New York Knicks @ Toronto Raptors 14/2/12
Jeremy Lin isolates Jose Calderon on the Knicks’ last possession of the game, and with 0.5 seconds remaining drains a 3 pointer to win it for the Knicks.

Most of the time, life doesn’t make much sense. The people with endless wealth and fame don’t necessarily deserve it. They have the most money and the hottest girlfriends, and then they get on TV and act like self-absorbed idiots. They treat people like crap. They make a mockery of traditions that the rest of us hold sacred. They trample on unwritten rules and have belly laughs at all the “jealous” critics they meet along the way. They drive us crazy, only we can’t put our finger and what’s most obnoxious.

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The Mavericks offense absolutely blew up, won the game 112-103 and are now a win away from having America hold the world’s largest circle jerk party to celebrate their unified irrational hatred for a professional basketball team.

James called Game 5 “the now or never” game. A better description would probably be “the ass taco” game thanks mainly to his once again disappearing in the fourth quarter. And now D-Wade will be playing the remainder of the series with a bum hip. Ass tacos for everyone! Weeeeeee!!!

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Meanwhile, LeBron James had the worst performance of his playoff career. Dwyane Wade’s 32 point performance went for naught and things are now knotted up at 2-2 after the Heat blows yet another chance to put the Mavericks away. Let’s say “fuck” a bunch in frustration!

While D-Wade continues his amazing feats of awesome, his teammates pretty much disappeared when he needed them most. Wade not only mashed skulls on the offensive side. He was also a force on defense and on the boards. But while he was going around kicking Maverick ass, Bosh and James decided to light a bag of cat shit on fire instead of scoring some points, blowing a golden opportunity to not only take a 3-1 series lead, but to shove it in Jason Terry’s stupid towel waving, let’s-celebrate-every-fucking-basket-face. That dipshit celebrates EVERYTHING.

But that’s exactly what Dwyane Wade did, with a steel-toe-boot-to-the-nutsack 29-point performance leading the Heat to the 88-86 Game 3 win over the Mavericks, giving Miami a 2-1 series lead.

There are two more games in Dallas, but thanks to this win, the Heat are at least guaranteed to come back to play at the Triple-A in Miami. Two more wins, and they’ll be NBA champs. And all of America will implode. LET’S DO THIS, HEAT!

Dirk Nowitzki made the go-ahead layup with 3.6 seconds left as the Dallas Mavericks roared back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 95-93 on Thursday and level the NBA finals at one game apiece.

The German star capped the furious rally by scoring Dallas’ final nine points, making his last two baskets with his non-shooting left hand, despite having a torn tendon on his middle finger.

He finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Dwyane Wade had 36 points for Miami, but missed a three-pointer at the buzzer to win the game.

“I thought defensively we really got into them,” Nowitzki said of the comeback. “We pressured them full court and we scrambled defensively. We even gave up some offensive rebounds, but we kept scrambling.”

Game three is on Sunday (Monday AEST) in Dallas.

Dallas was seemingly out of the game when Miami went up 88-73 with 7:15 remaining, but the Mavs held the Heat to just one field goal from there – a three-pointer by Mario Chalmers with 24.5 seconds that tied it just two seconds after Nowitzki’s three-pointer had made it 93-90.

After a time-out, Dallas’ Jason Kidd ran the clock down before getting the ball to Nowitzki, who drove into the lane, spun back to the left and made the game-winning layup.

Jason Terry sparked the comeback with a couple of jumpers and finished with 16 points.

Shawn Marion added 20 points for the Mavericks, who had lost four straight finals games in Miami since taking a 2-0 lead in the 2006 series.

They were about to go down 2-0 again before Nowitzki, who insisted his injured finger wouldn’t hinder him, led a rally even more impressive than the one that won game four of the Western Conference finals, when the Mavs trailed Oklahoma City by 15 in the fourth quarter before pulling it out in overtime.

LeBron James scored 20 points for the Heat.

AP

Nearby, Chris Bosh held up three fingers.

No explanation necessary. The Miami Heat are three wins from the reason why the Big Three came together in the first place.

James scored 24 points for his first win in five NBA Finals games, Wade scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half and the Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks 92-84 in Game 1 of the title series on Tuesday night — holding the Western Conference champions to their lowest point total of the playoffs after a dominant defensive showing down the stretch.

