'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Chris Bosh stood up in a relatively quiet Miami Heat locker room and offered a concise, blunt and accurate assessment of where things stand so far in the Eastern Conference finals.
When Chris Andersen does something particularly impressive for the Miami Heat, a heavy metal guitar riff blares through their arena. Some children have shown up for games with replicas of his tattoos drawn upon their bodies. Others have gotten their hair gelled and shaped to match his Mohawk `do.
Deciding who plays, and when they don't, is one of the toughest parts of coaching.
Losing a game at the final buzzer, no less than a playoff game on the road against the reigning NBA champion Miami Heat, would seem to have potential to demoralize the Indiana Pacers.
James blew past Paul George and made a layup as time expired, and the Heat found a way to outlast the Indiana Pacers 103-102 in a back-and-forth Game 1 of the East title series Wednesday night.
Losing a game at the final buzzer, no less than a playoff game on the road against the reigning NBA champion Miami Heat, would seem to have potential to demoralize the Indiana Pacers. Or not.
LeBron James was a unanimous pick for the All-NBA team and Kobe Bryant earned his record-tying 11th first-team selection.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are on top of the NBA draft yet again, only this time there is no LeBron James waiting to save them. There may not even be a Kyrie Irving.
Two years after charming viewers by responding to a question about being on stage by saying: "What's not to like?" the bowtie-wearing son of owner Dan Gilbert wore a stern look before this one. He said he expected he was done coming here and that he believed the Cavs would be in the playoffs next season.
Dwyane Wade's rookie season ended with a playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers. The next year, the Miami Heat were headed to the Eastern Conference finals and certain that an NBA championship was in their sights.
What's not to like? Being in the lottery every year.
For Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem, this marks five East finals appearances in nine years. For LeBron James, it's a fifth trip to this round in the past seven years, now three straight with Miami after a pair of trips to the East finals with Cleveland. For Ray Allen, it's a fourth East title-round trip in six years, the first three of those coming with Boston.
This is the matchup Chris Bosh wanted in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Miami Heat have LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The Spurs have dominated for years with the trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
Top basketball prospect Andrew Wiggins will play his college basketball at Kansas.
"It's one of the best that this league has ever seen," James said, referring to the streak that began on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 3. "We recognized that and rightfully so."
Miami Heat winning streak snapped at 27 games by Chicago Bulls →
Later, James said there was no shame in falling short.
Miami Heat winning streak snapped at 27 games by Chicago Bulls →
