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      The Nets Aren’t Unbeatable, but It’s OK to Be Impressed

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      The Boston Celtics tried in their first-round series but were too depleted to compete. The Nets’ next opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks, may have a better shot.The game and the series were never in serious doubt.The depleted Boston Celtics maintained a sliver of hope of emerging with a victory over the Nets on Tuesday by initially keeping the score close in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series. But, in quick and devastating succession, the Nets crushed any ambition the Celtics had left. That’s what can happen when you have stars like these:Kevin Durant opened the salvos with a 3-point shot midway through the fourth quarter.Kyrie Irving buried one on the Nets’ following possession.Next, James Harden followed with one of his own.In less than a minute, an 8-point Celtics deficit ballooned to 15 and a first-round series win for the Nets.For the Nets, the sequence showcased their roster as envisioned months ago, the stars aligning to alternate taking turns at the helm in piloting the Nets toward a championship.Yes, that lineup had few opportunities to coalesce throughout a rickety regular season. The Nets entered the postseason with questions about the chemistry of their three best players. They had played just eight games together while limited with injuries and coronavirus health and safety protocols.Durant, Irving and Harden are basketball geniuses.So what if they didn’t play much together?Throw one of them the ball in isolation and watch the buckets pour in.“We don’t want to take any of this for granted,” Irving said after the Game 5 victory. “We know this doesn’t happen too often in our culture, in our history, where three of the best scorers to ever play the game and then you have a collection of guys that have done unbelievable things as well in this league, either coming off the bench or starting with us.”The Nets faced a shorthanded Celtics team. Boston entered without the services of the All-Star Jaylen Brown (wrist) and lost key components as the series wore on in guard Kemba Walker (knee) and center Robert Williams (ankle). But the Celtics still mustered a fight and forced the Nets to break a sweat in dispatching them.“We’ve made strides in just a short period of time,” Irving said.Here are some other key takeaways following the Nets’ first-round victory over Boston.Kyrie Irving is ready for the moment.Irving balled out against the Celtics.He, of course, had experienced previous postseason success. He hit the crucial shot that propelled Cleveland to a championship over Golden State in 2016. But he did not have the subsequent breakthrough after he was traded to Boston in 2017 — as Celtics fans will certainly attest — and spent most of the 2019-20 season, his first with the Nets, out while rehabbing an injury.He is among friends now.More than anything, the Nets’ three stars sound like admirers of one another, appreciative of their individual skill sets.Here’s Durant discussing Irving following the Boston series: “His mind is so different that stuff that he brings out is just unexpected — one legger, off the right leg, shooting off the glass, left-hand finishes, right-hand finishes, ball handling.”“He’s a joy to watch and play with,” Durant added.Irving had a spectacular regular season. Against Boston, he was dynamic.He punctuated his first-round performance by pouring in 39 points in a Game 4 blowout win.“I’m grateful for the opportunity that I had in Boston,” Irving said, adding that “there was a lot going on personally while I was there in Boston that people don’t know about.”Now, he said, he’s moving on: “So just grateful that we have a chance to be together in the trenches, me and my teammates, and we just get to move on from this.”James Harden had the Nets’ first playoff triple double since the days of Jason Kidd.Adam Hunger/Associated PressJames Harden is willing to sacrifice.Harden, in the first-round series, showed he was willing to use any of the tools in his bag to win.Often, he blows past his primary defender and surveys the remaining defense. He scores if the lane is open, but is only too happy to pass the ball if an easy scoring opportunity presents itself.In Game 5, Harden amassed a triple-double — 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, becoming the first Net to do so in the playoffs since Jason Kidd in 2007.“He comes into the gym every day and it’s just excitement to play basketball,” Durant said. “With somebody who loves to play so much, the energy is just infectious and you can tell everybody was drawn to James since the day he got here and his presence was just key for us.”Harden is the lone member of the Nets’ Big Three without a championship. This may be his best shot.Kevin Durant’s defense will be key.Durant is an amazing scorer. That is not debatable.But the Nets have that area covered. Durant’s defense may be one of their best weapons for their second-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks.Milwaukee breezed past Miami in a first-round sweep, atoning for last year’s playoff loss to the Heat and reinserting themselves as an Eastern Conference contender.No one on this planet can fully contain the offensive juggernaut that is Durant, Harden and Irving. Milwaukee, at least, has the ingredients to possibly slow them down. Jrue Holiday, acquired in an off-season trade, is arguably the league’s top perimeter defender. P.J. Tucker and Khris Middleton don’t mind mixing it up in the trenches. Giannis Antetokounmpo is last season’s defensive player of the year.“He’s long, athletic,” Durant said of Antetokounmpo. “He plays hard. He cares about his teammates. He cares about winning. Put that combination together, you make a tough player.”But Durant may as well have been describing himself. Against Boston, he swooped in from the weakside to have the backs of defeated primary defenders. His defensive acumen will probably be a key if the Nets are to advance to the conference finals.Second-round injury watch?Both the Nets and the Bucks are largely healthy but not at full strength. Milwaukee’s Donte DiVincenzo is out for the remainder of the playoffs with an ankle injury.Jeff Green, the Nets’ versatile defender, missed the last three games of the Boston series with a strained plantar fascia. More

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      Knicks’ Resurgent Season Ends With Game 5 Loss to the Hawks

