Kyrie Irving All-Star Game MVP (Photo: dimemag.com)
All-NBA Awards 2014 - Jun 16, 2014
All-NBA 1st Team 2014
Paul
Harden
Durant
James
Noah
Finals MVP: Kawhi Leonard (6'7''-F-91) of San Antonio S. Most Valuable Player: Kevin Durant (6'9''-SF-88) of Oklah.City T. Most Improved Player: Goran Dragic (6'3''-PG-86) of Phoenix Suns Sixth Man of the Year: Jamal Crawford (6'5''-G-80) of LA Clippers Rookie of the Year: Michael Carter-Williams (6'6''-G-91) of Philadelph.76 Defensive Player of the Year: Joakim Noah (6'11''-F/C-85) of Chicago B. Sportsmanship Award: Mike Conley (6'1''-PG-87) of Memphis G. Coach of the Year: Gregg Popovich of San Antonio S.
1st Team
PG: Chris Paul (6'0''-PG-85) of LA Clippers
SG: James Harden (6'5''-SG-89) of Houston R.
SF: Kevin Durant (6'9''-SF-88) of Oklah.City T.
SF: LeBron James (6'8''-SF-84) of Miami Heat
F/C: Joakim Noah (6'11''-F/C-85) of Chicago B.
2nd Team
PG: Tony Parker (6'2''-PG-82) of San Antonio S.
PG: Stephen Curry (6'3''-PG-88) of Golden St.W.
F: Blake Griffin (6'10''-F-89) of LA Clippers
PF: Kevin Love (6'10''-PF-88) of Minnesota T.
C: Dwight Howard (6'11''-C-85) of Houston R.
All-Defensive 1st Team
PG: Chris Paul (6'0''-PG-85) of LA Clippers
SF: Andre Iguodala (6'6''-SF-84) of Golden St.W.
G/F: Paul George (6'9''-G/F-90) of Indiana P.
C/F: Serge Ibaka (6'10''-C/F-89) of Oklah.City T.
F/C: Joakim Noah (6'11''-F/C-85) of Chicago B.
Spurs Beat Heat 104-87 in Game 5 to Win NBA Title - Jun 16, 2014
From their low moment in the NBA Finals, back to the top of the league. The San Antonio Spurs turned the rematch with the Miami Heat into no match at all. The Spurs finished off a dominant run to their fifth NBA championship Sunday night, ending the Heat's two-year title reign with a 104-87 victory that wrapped up the series in five games. A year after their heartbreaking seven-game defeat, their only loss in six finals appearances, the Spurs won four routs to deny Miami's quest for a third straight championship. Kawhi Leonard (6'7''-F-91, college: San Diego St.), named the finals MVP, had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs. San Antonio added this title to the ones the Spurs won in 1999, 2003, '05 and '07. They nearly had another last year, but couldn't hold off the Heat and lost in seven games. San Antonio rebounded from an early 16-point deficit by outscoring the Heat 37-13 from the start of the second quarter to midway in the third. The celebration the Heat canceled last season was on by the early second half Sunday, when the Spurs had finished digging their way out of an early 16-point hole and opened another huge lead. LeBron James (6'8''-SF-84) had 31 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who lost their spot atop the NBA to the team that had it so long. The Spurs won four titles in nine years, but hadn't been back on top since 2007, making Foreigner's "Feels Like the First Time" and appropriate song choice after the final buzzer. Tim Duncan (6'11''-F/C-76, college: Wake Forest) and coach Gregg Popovich have been here for all of them, and it was the fourth for Tony Parker (6'2''-PG-82) and Emanuel Ginobili (6'6''-G-77, agency: Interperformances), who with Duncan are once again the reigning the Big Three in the NBA. Courtesy of: abcnews.com
MVP Kyrie Irving, East win 2014 NBA All-Star Game - Feb 17, 2014
If you like defensive basketball, you were out of luck at Sunday's NBA All-Star Game. The 163-155 Eastern Conference comeback victory was the product of a record-setting night, the most points in the history of the game. There were great performances: Blake Griffin (6'10''-F-89, college: Oklahoma) and Kevin Durant had 38 points each. Griffin hit 19 of 23 shots. Kyrie Irving (6'3''-G-92, college: Duke) had 31 points and 14 assists. Carmelo Anthony (6'8''-SF-84, college: Syracuse) was 8-for-13 from three-point range. Irving, who had told Shaquille O'Neal on NBA TV earlier in the week he wanted to be MVP, got his wish. "I was going out there trying to compete," said Irving, the Cleveland Cavaliers point guard. "It's a great honor." But this is the All-Star Game and that means that when you end up being the star of stars, then you've got to show it off. So it was that as Irving was handed the trophy, former Cavs star LeBron