“Feels good because it’s the first game and we played well as a team,” James said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. … That’s one in the books. We’re excited about this game. Tomorrow we prepare for Game 2, and I see ways we can get better.”

The soaring comeback from a 77-65 deficit in the last three minutes propelled the Heat to the NBA finals against the Dallas Mavericks, a repeat of the 2006 championship series which Miami won 4-2.

Led by their Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Miami went on a closing 18-3 run to stun the Bulls and complete a 4-1 triumph in the best-of-seven series for the Eastern Conference title.

James, who missed nine shots in a row before catching fire at the end, led the Heat with 28 points as Miami swept the last four games after dropping the opener in Chicago.

Wade, who committed nine turnovers, contributed 21 points including a key four-point play, and Bosh scored 20, supplying some cushion with the last two free-throw points.

League MVP Derrick Rose topped Chicago with 25 points, but his desperate three-point heave as time expired was blocked by James.

Dallas clinched the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals series by a 4-1 margin with the thrilling Game Five win and will face either the Miami Heat or the Chicago Bulls in the NBA finals. The Heat lead that series 3-1.

Roared on by their home fans, talisman Dirk Nowitzki, who sealed the triumph with a pair of late free throws, and fellow forward Shawn Marion scored 26 points apiece while Jason Terry weighed in with 12 points off the bench.

Guard Russell Westbrook scored a game-high 31 points for the Thunder, who were unable to prevent the Mavericks from conjuring a second successive come-from-behind win. NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant added 23 points for the visitors.

“They played a small lineup and really tried to jump the game up,” Nowitzki told reporters of the Thunder. “They drilled us on transition all night long and you’ve got to give them credit. They left it all out there today.

Dallas didn’t lead until Nowitzki hit two free throws 16 seconds into overtime, needing to rally from a 99-84 deficit in the final 5 minutes of regulation. The Mavericks never let the Thunder go ahead in the extra period.

Knowing this team, I’m sure they were anxious to get back to work, and on Friday that’s just what they did.  Erik Spoelstra rounded up the troops and held practice at the AAA as the Heat prepare for Game 3 on Sunday night.  Almost everyone participated, but Mike Miller wasn’t there because his wife is expecting to give birth any time now, and Udonis Haslem sat out as a precaution but said that if there was a game on Friday that he definitely would have been playing.

Follow the jump to hear the post-practice audio from the usual suspects, Erik Spoelstra and the Big 3, as well as Udonis Haslem.  To hear the cut just click on the file you want to hear and it should open and play in your browser.

Durant was as tough to guard as ever, but the real difference was Harden and the bench coming up big, especially down the stretch. The bearded, left-handed guard had a four-point play in the final seconds of the third quarter that put Oklahoma City up by one.

MIAMI – An inspired LeBron James delivered the decisive blow with the last 10 points as the Miami Heat stopped the Boston Celtics 97-87 on Wednesday to book their place in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Celtics were supposed to represent a major hurdle for the Heat but it was one they cleared with relative ease by taking the best-of-seven series 4-1.

Miami will now sit back and await the winner between the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks, who are locked in a tight series with the Bulls holding a 3-2 edge.

Facing elimination, the Celtics battled hard from the tipoff but in the final quarter they had no answer to the Heat’s Big Three of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

After Bosh had tied the game at 87-87 with a thundering dunk, James put his stamp on the contest by dropping two three-pointers from the arc.

The twice NBA MVP then added a dunk on a Boston turnover and a layup that touched off a wild celebrations at the American Airlines Arena. — Reuters

MANILA, Philippines—Former star Stephon Marbury has offered to electrify the fans of the Philippine Basketball Association.

The price, however, is too steep for the two-time NBA All-Star to bring his act to the pro league.

A local agent acquainted with Marbury’s handler has talked to at least three teams, offering the services of the explosive 6-foot-2 playmaker for the import-laced Governor’s Cup next month, according to a PBA insider.

Marbury reportedly earned $80,000 a month with the Foshan Dralions in the Chinese Basketball Association and the 34-year-old former high school phenom would have to agree to a humongous pay cut of $14,000, the maximum salary of imports in the PBA, for negotiations to push through.