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      Julius Randle had 23 points for the Knicks, but it wasn’t enough. The Hawks’ star guard Trae Young dominated again down the stretch.The Knicks were eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday in a 103-89 Game 5 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden, a deflating end to a promising season.It was a feisty, defensive battle, with both teams getting off to a slow start. But the Hawks, once again, methodically took control in the second half, led by their star guard Trae Young. He finished with 36 points.Julius Randle, the Knicks star, struggled again. He scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, but was only 8 for 21 from the field and had 8 turnovers.The Knicks’ Taj Gibson and Atlanta’s John Collins grappling for the ball.Wendell Cruz/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThis season marked an unexpected return to relevance for the Knicks, who surpassed even some of the most optimistic preseason expectations by obtaining the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It was the team’s first trip to the postseason since the 2012-13 season, bringing fresh optimism for a beleaguered New York City fan base.Randle emerged as a legitimate franchise player, making his first All-Star Game and winning the N.B.A.’s Most Improved Player award. RJ Barrett, in his second season, made significant strides as a shooter and playmaker. The rookies Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin provided sparks off the bench.There was much hope for the playoffs after the Knicks went 16-4 over the final 20 games of the regular season. The fifth-seeded Hawks were seen as a beatable opponent, especially because the Knicks defeated them in all three of their regular-season matchups.Instead, even with home-court advantage, the Knicks collapsed in the playoffs, in large part because of the poor play of the starters. With several players, including Randle and Barrett, making their playoff debuts, the team looked rattled at points by the spotlight. The Knicks were also without one of their key weapons: the springy starting center Mitchell Robinson, an effective rebounder and rim protector, who had foot surgery in late March.In the series opener, the Knicks lost at the last second on a Young floater, a shot Atlanta’s top player used to punish the Knicks all series. The Knicks won Game 2, bolstered by a deafening home crowd and a stirring second-half comeback. But they fell apart on the road in Games 3 and 4, as Young scored and created opportunities for his teammates.Julius Randle shot 28 for 94 in the series, a 29.8 percent clip.Pool photo by Wendell CruzRandle shot 20 for 73 through the first four games — a dismal 27.4 percent. He had almost as many turnovers (15) as he did assists (17). His performance was even more confounding considering Randle’s thorough domination of the Hawks during the regular season: He averaged 37.3 points in three matchups — his most against any team. But the Hawks flummoxed Randle throughout the series, sending double and triple teams to him on almost every touch.Barrett was mostly ineffective as well. Through Game 4, he was shooting just 39.6 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from deep. In Game 2, the Knicks’ only win of the series, he was benched in the fourth quarter. Several of his misses in the series came on passes from Randle, which made it easier for the Hawks to continue to pressure Randle.With Randle and Barrett struggling, the Knicks relied on a surprisingly productive bench. Derrick Rose, who only started three of the 35 games he played for the Knicks during the regular season after coming over from Detroit, was their best offensive player in the first four games. He averaged 22.8 points and 5 assists per game on 50.7 percent shooting. Knicks Coach Tom Thibodeau moved Rose and the veteran center Taj Gibson into the starting lineup for Game 3. More

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      After Bonding Over Basketball and Biking, a Big Loss

