by ldh2013 » Sat Jul 02, 2016 8:11 am
(SportsNetwork. .com) - The Miami Heat will try to inch one step closer to a fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals Monday night when they host the Indiana Pacers for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals at American Airlines Arena. Follow all the action live on TSN2 and TSN GO beginning at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt. The Heat, who have won the last two NBA titles and lost three years ago in the Finals, took a 2-1 series lead on Saturday night with a 99-87 win. Miami is a perfect 6-0 as the home team in the postseason. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade fueled Miamis strong third quarter and Ray Allens sharp-shooting helped hold Indiana at bay in the fourth. The Heat trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and didnt take their first lead until midway through the third, when James capped an 8-0 burst with a two-handed, fastbreak dunk for a 52-51 advantage. James and Wade combined for 22 points in the third -- the same amount as the Pacers -- to help the Heat take a 71-64 spread into the fourth. Indiana got as close as two in the final frame before Allen took over, draining all four of his 3-point tries en route to 16 points as the Heat pulled away down the stretch. "This team has proven to be resilient," Allen said of his team battling back despite trailing by double digits. "In bad situations, we pick it back up." James finished with 26 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals, while Wade added 23 points, four boards and four assists for the Heat. Allen was the only other double-digit scorer for Miami. Paul George, who suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter of Indianas 87-83 loss in Game 2, supplied 17 points and Roy Hibbert tallied 16 points for the Pacers, who had won five straight road games. David West chipped in 13 points, while Lance Stephenson tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds. Indiana took advantage of a sluggish start from Miami Saturday and stifled the Heat for much of the opening frame, forcing seven turnovers and holding the home team to 6-of-16 shooting from the floor over the first 12 minutes. The Pacers held a 21-14 lead after one and the 14 first-quarter points was a season-low for the two-time champions. With the margin at seven following a Chris Bosh triple early in the second, Luis Scola supplied back-to-back buckets to spark a 10-2 burst that Rasual Butler capped with a trey for a 37-22 cushion with 6:22 on the clock. The Heat clamped down defensively from there, holding Indiana without a field goal over the next five-plus minutes to claw their way back into the game. "We had no choice but to regather," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of his team falling behind by double digits. "It was good to see us bounce back in the second quarter and show some toughness." The Heat turned a four-point deficit at the start of the second half into a seven-point cushion thanks to Wade and James. Wade opened the fourth with another trey to push the spread to 10, but George scored eight points in a 10-2 Indiana burst to pull the Pacers within 76-74. Allen caught fire from there, nailing three 3-pointers in a 3:23-span to help the Heat create a 90-79 advantage. Allens fourth triple of the frame made it 97-82 with 2:50 to play and Miami cruised the rest of the way. "Its very early in the series," Indiana head coach Frank Vogel said. "They came back, they took care of their home court. We gotta try to come out and get Game 4." Game 5 will be Wednesday night in Indianapolis. . Shaun Miller headed a dramatic winner for the third-tier club just a minute before the end of extra time of a particularly dour contest in the rain at Craven Cottage. United, which claimed its second Premier League scalp of the campaign after knocking out Aston Villa in the third round, is second from bottom in League One. . On one of the memorable European nights at Old Trafford, Van Persie scored three times in a 27-minute span either side of halftime to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg. A slew of brilliant saves by David de Gea were also key to a famous win for the English champions -- and a vital one for their manager, David Moyes. .J. - The New York Jets could be down two of their top receivers when they take on the San Diego Chargers on Sunday. BOSTON -- Carey Price offered the tiniest hint of a smile after sending the Boston Bruins home for the summer. "Im ecstatic," said the Canadiens goalie in the wake of backstopping Montreal to the Eastern Conference final against the New York Rangers. Considering it normally takes the Hubble Telescope to spot a change in Prices emotions, Wednesday was a night to remember. The Canadiens, who finished eight places and 17 points back of the league-leading Boston during the regular season, made it so by dispatching the big bad Bruins 3-1 in Game 7. Price, as he has been through the series, was all-world -- even reportedly addressing his teammates prior to the third period. Dale Weise, Max Pacioretty and Daniel Briere provided the offence as Montreal rose to the occasion of Game 7 better than the Bruins. Now the Habs must reload and refocus on the Rangers, a team coming off an emotional series win over Pittsburgh. "Its not over. Were only halfway there," cautioned Price. For the Canadiens, the win over Boston was all about respect. They were tired of being written off as also-ran Smurfs and fed up with what they saw as Bostons macho posturing. "Beating those guys, it just feels that much sweeter," said Weise, who as a former Vancouver Canuck has no love for Boston. "They just disrespected us in every single way and I didnt think they had any respect for us as a team," he added. "Well leave it at that." Said defenceman P.K. Subban: "A lot of people were saying Dont poke the bear. Well I thought they gave us many reasons to keep competing throughout the whole series ... Against a bigger, stronger, more experienced team, we pulled out a victory. Thats a character win for us. Thats a character series win for us." The chip on Montreals shoulder was the size of Mount Rushmore. Weise did not spare the media, turning his attention to TSNs hockey panel as one of its members stood on his right shoulder. "We were very comfortable playing that team," Weise said of Boston. "I think everyone else doubted us. I heard someone on the TSN panel actually say they were the perfect hockey club. I dont know what that says about us now." Said Subban: "It come down to respect. Weve done a lot of great things in this league since Ive been here, our teams done a lot but we failed to get the respect that I think we deserved. And I think we earned that." While there were the traditional handshakes after the game, there was