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Adebayo, Butler help Heat beat Knicks in opener of series
Austin Rivers of the New York Knicks defends against Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden on February 07, 2021 in New York City. NEW YORK – Bam Adebayo had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Jimmy Butler had a big second half and just missed a triple-double and the Miami Heat beat the New York Knicks 109-103 in the opener of a home-and-home series. Butler finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. He shot just 3 for 11 from the field but scored 12 points after halftime. Julius Randle had 26 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, but the Knicks had their two-game win streak snapped.
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Gobert shines as Utah Jazz rally past New York Knicks 108-94
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, left, lays the ball up as New York Knicks center Nerlens Noel (3) defends in the second half during an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz leaned on their tough defense to keep their win streak alive. Rudy Gobert had 18 points, 19 rebounds and four blocked shots, and the Jazz beat the New York Knicks 108-94 on Tuesday night for their ninth consecutive victory. New York made just 12 total baskets in the second half on the heels of shooting 55.8% from the field before halftime. “In the second half, they became more physical, they took the fight to us,” Rivers said.
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Davis, Lakers run past Rockets for 3-1 West semifinals lead
Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis (3) and P.J. James had 16 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists for the Lakers, who outrebounded the Rockets 52-26. Russell Westbrook had 25 points and James Harden had 21 for the Rockets, who got 19 from Eric Gordon and 14 from Austin Rivers. It was 57-41 Lakers at the break, meaning Houston had scored 79 points in its last 48 minutes of basketball. Rockets: Houston is one of the franchises that has overcome a 3-1 deficit, doing so against the Clippers in the second round of the 2015 playoffs.
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Rockets run away from No. 1 seed Lakers, take Game 1 112-97
James Harden scored 36 points and the Houston Rockets ran away from the Lakers 112-97 on Friday night, the second straight round the No. Russell Westbrook added 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Eric Gordon had 23 points for the Rockets, the No. They forced 17 turnovers that led to 27 turnovers and played the much bigger Lakers even on the backboards. The Lakers playing for only the second time in 11 days. Lakers: Assistant coach Jason Kidd missed the game because of what coach Frank Vogel said were severe back spasms.
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Leonard leads Clippers past Doncic, Mavs to reach 2nd round
Los Angeles began putting the ball in Leonards hands and he delivered with eight straight Clippers points before consecutive 3-pointers by Reggie Jackson pushed it to 105-89. TIP-INSClippers: Patrick Beverley had a pregame workout before sitting out for the fifth straight game with a left calf strain. Mavericks: Porzingis missed his third straight game with torn cartilage in his right knee. It was the first game Rivers attended in the bubble but hardly his first time watching his son play at Disney. I just kind of sat and watched the game, Rivers said.
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Schroder scores 30; Thunder top Rockets to even series
Eric Gordon scored 23 points and Danuel House added 21 for the Rockets, who won the first two games of the series. The Thunder shot 47.8% and the Rockets 47.7% before the break. The Rockets led 93-80 before Schroder made a 3-pointer and Houston's Austin Rivers was called for a foul away from the shot. Schroder hot a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Oklahoma City climbed within 93-92 at the end of the third. Thunder: Shot 61% in the first quarter.
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Here's 10 things to know about the NBA season restart
The games start Thursday night at Walt Disney World, and here's 10 things to know as the season enters its restart phase. SHORTER SEASONIf all the seeding games get played, then this NBA season would include 1,059 games a drop of 171 from what was planned when the season began. Its now on pace for somewhere around 25,700 3-pointers which would be just shy of the second-most in a season in NBA history. That would be the record; the NBA had 12 teams finish there in the 2009-10 season. REDICKS STREAKNew Orleans guard JJ Redick has played 13 previous NBA seasons, going to the playoffs in all of them.
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Family issues outside bubble calling some NBA players home
The key is can we finish, said Clippers coach Doc Rivers, Austin Rivers father. Whether it be a family problem, a kid problem, a wife problem, anything, there are issues that come in these guys life. Doc Rivers said in a weird way, there can be a positive to seeing players dealing with various issues. I think in a good way in this, the public actually sees that the NBA players actually are human and they do have regular life issues going on, the Clippers coach said. The problem is usually with the life issues you can come back to the team and play the next day.
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Asterisk on the NBA title? Coaches, players say not a chance
To the teams in the NBA, this championship might be the toughest one ever claimed. And only one of the 22 teams headed to Disney will be able to say it was absolutely worth the trouble. You win an NBA championship anytime, its a hell of an accomplishment. This NBA season will see the 22 remaining teams all play between 71 and 75 games before the playoffs, and the leagues plan is for a full four-round, best-of-seven-throughout postseason. If you think about the mental toughness its going to take ... its going to come down to talent.