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      Mark Eaton and Rudy Gobert, paint protectors past and present for the Utah Jazz, had built a relationship of mutual admiration and respect.Mark Eaton did not connect with Rudy Gobert because they were both big men from a small-market franchise known for their immense shot-blocking presence. Not exclusively, anyway.Eaton and Gobert, paint protectors past and present for the Utah Jazz, bonded over a love of bike-riding, too.In August 2016 in Las Vegas, at a National Basketball Retired Players Association function, Eaton was introduced to a Frenchman named David Folch, who specialized in making custom bicycles for tall riders and had been referred to the association by the Hall of Famer Bill Walton. Eaton was so excited that he hopped right onto Folch’s sample bike and began pedaling through the corridors of the hotel.“He had a big smile on his face as he’s coming back and, with that deep voice, he’s telling me, ‘I feel like a kid — I haven’t felt like this since I was 10,’ ” Folch said in a telephone interview.Within a year, Eaton had arranged for Gobert to meet the 6-foot-6 Folch to get a DirtySixer bike of his own, outfitted with 36-inch wheels for a frame that, as Folch described it, comes with “everything oversized and everything proportionate” for N.B.A.-sized cycling enthusiasts. Gobert was quickly hooked and would soon have his own custom bike to join Eaton for occasional rides. He later ordered 15 bikes from Folch as presents for his Jazz teammates.I recently wrote about Gobert’s trying year in the spotlight after he was the first N.B.A. player known to test positive for the coronavirus. The piece included a passage about how Eaton had become a mentor to Gobert. Eaton shared the story of their first 7-footers-only bike ride and a subsequent tour of Eaton’s Park City, Utah, home, where Gobert spotted Eaton’s Defensive Player of the Year Award trophies from 1984-85 and 1988-89. Gobert vowed that day to win one, too.“Now he has two of his own,” Eaton said in our March conversation.Gobert is widely expected to soon be named the winner of the award for the third time, but Eaton sadly won’t be here to see it. Last Friday, on his second bike ride of the day, Eaton was found lying unconscious on a roadway after a suspected crash near his home in Summit County, Utah. Eaton was taken to a hospital, where he died that night. The state’s medical examiner’s office has yet to announce an official cause of death.Eaton became a mentor to Rudy Gobert, and inspired Gobert to try to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award, a trophy Eaton won twice in his career.Getty ImagesSorrow spread quickly around the league on Saturday because Eaton, just 64, was a beloved figure in N.B.A. circles, as much for the way he campaigned for retired players as for his own unlikely rise from the community college ranks to an 11-year career with the Jazz that peaked with one All-Star selection (1988-89). It was also the latest in a string of devastating bike accidents involving N.B.A. figures, adding to the anguish felt last October, when the longtime Houston Rockets scout BJ Johnson was killed on a ride in Houston. In March, Shawn Bradley, the 12-year veteran center, announced through the Dallas Mavericks that he had been paralyzed in January after a vehicle struck him during a ride in St. George, Utah.Gobert dedicated the Jazz’s Game 3 victory in Memphis on Saturday night to Eaton. The 7-foot-4 Eaton often told the story of his struggles at U.C.L.A., where he barely played in two seasons, until the iconic Wilt Chamberlain watched him in a few practices and told him to focus on dominating around the rim instead of trying to match the mobility of faster opponents. Eaton repeatedly passed the same message on to the 7-foot-1 Gobert, who, like Eaton, was not an instant force in the N.B.A., after Denver selected him with the 27th overall pick in the 2013 draft on Utah’s behalf.“I feel his presence,” Gobert said after the Game 3 win, adding that he could imagine receiving his customary postgame text message from Eaton that read, “Way to protect the paint, big guy.”My personal memories of Eaton are equally fond. As a basketball-loving resident of Orange County, Calif., it was impossible for me not to be schooled on the Eaton fairy tale — how he had been spotted by a coach from Cypress (Calif.) Community College while working as a mechanic and had been talked into joining the team, at age 20, after he had given up the sport. Eaton was earning an annual salary of $20,000 at Mark C. Bloome Tires, but he showed enough promise at Cypress to be drafted by the Phoenix Suns with the 107th overall pick in the fifth round of the 1979 draft, before deciding it would be wiser to transfer to U.C.L.A. rather than trying to go directly to the pros.The Jazz selected Eaton in the fourth round of the 1982 draft at No. 72 overall after his virtually nonexistent Bruins career. In his third N.B.A. season, he blocked 5.6 shots per game to set a single-season league record that still stands. His last season as an active player with the Jazz (1992-93) narrowly preceded my first season as an N.B.A. beat writer (1993-94), but Eaton also holds a distinction found in only one record book — mine. He was the first N.B.A. player I ever interviewed.Rudy Gobert, left, David Folch, center, and Mark Eaton, right, in November 2017.Courtesy of DirtySixer BikesDuring the summer of 1989, as a part-time correspondent for The Orange County Register while attending Cal State Fullerton, I was dispatched to cover the N.B.A.’s annual summer league at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. I had spent months pestering an assigning editor, Robin Romano, who graciously put up with my badgering. Summer league in those days was nothing at all like the monster enterprise we see now, with big crowds in Las Vegas and cameras everywhere. Established N.B.A. writers rarely covered it — especially those based in Southern California accustomed to long playoff runs reporting on the Showtime Lakers.Romano fought for me to get the assignment, partly because I had besieged her with reminders that, thanks to my overseas ties and full-fledged N.B.A. nerdity, I was already well acquainted with the Lakers’ little-known first-round draft pick from Europe: Vlade Divac. Yet it was Eaton I encountered first in the L.M.U. hallway as I entered the gym, and I approached him, terrified, for an interview — and without any good questions or even a story angle.Eaton had just made his lone All-Star appearance five months earlier and, if I remember right, was not even playing that day as one of the veterans known, in that anything-goes era, to drop in unannounced to get some run. As a 20-year-old neophyte, I just figured I better interview an N.B.A. All-Star because I saw one. To my relief, Eaton couldn’t have been nicer about my lack of preparation or know-how as I held my tape recorder as high as my meager, trembling wingspan could manage.He got me through it. I recounted the tale for him more than once in recent years and, when we last spoke nearly three months ago for the Gobert piece, Eaton made sure to remind me: “I love your story about Loyola.”Video of that interaction, had it existed, wouldn’t be nearly as compelling as the footage of Eaton pedaling in the halls of a Vegas hotel, or the great clip that has been circulating of Eaton smothering a drive to the basket by the former N.B.A. player Rex Chapman with his right palm without jumping. Yet Eaton’s compliment, coming from the gentle giant who had one of the best back stories in N.B.A. history, is one I plan to hang on to.The Scoop @TheSteinLineCorner ThreeLarry Nance