also bad blood. "Milan Lucic had a few things to say to a couple of guys," said Weise, who declined to go into specifics. Lucic was unrepentant: "Its said on the ice so itll stay on the ice. If he (Weise) wants to be a baby about it -- he can make it public." Montreal coach Michel Therrien was cagey when asked about the disrespect issue. "Im not going to talk about the other team," said Therrien. "I never talk about the other team. One thing I could tell you we were a group that was really really motivated to win this series." He made the comment in both French and English just so the message got across. He too clearly felt his club won more than a playoff round. "Respect, youve got to earn it and I think tonight those guys earned it," said Therrien. Boston coach Claude Julien had his own take on the series, which came complete with chest-pounding, muscle-flexing and crest-pointing. "I dont think we disrespected them," he said. "Theres a rivalry here. We dont like each other, because its a rivalry. "At the same time, the pounding of the chest, people who have been here have seen us do that all year. Because its related to Boston Strong. Our guys take some pride in whats happened in Boston Strong and unfortunately everything we did seemed to be seen as disrespect in Montreal. "We heard a lot of that whining throughout the series but it had nothing to do with disrespect." Julien called it gamesmanship, the kind seen in every playoff round. "Its too bad that it gets blown out of proportion. But you know what, they won the series fair and square. They were the better team tonight and you have to respect that." The Canadiens showed character in the series, staving off elimination with a masterful performance in Game 6 in Montreal. They also showed lots of savvy. Montreal targeted Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, making the 37-year-old look slow and laboured. They also pressured Bostons young defenders, denying them avenues to advance the puck out of their end. The series was like rolling a boulder uphill for the Bruins, who rarely got their game going. Boston was touted as the team with all the depth but it was Montreal that got prroduction from different quarters while the Bruins sputtered. . Julien had said Game 7s deserved your best. The Bruins failed to deliver for much of the night despite outshooting Montreal 30-18. "Carey Price was outstanding," said Julien. "He gave them a chance to win every night." The Canadiens started fast and then stymied the Bruins, winners of the Presidents Trophy for the best regular-season record, to move deeper in the playoffs. Jarome Iginlas goal, which cut the Canadiens lead to 2-1 with 2:08 remaining in the second, set the scene for a dramatic third period. Iginla, pouncing on a rare Price rebound, hit the post early on. Boston pressed but the Canadiens held fast and Price, improving his record in elimination games in 2014 to 5-0 including the Olympics, was rock-solid with a disciplined team defending in front of him. The late Boston surge was not helped by a Johnny Boychuk penalty for interference with 4:31 remaining. Montreal scored on the ensuing power play when Brieres centring pass bounced in off Zdeno Charas skate at 18:07 to pad the lead to 3-1. Montreal killed off a late interference penalty to Andrei Markov -- and a 6-on-4 Boston opportunity -- to seal the win. The game drew two sellouts: 17,565 at TD Garden and some 21,000 at the Bell Centre, where fans paid $10 to watch the game on the video scoreboard with proceeds going to charity. They saw a contest in which both teams seemed at times weighed down by the occasion early on, knowing there could be an entire off-season to ponder a costly mistake. "Its disappointing," said Julien. "I cant stand here and say its not disappointing. In my mind, we were going to move forward. We were going to win this game and thats what I prepared myself for." The series has been a roller-coaster ride with no shortage of subplots, most of which involved Subban whose star continues to grow. When he wasnt firing bullets from the blue-line or skating circles, the flamboyant Canadiens defenceman was dodging water aimed his way from the Boston bench and dealing with racism on social media. Subban embraced the attention and found himself in the spotlight again ahead of Game 7 when he pointed to the crowd, noise and energy in Bostons TD Garden before saying: "I cant wait to take that all away from them." Subban focused on the task at hand Wednesday, forgoing the flash. In a series where the team scoring the first goal had won all six previous outings, a fast start was mandatory. Especially when teams scoring first in Game 7s were 112-40 (.737). Advantage Montreal as the visitors went ahead on their first shot, thanks to the fourth line, at 2:18 after Tuukka Rask kicked out what looked like an innocent long shoot-in. But Brandon Prust retrieved the puck and found Briere who sent a pass through Matt Bartkowski and Daniel Paille in front. Weise swept it in from Rasks doorstep. Boychuk and Gregory Campbell both tried to hit Prust on the play, opening space for others. The second period started poorly for Boston with Marchand sent to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct for a snow shower aimed at Price. That call prompted garbage thrown from the stands. Boston dug itself out of that hole and looked to fight back. But it was the Canadiens who scored at 10:22 after Boston failed to clear its zone. A diving Brandon Gallagher somehow found five-foot-seven David Desharnais, who emerged with the puck after Loui Eriksson, Soderberg and Bergeron failed to deal with it. Desharnais headed towards goal but rather than shooting, sent a no-look pass to Pacioretty to his right. The Montreal sniper rifled a shot into the goal before Rask could slide to the other side of the crease. Desharnais, under fire for his sub-par performance for much of the series, had a whale of game. Boston finally beat Price on the power play on an Iginla tip of a Torey Krug shot at 17:58. The goal, which came with seven seconds left in a Pacioretty penalty, ended Prices shutout streak of 103 minutes 46 seconds. The series was the 34th between the Bruins and Canadiens and marked the ninth time -- a record in North American pro sports -- that a Game 7 was required. Montreal now holds a 6-3 advantage. The Bruins had the last laugh last time out, with Nathan Horton scoring at 5:43 of overtime to give Boston a 4-3 victory in the 2011 Eastern Conference quarter-finals. Boston went on to win the Stanley Cup. Montreal upped its advantage to 25-9 in the playoff meetings between the two Original Six rivals. Its the first Conference final for the Habs since 2010 when they fell to the Flyers in a five-game series. And only their second since 1993 when they won their last Stanley Cup. ' ' '
