MIAMI -- Turns out, the Miami Heat can beat the Brooklyn Nets. And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions. LeBron James scored 22
points, Ray Allen added 19 and the Heat stayed perfect in this post-season by
beating the Nets 107-86 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference
semifinal series. It was the first win for Miami in five meetings with Brooklyn
this season. "Its one," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But I liked the energy,
the activity." Chris Bosh scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Dwyane Wade
finished with 14 points and Mario Chalmers had 12 for Miami, which recorded at
least one regular-season win against every team except Brooklyn, losing four
times by a total of 12 points. This one was a different story. A 24-9 run in the
third quarter blew things open for the Heat, who hadnt played in eight days
after sweeping Charlotte in the opening round. "It was great that we were able
to come out the way we did after being off eight days," James said. "We got a
lot of work in. We had eight days off of not playing a basketball game but Spo
got us in the gym. (We) got each other in the gym. We made each other
accountable throughout the layoff and it proved tonight." Deron Williams and
Joe Johnson scored 17 points each for the Nets, who got only eight from
Paul Pierce and no points from Kevin Garnett in 16 minutes. Game 2 of the
best-of-seven series is Thursday night. "This is the defending champs," Nets
coach Jason Kidd said. "Its always going to be at a high level and weve got to
find a way to match it." James finished 10 for 15 from the field and Allen --
who had never faced his former Boston "Big 3" compatriots Pierce and Garnett in
the playoffs -- was 4 of 7 from 3-point land. "He was focused on the job at
hand," James said. Miamis lead was 55-52 early in the third quarter after a
3-pointer by Williams, and every indication was that the Heat and Nets -- who
played three one-point games and a double-overtime affair in the regular season
-- were heading down to the wire again. Not quite. The Heat took off on the 24-9
run over a 7-minute span, with Bosh scoring the first seven points of that burst
to get Miami going. Allens 3-pointer pushed the lead to 14, James and
Chris Andersen (who left in the fourth with a right knee contusion) added two
free throws apiece and just like that Miamis lead was up to 79-61. "Its fun when
you win the game and you can at least for a night do whatever it is you do, have
some dinner, chill at home and exhale a little bit," Bosh said. "When you lose,
you cant sleep, your stomach hurts and its not a very good situation." For
Brooklyn, the trouble came at an unexpected time. The Nets had the best
third-quarter scoring differential in the East after Jan. 1, but were outscored
33-23 in that pivotal quarter in Game 1. It was a hectic news day long before
Heat-Nets, with Oklahoma Citys Kevin Durant being announced as the leagues MVP,
the firing of Golden State coach Mark Jackson and the NBA saying that Los
Angeles Clippers president Andy Roeser would be taking an indefinite leave as
part of the fallout related to the Donald Sterling scandal. James two-year reign
as MVP lasted 198 games. "We have a new MVP, but when you talk about the best
players in the world, hes 1A, 1B with Durant," Kidd said. Pregame lineup moves
by both clubs lent more intrigue. Miami brought Shane Battier -- who played 2
minutes, total, in the first round against Charlotte -- back into the starting
five, while Brooklyn reinserted Shaun Livingston into its lineup after using him
off the bench late in the Toronto series. After never leading by more than seven
points against Brooklyn in the regular season, the Heat led by 11 after a drive
by James with 3:32 left in the first half. But the Nets closed on a 14-6 run,
and Williams first beat-the-clock 3-pointer of the game sent Brooklyn into
halftime down 46-43. Williams did it again in the third, but that one only got
Brooklyn within 79-66. "It came down to defence tonight," Williams said. "Our
defensive game plan was not executed at all." NOTES: The Heat held a pregame
moment of silence for Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay, who died last week at the age
of 89. ... David Beckham, who will be bringing an MLS team to Miami, sat next to
the Heat bench. ... Livingston was on the court to warm up for the second half
with about 10 minutes left in the intermission. Small problem: The rack of
basketballs wasnt on the court yet. ... The Nets are 1-9 all-time against Miami
in playoff games. ... Miami had not won consecutive Game 1s since the 2nd and
3rd rounds of the 2012 playoffs. Every football coach will tell you that in
order to make a difference in the game, you have to take full advantage of your
opportunities. Now, on the field that could mean scoring after your defense
creates a turnover or moving the football offensively when you have the wind at
your back. On Thursday, the CFL Board of Governors will have their opportunity
to make a difference when they vote on the proposal to make pass interference a
reviewable call. A "yes" vote means that for the first time since video review
was implemented, the system will be used on a judgment call by the refs. Coaches
will not get extra challenges but if the rule change is passed, they will be
able to challenge a called pass interference or challenge a missed called PI.
Critics call it a drastic shift in philosophy which turns the on-field refs into
robots, while proponents call it a small expansion of the current video review
system that will help the on-field officials make the toughest and most
controversial call in the game. The rules committee, which is made up of
football people, passed the rule change proposal over a month ago but while it
was a strong majority, it wasnt a unanimous "yes" vote. Sources contacted on
Tuesday were divided on whether or not the fact that it wasnt unanimous will
influence the Governors. While they couldnt come up with actual numbers, one
source felt that rule change proposals that did not get a unanimous vote from
the rules committee were almost always voted down by the Governors. A separate
source didnt think that the fact that it wasnt a unanimous vote would make any
difference at all to the Board. One thing both sources agreed on was that this
is one of the most important rule change votes in recent memory and if passed,
will be a rule change that will be watched closely by the National Football
League. The NFL rules committee decided to put a much more drastic proposal to a
vote this year when they tabled the idea of giving coaches the chance to
challenge all personal foul penalties. That is a drastic change in philosophy
with regards to video replay and it was, not surprisingly, voted down. However,
if the CFL Governors vote "yes" to this PI rule change, you ccan bet the NFL
will be paying close attention.dddddddddddd In fact, a source close to the
process said that there are many coaches in the NFL that are pushing for a
chance to review pass interference, so if it is voted in by the CFL board and
runs smoothly in year one, then it is safe to say it wont be long before the NFL
tables the idea again. There is also a sense of urgency with this decision in
that, when a rule change proposal gets defeated by the Governors it typically
cant be reintroduced for two years. Which means, if you are a fan that gets
frustrated with the inconsistency of the PI call, you are going to get two more
years of a whole lot of the same. The CFL head office was contacted Tuesday and
refused to comment, but football fans should not read into that. With the
current CBA negotiations on going, the "no comment" response may becoming
automatic. There has been interesting debate on this topic, however, the
question football fans have to ask is; what is the downside and the upside of a
"yes" vote? Without debating all aspects of this rule change proposal again, it
is still tough to find a real downside. Even if this change is a one year
experiment and the league finds out that it has created more questions than
answers when it comes to pass interference, nothing is really lost. If it doesnt
work, it was at least attempted, all teams in 2014 will have played by the same
rules, and the idea is dropped in 2015. However, if it works; if it does help
refs get the game changing penalty right more often and if it does improve the
game, then the CFL will be looked upon as innovators. On May 13, a new crop of
young football players will be drafted into the league and will be looking to
take full advantage of their opportunity to play the game they love for a
living. On the field, a defensive back can make a difference with an
interception if he takes advantage of an opportunity when the quarterback throws
and errant pass. On Thursday, an opportunity will present itself to the Board of
Governors. If they vote "yes," they have a chance to make a difference. If they
vote "no," it will be two more frustrating years and an opportunity lost.
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