p back. Except for Joe Thornto

[blueberryjerry]

NEW YORK, N. .Y. - His opponent couldnt stop him, and LeBron James didnt quite know what to think when his coach tried. Erik Spoelstra asked James about taking a fourth-quarter rest, but the game was too important to sit. So the answer was no — just not said so politely. "He asked me and I didnt know if he was serious or not, and what I told him I cannot say again," James said. "So I wanted to finish out the game. I felt like it was a must-win for us." James tied his playoff career high with 49 points, Chris Bosh made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 57 seconds left, and the Miami Heat beat the Brooklyn Nets 102-96 Monday night for a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. James carried the Heat nearly the entire way until Bosh hit the basket that put Miami ahead for good — a play where James resisted the temptation to force a shot, instead passing to Mario Chalmers, who swung it to a wide-open Bosh. Ray Allen followed with four free throws and James finished it off with one more, putting the Heat in position to wrap it up at home Wednesday in Game 5. James was 16 of 24 from the field and 14 of 19 from the free throw line in matching the 49 points he scored for Cleveland against Orlando in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals. He missed his second free throw with 1.1 seconds left, muttering to himself after. "Thats the first time Ive been disappointed in myself in a win," James said before smiling, realizing his performance left nothing to complain about. "He was what was needed on the road and thats what makes him the best player in the game," Spoelstra said. Joe Johnson scored 18 points for the Nets, who were 15 of 25 from 3-point range in their Game 3 victory but only 5 of 22 in this one. Paul Pierce added 16 points. "This is very difficult to swallow," Nets centre Kevin Garnett said. "Hard to take, but its what it is. Coulda, shoulda, woulda doesnt help us at this point." Dwyane Wade scored 15 points on the night his Heat post-season record of 46 points was shattered. Bosh finished with 12. Miami pulled out a thrilling victory in a game in which neither team led by double digits and has won at least one road game in 14 straight series, breaking the record set by the Chicago Bulls from 1991-94. Garnetts two free throws tied it with 2:30 remaining. Bosh then missed a pair of 3-pointers before getting a third crack at it in the corner in front of the Brooklyn bench for a 97-94 lead. Johnson then missed a jumper while trying to draw James sixth foul — Johnson said afterward James "flopped" — and Allens free throws put it away. "Obviously the series is not over but we really have to have some urgency going to Miami and weve got to come out of there with one," Johnson said. Wade scored 46 points against Boston in the 2010 playoffs, and James best in a Heat uniform had also come against the Celtics, his memorable 45-point performance that saved Miamis season in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals. Pierce, who asked to guard James after Game 1, was on the wrong end of this LeBron masterpiece. James and the Heat had shrugged off a couple days of chatter from Pierce, who said the Nets werent afraid of them. But things were testy at the start, with first-quarter technical fouls for James, Pierce, Shane Battier and Alan Anderson. Miami started quickly again and led 27-22 after one behind 12 points from James. He opened the second on the bench and Brooklyn started with a 9-2 spurt to take its first lead at 31-29. James was a force once he returned — especially after a second foul against him seemed to get James more annoyed than any of Pierces talking did. James gave Pierce a glare after a thunderous slam later in the period, when he had 13 points in 7 1/2 minutes, and the Heat led 56-49. James had 13 straight Miami points in the third, but Brooklyn cut it to one on a few occasions before he made a pair of free throws to give Miami a 79-76 lead. NOTES: Mirza Teletovic was held to four points and missed all three 3-point attempts. He had been 11 of 19 in the series, Wade saying before the game it was "red alert" when he entered. ... As they have during post-season home games, the Nets had a Brooklyn-based entertainer announce their starting lineups. On Monday it was Mike D of the Beastie Boys. Denzel Washington, Spike Lee and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were also in the crowd. .Y. -- As if the worst start in franchise history isnt bad enough, Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black braced his teams win-starved fans for potentially more tough times. . He was still a kid, going into his senior year of high school. Thursday, the point guard stood in front of a couple dozen members of the media and spoke with poise about how much hed grown since then, and how hes ready for the next level. .Y. -- Phil Jackson lost out on his preferred coach, but hes working hard on keeping his star player.Imagine