FloaterDaily Brief
Saturday, May 9, 2009Playoffs · 2 games
← May 8CalendarMay 10 →

2 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: DEN trailed DAL by 1 after three quarters and won 106–105.

Final · R2 · G3
DEN106
DAL105
Q1 DEN 0; Q2 DEN +3; Q3 DEN -1; Q4 DEN +1
Final · R2 · G3
CLE97
ATL82
Q1 CLE +4; Q2 CLE +1; Q3 CLE +7; Q4 CLE +15
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 · 2007–08May 9, 2008: 1 game. Top scorer: Kobe Bryant (LAL @ UTA), 34 points.
The lead · Conference semifinals · Game 3 · DEN @ DAL

Chauncey Billups scores 32, Denver holds off Dallas

Final: 106–105. Chauncey Billups added 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Conference semifinals series: Denver 3, Dallas 0.

Game flow · DEN margin at each break
Quarter-end scores only (4 points), so swings inside a period don't show.
-10-50+5+10TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final00+3-1+1DEN AHEAD ↑DAL AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
DEN20283127106
DAL20253525105
Who led
Chauncey BillupsPoints, last 10 games: 5, 13, 36, 31, 16, 17, 13, 6, 18, 32DEN32 PTS · 3 REB · 3 AST
Carmelo AnthonyPoints, last 10 games: 21, 12, 13, 22, 25, 26, 34, 23, 25, 31DEN31 PTS · 8 REB · 2 AST
Dirk NowitzkiPoints, last 10 games: 34, 30, 19, 14, 20, 12, 31, 28, 35, 33DAL33 PTS · 16 REB · 2 AST
Jason TerryPoints, last 10 games: 22, 23, 12, 16, 10, 10, 19, 15, 21, 17DAL17 PTS · 4 REB · 1 AST
Second story · CLE @ ATL · R2 · G3

Cleveland wins Game 3 over Atlanta, 97–82

Conference semifinals series: Cleveland 3, Atlanta 0. LeBron James led Cleveland with 47 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists.

Series tracker · CLE vs ATL
G1 · @ CLECLE99–72G2 · @ CLECLE105–85G3 · @ ATLCLE97–82Game by game through May 9, winner and final score. Pink = CLE win.
Fantasy angleRecent playoff games against each player's regular-season average.
Heating up
+7.6points, last 3 playoff games vs reg. season avg
Points per game
28.4Reg. season avg36.0Last 3 playoff games

36.0 points a game over his last three playoff games, against 28.4 in the regular season (81 games). Today: 47 points in 43 minutes.

Losing minutes
−24.0minutes, last 3 playoff games vs reg. season avg
Minutes per game
34.3Reg. season avg10.3Last 3 playoff games

10.3 minutes a game over his last three playoff games, against 34.3 in the regular season (61 games). Today: 4 points in 13 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+11.6minutes, today vs reg. season avg
Minutes per game
24.7Reg. season avg36.3Today

36 minutes today, against 24.7 a game in the regular season (80 games). Line: 17 points, 1 rebounds, 3 assists.

Top performances

LeBron James leads the day with 47

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.
LeBron JamesPoints, last 10 games: 27, 29, 37, 38, 29, 25, 36, 34, 27, 47CLE @ ATL · W
33.7 PPG playoffs to date · +15.5 vs his playoff average before tonight
47 PTS · 12 REB · 8 AST
Dirk NowitzkiPoints, last 10 games: 34, 30, 19, 14, 20, 12, 31, 28, 35, 33DAL vs DEN · L
24.0 PPG playoffs to date · +10.3 vs his playoff average before tonight
33 PTS · 16 REB · 2 AST
Chauncey BillupsPoints, last 10 games: 5, 13, 36, 31, 16, 17, 13, 6, 18, 32DEN @ DAL · W
21.1 PPG playoffs to date · +12.4 vs his playoff average before tonight
32 PTS · 3 REB · 3 AST
Carmelo AnthonyPoints, last 10 games: 21, 12, 13, 22, 25, 26, 34, 23, 25, 31DEN @ DAL · W
24.9 PPG playoffs to date · +7.0 vs his playoff average before tonight
31 PTS · 8 REB · 2 AST
Joe JohnsonPoints, last 10 games: 15, 16, 10, 14, 25, 13, 27, 11, 10, 21ATL vs CLE · L
16.2 PPG playoffs to date · +5.3 vs his playoff average before tonight
21 PTS · 5 REB · 3 AST
Josh SmithPoints, last 10 games: 23, 17, 13, 13, 20, 7, 21, 22, 8, 18ATL vs CLE · L
16.2 PPG playoffs to date · +2.0 vs his playoff average before tonight
18 PTS · 5 REB · 2 AST