The Basketball Diaries

Los Angeles Lakers 109 Utah Jazz 98 (Lakers lead series 1-0)

The Lakers continue to roll, as they improved to 5-0 in the postseason this year after finishing the season winners of eight of their last nine. Soon to be named MVP, Kobe Bryant, scored 38 points, grabbed 6 boards, and handed out 7 assists. He spent the majority of the afternoon at the free throw line, where he made 21 of 23 shots. "You've got to be able to knock those free throws down. They're open looks," said Bryant. "It's my responsibility to knock them down." Hell, most of this game seemed to be spent at the free throw line, as the Jazz and Lakers combined for 76 free throws, with 31 of them coming in the fourth quarter alone. It doesn't exactly make for the most exciting basketball.

Boston Celtics 99 Atlanta Hawks 65 (Celtics win series 4-3)

It was a nice story that the Atlanta Hawks were able to take the Celtics to a full seven games in this series, but anybody who thought that they actually had a chance to win in Boston should be beaten. With a big stick. Kinda like the beating the Celtics gave the Hawks on Sunday. Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Celtics, who won their four home games by an average of 25 points per game. "I really had no doubt in my mind how we were going to come out," Paul Pierce said. "You kind of saw it from the guys after Game 6 on the plane, there wasn't a lot of talking. We knew that we let a couple of games get away in Atlanta and I knew we were just going to take care of business."

The Basketball Diaries

Washington Wizards 88 Cleveland Cavaliers 87 (Cavs lead series 3-2)

Although I have no real rooting interest in this series, I'm happy that the Wizards were able to pull off the victory over Cleveland on Wednesday night to extend this series at least one more game. Not because of the quality of basketball being played-it's really not that great-but because with every game these two teams play, there's a chance there will be a huge fight. Fights are fun! Anyway, Caron Butler put the Wizards up with 3.9 seconds left by driving to the hole on LeBron and making the layup. LeBron had a chance to win the game for Cleveland, but his short jumper at the buzzer didn't find it's mark, and now we're going back to D.C. for a game six. "I was messing with LeBron before the play started," Butler said. "I told him, 'Miss this shot, make it interesting and let's take this thing back to D.C.'"

Boston Celtics 110 Atlanta Hawks 85 (Celtics lead series 3-2)

Boy, I'm happy I finally took the time to watch a game of this series. I never really planned to, but after the Hawks won the last two games back in Atlanta, I figured I should probably start paying attention. Yeah, back in Boston it doesn't quite work that way. The Celtics beat the Hawks down like they should, and while the Hawks hung around for a few minutes in the first quarter, the game was never really close. "We still haven't won a road game, guys," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We have to do it again. We have to do it on the road now. We have to go in there and play like tonight." Please do, I really don't want to watch two more of these games.

The Basketball Diaries

Atlanta Hawks 97 Boston Celtics 92 (Series tied 2-2)

Just what in the hell is going on here? First the Pistons and Sixers split their first four games, and now the Celtics and Hawks as well? I don't know how it's happened, because I've only seen like 5 minutes of this series, but I guess this means I have to start paying attention now. Joe Johnson had 35 points, 20 of which came in the final quarter, and Joe Smith had 28 points and 7 blocks. "We took care of our home court," Johnson said. "Now we've got to go up to Boston and somehow steal one." Considering that Atlanta lost the first two games in Boston by an average of 21 points, I don't see that happening. Then again, I didn't see them winning two games in this series, nobody did.

Los Angeles Lakers 107 Denver Nuggets 101 (Lakers win series 4-0)

While I thought that this series would be more entertaining, it became apparent from the first two games that the Nuggets were dead. They'd already quit on themselves and their coach before the first tip-off, and the Lakers finished them off officially on Tuesday night. It wasn't a blowout this time, but the Lakers followed the same formula they used in the first three games. Come the 4th quarter, let Kobe dominate. Kobe scored 14 points over the final five and a half minutes to lead the Lakers, and finished with 31 on the night. Pau Gasol also had another big game, contributing 21 of his own. To their credit, the Nuggets didn't lay down last night, but it was a little too late to try and make a stand in this series.

