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Cavaliers v Raptors: Conference Finals Game 1; WatchESPN, ESPN

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SPORTING ALERT – The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors will meet in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday night (17).

Game 1 tip-off time is at 8:30 pm ET, with live national coverage on ESPN and streaming live on WatchESPN and the WatchESPN App. Fox Sports Ohio will also broadcast the game live for local viewers.

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

LeBron James and the Cavaliers easily brushed aside the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds without dropping a single game.

The Eastern Conference No. 1 seed has also been resting, having wrapped up its series with the Hawks nine days ago, and the team is ready to get back to work.

A well motivated James heads into Tuesday’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals averaging 23 points, 8.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game across eight games in the playoffs this season, while shooting 49.7 percent from the field.

His supporting Cast, which include the likes of Kevin Love, who looks to be heading back to his best, Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, Matthew Dellavedova, Channing Frye and Tristan Thompson.

TORONTO RAPTORS

Unlike the Cavs, Toronto had to go all the way in every series to earn a spot into its first ever Eastern Conference finals.

The Raptors secured hard-fought 4-3 wins over both the Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat, respectively, and did this by following the same path, after losing Game 1 in both those series and then winning the next two.

Star guard DeMar DeRozan, despite being somewhat inconsistent in the playoffs this campaign, is averaging 20 points per game, while fellow backcourt partner, Kyle Lowry is averaging 18.6 points and 6.7 assists per game in 14 playoff contests so far this season.

The Raptors are expected to be without star center Jonas Valanciunas, at least for Game 1, as he’s been officially ruled out with an ankle injury he suffered during the series with Miami.

RESTED BY NO ADVANTAGE

Meanwhile, despite getting a lengthy break to rest up, take care of a few niggles and prepare for the Raptors, James dismissed suggestions that the Cavaliers head into the series with an advantage.

“It’s not an advantage,” the four-time MVP said after a practice session Monday. “They’re here for a reason. You got to go out and play.”

In fact, the star forward says he wouldn’t be surprised if Toronto’s 14 games played in the postseason this term made them the sharper team.

“They also played two seven-game series and we didn’t. So they can have the upper edge on that,” James noted.

“So, there’s no advantage to either team. Both teams are 0-0 and it’s the first to four.”

In the meantime, the Cavaliers have been shooting lights out from 3-point range in the postseason and Raptors coach Dwane Casey believes his team must pay limit to their outside shooting from early

“That’s going to be the issue,” said Casey. “They’re such a great transition team, such a great penetrate, pick-and-roll team that you try to stop everything and you don’t stop anything.

“We have to pick our poison. They’re very lethal.”

Watch TNT Overtime Miami Heat v New York Knick – LeBron Starts

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MIAMI, FL (Sporting Alert) — Shooting guard J.R. Smith will start at the small forward position for the New York Knick on Thursday night against the Miami Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena.

TNT Overtime Live: Miami Heat v New York Knick

The move will see Pablo Prigioni starting at shooting guard, while Carmelo Anthony starts at power forward for New York, who is 21-36 on the season and on a three game losing stream.

Anthony and company have also dropped six of their last seven games.

Miami Heat, in the meantime, welcome back star forward LeBron James, who missed the 93-79 win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday and he will be playing with a protective mask, following a nose injury he picked up against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

New York Team: Raymond Felton (PG) Pablo Prigioni (SG) J.R. Smith (SF) Carmelo Anthony (PF) Tyson Chandler (C)

Miami Heat Team: Mario Chalmers (PG) Dwyane Wade (SG) LeBron James (SF) Shane Battier (PF) Chris Bosh (C)

Watch New York Knicks v Houston Rockets Live on TNT Overtime

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NEW YORK (Sporting Alert) — The following are the starting teams for the NBA game between the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets at Madison Square Garden, tonight.

Watch New York Knicks v Houston Rockets Live on TNT Overtime

The Knicks (3-4) are coming off a 95-91 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, but have lost four of their last six games and searching for improvement.

Guard J.R. Smith, a regular first-timer off the bench, has been included in the starting team again, while head coach Mike Woodson has revealed that the Knicks medical staff has cleared Kenyon Martin to feature in back-to-back games.

Lots of attention will be on free-scoring forward Carmelo Anthony Andrea Bargnani is coming off a good game against he Hawks and will look to duplicate that.

Meanwhile, for the Rockets (5-3), they will be looking to bounce back from the shocking 123-117 overtime defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night.

