NBA: Celtics beat Heat again
Celtics beat the Heat, again Thursday night's anticipated game between the Celtics and the Heat ended like their last meeting, with Boston winning - only this time the score was 112-107 and the game was played in Miami.
Celtics beat the Heat, again
Thursday night's anticipated game between the Celtics and the Heat ended like their last meeting, with Boston winning - only this time the score was 112-107 and the game was played in Miami.
Ray Allen hit his first seven three-point tries as Boston raced out to a 61-46 halftime lead then hung on as Miami fought back to make it a three-point game with only 13 seconds left. Allen, however, sank two free throws to ice the game.
Allen finished with 35 points and Paul Pierce added 25 as Miami (5-4) suffered its second straight home loss.
Here we go with the trash talk again
We at NBA Report have been wondering about the quality of trash talk in the league. Maybe the league's rapid expansion is also responsible for some of the lame trash talk that's bouncing around out there.
Consider Bulls center Joakim Noah, who on Wednesday's Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 let loose on the Celtics' Kevin Garnett. After characterizing Garnett as a "dirty player," Noah added: "He's a very mean guy. . . . Ugly, too."
Mean? Ugly? Pretty pitiful trash talk. At least Noah didn't call him a "cancer patient" - which is what Garnett allegedly called Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva last week. Though, to be fair, Garnett did clarify, saying that what he actually said was that Villanueva was cancerous to his team and the NBA.
See what we mean?
Mr. Clutch gets his due
The Lakers will unveil a statue of Hall of Fame guard Jerry West during the NBA all-star festivities, which Los Angeles will host Feb. 18-20.
The statue will be the third outside the Staples Center that honors a former Laker - Magic Johnson and Chick Hearn are the subjects of the other two. The Staples Center also features statues of hockey great Wayne Gretzky and boxer Oscar De La Hoya.
Known as "Mr. Clutch" during his playing days, West won a championship with the Lakers in 1972 and holds the distinction of being the only player in league history to be named NBA Finals MVP while playing on the losing team (1969). West retired as the Lakers' all-time leading scorer before Kobe Bryant eclipsed his point total of 25,192 points during the 2009-10 season.
Through a 1995 draft-day trade, West acquired Bryant's rights as a 17-year-old out of Lower Merion High. Bryant believed the honor was overdue.
"His contributions to this organization are phenomenal," Bryant said. "If you have to try to decide on which statue you want to put up there, him as a player or as an exec, that goes to show what he's done for this organization."
- Inquirer wire services