https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66Ip7QpnaHE

If anyone would know not to give Ray Allen space, it would have to be the Nets right? Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have seen Allen drain that corner three with less than two minutes, one minute, 30 seconds time and time again. It had so rarely happened to them.

Their last great shot at winning a championship may very well have ended that way. The Heat, trailing by around eight points for much of the second half and unable to get over the hump until they suddenly did.

Allen capped off that run with a corner 3-pointer, a tough one that had him backing up to get to the line. It gave the Heat a two-point lead. Miami needed two defensive stops to put the game away. The last came with LeBron James and Allen combining to force the ball out of Joe Johnson’s hands. Brooklyn did not even get off a shot as the team’s season ended with a 96-94 defeat.

Joe Johnson was the right guy to have the ball. He scored 34 points and carried Brooklyn offensively. He hit tough shot after tough shot over the defense. Just he could not get that shot to fall at the end. And the Nets threw the game away in many ways, unable to execute at the end.

LeBron James scored 29 points and got to the line 17 times, making 15. Dwyane Wade scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half.

And now the Heat are one step closer to a third championship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ774pnbUrY

On the glass, on the scoreboard, in Boggle. It did not matter what kind of game the Wizards were playing against the Pacers. Indiana did not show up. Well Indianapolis and the state of Indiana showed up hoping to see their team realize they were still on track and get to the Eastern Conference Finals, but the Pacers just did not show up in a 102-79 Wizards win to force a Game Six on Thursday.

Certainly not on the glass, where Washington held an incredible 62-23 advantage, including 18 offensive rebounds for Washington. Certainly not anywhere.

Marcin Gortat scored 17 of his 31 points in the first half and the Wizards just kept collecting their misses and putting them back in. The Pacers were lethargic and lackadaisical. They were getting beat to every loose ball and every rebound. The rebound stat really says it all for Indiana and the effort and urgency Washington put into this game. The Wizards were clearly the ones playing with elimination on the line.

The Pacers? It is hard to explain how something like this could happen?

Roy Hibbert had no rebounds. Paul George had just one rebound total. David West grabbed only six rebounds. These are the star players and they have to lead with their effort.

John Wall did that in awakening from his slump and scoring 27 points on 11-for-20 shooting. He took control of the third quarter as Washington turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 30-point lead on the road.

This inconsistency from the Pacers really has to stop if they want to continuing scraping and advancing. Maybe they are doing just what they have to do.

Leave it to Charles Barkley to stir things up… again!

TNT’s Barkley has been on a tear recently directing comments at the female population of San Antonio. More specifically, he has no issues calling them, “Big ol women.”

His comments have drawn the ire of the women of San Antonio and few have been demanding he apologizes for his less-than-complimentary words.

But if you think “The Chuckster” is going to apologize for his words — think again.

During a recent show of “Inside the NBA,” Barkley took time to address the firestorm he created but was insistent that he isn’t going to apologize whatsoever. As a matter of fact, he said you can turn off the TV.

The Blazers got off to the good start they needed. They got the shots to fall. They even got a few starts. There was the urgency a team down 3-0 in a series needed to have as Portland won 103-92 to extend the series one more game and back to San Antonio.

Damian Lillard scored 25 points and took over the game early on to set the tone for Portland. He had plenty of help with the Blazers bench awakening from its -100 in three games slumber. Will Barton scored 17 points off the bench to keep Portland pace. San Antonio did not have its usual second quarter runaway this time.

The Trail Blazers shot 43.9 percent from the floor but were up around 60 percent in the first quarter. They held the Spurs to just eight fast break points.

San Antonio just was not quite itself.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 14 points and had only one assist. That is not going to cut it.

This was Portland’s night. They get to play on.

Experience is a funny thing. You don’t know you have it until you need it and it often doesn’t matter until it does.

Randy Wittman in his postgame press conference would not sit there and blame his team’s relative youth as the Wizards let a 16-point lead slip and watched Paul George lead the Pacers to a 3-1 series lead with a come-from-behind 95-92 victory at Verizon Center.

Paul George put in a superhuman 39-point effort. He was the All Star and MVP candidate everyone imagined he would be after last year’s stellar Playoff performance. This was Paul George at his best. He made every big play the Pacers needed.

That is clearly the difference between Indiana and Washington right now. The Pacers have the players to put their head down and find a way to grind out a win. The Wizards still have to learn that skill.

Their lead was lost when their young stars succumbed to the pressure. Their lead was built behind the surprising play from Drew Gooden and Al Harrington. Two veterans no one saw contributing int he Postseason at the beginning of the year. Harrington had 11 points and Gooden had 10.

It comes down to your stars though. And Washington’s struggled. John Wall had 12 points on 4-for-11 shooting and Bradley Beal had 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Washington needed a bit more, from Wall especially. Because when push comes to shove in these games, it matters what your best players do.

Indiana’s best player rose to the occasion. And Indiana remains right on track for a Conference Finals berth.