Three teams, three chances to take commanding 3-0 leads or three chances to show the lower seed belongs in the series. Two big whiffs and one Roy-demption (see what I did there?). Derrick Rose had an un-MVP like game, but still had an MVP-like finish. Miami looked like we all thought they would in just overwhelming Philadelphia. And Portland showed why Rip City is a tough place to play. Were you stopping to smell the roses yesterday and miss all this? We’ll tell you what you need to know to sound smart in the office with our daily rundown of the Playoffs with Day Six’s Capsule Recap.
Game three: (1) Chicago Bulls vs. (8) Indiana Pacers, Conseco Fieldhouse
Final Score: Bulls 88 – Pacers 84- Derrick Rose shot 4 for 18 but came up with the big bucket at the end. Tied at 84, Rose drove past A.J. Price and hit a layup to give the Bulls the lead with less than 20 seconds remaining. Indiana could not get Danny Granger a free look and he could not get past Luol Deng, electing to hoist a contested three, as the Bulls hung on for the win.
- Chicago’s Luol Deng: 21 points (8-19 fg, 2-6 3pt, 3-4 ft) 6 rebounds, 6 assists, in 45 minutes to help pace the Bulls as Carlos Boozer and Rose struggled.
- Indiana’s Danny Granger: 21 points (10-21 fg, 1-5 3pt), 4 rebounds
- Key Stats: Carlos Boozer and Derrick Rose combined to shoot 6-28 from the floor. But Rose got to the line 15 times, making 13 free throws to help Chicago overcome a 38.9 percent shooting night. … The Bulls went to the line 27 times, making 23 free throws while the Pacers got just 18 free throw attempts. … Indiana went 1 for 10 from beyond the arc for the game.
- Kyle Korver on Derrick Rose: “He plays so strong, keeps attacking and he does it every night. There are a lot of things about him that are amazing. But the abilityt to ake that pounding and keep on going is the best. That last drive was incredible. I don’t know how he got the shot off.”
- Tom Thibodeau on Carlos Boozer’s scoring struggles: “Things weren’t going his way, but he hung tough, and that’s what you have to do in the playoffs. … Sometimes calls aren’t going your way, sometimes you’re in foul trouble, sometimes you’re missing shots you normally make. In the end, you have to have the belief that you can get it done. And he does.”
- Pacers guard A.J. Price: “It’s very tough. We come back home thinking that would make a difference, but it’s the same story as the first two games. We outplay them or play even with them for the first three quarters, and they make more plays in the fourth quarter and win the game.”
- Chicago leads the series 3-0. Game Four is Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT.
Game three: (2) Miami vs. (7) Philadelphia, Wells Fargo Arena
Final Score: Miami 100 – Philadelphia 94- The 76ers held a two-point lead entering the fourth quarter and led much of the game, but the Heat defense stepped up and held the 76ers to 19 fourth-quarter points to pull out the win and take a 3-0 series lead.
- Miami guard Dwyane Wade: 32 points (10-19 fgs, 12-12 fts), 10 rebounds, 8 assists
- Philadelphia forward Elton Brand: 21 points (9-15 fgs), 11 rebounds
- Key Stats: Zydrunas Ilgauskas was -14 on the floor, but the three players off Miami’s bench were all at least +7 in the game. James Jones was +10, Joel Anthony was +15 and Mario Chalmers was +7. … The 76ers had 24 assists on 36 field goals. … LeBron James nearly had a triple double too, bringing in 15 rebounds to go with 24 points and six assists.
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra: “It was a gutsy win. We could not really take control of the game until the fourth quarter. It was not pretty. It was not clean. But we found a way and that’s the most important thing, just to gut it out and find a way. Now we move on.”
- Heat forward Chris Bosh: “We knew coming in that Game Three was going to be the most difficult. We took their best, but we just stayed calm.”
- 76ers coach Doug Collins: “As far as the effort, I told our guys the effort was great. [But] you can’t have those kinds of breakdowns.”
- Miami leads the series 3-0. Game four is Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern on ABC.
Game two: (3) Dallas vs. (6) Portland, Rose Garden
Final Score: Portland 97 – Dallas 92- Wesley Matthews got the Blazers off to a hot start scoring 13 of the team’s first 15 points and Brandon Roy provided a huge lift off the bench as Portland beat Dallas.
- Portland forward Wesley Matthews: 25 points (8-12 fgs, 4-6 3fgs, 5-6 fts)
- Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki: 25 points (10-21 fgs, 4-7 fts), 9 rebounds
- Key Stats: Brandon Roy, after complaining about his lack of playing time in Game Two, scored 16 points off the bench on 6-for-10 shooting. … The Mavericks shot 51.5 percent but turned the ball over 16 times. … Jason Terry scored 29 points off the bench for Dallas.
- Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan on Brandon Roy: “He has definitely earned the right to play some minutes.”
- “Our problems began at the beginning of the game when we got off to a very poor start and their aggressiveness put us on our heels,” Carlisle said.
- Dallas leads the series 2-1. Game Four is Saturday at 2 p.m. on TNT.
