"They just carved us up, just sliced us up for easy baskets, " he said.

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LeBron James drives the lane effortlessly on the way to scoring easy baskets for the Miami Heat.

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It was a rough finale for Murphy, who twice thought he had easy baskets in front of him only to have the shots blocked.

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Syracuse's octopus-like defense has covered every inch of the court, eliminating passing lanes, consistently depriving opponents of easy baskets down low, and defending the perimeter with abandon.

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There were a couple of easy baskets he couldn't finish.

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"I think we did a really conscious effort of just pushing the basketball and getting out in the open court and making it easy on ourselves to get some easy baskets, " Smith said.

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Turnovers led to easy baskets for the Americans.

WSJ: Menu