James (6'8''-SF-84) was pushing for him to raise it up high. "I wanted him to have his moment and the moment is to hold that trophy over your head," James said. "It's one of the few moments in our game like that. Winning a championship and get MVP and All Star MVP." For his part, Irving who won the MVP of the Rising Stars Challenge two years ago and the Three-Point Contest last year said he was more interested in the East winning the game. They had lost the past three. "We kind of took it personal," he said. Except for that part about defense.The East came from being 18 points down midway through the third quarter, and finished the game on a 10-0 run that put it away. As they were on that last run, the West got a couple of chances to hit a shot or two to possibly slow the roll. So East coach Frank Vogel was yelling for them to get back on defense. "They just laughed at me," Vogel said. West coach Scott Brooks admitted defense wasn't a big part of the game plan. "No," Brooks said when asked if he pushed his team to play defense. "But they played it enough. It's an All-Star Game. I marvel at their talents for them to come together after about 15 minutes of practice and do a great job of playing with each other." Courtesy of: usatoday.com
John Wall grabs the NBA dunk contest in style; Marco Belinelli is Mr. 3 - Feb 16, 2014
For some odd reason, the NBA changed the format on its marquee event of All-Star Saturday. But Washington's John Wall (6'4''-PG-90, college: Kentucky) was still able to work out the bugs and come out a winner. Wall put on a show-stopping performance in the newly formatted dunk contest Saturday night at the Smoothie King Center. His reverse dunk while jumping over the Wizards' mascot stole the show and - along with Paul George and Terrence Ross - helped the East upend the West in the NBA's showcase contest. The East swept the freestyle round and all three of the subsequent battle-round matches. The West, represented by Harrison Barnes, Damian Lillard and Ben McLemore, barely put up a fight. Meanwhile in a vote by fans, Wall was named the best dunker of the night. When asked what won it for him, Wall said: "I think the last dunk. I had never done that one before."
Belinelli 3-point champ. In the contest Dallas Mavericks guard Jose Calderon mysteriously wasn't invited to, San Antonio Spurs guard Marco Belinelli (6'5''-G-86) won the 3-point shootout. But it didn't come easy. Washington's Bradley Beal injected some drama into the contest when he hit his last six baskets to score 19 points and force a tiebreaker. However, Belinelli cranked it up a notch and outscored Beal in the tiebreaker session 24-18. "I was a little bit nervous at the beginning and I think that I shot two air balls," Belinelli said. "But in the end, I was focused. I really cared about this trophy. "I think it was important to me to win, to be part of this All-Star Weekend. And I'm just happy to bring this one to San Antonio for me, for my family, my fans, and for sure all the Spurs and my teammates."
Team Bosh wins. Team Bosh repeated as champions of the Shooting Stars contest. Consisting of Chris Bosh (6'11''-F-84, college: Georgia Tech), Dominique Wilkins (6'9''-F-60, college: Georgia Tech) and Swin Cash (6'1''-SF-79, agency: Josep and Nicolas, college: Connecticut), Team Bosh posted a winning time of 31.4 seconds. That mark was farbetter than the second-place finish of Team Durant, which comprised Kevin Durant, Skylar Diggins and Karl Malone, who timed in at 43.6 seconds. Bosh drilled the half-court shot which earned the win for Team Bosh. "Personally, I was hoping that he made that shot because I was running out of gas, to tell you the truth," Wilkins said. "But it's all about kind of getting a little luck, measuring the right shot and you happen to get a chance to knock down two, so he kind of saved us."
Lillard, Burke win skills. The team of Trey Burke and Damian Lillard defeated Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo in the Skills Challenge by the slimmest of margins. Burke and Lillard went last and created some drama when they were clocked at 45.2 seconds. That time barely knocked off Oladipo and Carter-Williams, who finished the event in 45.3 seconds. Courtesy of: sacbee.com
Popovich