Jr. had a little support from his father, the three-time N.B.A. All-Star Larry Nance Sr., during the 2018 slam dunk contest.Bob Donnan/USA Today Sports, via ReutersYou ask; I answer. Every week in this space, I’ll field three questions posed via email at marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com. (Please include your first and last name, as well as the city you’re writing in from, and make sure “Corner Three” is in the subject line.)Questions may be condensed and lightly edited for clarity.Q: The 1996-97 Charlotte Hornets had Glen Rice and Dell Curry on the roster. Their kids, Glen Rice Jr., and Stephen and Seth Curry, all reached the N.B.A. so those Hornets had two dads of future N.B.A. players. Has an N.B.A. roster ever had more than two? — Steven Friedlander (Knoxville, Tenn.)Stein: A comprehensive breakdown of N.B.A. rosters with the most N.B.A. dads was not readily available, but some consultation with the Elias Sports Bureau found multiple teams in the 1990s that had at least three players whose sons made it to the N.B.A., too.Golden State in 1991-92: Tim Hardaway (Tim Hardaway Jr.), Rod Higgins (Cory Higgins) and Jaren Jackson (Jaren Jackson Jr.)Cleveland in 1993-94: Higgins, Larry Nance (Larry Nance Jr.) and Gerald Wilkins (Damien Wilkins)Golden State in 1994-95: Manute Bol (Bol Bol), Hardaway and HigginsPortland in 1995-96: Harvey Grant (Jerami and Jerian Grant), Arvydas Sabonis (Domantas Sabonis) and Gary Trent (Gary Trent Jr.)Portland in 1997-98: Rick Brunson (Jalen Brunson), Sabonis and Trent.Another memorable example: As my pal Mike Lynch from Stathead noted, Henry Bibby (Mike Bibby), Joe Bryant (Kobe Bryant), Mike Dunleavy (Mike Dunleavy Jr.) and Harvey Catchings (whose daughter Tamika Catchings starred in the W.N.B.A. and was just inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2020 class alongside Kobe Bryant) all played for Philadelphia in 1976-77.Q: Have my Hornets finally turned a corner? Can LaMelo Ball’s exciting style help us attract free agents? Will Michael Jordan be willing to break the bank again on a proven player after the signing of Gordon Hayward? — Glenn Gibson (Mount Holly, N.C.)Stein: Ball’s presence could help some, but it’s a stretch to describe Charlotte as any sort of emerging free-agent destination or to suggest that the Hornets’ standing in the league has changed after one season that ended with a blowout defeat in the play-in tournament.Mitch Kupchak, Charlotte’s president of basketball operations, said in an interview with me last week — and when he did a season-ending news conference with local reporters — that the Hornets were pleasantly surprised to win the Hayward sweepstakes in November. Kupchak was initially skeptical that Hayward would decline a player option with Boston for the 2020-21 season worth nearly $35 million to come to small-market Charlotte.Given that the Hornets committed to a four-year deal to Hayward worth $120 million, this isn’t the time to question Jordan’s willingness to spend. That deal was widely regarded as an overpayment given Hayward’s age (31) and injury history. Yet I hold firm on what was covered in last week’s newsletter about Jordan’s limited presence around the team.Understandable as it was for Jordan to be distant throughout a season played through the pandemic, I remain convinced that he needs to be more visible and involved to boost the Hornets, because his star power is such a difference maker.Q: Another collapse? From a franchise perspective, sure, but Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis weren’t even teenagers when the 2006 finals happened, so I doubt they give it much thought. — @BrettChisum from TwitterStein: Fair point. Tuesday’s piece wasn’t intended to suggest that Doncic and Porzingis have been weighed down in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers by memories of what happened to the Dirk Nowitzki-led Mavericks in the 2006 N.B.A. finals against Miami.But I still think “another” applies, as I used in a tweet to promote the story, because (as you also noted) this is a franchise — and a fan base — that will never forget what happened in 2006. Dallas’s inability to win a single playoff series since the 2011 finals triumph over Miami that avenged the 2006 loss factors into that.Like it or not, if the Mavericks lose this series to the Clippers after taking a 2-0 lead on the road, it will dredge up talk of the worst collapses in league and, yes, franchise history.Numbers GameGiannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks got their playoff revenge on the Miami Heat this year.Sam Navarro/USA Today Sports, via Reuters37.3It’s hard to believe now, given the depths of his struggles against the Hawks, but Julius Randle averaged 37.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists in three regular-season games against Atlanta. Although Randle had his best game of the series in the Knicks’ Game 4 defeat (23 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists), his 7-for-19 shooting performance inspired derisive chants of “Play-off Randle” and “over-rated” from Atlanta’s fans. Randle, who last week won the N.B.A.’s Most Improved Player Award, has missed 53 of 73 shots from the field in the series. The Hawks had the league’s 18th-ranked defense during the regular season.16.1Milwaukee’s overtime victory against Miami in Game 1 of their first-round series did not exactly suggest that the Bucks were poised to sweep the Heat. The Bucks pulled out a victory in the series opener despite shooting a dreadful 5 for 31 on 3-pointers (16.1 percent). The Heat shot 20 for 50 from long range in the 109-107 defeat and were never again close in the series, absorbing three further defeats by an average of 26.7 points per game in a stunning reversal from the teams’ second-round matchup in last season’s bubble playoffs at Walt Disney World.49Jayson Tatum’s 50 points last Friday in Boston’s Game 3 win over the Nets marked the fourth time in 49 days that Tatum had scored at least 50 points. He also scored 53 points in an overtime victory against Minnesota on April 9; 60 points in an overtime victory against San Antonio on April 30; and 50 points on May 18 in a victory over Washington in an Eastern Conference play-in game. Only five other players in Celtics history have scored 50 points or more in a playoff game, and none of them were named Larry Bird or Bill Russell, according to Stathead: John Havlicek (54 in 1973), Isaiah Thomas (53 in 2017), Ray Allen (51 in 2009), Sam Jones (51 in 1967) and Bob Cousy (50 in 1953).37Portland’s Carmelo Anthony, who ranks 10th on the N.B.A.’s career scoring list with 27,370 regular-season points, turned 37 on Saturday. The only player older than Anthony to see game action in these playoffs was Miami’s Andre Iguodala, according to Stathead, who turned 37 in January.14Despite losing Denver’s Jamal Murray and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to injury, Canada Basketball named 14 N.B.A. players to its 21-player roster for its Olympic qualifying bid. That means Canada Coach Nick Nurse, of the Toronto Raptors, has more N.B.A. players than roster spots (12) at his disposal, which is a first for any nation apart from the United States since professionals were granted permission to participate in Olympic basketball in Barcelona in 1992. Canada must win a six-nation Olympic qualifying tournament in Victoria, British Columbia, from June 29 to July 4 to join the United States in the 12-team men’s basketball Olympic field in Tokyo.Hit me up anytime on Twitter (@TheSteinLine) or Facebook (@MarcSteinNBA) or Instagram (@thesteinline). Send any other feedback to marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com. More