Orlando Magic 102 Toronto Raptors 92 (Magic win series 4-1)

The Magic advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 12 years on Tuesday night, and they did it the same way they did for most of this series. A lot of Dwight Howard. Howard had his third 20-20 game of the series, finishing with 21 points and 21 rebounds. "There was a different demeanor from him," Stan Van Gundy said of his young center. "Dwight is a fun-loving guy and he likes to fool around. There are a lot of times during the year, not bad, but a lot of times during the year where I've got to try to bring him back to being serious when we're preparing. I did not have to say one word, from the start of preparation for this series all the way through."

The Basketball Diaries

Lakers 122 Nuggets 107 (Los Angeles leads 2-0)

In case you weren't already aware, Kobe Bryant is the best basketball player on the planet. When you combine the greatest player on the planet with a defense as porous as the Denver Nuggets, you're going to get quite the show, and Kobe put one on Wednesday night. After scoring 20 points in the 1st quarter to get warmed up, he finished up with 24 more in the 4th, 19 of which came during a 4:19 span. Oh, and he also managed to hand out 10 assists as well. "Tonight, the way he was going, we probably could have put 10 people on the court and probably wouldn't have been able to stop him," said Nuggets star Allen Iverson. Seriously, watching Kobe in that 4th quarter, I swore I was watching Michael Jordan again. It was phenomenal.

Pistons 105 Sixers 88 (Series tied 1-1)

Something told me that after the way the Pistons let game one of this series slip away, they weren't going to make the same mistake twice. They started the game with an early lead, and just kept building on it from there. The big difference between this game and the first one being that Detroit actually looked like they were taking things seriously again. "We were focused, really locked in on what we had to do," Billups said. "We got off to a quick start and we never let up. All five starters played good, and we all shot the ball well. That makes us tough." Rip Hamilton had 20, and Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, and Tayshaun Prince all had 16 to lead the Pistons.

Celtics 96 Hawks 77 (Boston leads 2-0)

One of the more common mistakes in watching a playoff series is assuming that when the home team takes the first two games, the series is over. More often than not, the team that's down 0-2 goes home and wins a game or two and turns it into a series again. Rest assured, this is not one of those series. This thing is done. It's been over since the regular season started, and quite frankly, the Celtics probably view this whole thing as nothing more than a glorified scrimmage to get ready for the second round.

The Basketball Diaries

Philadelphia 76ers 90 Detroit Pistons 86

So as I was saying, Sixers in four! Okay, I didn't say that but I did say that the Pistons generally always give at least one game away during a playoff series, and they gave this one away on Sunday afternoon. Detroit blew a 15-point lead and let one slip away as the Sixers stole away home-court advantage thanks to Andre Miller's 20 points and Willie Green's 17. Rasheed Wallace scored 24 points for Detroit, but he missed a pretty easy layup that could have tied the game in the closing seconds, and he wasn't deflecting any blame afterward. "I'm going to put this one on me," Wallace said. "There's no excuses. The last bunny, that was a bucket I should've made. I'm going to take this one on the chin." I'm willing to bet Detroit romps in game 2.

Los Angeles Lakers 128 Denver Nuggets 114

People talk about how Tracy McGrady has never won a playoff series in his career, but I mean, at least he's not Pau Gasol. Not only had Gasol never won a playoff series, before Sunday, he'd never won a playofff game. My how things change when you're playing alongside Kobe Bryant. Gasol scored 36 points, grabbed 16 boards, handed out 8 assists, and swatted 4 shots on Sunday as the Lakers took game one against the Nuggets. "It feels amazing, it feels great. I had a blast out there," the 7-foot Spaniard said after shooting 14-of-20 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the foul line. "We did a pretty good job, we can do better. We're happy with the win, I'm happy with the win. Hopefully there will be many more." Kobe didn't have a bad day either, scoring 18 of his 32 points in the final 8 minutes.

