NBA playoffs: Nets rain threes cut lead to 2-1, Spurs roll to 3-0 lead

But Pierce doesn’t just elevate his play in those minutes. He needs the reaction and he’s not above working the crowd for his own purposes.

Much has been made throughout the season about the Brooklyn crowd and its underwhelming response to the team that happens to play in its borough. Perhaps it’s the polished building the Nets now call home that lacks the well-worn grit and embedded memories of generations past. Or maybe it’s the arranged marriage between an area that’s in a state of perpetual evolution and a franchise from New Jersey that showed up one day on Atlantic Avenue with a collection of star players from other cities.

San Antonio led by as many as 23 points, having their way with the Trail Blazers’ defense. San Antonio had no trouble going on the road to one of the loudest home crowds and continuing the high-level of play they’ve performed at through the series.

Portland made a push in the second half, cutting the Spurs lead down to single-digits in the third quarter and keeping it competitive through the fourth, but the Spurs survived multiple runs and pulled ahead by 20 points again. San Antonio made timely plays to respond to the runs made by Portland and maintained their lead throughout the second half.

We on the internet delighted Saturday night in finding out that Alonzo Mourning, just like Jimmy Haslam, Patron Saint of Burners, is a flip phone enthusiast. ABC caught Mourning Nokia-ing away alongside Pat Riley (who probably uses some sort of scuba messenger service instead of cellphones) during Heat-Nets in Brooklyn:

Mourning’s wife, Tracy, assures us the Heat great is not messing around with that thing:

Game 3 of the Nets-Heat series threatened to get chippy when Alan Anderson and Ray Allen got tangled up early in the fourth quarter. Despite Anderson maybe (but probably not actually) throwing a punch, the two players got double technicals and the game resumed.

More importantly, though ... was Beyonce OK?

There’s a lot going on here. Not only is he not wearing the top half of his overalls, he’s cuffed the pant legs up. Why not just wear a nice pair of jeans at this point? His shoes look something akin to the 3D eye puzzles that if you stare at long enough you see a dolphin.

Short on explanations, there can only be one. This is the Way of Wade: #WoW.

Shaun Livingston doesn’t really do threes. He hit one all season for the Nets. He had the ball at halfcourt with time winding down in the first quarter of Game 3, though, and duty called:

Splash. Big bucket for the Nets, who cut the Miami Heat’s lead to just one on that shot.