NBA Western Conference finals and Eastern Conference finals are both at 2-2

Celtics beat Heat in OT, tie East finals at 2-2, Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists, and scored the final three points of the Celtics' 93-91 overtime victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday night that evened the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece.

Getting a huge break when LeBron James fouled out for the first time since joined the Heat, the Celtics recovered after blowing an 18-point lead in regulation and moved two games away from a third trip to the NBA finals in five years.

Garnett added 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, while Paul Pierce scored 23 points before fouling out. Ray Allen finished with 16 points.

James had 29 points and Wade scored 20 after another dismal start for the Heat, who host Game 5 on Tuesday.

In the West, Game 5 is Monday night in San Antonio. Oklahoma City needs at least one road win to advance, and Thunder coach Scott Brooks said Sunday there's no time like the present.

Since James Harden joined Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in 2009, the Thunder had been 2-8 against San Antonio heading into this series. Now they return to Texas with a chance to hand the Spurs three straight losses for the first time all season.

Spurs players didn't meet with reporters Sunday. Coach Gregg Popovich, back at Spurs headquarters trying to solve his team's first skid since April 9-11, said their attitude hasn't changed from when they were winning 20 straight games.

Also not likely to change much are the defensive looks the Spurs threw at the Thunder in a 109-103 loss on Saturday. That's because, as far as Popovich is concerned, there is little to plan for when three typically unheralded offensive players shoot a combined 22 of 25 for 49 points.

That's what Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison did in Game 4, giving the Thunder a rare dose of balance on a team that leaned on its Big Three for nearly 70 percent of its scoring before this series. Ibaka was especially unstoppable, going 11 for 11 and finishing just one basket shy of the most perfect-shooting playoff game in NBA history.

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NBA West and East Finals are Set!

The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder have simply rolled through this postseason. There's the 18-game winning streak that has the Spurs flirting with history. Seventeen combined playoff games and just one loss. The Thunder sending home the last two NBA champions, and no other playoff teams besides these two that can boast a series sweep.

The matchup of Russell Westbrook vs Tony Parker is very interesting.

 Sunday, May 27, 2012

Game 1:
Oklahoma City 47-19 (Road: 21-12)    8:30pm ET
San Antonio 50-16 (Home: 28-5)

Heat-Celtics in East finals

It's a rematch: Miami and Boston will meet in the playoffs again, this time with a spot in the NBA finals at stake.

Boston's 85-75 win in Game 7 over Philadelphia on Saturday night earned the Celtics a trip to Miami, where the reigning East champion Heat will host Game 1 of this year's conference title series Monday night.

Boston took the regular-season series from Miami 3-1, though the last of those meetings was in the final game of the season and came on a night where LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all sat out for Miami, while Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen got the evening off for Boston.

The lineups will look more normal Monday, though Bosh will remain sidelined because of a strained lower abdominal muscle.

It'll be a quick turnaround for Boston, with Game 1 in Miami starting about 46 hours after Game 7 against the 76ers ended. The Heat finished off their East semifinal series against Indiana on Thursday night, took Friday off and held a light practice Saturday - focusing on themselves and not starting to work in details either the Celtics or the 76ers.

New Big 3 vs Old Big 3 + Rondo

Game 1: May 28 8:30pm EDT @MIA (TV: ESPN)

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Durant ‘about 50-50’ on playing overseas

TULSA, Okla. (AP)—Kevin Durant says he is “about 50-50” on playing overseas if the NBA lockout lasts.

The league scoring champion from the Oklahoma City Thunder hopes the work stoppage is settled in time for a full season, but says he’ll “have to think about” playing elsewhere if that doesn’t happen.

Durant says he has been working on his game during his time off, but took a break from that to attend the WNBA game between Tulsa and Chicago on Thursday night. Speaking at halftime, he called himself a “basketball fanatic” who enjoys watching the women’s game.

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NBA All-Stars Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose made $400,000 apiece for an exhibition game in the Philippines over the weekend. The players agreed to play an exhibition against a collection of stars of the Philippines Basketball Association. The group also included Chris Paul, James Harden, second overall pick Derrick Williams, JaVale McGee, and Tyreke Evans

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Kobe Bryant all start in Manila!

Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, JaVale McGee, Derrick Williams, Chris Paul, Tyreke Evans and James Harden all in one team? you must be kidding me!

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