you are flipping a coin, with the goal of trying to land heads four times in seven chances. Whats the better outcome? Game A: T H T H T H T Game B: H H H T T T T Obviously, the answer is neither – you only managed to land heads three times out of seven chances. In coin-flipping, we would almost certainly treat the two sequences as equals. Beyond the realm of coin-flipping, rational thought can deviate in a hurry. What if we changed the coin-flipping game to a best-of-seven hockey series, with heads signifying wins, and tails signifying losses? We have seen enough hockey to know the answer to this question. Game A would be treated as an unbelievably competitive best-of-seven; Game B, despite lasting the same number of games, would be treated as (a) an incredible choke-job by the heads group; and (b) a comeback story for the tails group. This accurately captures what happened to last years San Jose Sharks. The Sharks didnt just lose to rival Los Angeles in seven games – they went down in flames, blowing a 3-0 series lead. The Kings went on to win the Stanley Cup. San Jose could have spent the summer arming their roster to the teeth. Instead, they decided to do absolutely nothing, save for some predictable scapegoating of now ex-captain Joe Thornton. The overreaction to the first-round loss has left San Jose in a bad situation. One week ago, I noted that San Jose has experienced one of the biggest drops in 5-on-5 play this season, a far cry from the dominance they exhibited in years past. The poor play has translated unfavorably in the standings – they have only compiled 24 points in 23 games, good enough for tenth place in the West. San Joses not universally struggling this year. The larger problem with this team is that their depth is getting beaten up pretty badly compared to previous years. Since San Joses mostly stuck with the same guys down the middle of the lineup, troubleshooting the problem areas shouldnt be difficult: Sharks Lines Line Corsi +/- Per 60 Corsi% Goal% Couture Line +5.9 52.3% 47.4% Thornton Line +16.4 57.0% 52.0% Sheppard Line +11.7 55.3% 42.9% Burish*/Desjardins Line -29.9 35.9% 25.0% Its not really a surprise to see Adam Burish waived – San Joses fourth-line has been a massive Achilles heel for this team in the early going, a far cry from past competent depth that wasnt leaking scoring chance after scoring chance. On the other hand, the most impressive part of San Joses team remains Joe Thornton. Hes played a bulk of his minutes with Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl, the trioo more or less caving in the opposition with frequency and relentlessness through the first quarter of the season. . Also of note, they are really the only group of the four thats in the black as it pertains to goal rates. Theres a special kind of irony, I think, with the above table. San Jose spent an awful lot of time talking up a long-term rebuild and the closing of their contending window in the past few months, and for the most part, the team has taken a decisive step back. Except for Joe Thornton – the guy who was more or less fingered for San Joses early post-season exit. Hes been sensational, carrying an otherwise shaky Sharks team. And its important to note that Thornton doesnt just compare favorably to other lines in San Jose. We can pull out the same numbers for some of the best centers around the league, and Thornton still shines. Ive included individual scoring rates in this table as well: Elite Centre Production PLAYER TEAM Corsi +/- Per 60 Corsi% Goal% Points/60 Jonathan Toews Chicago +17.4 57.5% 50.0% 1.72 Joe Thornton San Jose +16.4 57.0% 52.0% 2.27 Henrik Sedin Vancouver +13.1 56.6% 57.1% 1.95 Jonathan Tavares N.Y. Islanders +12.2 55.2% 48.5% 2.01 Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh +11.6 56.8% 68.2% 2.51 Anze Kopitar Los Angeles +11.6 55.0% 47.4% 1.51 Tyler Seguin Dallas +4.3 51.8% 63.2% 3.52 In this group, the first six elite centers that came to my mind, along with the veteran Thornton. You can make the argument that every one of these centers plays on a likely playoff team, though Dallas and San Jose have obviously had slower-than-anticipated starts. The important takeaway from this group is that there’s virtually nothing separating any of the other six centers from Joe Thornton in terms of production. Thornton’s towing the second-best possession rate of the group, has seen favorable goal-rates on the ice, and is scoring at a better per-60 rate than guys like Toews, Sedin, Tavares, and Kopitar. We are left with maybe the most fascinating dynamic in the National Hockey League. By design, San Jose’s front office may have done just enough to push their team out of the top-eight this year. And yet, they simply have no answer for Joe Thornton – a player of such unique talent, he’s capable of carrying an entire lineup for games on end. Most teams would kill for this sort of player. San Jose? Don’t ask me to explain it. ' ' '

[JelleAkkerman]

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