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      Lost Lead Reminds Mavericks Fans of 2006 Collapse

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      Fifteen years ago, the Mavericks lost the N.B.A. finals after winning the first two games of the series. Now they have blown a 2-0 lead over the Clippers.DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks are one of only four teams to win the first two games in the N.B.A. finals and still lose the series. It was always assumed thereafter that, for this franchise and its fans, no playoff collapse could inflict as much pain as Dallas’s disintegration against the Miami Heat in 2006.Chances are the sentiment still applies, since a first-round series will never be confused with a championship series, but the Luka Doncic-led Mavericks are suddenly careening toward a doozy of an unraveling that might wind up in the same conversation.After seizing a 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers, with back-to-back road victories that had the league buzzing, Dallas welcomed crowds of nearly 18,000 fans on Friday night and Sunday night at American Airlines Center — and promptly disappointed them both.The series now resting at 2-2 is even worse than it sounds for the Mavericks, because they amassed a 30-11 lead in the first quarter of Game 3 that could have easily caused the Clippers, on the brink of a full-blown franchise crisis, to capsize. Two defeats later, and with Doncic clearly compromised by a neck strain he sustained during Game 3, Dallas has been forced to confront the painful reality that it actually squandered more than a 2-0 lead.“We’ve got to hope in the next couple of days that he can be better — hopefully substantially better,” Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle said of Doncic’s health. “There’s a two-day break between games, which is a positive in this case.”An extra day off before Wednesday’s Game 5 back at Staples Center in Los Angeles was the lone positive Carlisle could realistically pinpoint.Fueled by Coach Tyronn Lue’s small-ball lineups, stout team defense in Sunday’s 106-81 rout in Game 4 and, most of all, relentless paint attacks from Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Clippers have mustered a show of unity and resolve that maybe no one in the N.B.A. outside of Lue expected.Leonard, in particular, has been as dominant as ever offensively in response to last week’s chatter about Doncic’s emergence as the best player in the series, averaging 33.0 points per game on ridiculous 62.7 percent shooting from the field.Mocking the Clippers’ moxie had evolved into a sport within the sport since their collapse against the Denver Nuggets in last summer’s bubble playoffs at Walt Disney World in Florida.On the brink of a Western Conference finals showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers, their storied Staples Center co-tenants, the Clippers went from a 3-1 cushion to a second-round exit by losing three consecutive games to Denver. Coach Doc Rivers was fired and the rigors stemming from the isolation of bubble life were blamed.But then the Clippers appeared to go out of their way to lose their final two games this season to lowly Houston and Oklahoma City, locking in the first-round matchup they preferred with Dallas and ensuring that they would avoid the Lakers until the conference finals.When Doncic and the Mavericks shredded the Clippers twice in Los Angeles to open the series, Lue and his players were lampooned for messing with basketball karma and, worse, reinforcing perceived frailties as a group that could potentially convince Leonard to leave the club in free agency this summer.Reggie Jackson, in the Clippers’s starting lineup for his ball-handling and shooting, scored 15 points in Game 4.Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports, via ReutersLue responded with his best work since his coaching contributions to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ historic comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the 2016 N.B.A. finals to Golden State.He made the 6-foot-8 Nicolas Batum his primary center in hopes of keeping more mobile players on the floor to cope with the brilliant Doncic, who averaged 38.0 points through the first games before his 9-for-24 shooting struggles and quiet 19 points on Sunday.Lue also made Reggie Jackson a starter in the backcourt for a boost in shooting and ball-handling and expanded roles for Rajon Rondo and Terance Mann, even though that meant relegating the boisterous Patrick Beverley, his original starter at point guard, out of the rotation.Lue admitted that the Clippers want to “try to wear Luka down” and “let him play one on one” by switching defenders on him constantly, and living with the results as long as they can “keep his assists down.”The smaller, quicker lineups likewise exacerbated the mobility issues that have plagued Dallas’ Kristaps Porzingis defensively since Porzingis, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee as a Knick in 2018, sustained a meniscus tear in his right knee in last season’s first-round series against the Clippers.“We still haven’t done anything yet,” Lue said.A reserved approach is wise in a series in which the home team has yet to win a game, and when Dallas is 3-0 on the Clippers’ floor this season. But there is a strong case to be made that the Mavericks won the first two games thanks as much to their unsustainable success from 3-point range as to the damage Doncic caused at full strength.The Mavericks shot 35-for-70 from deep in those two games, then cratered to 5-for-30 on 3-pointers in Game 4, with Doncic’s supporting cast fading badly, after wasting a 20-for-39 showing in Game 3.Carlisle said that, from his vantage point, Doncic’s injury left him unable to “turn his neck to the left.” That would help explain the lack of zip in his game and Doncic’s joyless expression from the start, with strips of black protective tape from the back of his neck and across his left shoulder protruding from his uniform.Doncic is shooting 40.6 percent from the free-throw line.Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThere is another growing worry for the Mavericks on top of their star guard’s uncertain health: Doncic’s free-throw shooting. He shot 0-for-5 from the line in Sunday’s loss, taking the All-Star guard down to an indefensible 40.6 percent (13 for 32) for the series.“I don’t think that matters right now,” Doncic said of his injury. “I played terrible.”The Mavericks of 2005-6, who orbited around Dirk Nowitzki, avenged their finals collapse by beating Miami in the 2011 N.B.A. finals after the Heat had signed LeBron James and Chris Bosh to flank Dwyane Wade. Dallas, though, has not won a single playoff series since. These Mavericks came home after stunning the host Clippers twice, believing they had a shot at a sweep to end that drought, given the Clippers’ recent history of folding, and lost all the momentum.N.B.A. teams that lose the first two games at home in a best-of-seven series have rallied to win only four times in 31 tries.The Mavericks know how unlikely the feat is because they pulled it off it in the Nowitzki era in 2005, falling into a 2-0 hole before completing the comeback with a 40-point humiliation of the Houston Rockets in Game 7. Alas, in that series, Dallas had the luxury of playing the deciding game on its own floor after its dreadful start. The Clippers have reclaimed home-court advantage in this series and, more worryingly for Dallas, seem to be enjoying themselves for the first time in a long time after so much doomsday talk.George said he and Leonard did “an incredible job complementing each other” in Dallas and described the victories as two prime examples of “ultimately what we wanted to get to” as a partnership.“And, you know, it’s fun,” George said. More

