FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, May 8, 2008Playoffs · 2 games
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2 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: BOS trailed CLE by 7 after the first quarter and won 89–73.

Final · R2 · G2
CLE73
BOS89
Q1 BOS -7; Q2 BOS +8; Q3 BOS +19; Q4 BOS +16
Final · R2 · G3
NOH99
SAS110
Q1 SAS -2; Q2 SAS -2; Q3 SAS +5; Q4 SAS +11
Bars under each score: who led after each quarter, from the winner's side. winner ahead behind behind in a 10+ point comeback tied
On this day · 2006–07May 8, 2007: 2 games. Top scorer: LeBron James (CLE vs NJN), 36 points.
The lead · Conference semifinals · Game 2 · CLE @ BOS

Boston beats Cleveland, 89–73

Boston led 70–51 after three and won by 16. Paul Pierce led Boston with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.

Game flow · BOS margin at each break
Quarter-end scores only (4 points), so swings inside a period don't show.
-25-15-5+5+15+25TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-7+8+19+16BOS AHEAD ↑CLE AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
CLE2412152273
BOS1727261989
Who led
Paul PiercePoints, last 10 games: 7, 16, 14, 17, 18, 22, 17, 22, 4, 19BOS19 PTS · 6 REB · 2 AST
Ray AllenPoints, last 10 games: 3, 18, 15, 13, 21, 19, 20, 7, 0, 16BOS16 PTS · 1 REB · 3 AST
LeBron JamesPoints, last 10 games: 13, 27, 32, 30, 22, 34, 34, 27, 12, 21CLE21 PTS · 5 REB · 6 AST
Zydrunas IlgauskasPoints, last 10 games: 14, 22, 22, 16, 9, 9, 19, 12, 22, 19CLE19 PTS · 5 REB · 1 AST
Second story · NOH @ SAS · R2 · G3

San Antonio stays alive against New Orleans

A 110–99 win in Game 3 cuts the conference semifinals deficit to 2–1. Tony Parker led San Antonio with 31 points, 4 rebounds and 11 assists.

Series tracker · NOH vs SAS
G1 · @ NOHNOH101–82G2 · @ NOHNOH102–84G3 · @ SASSAS110–99Game by game through May 8, winner and final score. Pink = SAS win.
Fantasy angleRecent playoff games against each player's regular-season average.
Heating up
+6.2points, last 3 playoff games vs reg. season avg
Points per game
21.1Reg. season avg27.3Last 3 playoff games

27.3 points a game over his last three playoff games, against 21.1 in the regular season (80 games). Today: 35 points in 42 minutes.

Losing minutes
−14.3minutes, last 3 playoff games vs reg. season avg
Minutes per game
22.6Reg. season avg8.3Last 3 playoff games

8.3 minutes a game over his last three playoff games, against 22.6 in the regular season (78 games). Today: 2 points in 4 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+13.0minutes, today vs reg. season avg
Minutes per game
15.0Reg. season avg28Today

28 minutes today, against 15.0 a game in the regular season (54 games). Line: 11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assists.

Top performances

Chris Paul leads the day with 35

Sparkline: points in his last 10 games, tonight in pink. Black tag: most points in a game this season to date, or in his career when his whole career is in our box scores (after 5+ games). Plus/minus: points tonight against his average before tonight.
Chris PaulPoints, last 10 games: 22, 20, 35, 32, 16, 16, 24, 17, 30, 35NOH @ SAS · L
25.6 PPG playoffs to date · +10.7 vs his playoff average before tonight
35 PTS · 2 REB · 9 AST
Tony ParkerPoints, last 10 games: 32, 24, 26, 32, 41, 18, 31, 23, 11, 31SAS vs NOH · W
26.6 PPG playoffs to date · +5.0 vs his playoff average before tonight
31 PTS · 4 REB · 11 AST
Manu GinobiliPoints, last 10 games: 8, 12, 24, 29, 20, 10, 8, 19, 13, 31SAS vs NOH · W
19.2 PPG playoffs to date · +13.4 vs his playoff average before tonight
31 PTS · 4 REB · 6 AST
David WestPoints, last 10 games: 32, 26, 23, 27, 14, 24, 25, 30, 10, 23NOH @ SAS · L
22.0 PPG playoffs to date · +1.1 vs his playoff average before tonight
23 PTS · 12 REB · 2 AST
LeBron JamesPoints, last 10 games: 13, 27, 32, 30, 22, 34, 34, 27, 12, 21CLE @ BOS · L
26.5 PPG playoffs to date · −6.3 vs his playoff average before tonight
21 PTS · 5 REB · 6 AST
Paul PiercePoints, last 10 games: 7, 16, 14, 17, 18, 22, 17, 22, 4, 19BOS vs CLE · W
16.6 PPG playoffs to date · +2.8 vs his playoff average before tonight
19 PTS · 6 REB · 2 AST