Leading scorer James Harden, who was a game time decision with a bruised foot injury that forced him to miss the defeat against the Sixers, starts tonight against New York, who are hoping to snap a three-game losing streak.

But Jeremy Lin, who started at shooting guard for Harden and finished with 34 points, including a career-high nine 3-pointers that tied a franchise record, starts on the bench.

New York Knicks: Raymond Felton (PG) J.R. Smith (SG) Iman Shumpert (SF) Carmelo Anthony (PF) Andrea Bargnani (C)

Houston Rockets: Patrick Beverley (PG) James Harden (SG) Chandler Parsons (SF) Terrence Jones (PF) Dwight Howard (C)

Watch Live: New York Knicks v Indiana Pacers; 47-42 at half-time

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NEW YORK (Sporting Alert) — The New York Knicks take a 47-42 half-time lead over the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semi-final clash at Madison Square Garden.

Watch Live: New York Knicks v Indiana Pacers

After losing the series opener, the Knicks have come out strong and hope to get on top of the Pacers’ defense before it settles.

Iman Shumpert has so far scored 11 points to lead the way for New York, with Carmelo Anthony already adding 10 points and five rebounds, but is only 4-of-11 from the field.

The Knicks are 3-of-11 from three-point range with J.R. Smith going only 1-for-4 from that range so far.

Meanwhile, at half-time Paul George leads all scorers with 15 points for the Indiana Pacers, who took Game 1 of the series at the weekend.

The Pacers are so far shooting 54.5-percent from the field on 18-for-33.

Indiana won the first game 102-95 on Sunday, as both Anthony and Smith struggled to get going. At the moment they have combined for  7-for-21 from the field.

Game 3 of the series shifts to the Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday and New York will be hoping to draw level heading into the game.

J.R. Smith Returns For New York; Boston Hopes For Another Win: Live on TNT OverTime

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NEW YORK (Sporting Alert) — J.R. Smith will return to the New York Knicks on Wednesday night after missing the last contest because of suspension.

Boston Celtics at New York Knicks
Live Stream on TNT OverTime
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Date: Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
TV: TNT, Comcast SportsNet New England (Boston), MSG (New York)

The reigning Six Man of the Year missed New York’s Game 4 playoff series defeat to the Boston Celtics through suspension after elbowing Jason Terry in Game 3.

Without him, the Knicks failed to get that extra scoring option that was needed and were beaten 97-90 by Terry and the Celtics on Sunday.

”We missed 18 points the other night and still put ourselves in position to win the ballgame,” New York coach Mike Woodson said of the importance of Smith’s contribution.

”J.R. is a big piece to the puzzle and I hope he’s learned his lesson, and we’ve got to move on with it and he’s got to be ready to go tomorrow (Wednesday) night.”

Now, with Smith back the Eastern Conference on form team, which lead the seven game series 3-1 wants to finish off their first series victory in 13-years.

”We want to end it,” All-Star Carmelo Anthony said. ”We came this far, did our job at home first two games, did our job on the road, got one on the road.

“We’ve got the opportunity to end it here on our home court.”

Boston captain and forward Paul Pierce had his best outing of the series thus far after leading the way with 29 points.

Pierce is confident the visitors have enough talent keep winning in the series, but admits that they are some concerns ahead of the clash at Madison Square Garden.

“There’s that one quarter where we have mental lapses,” Pierce said. “They pick up the energy.

“They pick up the defense, and they have us on our heels, so we have to be cautious of that.”

In the meantime, Amar’e Stoudemire continues to be out for New York, but could return for the second round should the Knicks progress.

Boston v New York: Knicks lead series 3-0 Live on ABC

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BOSTON (Sporting Alert) — New York Knicks will be without the sharp shooting J.R. Smith, who has been suspended for today’s NBA first round playoff Game 4 against the Boston Celtics.

TV Channel: ABC
When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, April 28, 2013
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

Smith, the NBA’s Sixth Man this season,  scored 15, 19 and 15 points in the first two games, but will miss Sunday’s contest at TD Garden for elbowing to Jason Terry during Game 3 on Friday night.

“That was a bad basketball play on my behalf, just because I got kicked out of the game and my team needed me,” said Smith.

This could mean veteran guard Jason Kidd and indeed the struggling Chris Copeland, could play more minutes.

New York are also without forward Amar’e Stoudemire, who is injured.