Boston Celtics 104 Atlanta Hawks 81

Well, at least Atlanta kept it interesting for a little while. Unfortunately for Atlanta, Kevin Garnett was playing in his first playoff game in four years, and he wasn't about to let them enjoy themselves. KG scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Ray Allen had 18 points, and Rajon Rondo had 15 points and 9 assists as the Celtics grabbed the first of what should be four straight wins in this series.

Elsewhere...

• Magic 114 Raptors 100

NBA Playoff Previews: Boston vs. Atlanta

With the NBA playoffs beginning on Saturday, that means Foul Balls is allowed to start enjoying basketball again. So throughout the day today, I will be previewing each of the eight first round matchups.

Why You Should Watch This Series: Because you're a Celtics fan? If you're an Atlanta fan you should probably just skip it so you can still just be happy you've made the playoffs. This series will be by far the most boring of any in the first round this year.

Why Boston Will Win This Series: Probably because they're the best team in the NBA and they have Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. Not to mention that Rajon Rondo has blossomed playing alongside those three. Not only is it impossible for defenses to stop this team from scoring, but it's damn near impossible to score against them, as KG will not allow his team to slack off on the defensive end.

Why Atlanta Will Win This Series: Because Boston's plane crashes on the way to Atlanta for Game 3. Really, that's the only way it could happen.

Who Will Win This Series: Boston 4-0.

The Basketball Diaries

Chicago Bulls 103 Atlanta Hawks 94

I was at work on Tuesday night talking with my friend Marcus about how much we hate the Bulls and we'd like to punch every single player in the face. All of them except for one, that is. We both came to the conclusion that we love Drew Gooden. He's been the only good thing to come of this season so far. Little did we know that a few miles away at the United Center, Drew was having a monster performance against the Hawks. Gooden scored 31 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Bulls over the Hawks as they desperately try to steal a playoff berth. "I've been feeling good as of late, comfortable in the offense and getting my shot in rhythm, whereas when I first got here I couldn't knock down the outside shot for nothing because I didn't know when it was coming," Gooden said. "I'm confident. I feel every time I shoot, it's going to go in and tonight it just happened to go in."

San Antonio Spurs 107 Orlando Magic 97

The Spurs have gotten their act together again, winning their 4th straight game on Tuesday night after going 1-5 in a six game stretch earlier this month. Manu Ginobili had 28 points, Michael Finley had 24, and Tim Duncan contributed 19 points and 15 rebounds. The Spurs were also able to force Orlando to try and drive the lane instead of relying on the outside shot as they normally do. "We made a decision to make them penetrate," Ginobili said. "We were not going to let Rashard [Lewis], Hedo [Turkoglu] and Keith [Bogans] take wide-open shots." The strategy worked too because even though Dwight Howard managed 24 points and 21 rebounds for the Magic, it wasn't enough to overcome the Spurs.

Utah Jazz 128 Charlotte Bobcats 106

The Jazz were having such an easy time with the Bobcats on Tuesday night, they decided to make things a bit more interesting in the 4th quarter. After allowing the Bobcats to cut a 20-point lead down to three, the Jazz quickly built the lead right back up to 20 as they seemingly toyed with Charlotte. "We weren't exactly clicking for a while," said Kyle Korver, who made three 3-pointers during Utah's 17-6 run in the fourth. Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 28 points and 13 boards while Deron Williams scored 14 and handed out 15 assists.

Elsewhere...

• Hornets 114 Pacers 106
• Mavs 103 Clippers 90
• Blazers 102 Wizards 82

The Basketball Diaries

Houston Rockets 83 Atlanta Hawks 75

The Rockets have now won 20 in a row, and are now only the 3rd team in NBA history to do so. The 70-71 Bucks did it, and the 71-72 Lakers won 31 in a row before losing. To give you an idea about how impressive a 20 game win streak is, the Knicks, Heat, Sonics, Grizzlies, and Timberwolves don't have 20 wins this season. The Rockets got off to a sluggish start on Wednesday night, but Tracy McGrady scored 21 of his 28 points in the 2nd half to help Houston shake off the pesky Hawks. "It may be the ugliest thing we've done, but it might have been the best one," Houston coach Rick Adelman said, "the way we fought through it."

