FloaterDaily Brief
Monday, May 11, 2009Playoffs · 2 games
← May 10CalendarMay 12 →

2 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: DAL trailed DEN by 11 after the first quarter and won 119–117.

Final · R2 · G4
CLE84
ATL74
Q1 CLE -7; Q2 CLE +2; Q3 CLE +5; Q4 CLE +10
Final · R2 · G4
DEN117
DAL119
Q1 DAL -11; Q2 DAL -10; Q3 DAL -5; Q4 DAL +2
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 11, 2008: 2 games. Top scorer: Kobe Bryant (LAL @ UTA), 33 points.
The lead · Conference semifinals · Game 4 · DEN @ DAL

Dirk Nowitzki scores 44 as Dallas beats Denver

Dallas won 119–117. Dirk Nowitzki: 44 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists. Conference semifinals series: Dallas 1, Denver 3. Carmelo Anthony scored 41 for Denver in the loss.

Game flow · DAL margin at each break
Quarter-end scores only (4 points), so swings inside a period don't show. Pink = the rally, from the biggest deficit to the final.
-20-100+10+20TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0-11-10-5+2DAL AHEAD ↑DEN AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
DEN34292727117
DAL23303234119
Who led
Dirk NowitzkiPoints, last 10 games: 30, 19, 14, 20, 12, 31, 28, 35, 33, 44DAL44 PTS · 13 REB · 3 AST
Josh HowardPoints, last 10 games: 15, 25, 7, 17, 28, 17, 15, 0, 14, 21DAL21 PTS · 11 REB · 2 AST
Carmelo AnthonyPoints, last 10 games: 12, 13, 22, 25, 26, 34, 23, 25, 31, 41DEN41 PTS · 11 REB · 3 AST
Chauncey BillupsPoints, last 10 games: 13, 36, 31, 16, 17, 13, 6, 18, 32, 24DEN24 PTS · 2 REB · 7 AST
Second story · CLE @ ATL · R2 · G4

Cleveland closes out Atlanta in four

Cleveland won Game 4, 84–74, to take the conference semifinals series 4–0. LeBron James led Cleveland with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

Series tracker · CLE vs ATL
G1 · @ CLECLE99–72G2 · @ CLECLE105–85G3 · @ ATLCLE97–82G4 · @ ATLCLE84–74Game by game through May 11, winner and final score. Pink = CLE win.
Fantasy angleRecent playoff games against each player's regular-season average.
Heating up
+11.4points, last 3 playoff games vs reg. season avg
Points per game
25.9Reg. season avg37.3Last 3 playoff games

37.3 points a game over his last three playoff games, against 25.9 in the regular season (81 games). Today: 44 points in 44 minutes.

Losing minutes
−15.7minutes, last 3 playoff games vs reg. season avg
Minutes per game
34.3Reg. season avg18.6Last 3 playoff games

18.6 minutes a game over his last three playoff games, against 34.3 in the regular season (61 games). Today: 4 points in 30 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+10.9minutes, today vs reg. season avg
Minutes per game
33.7Reg. season avg44.6Today

45 minutes today, against 33.7 a game in the regular season (64 games). Line: 21 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists.

Top performances

Dirk Nowitzki leads the day with 44

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.
Dirk NowitzkiPoints, last 10 games: 30, 19, 14, 20, 12, 31, 28, 35, 33, 44DAL vs DEN · W
26.2 PPG playoffs to date · +20.0 vs his playoff average before tonight
44 PTS · 13 REB · 3 AST
Carmelo AnthonyPoints, last 10 games: 12, 13, 22, 25, 26, 34, 23, 25, 31, 41DEN @ DAL · L
26.7 PPG playoffs to date · +16.1 vs his playoff average before tonight
41 PTS · 11 REB · 3 AST
LeBron JamesPoints, last 10 games: 29, 37, 38, 29, 25, 36, 34, 27, 47, 27CLE @ ATL · W
32.9 PPG playoffs to date · −6.7 vs his playoff average before tonight
27 PTS · 8 REB · 8 AST
Josh SmithPoints, last 10 games: 17, 13, 13, 20, 7, 21, 22, 8, 18, 26ATL vs CLE · L
17.1 PPG playoffs to date · +9.8 vs his playoff average before tonight
26 PTS · 8 REB · 1 AST
Chauncey BillupsPoints, last 10 games: 13, 36, 31, 16, 17, 13, 6, 18, 32, 24DEN @ DAL · L
21.4 PPG playoffs to date · +2.9 vs his playoff average before tonight
24 PTS · 2 REB · 7 AST
Josh HowardPoints, last 10 games: 15, 25, 7, 17, 28, 17, 15, 0, 14, 21DAL vs DEN · W
16.0 PPG playoffs to date · +5.6 vs his playoff average before tonight
21 PTS · 11 REB · 2 AST