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      Why One American Basketball Team Won’t Be at the Summer Olympics

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      The U.S. invented basketball but does not dominate one form, three-on-three, when it comes to Olympics qualifying. So, go … Latvia?When three-on-three basketball has its Olympics debut in Tokyo this summer, Latvia will be there. So will Poland. But a men’s team from the United States, birthplace of basketball and winner of 15 of 19 men’s gold medals in the traditional five-on-five game, will not.The Americans were eliminated from a qualifying tournament in Austria on Sunday, 21-16, by the Netherlands.How did this happen?One clue is the American men’s roster. It consisted of Dominique Jones, Robbie Hummel, Kareem Maddox and Joey King. All were capable college players. All have honed their games in three-on-three play for several years in preparation for the Games. But they hardly represent the best players the U.S. could offer.Several factors prevented the U.S. from rolling out a threesome like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. For one, the best N.B.A. players are currently in the middle of the playoffs.Still, even hustling together a group of stars from teams not in the playoffs would not have been possible. Hoping to promote its three-on-three tournaments around the world, the international federation, FIBA, mandated that Olympic hopefuls earn points in those events. Since they took place in the winter, all N.B.A. players and even most Americans playing for European teams were out.FIBA is aware of what it is doing. It hopes to build the game beyond merely the Olympics, so it demands participation in its other, lower-profile events. It also wants to have as many countries involved as possible. The U.S. men did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup either, though Andorra, population 77,000, did, in part merely for showing up.“Andorra has heavy participation every weekend,” an official explained at the time.The unforgiving nature of the qualifying tournament over the weekend didn’t help. The U.S. won its pool with a 3-1 record. But that only got them into the quarterfinals. The loss to the Netherlands eliminated them, since only the top three teams advanced to the eight-team Olympic tournament.Dominique Jones was on the U.S. three-on-three roster but it lacked the biggest names. Christian Ugarte/EPA, via ShutterstockIn the three-on-three game — or 3×3 as FIBA insists on calling it — baskets are worth 1 point. What would be a 3-point shot in the regular game is worth 2 points. The Dutch made four 2-pointers down the stretch to put the Americans away.“Obviously, it’s not the ending we wanted,” said Joe Lewandowski, who has the title of coach/adviser (coaching is not allowed during games). He is the head coach at Point Park University, an N.A.I.A. school in Pittsburgh. The traditional men’s five-on-five team has qualified and will be coached by Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.Another American team in a very American sport will face its own challenge this week when men’s baseball sends minor leaguers to try to qualify for the Games.Kara Lawson of Duke coached the American women’s three-on-three team, which qualified for the Games with ease, finishing 4-0 in its pool, then beating Belarus, 21-10, and Spain 21-13. The winner is the first team to 21 points or the leader after 10 minutes. (Dawn Staley of South Carolina will coach the women’s five-on-five at the Games.)The women’s three-on-three roster has much more familiar names, all with W.N.B.A. experience: Allisha Gray of the Dallas Wings, Stefanie Dolson of the Chicago Sky, Katie Lou Samuelson of the Seattle Storm and Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces, a former No. 1 overall draft pick. Because the W.N.B.A. is a summer league, the opportunity was there to recruit some top players who were available to earn points at FIBA events in the winter.Those stars will now return to their W.N.B.A. teams. In contrast, the players on the men’s teams include a news producer and a development specialist.Though one spot is left in the men’s field at the Olympics, the U.S. is not eligible for it. In another quirky FIBA decision, that place is reserved only for nations that did not have a team in the 2012 or 2016 Olympic Games. So men from Mongolia, Hungary or Romania could be at the Games, while the nation of Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving watches from home. More

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      Chris Paul Won’t Be Kept Off the Court