New Orleans Hornets 100 San Antonio Spurs 75

I know that with the strong competition in the West, the Spurs are going to lose every once in a while, but it's the very rare occasion when they get blown out like they did on Wednesday. The Hornets held the Spurs to eight points in the 4th quarter. Eight. David West returned to the Hornets lineup for the first time in three games, and he scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Chris Paul did what Chris Paul does, and scored 26 points and handed out 17 assists. If only he played in a market other than New Orleans so he could be truly appreciated for how good he is.

Philadelphia 76ers 83 Detroit Pistons 82

The way things are set up in the East right now, this is likely going to be a 1st round matchup in the playoffs. Something tells me the results will be different once playoff time comes around. Detroit came out sluggish, fell behind by double-digits early, and couldn't fight their way out of it. Even though the Sixers didn't score a point in the final 2:27 of the game. Chauncey Billups shot as time expired clanged off the rim and the Sixers escaped with a victory. "I tried to rock and get [Rodney Carney] off-balance, but they came at me with the double-team," Billups said. "I didn't think there was enough time to get the ball to anyone else, so I had to shoot it. I got a pretty good look, but that's not the shot I want to take in that situation."

Elsewhere...

• Magic 110 Clippers 88
• Celtics 111 Sonics 82
• Knicks 91 Heat 88
• Nets 104 Cavs 99
• Jazz 114 Bucks 110
• Mavs 118 Bobcats 93
• Nuggets 108 Grizzlies 86
• Warriors 117 Raptors 106

The Basketball Diaries

New Orleans Hornets 100 Chicago Bulls 88

I had a bit of a dilemma on Tuesday afternoon. As I was about to leave for work, I had to decide whether I wanted to record the Bulls game, or the Purdue/Michigan State game to watch when I got home. After coming to the realization that FanHouse pays me to write about the Big Ten, while the Bulls should pay us all for emotional damages suffered while watching them play, I chose Purdue/MSU. I made the right call. It was the same old story for the Bulls as they played a strong first half and blew it in the second half. "Obviously we would like to come out with a better effort in the third, we were right there in the fourth quarter and we kind of got our butts kick in the fourth quarter," Hinrich said. "Offensively we couldn't get anything going and had some unfortunate turnovers that they capitalized on." If there was anything positive to take away from this game it's that Tyson Chandler-A Chris Paul Production only managed to score 4 points, though he did grab 16 rebounds.

Detroit Pistons 94 Atlanta Hawks 90

Chauncey Billups couldn't make a basket to save his life through the first three quarters of the Pistons game against the Hawks on Tuesday night. He missed all eight of the shots he took, but fortunately for Detroit, they don't call him Mr. Big Shot because he drains a lot of first quarter jumpers. In the fourth quarter Chauncey came alive to score 12 of his 16 points, and help lead the Pistons to their 9th straight win. "You know me, man, you know me," Billups said. "Late in games, if I have an opportunity I'm going to take advantage of that, whether I'm hot or not. I always feel like that fourth quarter is a different game. It was like a lid was on the basket most of the game. Some of those shots [in the fourth] were the same shots I shot early in the game. I just couldn't stick them." Rasheed Wallace picked up the slack for Billups in the first three quarters, and finished the night with 21 points.

Denver Nuggets 114 Miami Heat 113 OT

Everytime I start to feel sorry for myself about having to deal with watching the Bulls play "basketball" I remind myself of one thing: At least I'm not a Miami Heat fan. The Heat lost their 9th straight game on Tuesday night against the Nuggets, and still haven't reached double digits in wins this season (9-41). Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 29 points and 10 assists, but a missed jumper at the buzzer was the only shot he took that really mattered. J.R. Smith blew up for Denver, making 8 three-pointers and finishing with 28 points. "When he is that energized it is something we can ride," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "We did tonight."

