he’s played in the series. The only other players to have a dozen or more rebounds four times in one series when facing Kevin Garnett are Shaquille O’Neal (twice, in 2003 and 2004) and Pau Gasol (in the 2010 NBA Finals).
(Source: ESPN)
“What excites me the most is when a coach calls a timeout and chews out his forward because I just dunked on his head.” — Karl Malone
(Source: nba.com)
From Elias: Darren Collison did not start a game for the Pacers in their just-concluded series win over the Magic, but he contributed 23 assists and only one turnover. The last player with 23 or more assists and no more than one turnover in a postseason series was John Paxson for the Bulls against the 76ers in the second round in 1990 (26 assists, 1 turnover).
(Source: ESPN)
“In many ways, my job in soccer was like my job in basketball now. I had to protect the goal. That was the name of the game, not letting the other team score.” — Hakeem Olajuwon
(Source: nba.com)
From Elias: Andre Miller came off the bench to produce 24 points and eight assists and his teammate and fellow substitute, JaVale McGee, had 21 points and 14 rebounds as the Nuggets held off a furious Kobe-led comeback and defeat the Lakers, 102-99, in Los Angeles. It marked the first time in the Nuggets’ NBA playoff history-a history that encompasses 154 games-that two Denver players have come off the bench to contribute 20-or-more points.
The Nuggets defeated the Lakers on Tuesday despite 43 points from Kobe Bryant. That’s the second-most points Bryant has had in a postseason loss; he had 50 points in an overtime loss to the Suns in the first round of the 2006 playoffs.
(Source: ESPN)
From Elias: Luol Deng took game honors with 24 points, making 10 baskets including a four-pack of three-pointers, as the Bulls fought off elimination with a 77-69 victory over the 76ers. Deng didn’t get to the foul line all night, which is just as well; he might have caught whatever was afflicting his teammates, who made only 36.4 percent of their free-throw attempts (four of 11). That’s the fourth-lowest one-team free-throw percentage (minimum: 10 free-throw attempts) in a playoff game in the NBA’s shot-clock era; the other three teams to shoot that poorly from the line all had either Wilt Chamberlain or Shaquille O’Neal on the team, and none of those teams won the game.
(Source: ESPN)
From Elias: Blake Griffin scored 30 points and seven assists before fouling out in overtime and Chris Paul finished with 27 points and seven assists as the Clippers held to take a 101-97 verdict from the Grizzlies, giving them a three-games-to-one lead in the series. The Clippers were the first NBA team to have a pair of players with at least 25 points and at least seven assists in a playoff game since they did it themselves back on May 14, 2006, when Elton Brand had 30 and eight and Sam Cassell had 28 and nine in a victory over the Suns.
(Source: ESPN)
From Elias: The 76ers have the Bulls on the brink of elimination after winning three straight games following the season-ending injury to Derrick Rose. Philadelphia is the first eighth-seeded team to win three straight NBA playoff games since the Knicks won six in a row during the 1999 postseason, which also followed an abbreviated regular season. New York won its first-round finale at Miami that year, before sweeping a four-game series against the Hawks and taking the first game of the Conference Finals against the Pacers. The 76ers are the first #8 seed to win three straight playoff games against a #1 seed since the Nuggets won the last three games of their best-of-five first-round series against the SuperSonics in 1994 (after trailing that series two-games-to-none).
(Source: ESPN)