“Stephon Marbury and his agent have not decided yet if he would want to play here on a lower price,” said the local agent on her Twitter account. “They will decide Wednesday LA time (Thursday in Manila).”

Back in Boston in a different uniform, King James was desperate to turn the tables with the Miami Heat.

James did his part on Monday, leading all scorers with 35 points while logging 14 rebounds as Miami beat Boston 98-90 in overtime, pushing the Celtics to the brink of elimination in their Eastern Conference semi-final series.

“It was a huge game. I looked at it as probably one of the biggest games of my career, knowing what was at stake,” James told reporters after the game.

The Heat slowly reeled in Boston after trailing for most of the first three quarters. James and guard Dwyane Wade, Miami’s biggest stars, spelled double trouble.

In the regular season, the two were the second and fourth leading average points scorers in the NBA. Wade had 28 points and nine rebounds Monday, and forward Chris Bosh chipped in with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra praised James. “He had some incredible plays in the fourth quarter and in overtime where it’s not us helping him. It’s nothing we can scheme or strategize. It’s a competitive will with his talent.”

A key moment was James’s three-point jumper in front of the Boston bench to tie the game at 84-84 with two minutes to play, moments after the Celtics Ray Allen had drained his own potentially momentum-shifting three-pointer.

DALLAS – Phil Jackson, the most successful coach in NBA history, walked gingerly off the court for what is likely to be the final time following the Los Angeles Lakers’ season-ending loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

Having led the Chicago Bulls to six championships in the 1990s, and the Lakers to five since, the 65-year-old has called it a career after his 20th season as a head coach.

“All of my hopes and aspirations are that this is the final game that I will coach,” Jackson told reporters after his Lakers were swept from the playoffs in a crushing 122-86 defeat to the Mavericks.

“This has been a wonderful run. I go out with a sour note after being fined 35,000 dollars by the league earlier today.”

The NBA fined Jackson earlier in the day for comments made about the officiating in the series.

The penalty hardly detracts from the astounding career the Hall of Famer Jackson has enjoyed, including the 11 NBA titles and suffering just 10 playoff series losses.

There is considerable caution about declaring a definitive end to Jackson’s career as he has walked away from the game before only to return after a break.

Jackson ended his tenure with the Bulls in 1998, and after a one-year absence, joined the Lakers in the 1999-2000 season.

ATLANTA — Josh Smith seemed to do it all. He attacked the basket. He defended. He rebounded. He made brilliant passes. He even won a crucial jump ball against a taller player.

There was only one thing Smith didn’t do — park himself on the outside, putting up shots beyond his range.

The Atlanta Hawks were just fine with that.

Smith answered his critics with a huge game — 23 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists — and fill-in Jeff Teague came up with the Derrick Rose-like plays down the stretch to lead the Hawks past the Chicago Bulls 100-88 Sunday night, evening the Eastern Conference semifinals at two games apiece.

The Hawks snapped a nine-game home losing streak in the second round, their misery dating to a May 13, 1996 win against Orlando.

Smith is frequently criticized by Atlanta fans for his inconsistent play. He heard nothing but cheers in this one, largely staying away from the jumpers, dominating on the inside and finding the open man.

MIAMI - The Miami Heat piled the pressure on bruised and battered Boston by taking a 2-0 lead in their NBA playoff series with a 102-91 victory on Tuesday.

Quicker and more athletic than the veteran Celtics, who were hampered by a series of nagging injuries, the Heat again met the challenge of the defending Eastern Conference champions and have a commanding lead in the best-of-seven second-round series with Game Three set for Saturday in Boston.

In the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder slowed the inside force of the Memphis Grizzlies in a 111-102 victory that levelled their series 1-1.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points and the Thunder held red-hot Zach Randolph to 2-for-13 shooting as Oklahoma City bounced back from their series-opening loss to the giant-killing Grizzlies.

In Miami, LeBron James took his turn to carry the load with 24 of his game-high 35 points coming in the second half, while Game One standout Dwyane Wade added 28.

“This is a great team we’re going against right now,” James told reporters. “We’re playing as hard as we can defensively and just trying to wear them down throughout the course of the game.”