Elsewhere...

• Celtics 104 Pacers 97
• Nets 92 TWolves 88
• Grizzlies 107 Kings 94

The Basketball Diaries

Atlanta Hawks 105 Chicago Bulls 84

I wasn't even aware the Bulls had a game scheduled for yesterday afternoon until I was looking for something to watch during commercials of the Colts-Chargers game. From what I saw of the game, I don't think the Bulls were aware they had a game on Sunday afternoon either. The Hawks jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter, and they never let it go. Joe Johnson had 37 points to lead the Hawks to their first win over the Bulls since April 9, 2004. Luol Deng had 28 points for the Bulls after missing the last three games with a sore Achilles. Also, Joakim Noah was benched for a second straight game after getting into an argument with assistant coach Ron Adams on Friday, only this time it wasn't Jim Boylan's decision. A unanimous team vote felt that one game wasn't enough to teach the rookie a lesson.

New York Knicks 89 Detroit Pistons 65

The Pistons were in New York on Sunday finishing a four-game five-day road trip, and had just won an overtime game in Charlotte on Saturday night. Let's just say you can tell they were somewhat tired on Sunday afternoon. The 65 points Detroit scored on Sunday was only one point more than what would have been the worst offensive performance in franchise history. Zach Randolph scored 25 points to lead the Knicks.

Toronto Raptors 116 Portland Blazers 109 2OT

Please forgive Chris Bosh if he decides not to get out of bed today. You see, after scoring 40 points for the Raptors on Friday night, Bosh played 55 minutes on Sunday and scored 38 points and had 14 rebounds to help Toronto to it's third straight win. "You have to find something in you," Bosh said. "You're not going to have much energy but you have to get it done. You can't run many plays. You have to keep going, get it to your guys and when the ball comes to you, you have to step up and knock down shots or get big rebounds." Brandon Roy had 33 points and 10 assists for Portland.

Elsewhere...

• Hornets 87 Rockets 82
• Warriors 106 Pacers 101
• Lakers 100 Grizzlies 99

The Basketball Diaries

San Antonio Spurs 94 Chicago Bulls 79

New coach, same crappy team. In their first game free from the shackles of Scott Skiles, the Bulls looked an awful lot like the same Bulls team that cost Skiles his job. Of course, it may have been a little unfair to expect the Bulls to win their first game with Pete Myers when they were playing the defending champs. Tony Parker led the way for the Spurs with his 28 points, as San Antonio played nearly the entire game with a double digit lead. Joe Smith led the Bulls with 19 points.

Atlanta Hawks 107 Indiana Pacers 95

It's not very often that the Atlanta Hawks are in one of the featured games in the Diaries, but I feel it's time to give them some props. Atlanta won it's fifth straight game on Wednesday night, and they're currently 15-12, which would make them a playoff team. When was the last time we could say that about the Hawks? (It was the 98-99 season.) It finally looks like all those lottery picks they've accumulated throughout the years are learning to play together. Joe Johnson is the straw that stirs the drink though, and he led the team with 26 points on Wednesday, one of five Hawks to finish in double figures. "Teams are starting to realize it's not just a walk in the park to come to Atlanta and play in Philips Arena," said Josh Smith.

Elsewhere...

• Sixers 95 Heat 86
• Magic 110 Knicks 96
• Wizards 108 Bobcats 104
• Pistons 101 Nets 83
• Hornets 116 Grizzlies 98
• Nuggets 125 Bucks 105
• Jazz 99 Mavs 90
• Celtics 89 Kings 69
• Warriors 105 TWolves 101

The Basketball Diaries

Chicago Bulls 123 Seattle Sonics 96

Hey the Bulls got to beat the crap out of somebody! So what if it was Seattle and they're one of the only teams in the league that have less wins than we do. It still counts. It's also the Bulls 5th win in their last seven games, so maybe, just maybe, they're starting to get back to their old ways. Ben Gordon led the scoring barrage with 27 points and Luol Deng had 20 as the Bulls shot 54% from the floor on the night, a welcome change. "We made it easy tonight with the way we came out," Gordon said. "We were aggressive and attacked early. Games like this, we've just got to take advantage of it."