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      His coach had been inclined to sideline him as he deals with a shoulder injury. But he talked his way into the lineup and helped Phoenix tie its series with the Lakers.LOS ANGELES — A little over a week ago, Chris Paul christened the Phoenix Suns’ first trip to the postseason since the 2009-10 season with a bit of style. Paul, who is 6 feet tall, does not dunk often, but he rose to the occasion during warm-ups for the opening game of the Suns’ first-round series with the Lakers, leaping for an alley-oop as his teammates — and thousands of fans in Phoenix — celebrated in unison. It felt like a party. The city brimmed with hope.Why not? Rather than merely being back in the playoffs, the Suns had returned as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Now, anything seemed possible: a deep run, a chance at a championship. And Paul, of course, had been central to the team’s identity, adding leadership and a dose of feistiness to a young roster.Since Paul’s pregame dunk, the series has taken on the feel of a more earthbound slog: sprains and strains, trash talk and errant shots. More than a few possessions have bordered on skirmishes. After injuring his right shoulder in Game 1, Paul has personified the series in some ways. He has played with a grimace.But after being a nonfactor in back-to-back losses, Paul resurfaced for Game 4 on Sunday in vintage form. He scored and scowled. He had running conversations with defenders and courtside fans at Staples Center in Los Angeles. He played a huge role in the Suns’ 100-92 win, which evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece, and amazingly he nearly played no role at all.Suns Coach Monty Williams said he had essentially decided before the game to pull Paul from the lineup. Paul had been ineffective in Game 3, and Williams said he was concerned — concerned about Paul’s health and concerned that his presence could actually hinder the team. It was not a decision that Williams had taken lightly.“It was something I’d been thinking about for the past 48 hours,” Williams said.So, a few minutes before the Suns gathered as a team, Williams met with Paul and James Jones, the Suns’ general manager, and shared how he felt. Paul pushed back and argued that Williams should let him start: If it was clear in the early minutes that he was not himself, then Williams could sit him and the team could go in a different direction.“This is one of those situations where I had to trust the player, trust our relationship from over the years,” Williams said, adding: “He’s trained to be in these moments, and my final thought was: I don’t want to be the one who takes that away from him.”It was one of several conversations that Paul had before the game. He said he called his brother, C.J., and conferred with the other members of his inner circle. He also talked to teammates Jae Crowder and Devin Booker, conveying an important message to both players.“If you all feel like I’m out here looking like some trash, just tell me and I’ll get out,” Paul recalled telling them. “I had to see what I could do.”For his part, Williams said he was reassured when Paul went through a pregame workout with an assistant coach and showed improved mobility in his shoulder. It was the first time Paul had touched a basketball since the Suns’ 14-point loss in Game 3 on Thursday. The team’s training staff had recommended rest.“They say that’s the only way to treat what I have going on,” said Paul, whose injury is listed as a contusion.Paul made his first shot — a pull-up jumper from 11 feet — and was assertive in the second quarter after the Lakers had built a double-digit lead.“I’m never doubting myself,” Paul said, “but I’m like, ‘Man, it’s on me. It’s on me.’ ”He left even more of an imprint at the start of the third quarter, when Lakers center Anthony Davis remained in the locker room with a strained groin. There was Paul, racing upcourt on a fast break before dumping a pass to Deandre Ayton for a layup. There was Paul, darting through the lane for a short jumper. And there was Paul again, firing an 18-foot fadeaway to give the Suns a 14-point lead. Davis left a void, and Paul pounced on the opportunity.“Once I got a couple shots to fall and we started to play with pace, we felt like we had it,” he said.Paul, who finished with 18 points, 9 assists and 3 steals, was not totally himself by any stretch. He was still favoring his right shoulder and dribbling with his left hand whenever possible. But he was productive — more so than he had been all series — and his teammates fed off his hallmark frowny-face energy.“The game’s a lot easier when he’s out there,” Suns guard Cameron Payne said.It has been that way all season for the Suns, who have leaned heavily on Paul. His impact has gone far beyond creating open looks for teammates. “A lot of guys have changed how they work out, how they eat, just by being around Chris,” Williams said.Now in his 16th season and playing for his fifth team, Paul is still trying to reach his first N.B.A. finals. It is a hole on his otherwise crowded résumé. Helping guide the Suns there in his first season in Phoenix would be an enormous achievement. Only a couple of days ago, that dream seemed in danger of prematurely crumbling into desert dust.Now, the Lakers look vulnerable, especially with Davis’s uncertain status for Game 5 on Tuesday in Phoenix.The playoffs, Williams said, tend to push players to their absolute limit. Paul, for example, is facing another test in a career full of them.“It was a good feeling,” Paul said, “just to be out there and compete.” More

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      Seattle Storm Coach Dan Hughes Retires Midseason