Boston, in the meantime, will look to pull a game back in the seven game series after losing the first three and will be eliminated from this year’s playoffs with a defeat.

Paul Pierce, who has been struggling from the field in the series will want to improve on his 22-for-49 shooting in the first three games of the series.

Boston Celtics Team: PG Bradley, Avery; SG Pierce, Paul; SF Green, Jeff; PF Bass, Brandon; C Garnett, Kevin

New York Knicks Team: PG Felton, Raymond; SG Prigioni, Pablo; SF Shumpert, Iman; PF Anthony, Carmelo; C Chandler, Tyson

Lakers, Knicks, Thunder win: NBA Scores, Results – April 5

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LOS ANGELES (Sporting Alert) — Pau Gasol scored a layup with 1:36 left and the Los Angeles Lakers then held on to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 86-84 at STAPLES Center on Friday night.

Trailing 84-83 with less than two-minutes left in the game, Gasol got the go-ahead basket for the one point lead and then Dwight Howard scored one of two of his free throws with 0:04 seconds to go and then Los Angeles played solid defense on the last attempt to secure their third straight win.

Kobe Bryant paced the Lakers (40-36) with 24 points and nine rebounds, while Gasol ended with 19 points and nine boards in the important victory.

Antawn Jamison and Earl Clark both scored 13 points off the bench, with Howard held to just nine points and 10 rebounds.

“This is the big push for us,” a delighted Bryant said. “We’ve got a very tough stretch, and we’re excited.

“You want to be going into the playoffs feeling like you’re playing good ball against tough opposition. It’s been a lot of figuring out we had to do, but it’s better late than never.”

Mike Conley led the Grizzlies (51-25) with 21 points and six assists, Zach Randolph added 15 points and seven rebounds and Marc Gasol, 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the defeat.

Also on Friday night, Carmelo Anthony scored 41 points to guide the New York Knicks (49-26) to a comfortable 101-83 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks (36-39).

Anthony, who scored 50 and 40 points in his previous two games, also pulled down 14 rebounds for New York, which picked up its 11th straight victory.

The star forward was supported by J.R. Smith, who finished with 30 points and 10 assists.

“You know Carmelo’s been on a tear and obviously continued again tonight,” Bucks coach Jim Boylan said. “So it’s tough.

“We were battling down there but he started making some shots, they got out in transition a few times and we just couldn’t seem to slow them down.”

Brandon Jennings scored 25 points and J.J. Redick added 18 off the bench for the Bucks.

In another highlighted game on Friday night, Oklahoma City Thunder (56-20) dominated the Indiana Pacers (48-28) on their way to a 97-75 win on the road.

The NBA leading scorer Kevin Durant led the way with 34 points for the Thunder with point guard Russell Westbrook adding 24.

Roy Hibbert paced the Pacers with 22 points in the defeat.

NBA RESULTS – Friday, April 5
RESULT
Cleveland 97, Boston 91
New York 101, Milwaukee 83
Philadelphia 101, Atlanta 90
Miami 89, Charlotte 79
Oklahoma City 97, Indiana 75
Chicago 87, Orlando 86
Toronto 95, Minnesota 93
Utah 95, New Orleans 83
Golden State 111, Phoenix 107
Dallas 117, Sacramento 108
Houston 116, Portland 98
LA Lakers 86, Memphis 84

New York Knicks meet Boston Celtics in preseason again

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ALBANY, NY (Sporting Alert) — New York Knicks will take on the Boston Celtics in what is expected to be a very exciting preseason at Times Union Center on Saturday night.

Where to Watch Live: MSG Networks | Listen Live Coverage

The two teams last met in preseason a week ago and the Knicks took that exhibition game and will be looking for a repeat, especially after losing to the Toronto Raptors, 107-88 on Friday night in Montreal.

Boston, in the meantime, is coming into this exhibition on the back of a 115-85 win over the Brooklyn Nets, with Courtney Lee and Paul Pierce both scoring 18 points led the Celtics in the win Thursday night.

Rookie forward Jared Sullinger has also been having a productive preseason, as he currently averages 11 points and seven rebounds per game this preseason.

The Knicks welcome back the return of star forward Amar’e Stoudemire, who made his preseason debut with 18 points and five rebounds after missing the first two games because of a bruised knee.

Carmelo Anthony, who scored 24 points to lead New York in the defeat in Montreal is expected to lead the way again.

However, J.R. Smith, Ronnie Brewer and Marcus Camby are not expected to play in the contest.