Players fight NBA's push for revamped system

Unable to come up with a new collective bargaining agreement and seeking enormous changes to its system, the NBA locked out its players Thursday night. The owners have sought a system with a set salary cap and tighter limits on contract length and guarantees. The players prefer to keep the basics of the current system, offering tweaks to the percentage of revenue to be devoted to player salaries.
A look at the issues and circumstances that shut down the NBA:

Follow the money
The NBA claims it was $300 million in the red last season with 22 teams losing money. No matter the accounting that led to those numbers, the owners have negotiated based on those figures and the goal of turning them around, with NBA commissioner David Stern arguing the investment it takes an owner to get into the league should be expected to be profitable.
Players have proposed a reduction in the percentage of basketball-related income they would receive, from 57 percent to 54.3 percent, but argue they should not be responsible for preventing ownership mistakes. Owners seek a more even split.
The owners contend their proposal would guarantee $2 billion annually in player salaries. Players contend that would assure only about 45 percent of basketball-related income.
New blood
Unlike the 1998 negotiations, when much of the league leadership had bought in before the dramatic increase in franchise values, the league is filled with owners such as Boston's Wyc Grousbeck, Phoenix's Robert Sarver, Cleveland's Dan Gilbert and Golden State's Joe Lacob who bought into the league at elevated team prices.
Six owners are also NHL owners. Wizards/Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said the NHL is in better financial shape than the NBA because its CBA prevents owners from taking "stupid pills."
Exceptions
When players say they should not have to protect owners from themselves, they are largely talking about exceptions that have driven up their payrolls. The mid-level exception in particular was designed to protect the sport's middle class but has instead become a contract demand in free agency.
Owners began negotiations by proposing a $45 million hard cap, allowing no exceptions that would exceed that number. They have since proposed a "flex cap" in which teams could exceed the salary cap to an undetermined level, targeting $62 million for typical payrolls.
But players argued that the larger ceiling is, in effect, a hard cap. Last season, 17 teams exceeded the $58 million salary cap.
Player power
Friday will mark the one-year anniversary of The Decision and the consolidation of power of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Though there was nothing new about players leaving teams to play with other top players, this move seemed particularly beyond the owners' control, with many teams knowing they had no chance to be considered.
Even the possibility of Deron Williams becoming a free agent led him to be traded more than a year before he could leave Utah on his own. The potential of Dwight Howard or Chris Paul bolting from relatively small-market cities adds to the sense the league is becoming a collection of haves and have-nots.
The ability of teams to offer longer and richer contracts to their own players than to players switching teams no longer seemed likely to keep stars from aligning.
Spending parity
The idea of a luxury tax — a penalty of a dollar for every dollar spent over a specified threshold - was expected to keep teams from buying their way to championships and to redistribute the tax to those that did not exceed the tax threshold.
Though just seven teams exceeded the luxury tax last season, the past four champions were taxpayers.
The past three titles went to this season's top spending teams, Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers paid $110 million in salary and taxes. Last-place Sacramento spent $45 million.
The rich get richer
The NBA has little revenue sharing. The largest portion of that comes from distributing the money collected from teams paying luxury taxes - money that would be eliminated in the system the NBA has proposed.
Stern has said he wants to triple the league's revenue sharing, but the owners have not come up with an agreement that the players argue would solve many of the problems the owners have sought to remedy by reducing player salaries.
The Lakers' new television deal with Time-Warner Cable could be worth as much as $3 billion over 20 years. Some small-market teams struggle to get a deal that turns a profit. Where the NFL can have extensive revenue sharing based on its national television contracts, the bulk of NBA television revenue is from local deals controlled by individual teams.

Heat's 88-86 victory over Mavericks is full-groan

The Miami Heat couldn't quite pull off another fade in the NBA Finals. Rejoice, South Beach. Cheers, Fort Lauderdale. And before excitedly dropping that mojito on the marble-tile floor, understand that everybody else in the country wanted to see Dallas win Game 3 on Sunday. Nothing personal. But nobody likes to see a team drop down to a stunningly low two players under contract before building back up with a brief live-on-ESPN joint announcement by Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade,

