A Miami win over Atlanta tonight extends the series to seven games, and pushes the Cavs rest week to the limit. The second round then would more than likely start Tuesday night in Cleveland.
That series has gotten pretty heated, and Dwayne Wade talked about it yesterday. This transcript and comments come from the Miami Herald:
(On Hawks radio broadcaster Steve Holman, who berated Wade throughout Wednesday's broadcast and referred to the Heat as a bunch of "street thugs") WADE: "Us? That's why he don't work in Miami. That's why he works in Atlanta – to make them feel good."
(On how he's dealing with soreness in his head, back and shoulder) WADE: "I'm feeling better. I'm at the point where whatever is bothering me, it doesn't really matter at this point. I'm moving on from my injuries."
(On Hawks guard Mario West celebrating after he forced Wade to miss a shot at the halftime buzzer) WADE: "His celebration for his one stop? What is this game coming to? One thing I go back to is something my high school coach always told me. Act like you've done something before. He used to hate when I used to dunk and pound my chest all the time. Win lose or draw, you have to be classy. There are some unprofessional things that (the Hawks) have to take care of. On the court, you show emotion, and that's great. But celebrating after one stop? That's funny."
(More on Hawks guard Mario West, because Wade was on a roll) WADE: "I don't know what it was a sign of. I was laughing after the fact because I've never seen that before. Tony Allen did that the other night when he stopped Ben Gordon from hitting a shot to win the game. That's what you do. But we're not here to point out every little thing they do. Who cares?"
(On his flagrant foul on Mo Evans in Game 5 that was rescinded by the league Thursday) WADE: "If anybody knows basketball and looks at the play, they'll know I didn't even come close to trying to hurt him. I'm not that guy. I'll take a hard foul. But that one, I went straight for the ball. At that time in the game, in one instant, I'm not understanding why they called it. But looking back, I can see why they called it because they thought the game was getting out of hand. But (Atlanta) got two free throws and the ball for something that didn't happen. That hurt our momentum."
(On the officiating and series becoming a physical slugfest) WADE: "Each game has been different. Some games, they let you go, they let you fight. Some games, if you breathe on a guy, it's a foul. We have to go in and play and don't worry about what the call is going to be."
(On calling out rookies Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers – or not) WADE: "Tomorrow is going to show a lot – to see if our guys really feel it. If it seems like I'm calling them out, I'm not calling them out. But I want to see our young guys play like it's Game 6 of the playoffs. If Rio (Chalmers) says he won a national championship (at Kansas), well, I want to see him play like it. I want to see Michael (No. 2 overall draft pick), play like it. It's not about making shots. It's about your intensity, your focus."
(On his approach to an elimination game. Should he come out swinging or defer early?) WADE: "It's a tough position to be in. I don't want to come out and shoot my team out of it or shoot us into it. I want it to be a total team effort. I'm not the kind of guy that feels like I have to do everything. Success comes from team success. Hopefully, we can go out and play our normal game."
(On things getting testy between the teams) WADE: "It was one of those games, one of those playoff series. It's just about, do we have the team to come back and fight as much as (Atlanta's) going to fight? Zaza Pachulia is knocking people out. It's as simple as that. I'm not telling my teammates to knock him out. But when he comes down the paint, just make sure he feels us. We're not a team that's playing dirty. We're the team that wants to play smarter and protect ourselves as well."
(And one more good dig at Mario West, just for good measure) WADE: "First off, I have nothing simmering with Mario. He's not been a factor in the series. (He's) irrelevant to me. I have nothing brewing with him at all."
I have a feeling that the Hawks are still a little too young and immature, and I think Dwayne made some good points. If the Cavs do face the Hawks, it could be like the previous series(es) with the Wizards with all those shenanigans. Start recasting who is Deshawn Stevenson, etc.
And, for the love of God, could someone on Chicago grow a pair and lay out a Celtic? What happened to standing up for your teammates – you're letting Rajon Rondo beat on your teammates? The Celtics will cheat and claw their way through the playoffs – Jesus Shuttlesworth isn't knocking down 51 to carry you every night.
i just want the hawks to win to get this thing over with. i'm ready to see the cavs again.
Terje,
I completely agree. I feel empty inside.
The bottom line in all this is that the NBA is a money-grubbing organization. Two months for the playoffs? Really?
Yeah, maybe it's a money-grubbing organization, but do you really think that Gilbert doesn't hope that every remaining Cavaliers series goes the full seven games so he and his partners can milk every last penny out of it? What's far more ridiculous is MLB, playoffs so cold at night that your nipples get hard.
totally off the subject:
this bulls/celtics series is enjoyable and all but it really showcases how piss poor doc rivers is as a coach. he never has any idea which players need to be out on the floor. tony allen? pfffffft. big baby was killing the bulls.
vinnie del negro isn't good either but at least he looks as good as the world champion head coach down the sideline.
it's not as if these teams are making spectacular plays one after the other either. it's one step forward and then one step back for both the bulls and the celts. shoddy playing and bad coaching do not make for a classic series.
terje, get real. Rivers played Davis *53* minutes! Tony Allen played 11. Not only are they missing Garnett, but they are also missing Leon Powe, their second-best bench player. And sometimes their best bench player. Which is why a Cavs rematch, if it happens, will be a fake competition. But to the point, who ever thought Glen Davis, of all people could ever play 53 minutes in one single game in the first place. Coming out of college, it was assumed by everybody that he'd develop into a huffing, puffing, pear-shaped male Oprah.
"a fake competition"
as if injuries aren't a part of any sport. well, andrew bynum was out all last year so i guess that makes the celtics fake champions. that is the only explanation as to how a garbage coach like doc got a ring.
Actually, terje, I did not think that was a true Lakers-Celtics competition last year for that very reason. I mean, it's bad enough losing Garnett, but without Powe, they are incredibly thin at forward. As I said, if it happens, a fake competition. I like to see a full-fledged mano-a-mano in every playoff series, it doesn't matter which teams are playing. As a fan, I feel cheated.
Oh, one more point … losing Garnett and Powe isn't at all like a Jim Chones thing. The Cavaliers, if it had gone that far, would have lost Game 7 in the old Boston Garden, anyway. So the end result would have been exactly the same. But without Bynum last year, who knows, maybe the result is different and the Lakers would have won the series. Maybe yes, maybe no. We'll never know, which is why I always feel cheated.
Which is why the Knicks winning that one game without Willis Reed made it so special. But they would have never won the series if he was out for the entire series. It would have been a fake competition, and I would have felt cheated if Reed had missed the series. What can I say.
Let me amend that, obviously it was also special because Reed wasn't supposed to play at all, then he came out of the locker room walking like Fred Sanford and made the first two shots of the game. Then Walt Frazier took over. But you get my point.
- I'll admit that Wade had taken that Heat team much further than I would have expected, but I'm not too impressed with his leadership on a development level. He's just out there doing his own thing, knowing that he'll get all the credit if they win and none of the blame if they lose.
- That being said, I have no idea why that Heat team is so down. They've thumped Atlanta twice in that series. They're in exactly the same situation that Chicago was last night. Yet they sound like dead men walking.
- Andrew Bynum v. the Utah Jazz in Round 1:
5.0 points per game
3.0 rebounds per game
3.4 fouls per game
Yep, Bynum has not been looking too good, he got a lot of fouls early. But then again, those other stats are pretty warped, he only played a total of 26 minutes from Game 3 to Game 5. Besides, he's a low-post guy, he can't guard Kirilenko or Okur. On the other hand, Bynum might have put the kibosh on both Powe and Perkins during last year's series. Powe was a beast.