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      Hughes, tied for the third most wins in league history, handed control to Noelle Quinn, who won a title with Seattle as a player.SEATTLE — Seattle Storm Coach Dan Hughes abruptly announced his retirement on Sunday, six games into the season, saying the rigors of being a head coach in the W.N.B.A. has taken a toll.Hughes, 66, said he would continue to serve as an assistant coach for the United States at the Tokyo Olympics, but he handed over the duties of leading the Storm (5-1) to assistant coach Noelle Quinn.“After over 40 years of coaching basketball, I want to finish my career with the focus and determination with which I started,” Hughes said in a statement. “The Seattle Storm is in amazing shape, after two championships and a terrific playoff run in 2019, I would like to announce my retirement from the W.N.B.A. I believe now is the right time because the team is performing well, but the rigors of being a head coach in the WNBA have taken their toll on me. I look forward to coaching with U.S.A. Basketball at the 2021 Olympics, then leveraging my experience to give back to the game in other ways.”Hughes has coached in the W.N.B.A. for 20 years with stops with the defunct Charlotte and Cleveland franchises, San Antonio and Seattle. He has coached the second-most games in league history (598) and is tied for third in victories with 286.Noelle Quinn, middle, playing in the 2018 W.N.B.A. finals.Elaine Thompson/Associated PressHughes arrived in Seattle in 2018 and helped lead the Storm to their third W.N.B.A. title in his first season. He missed part of the 2019 season after having surgery and being treated for a cancerous tumor in his digestive tract, and he was not cleared to be with the Storm in the W.N.B.A. bubble in Bradenton, Fla., during the truncated 2020 season that ended with Seattle’s fourth title.Hughes twice won the W.N.B.A. coach of the year award, in 2001 with Cleveland and in 2007 with San Antonio.“It is rare when a leader has the foresight to make changes at the pinnacle of their career,” Lisa Brummel, a co-owner of the Storm, said. “Under Dan’s leadership, the Storm have won two championships and he has built a great coaching staff here in Seattle. His dedication to his craft is second to none and his legacy is perfectly exemplified by his unselfish nature and ability to see all that lies ahead.”Quinn, 36, joined Seattle’s coaching staff in 2019 after winning the first title of her playing career with the Storm in 2018. She handled head coaching duties earlier this week in a 90-87 win over Connecticut while Hughes was attending his son’s graduation.“I am excited to hand the reins to Noelle,” Hughes said. “She is well positioned to do this job and I am proud to have mentored her during my time here. I look forward to her and the team’s ongoing success.”Assistant coaches Gary Kloppenburg, Ryan Webb and Perry Huang will remain on the team’s staff and work with Quinn. Kloppenburg was the head coach last season in the bubble. More

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      Mark Eaton, Shot-Blocking Star for the Utah Jazz, Dies at 64

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      At 7-foot-4, Eaton was a two-time N.B.A. defensive player of the year, and his career shot-blocking average was the best in league history.Mark Eaton, the 7-foot-4 shot-blocking king who twice was the N.B.A.’s defensive player of the year during a career spent entirely with the Utah Jazz, died on Friday night in a bicycle accident near his home in Summit County, Utah. He was 64.The team said he had left his home for a bike ride, and shortly thereafter someone called 911 to report seeing him lying on a roadway and unconscious. He died at the hospital.The county sheriff’s office said, “It appears the man was riding a bicycle and crashed,” adding that there was no reason to believe a vehicle was involved.Eaton led the league in blocks per game four times, and his average of 5.6 per contest in 1984-85 remains the highest average since the N.B.A. started officially tracking that statistic. Eaton’s career blocks average of 3.51 per game is the best in league history, and his career happened almost by accident.Eaton blocking a shot by Otis Thorpe of the Houston Rockets. He credited Wilt Chamberlain with inspiring him to focus on defending the basket.Getty ImagesHe was working as an auto mechanic in 1977 when a community college basketball coach persuaded him to enroll. From there, he went to U.C.L.A., and his stint with the Jazz followed.“I had an unusual background,” Eaton said for a story published two years ago on the Jazz’s website. “It’s an unlikely story to be sure. I basically came into the N.B.A. with two years of junior college experience and sat on the bench at U.C.L.A. for two years. And Frank Layden gave me a chance and the team was in a space where they could afford to let me make some mistakes out there and get my feet underneath me. It worked out well for both of us.”The Jazz described him in a statement as an “enduring figure in our franchise history.”Eaton had been, among other things, a restaurateur and motivational speaker in his retirement.Mark Eaton was born on Jan. 24, 1957, in Inglewood, Calif. Information on survivors was not immediately available.In recent years, he served as a mentor to Jazz center Rudy Gobert — the only other player in the team’s history to win the defensive player of the year award.His 11 playing seasons with the Jazz are third most in team history, behind the longtime Utah cornerstones Karl Malone and John Stockton. Eaton’s durability was noteworthy, with him once appearing in 338 consecutive games. He finished with career averages of 6.0 points and 7.9 rebounds.Eaton shooting against Nate Johnston of the Portland Trailblazers. He spent his entire N.B.A. career with the Utah Jazz.Getty ImagesBut his best skill was defending the rim, and he once told a story about how Wilt Chamberlain offered him advice about his career. He shared the tale during a motivational speech, telling others that Rule No. 1 for success is to “know your job.”“Wilt grabbed me by the arm, took me out on the floor, positioned me right in front of the basket,” Eaton said. “He said, ‘You see this basket? Your job is to stop players from getting there. Your job is to make them miss their shot, get the rebound, throw it up to the guard, let them go down the other end and score, and your job is to cruise up to half-court and see what’s going on.’”“When Wilt shared that with me, everything changed,” he said. “I understood what I needed to do. I understood what I could be great at. Wilt showed me what my job was, and how doing what I did would benefit my team.”Eaton’s No. 53 was one of the first jerseys retired by the Jazz.He was the defensive player of the year in 1984-85 and 1988-89, was a five-time All-Defensive team selection — three first-team nods, two second-team picks — and was an All-Star in 1989. He retired in September 1994. More