followed a day later by the "The Decision." There was little joy from Maine to San Diego after the Heat took a 2-1 series lead with an 88-86 victory Sunday. The Mavericks tried just about everything. There were pre-recorded scoreboard declarations that "The Time is Now" from Dallas sports luminaries Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman, not to mention Mike Modano. (He used to play for the Dallas Stars. That's a hockey team.) But the time was now for the Heat, which guaranteed itself a return trip to Miami . . . if necessary. The scoreboard also offered a video montage of the Mavericks scoring on the Lakers, along with the phrases, "They said the Mavericks were soft. They said 'The Champs' would beat us down. This year is different." Not really. Not yet. The Mavericks have never won an NBA title since entering the league in 1980. It hasn't stopped them from hanging banners from the high-up girders at American Airlines Center — Midwest Division champions in 1987, Western Conference winners in 2006, Southwest Division champs in 2007 and 2010. Yay. There's more bad news for the psyche of basketball fans. The last 11 times the Finals were tied at 1-1, the winner of Game 3 ended up holding a championship parade. The Lakers' chances at a fiesta on Figueroa died a few weeks ago, but somebody needs to ask a few questions of alleged Lakers fan George Lopez, who stood near his courtside seat during the excitement of a Mavericks third-quarter rally. Somewhere, Kobe Bryant is shaking his head. Dirk Nowiztki wasn't happy either after Game 3, blandly intoning into a microphone that it was a "very tough loss" after a pair of his late-game blunders cost Dallas dearly. He threw the ball away with 30.2 seconds to play after unexpectedly finding himself in a double team. Then he missed a 16-footer at the final buzzer. LeBron James wasn't much better in the fourth quarter, scoring only two points. He did not, however, like being challenged by a reporter for "shrinking" away from the chance at fourth-quarter prowess. "You should watch the film again and see what I did defensively," James said. "You'll ask me a better question tomorrow." Wade was there to support James, scoring 29 points and taking 11 rebounds. Bosh was there too, eventually shaking off a poor shooting night by hitting a 16-footer from the left side to break an 86-86 tie with 39.6 seconds to play. About the only thing the Mavericks could pocket was the ability to slice into any Miami lead. Dallas fought back from a 14-point deficit in the second quarter, then a 13-point deficit in the third quarter. Small victories, but the only ones the Mavericks could celebrate after Game 3. Showing some transcontinental unity, a Dallas fan's sign implored the Mavericks to "Do it for Cleveland!"

Strong three-point shooting sparks Miami Heat

That’s five in a row for the Heat against the Mavericks in the NBA Finals. The Heat won four in a row against Dallas to win the 2006 Finals. Five years later, the Heat began the rematch with a 92-84 victory on Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. The Heat is 9-0 at home this postseason and plays again at AmericanAirlines Arena on Thursday before traveling to Dallas for Games 3, 4 and 5 of the 2011 Finals. After struggling against the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals,

Dwyane Wade returned to his more familiar postseason form Tuesday. He had 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in his first NBA Finals game since winning the 2006 Finals MVP. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 27 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Wade’s fifth assist of the night led to a dunk by Chris Bosh with 1:08 to play to give the Heat a 10-point lead. Assist No. 6 for Wade came less than a minute later when he found LeBron James for an alley-oop. James, who needs three more victories for his first NBA championship, screamed to the crowd and slammed his left fist against his chest. He scored a team-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Wade put the Heat ahead by nine points with 3:06 to play when he swished his second three-pointer of the game. Moments earlier, Wade blocked Shawn Marion’s midrange attempt to trigger a fast break. Wade’s three in transition was the Heat’s 11th of the game. Entering the Finals, conventional wisdom said the Mavericks’ stable of sharpshooters gave Dallas a distinct advantage from three-point range. That was not the case in Game 1. The Heat was 45.8 percent from three-point range compared to 40.9 percent for the Mavericks. James’ first exclamation point on the 1-0 Finals lead came after a powerful crossover against Shawn Marion. James followed with a driving dunk and was fouled by Marion. He converted the free throw to give the Heat an 85-75 lead with 2:48 to play. With three seven-footers in its rotation, Dallas entered Tuesday’s series opener with plans of dominating the glass. Instead, the shorter and quicker Eastern Conference champions consistently beat the Mavericks to loose balls and missed shots. Miami outrebounded Dallas 46-36, including 16 in offensive rebounds. Dallas had six. Mike Miller, playing with a protective sleeve over his left arm, pulled down a key offensive rebound with less than seven minutes in the game. The second-chance situation gave Udonis Haslem a clear path to the rim, which he converted into a three-point play to put the Heat ahead by six points with 6:36 to play. Haslem finished with seven points and six rebounds in 28 minutes. The Heat trailed the entire third quarter until James drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:09 left in the period. The shot gave the Heat a 60-59 lead after trailing by nine points early the second half. Dallas began the third quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 51-43 lead. Juwan Howard, who returned to the postseason rotation to play important minutes against the Mavs’ large frontcourt, made a pair of free throws with 32.1 seconds left in the third quarter, setting the stage for James’ buzzer-beating skills. Howard logged eight minutes Tuesday and had three rebounds. James has performed well in the clutch throughout the playoffs and did so again at the end of the quarter when he nailed a turnaround three-pointer with time expiring to give the Heat a four-point lead to begin the fourth quarter. James was 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range in the third quarter, which was the continuation of a trend for the Heat. The first 36 minutes of Game 1 offered one of Miami’s best three-point shooting efforts of the postseason (9 of 21 for 42.9 percent). James entered the fourth quarter 4 of 4 from behind the arc, and reserve Mario Chalmers went 3 of 3 from that distance in the second quarter. Miller made his second three-pointer of the game to begin the Heat’s fourth quarter scoring. It gave the Heat a 68-63 lead with 11 minutes to play. It was just enough of a cushion to hold off the Mavericks, who cut the Heat’s lead to three points with less than four minutes remaining but never got any closer.

