The Miami Heat will try to remain undefeated in this postseason Thursday night when they host the Brooklyn Nets for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Nyheim Hines Jersey . The Heat, the two-time defending NBA champion, swept the Charlotte Bobcats in round one, then knocked off the Nets, who went 4-0 against Miami during the regular season, 107-86, Tuesday. Dating back to Game 6 of the 2013 Finals, the Heat have won seven straight playoff games, which is one shy of tying the franchise record, which has been done twice. The Heat led by three points at the half Tuesday, but pulled away in the third quarter after outscoring the Nets 33-23 and shooting 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from the floor. They took a 13-point advantage into the fourth, where Miami cruised to victory. LeBron James had 22 points and five rebounds, followed by Chris Bosh, who posted 15 points and 11 rebounds. Ray Allen knocked down four 3-pointers off the bench and finished with 19 points for the Heat. Dwyane Wade had 14 points and Mario Chalmers added 12. The Heat shot 56.8 percent from the floor and only committed 10 turnovers. Their precision was impressive considering Miami hadnt played since last Monday after their sweep of the Bobcats. "I was concerned just a little bit about our rhythm and our flow because we were off eight days as far as playing a game," James said after practice on Wednesday. "When we got there, it was like we never missed a beat. Thats a great sign for us." Joe Johnson and Deron Williams netted 17 points apiece to lead the Nets, while Kevin Garnett went scoreless for the first time in his playoff career. "We need to attack them more than we did tonight," Garnett said. Marcus Thornton was the only other Brooklyn player in double figures with 11 for the second unit. The Nets advanced to the East semis after barely hanging on to beat the Toronto Raptors in a Game 7 at Air Canada Centre when Paul Pierce blocked Kyle Lowrys floater right before the buzzer. With the season sweep fresh in their minds, the Nets felt some degree of confidence and played with the Heat for the first half. Miami extended its halftime advantage with a 15-2 run during the middle stages of the third quarter. Bosh put in the first seven points of the surge, which included a triple and a three-point play from the Miami center, and Chalmers capped it with a layup for a 70-54 spread. The Heat built a margin as high 23 points down the stretch. "We know a lot of the things we did wrong defensively," Williams said after practice on Wednesday. "We made a lot of mistakes in our defensive gameplan. The focus going forward is keeping them out of the lane, keeping them from getting so many layups, so many easy baskets. When they do that, they get a lot of confidence and then they start hitting shots from everywhere." This is the third meeting between the two in the postseason and Miami has won the first two series. Game 3 of the series will be Saturday night when the action shifts to Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Braden Smith Colts Jersey . -- Cole De Vries had a couple of key strikeouts during what could have been the inning that doomed him to defeat against the Kansas City Royals, allowing him to escape further damage and keep the game tied up.
Kemoko Turay Jersey . -- Even as Chris Paul remained evasive about his future, he did what team leaders are expected to do.PINEHURST, N.C. - The one thing Rory McIlroy wont lack heading into this U.S. Open is advice. In the few weeks since his breakup with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, only some of it has been worth much. Gary Player told him to lay low. Jack Nicklaus told him not to be afraid to change the way he plays, even in the middle of a round. Smartly, he only followed up with one of them. "Do you just ring him up," a reporter asked about McIlroys budding relationship with Nicklaus, "and say, Im popping in?" "I dont ring him up," McIlroy chuckled, "I ring his secretary up and say, Id like to schedule a meeting, please. But its been great to spend some time with him. I feel like Ive got a really good rapport." The two had lunch in Florida a week after the Memorial, the PGA Tour stop where Nicklaus plays the gracious host but isnt shy about asking tough questions. Not about relationships, mind you, unless you count questions about where to slot the club at the top of the backswing. "He said to me, he goes, How the hell can you shoot 63 (in the first round) and then 78 (in the second)?" McIlroy recalled. "I said, I wasnt meaning to, Jack. Im trying not to." That began a conversation between the two on the subject of trust. Nicklaus told him the moment he sensed his swing was sliding off the rails in that second round, he would have made a change "right then and there." "The mental strength to be able to do that," McIlroy paused, still marveling at the idea. "Hopefully," he added a moment later, "some of those little nuggets of wisdom that he passed on to me might help this week." Success came so fast for the 25-year-old Northern Irishman it was easy to assume hed mastered most of golfs lessons. But it took an old soul like Nicklaus to point out where some of the big gaps remained. When McIlroy wins, he usually wins big, running away from the field the way he did at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional. What he has yyet to prove is whether he has the patience and toughness to grind out victories, a trait that served Nicklaus and Tiger Woods well over decades.
Josh Ferguson Jersey. If nothing else, the back-and-forth with Nicklaus has put the idea in his head. "Its going to be a test of patience," McIlroy said about Pinehurst No. 2. "And I think I am better equipped than I was a few years ago. The U.S. Open I won was a very ... was abnormal. It was wet. It was low scoring. I havent won a tournament whenever its been like this. Thats why Im relishing the challenge. "Its conditions that I havent won in before and Id love to be able to prove to myself, but also prove to other people that I can win in different conditions. Its a great opportunity to do that this week." While Nicklaus will be McIlroys model this week, he hasnt ignored Players advice altogether. In the wake of his very public breakup with Wozniacki, he has lowered his social media profile and already won once. He concedes that balancing his public life he has with the private one he wants is an act hes still working on. "Its nice when you get out on the golf course because youve got five hours of youre just out there with your clubs, with your caddie, trying to shoot the best score possible," McIlroy said. "Thats the approach that Im sort of adopting from now until whenever." The conversation with Nicklaus appears to be taking hold. Much harder to learn will be the desire that catapulted Nicklaus to 18 major victories — the stubborn pride that made him back off a 4-footer on the last hole of a tournament he wasnt going to win even in the final years of his career, because it mattered to him to shoot 77 instead of 78. "Golf has sort of been a nice release for me the past few weeks. I just want to try to keep focused on that," McIlroy said. ___ Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at
jlitke@ap.org and follow him at
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