Toronto Raptors 100 Atlanta Hawks 88

Al Horford probably doesn't feel too good this morning. Of course, he probably feels better than T.J. Ford. Ford had to be taken off the court on a stretcher after a flagrant foul from Horford. It didn't look like Horford was trying to hurt Ford, but he caught his head and yanked it back, causing Ford to fall and smack his head on the court. Ford, you may remember, missed the 2004-05 season after having neck surgery. "After a while I could see him moving and that was a relief," Toronto's Chris Bosh said, adding there was immediate concern about Ford because everyone knew his injury history."It turns my stomach because of who it is," Bosh said. "Like I say, we know about his situation and everything."He was conscious. He wasn't trying to move too much. I'm sure he was feeling pain in his arms and legs. I just hope he's OK."

Elsewhere...

• Cavs 118 Pacers 105 - (BTW, smart move not punishing Tinsley. That'll put a stop to all those discipine problems)
• Wizards 102 TWolves 88
• Clippers 91 Nets 82
• Pistons 113 Grizzlies 103
• Blazers 97 Jazz 89
• Warriors 96 Spurs 84
  

The Basketball Diaries

Dallas Mavericks 99 New York Knicks 89

I hope you didn't actually think I'd start the Diaries off with the Knicks and basketball would actually be the story. Why would I want to talk basketball when talking about the Knicks? They're horrible at it. I'd rather just talk about Isiah whom according to fans near the Knicks bench wasn't too pleased with the MSG crowd last night. Though it's hard to be happy with people who boo you constantly. Isiah of course denied all of this after the game. "I was just trying to make sure that we kept the team together and we stayed focused on what we were doing and trying to win a basketball game," he said. "Our fans are great, they support us and they show up and we're glad they're here."

Atlanta Hawks 98 Orlando Magic 87

I know you're wondering how the Magic could actually lose to the Hawks, but it's pretty simple actually. Orlando isn't very good at home, it's on the road that they dominate. They're 5-4 this season at home, and 11-2 on the road, which presents a paradox for Orlando. The more games they win the more likely they are to have home court advantage in a playoff series, but the more times they play at home, the more likely they are to lose. It's insanity!

Miami Heat 117 Phoenix Suns 113

Just when you think the Heat are completely washed up, they score a win in Phoenix over the Suns. Dwyane Wade had 31 points for Miami, 10 of which came in the final four minutes, as he led Miami to it's biggest victory of the season. "I'm getting a lot more comfortable with my game, especially with my pull-up jumper," said Wade, who scored 16 in Miami's 40-point first quarter. "I wanted to come out and be real aggressive and put some pressure on them." It's the first time Miami has beaten Phoenix in the last three years.

Elsewhere...

• Sixers 100 Rockets 88
• Kings 96 Bucks 93

The Basketball Diaries - Everybody Loves Bad Basketball

Atlanta Hawks 99 Sacramento Kings 76

Boy, I tell you what. Between the NIT, the women's tournament, and this game, I just had no idea what to watch. I mean how do you choose between such amazing options? So instead, I chose 24, but I heard that Josh Childress scored 25 points to lead the Hawks to victory. Good for him.

The NOOCH 106 Boston Celtics 88

So was it the inspired play by the Hornets or the fact that the Celtics suck that held Boston to nine points in the second quarter? It's a question on par with a tree falling in the forest when nobody's around to hear it. What I mean is, who the hell cares about a damn tree falling in the forest? I'll tell you who. Hippies. And I hate hippies. If a tree does fall in the forest, I hope it lands on a bunch of hippies and kills them, and hopefully I'm around to hear them scream. Especially if it's these hippies. Oh, and the Celtics suck.

(Sorry for the lack of actual basketball analysis this morning, but c'mon, I didn't have much basketball to work with did I?)