Who wins, advances to NBA Finals?

The Lakers are still 12 wins from another Phil Jackson three-peat, but the Mavericks are just two wins from sending the Zen Master into an early retirement. Who saw that coming?

And the Dallas domination in L.A. is hardly the only major storyline -- not with the Heat blitzing the Celtics, the Bulls starting slowly and the Thunder and Grizzlies duking it out.

So where do things stand after eight wild games in the second round of the playoffs? We asked five writers to weigh in:

1. True or False: Game 2 foretold the rest of the Celtics-Heat series.

 Phillip Barnett, Forum Blue & Gold: True. The Celtics haven't shown any sign of being able to stop both Dwyane Wade and LeBron James or the ability to get points when they need them. Boston is shooting 51.4 percent from behind the arc, but still lost both games by at least three possessions. This suggests Miami's interior defense will carry them to the conference finals.

Zach Harper, Daily Dime Live: True. While I think the Celtics can still pull it together and make a series out of this, how do they stop LeBron and Wade? The Celtics haven't shown any game plan to get either out of his comfort zone, other than praying for missed jumpers. Not exactly championship ball.

John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: True. The Celtics have too much experience, talent and pride to go down without a fight, but they don't appear to have an answer for the one-two punch of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James or Miami's swarming defense. If the Heat can continue to keep Rondo and Garnett under control and get contributions from Bosh and the supporting cast, they'll win at least one of two in Boston and control the series.

Michael Schwartz, Valley of the Suns: False. The Celtics have never gone away quietly in the Big Three era. With three days off to rest their creaky limbs and sharpen their game plan against LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, the Celtics will make this the hard-fought series we all expected in Boston.

Ethan Sherwood Strauss, HoopSpeak: True. The Celtics' offense is insipid in a way that speaks to an athleticism chasm -- not getting to the line, not converting close shots. And for all our precious analysis: Boston's problem is that they're much worse than Miami.

2. True or False: Game 2 foretold the rest of the Grizzlies-Thunder series.

 Phillip Barnett, Forum Blue & Gold: False. Oklahoma City came out fired up in Game 2 with the home crowd behind them. They concentrated their efforts on stopping Zach Randolph, and got a whopping 48 points from their bench. It's hard to imagine the Memphis bench being outplayed to that extent at home.

Zach Harper, Daily Dime Live: True. I don't expect Zach Randolph to miss every field goal in three out of four quarters again, but the Thunder figured out how to be physical against the bully in the yard. Now it's up to Memphis to figure out how to keep up with Durant and his immense scoring help.

John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: False. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph destroyed the Thunder in Game 1, then laid complete eggs in Game 2. The Thunder's offense should continue to roll, but Gasol and Randolph will give them much more trouble in the remaining games.

Michael Schwartz, Valley of the Suns: False. As good as Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol have been all postseason, I find it hard to believe they will shoot anywhere near as poorly in future games as they did in their 5-for-22 effort in Game 2. As Memphis' interior game returns, so will the Grizzlies' chances in this series.

Ethan Sherwood Strauss, HoopSpeak: True. I write that with a heavy heart, since Memphis is a lovable gate-crasher. But the blue bear just doesn't have the same size advantage as last series.

3. True or False: Game 2 foretold the rest of the Hawks-Bulls series.

Phillip Barnett, Forum Blue & Gold: True. Joe Johnson was fantastic in Game 1, shooting 5-for-5 from behind the arc. In Game 2, the Bulls increased their defensive intensity and completely dominated on the boards. I like the Bulls' defense to stay one step ahead of the Hawks' offense for the remainder of this series.

Zach Harper, Daily Dime Live: True. We saw what happens when the Hawks aren't hitting improbable shots against the Bulls; they get lost in a catacomb of apathetic effort. I don't think the Bulls will really have a hard time keeping Atlanta from getting a comfortable rhythm on offense. If they can figure out Rose's shooting slump, this should be over.

John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: True. Even if the Hawks can continue to make Derrick Rose work for his points and assists, they'll have to figure out a way to score on Chicago's defense. Their only path to victory is to make enough tough long-range jumpers to overcome Chicago's underwhelming offense three more times, and I don't think they'll do it. Then again, people said the same thing after Game 2 of the Orlando series.

Michael Schwartz, Valley of the Suns: True. There's a reason Tom Thibodeau earned Coach of the Year honors: The man knows how to coach defense. The Hawks managed a mere 96.6 points per 100 possessions in their series win over the Magic, so it should not be a surprise when their offense continues to sputter against Thibs' Bulls the way it did in Game 2.

Ethan Sherwood Strauss, HoopSpeak: True. Though gravity eludes actual hawks, it sometimes drags their human avatars into the dirt. Atlanta's strategy of heaving contested moonballs just isn't sustainable.

4. True or False: Game 2 foretold the rest of the Mavs-Lakers series.

Phillip Barnett, Forum Blue & Gold: True. The Lakers haven't found a way to get their bigs going in either second-round game, leading to way more jumpers than they'd like. Dirk Nowitzki is unstoppable, and other Mavs are benefiting from Laker double-teams. There are lots of questions about the Lakers, and I'm not sure if they have the answers.

Zach Harper, Daily Dime Live: False. I'm not saying the Lakers will come back and win this series. But we're done seeing Kobe defer and not force up 25 or more shots each game. If the bench is going to be afraid to step up and Gasol continues to forget he's really tall, it will be on Kobe's shoulders.

John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: False. While the Lakers probably won't win both games in Dallas to tie the series, I expect that their front line, particularly Pau Gasol, will look better in Games 3 and 4. And while the Lakers weren't built to shoot 3-pointers, they will shoot better than Wednesday's 2-for-20 from deep in the next couple of games.

Michael Schwartz, Valley of the Suns: False. Even after dropping a pair at home, it's hard to count the Lakers out the way they have run through the Western Conference the past three postseasons. After missing 18-of-20 3-pointers in Game 2, the Lakers will get back in this series once their long-range shooting regresses to the mean.

Ethan Sherwood Strauss, HoopSpeak: True. When Dirk takes one-legged shots, his foot is planted on L.A.'s collective throat. Phil's guys languish in the shadow of immensely bad odds. Down 2-0, with three of the five remaining games in Dallas, the Lakers are trapped with no way out.

5. Which two teams should be favored now to meet in the NBA Finals?

Phillip Barnett, Forum Blue & Gold: After tonight, I'm inclined to say we're going to see a Mavericks-Heat series. I can't say that I'd be shocked if either the Lakers or Celtics come out of their series and go on to the Finals, but the Thunder and Bulls are looking like better second options in their respective conferences.

Zach Harper, Daily Dime Live: I'd really like to pick the Mavs for one last hurrah in the West, but I think we're going to get to see a Thunder-Heat Finals. It will be the first time in NBA history we've had a non-pluralized NBA Finals matchup. Could be revolutionary.

John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: It's wide open, but I like the Mavericks and the Heat. (I know, they're the only two teams with 2-0 leads. I'm bold like that.) They look like the only teams executing consistently on both ends of the court, and both teams have enough experience and star power to make it to the Finals.

Michael Schwartz, Valley of the Suns: Miami has the two best players in the conference (sorry, D-Rose) and a 2-0 series lead while the Bulls have looked shaky most of the playoffs. The Mavericks seem to possess a mental toughness they lacked during previous fruitless playoff runs and have the champs in a 0-2 hole. It's looking like a rematch of the 2006 Finals.

Ethan Sherwood Strauss, HoopSpeak: Thunder-Heat is my Finals pick. Oklahoma City claims the most complete roster, Miami boasts basketball's two best players. Look for pervasive "good vs. evil" narratives to garnish fantastic games.