The Basketball Diaries

San Antonio Spurs 99 New Orleans Hornets 80 (Series tied 3-3)

Okay, so the playoffs have been incredibly predictable so far. Another home team won on Thursday night, as the home teams improved to 20-1 in the second round.

Manu Ginobili had 25 points, and Tim Duncan had 20 points and 15 rebounds to help the Spurs hold off elimination. Well, for a few more days anyway. Unless the Spurs flip the script and pull off a road victory.

"That's what you want to have, an opportunity," said Tony Parker, who had 15 points. "That's why Game 6 was huge. We won the game and now we have an opportunity to win a game on the road."

The Hornets weren't helped out much by the officials, as both Chris Paul and David West picked up their 4th fouls early in the third quarter. Byron Scott left both in the game, but they were pretty limited on defense afterwards.

Though West didn't have to worry about foul trouble for long, as he left the game with back spasms. Luckily these teams will have two days off before game seven, so David will need all the treatment he can get on that back. If he can't go in game seven, that's a huge boost for San Antonio.

The Basketball Diaries

Los Angeles Lakers 111 Utah Jazz 104 (Lakers lead 3-2)

As good as this series has been at times, it's also been incredibly boring. In each of the first five games of this series, the team that takes the lead halfway through the first quarter holds onto it for the rest of the game. The Lakers jumped out to an early lead to start the game yesterday, and they never trailed, not even for a second.

The Jazz tied the game a few times, but never capitalized on an opportunity to actually take the lead from the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant said his back felt better before last night's game, but you could tell watching him play that it's still bothering him. He was much more passive last night, and even though he finished with 26 points, not a single one came in the fourth quarter. Instead it was Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol scoring all the points at the end, as Odom finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Pau dropped in 21 with six boards and eight assists.

"I just had to pick my spots," he said. "I knew I wasn't 100 percent healthy, so I wanted to get us off to a good start, give us an emotional boost. Then in the third quarter, there were moments where I had to pick it up, and I was able to do that. And in the fourth quarter, Lamar [Odom] and Pau [Gasol] took it from there."

Boston Celtics 96 Cleveland Cavaliers 89 (Celtics lead 3-2)

The way this game started, I had a feeling that Boston was finally going to give one up at home, as LeBron James came out hitting his shots and giving the Cavs a 14-point lead at times in the first half. Unfortunately for Cleveland, LeBron's scoring touch disappeared in the second half, and the Celtics took advantage.

Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and had 16 rebounds, and Paul Pierce had 29, but the man who made it all work was Rajon Rondo who finished with 20 points and 13 assists for Boston.

"This momentum, and what we did here tonight," Garnett said, "we've got to figure a way to carry this on the road."

LeBron would finish with 35 for Cleveland, easily his highest scoring game of the three played in Boston, but only 15 came in the second half. Also not helping matters was the fifteen missed free throws for Cleveland, and the fact that they hit two three pointers in the opening minutes, and only went 1-for-14 from there out.

The Basketball Diaries

New Orleans Hornets 101 San Antonio Spurs 79 (Hornets lead 3-2)

The third quarter has been huge in this series, and that didn't change last night. As had happened in games one and two in New Orleans, the Spurs led at halftime, but the Hornets came out and took over in the third quarter. The Hornets outscored the Spurs 28-11 as San Antonio couldn't make a bucket to save their lives.

David West kept the Hornets alive in the first half, scoring half of their points with 22, and finished the game with 38 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Decent, I guess. Chris Paul had 22 points and 14 assists, and came alive in the second half after his teammates that didn't have the name West written on the back of their jerseys started sinking shots.

Tim Duncan, on the other hand, didn't have things so easy. He was only able to manage 10 points on 5-of-18 shooting, though Tony Parker did have 20, and Manu Ginobili finished with 18. The Spurs will probably go home and win game six, probably, but I'm not too sure they're going to be able to come back and win in New Orleans if they do.

Detroit Pistons 91 Orlando Magic 86 (Pistons win 4-1)

So the Pistons will be playing in their sixth straight Eastern Conference Finals after disposing of the Magic last night. The Pistons were without Chauncey Billups again on Tuesday night, but they seem to be doing just fine without him.

Rip Hamilton led the way on offense, scoring 31 points, and hit the clinching free throws at the end of the game. Tayshaun Prince didn't struggled from the field on offense, but his huge block of Hedo Turkoglu in the closing seconds more than made up for all his bricks.

The best news of all for the Pistons is that they'll now get to rest up while Boston and Cleveland keep pounding each other (same can be said for teams out west as well). I don't care who wins that series, the way those two teams are playing I don't think either will beat Detroit.

The Basketball Diaries

Cleveland Cavaliers 88 Boston Celtics 77 (Series tied 2-2)

LeBron James can do it all. If you need him to put your team on his back in the fourth quarter, he can do that. If you need him to distribute the ball to his teammates, he can do that as well, as he handed out 13 assists last night. If you need him to deliver an emphatic dunk on Kevin Garnett, he can do that, and did in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter (I'm currently looking for video).

And most importantly, if you need someone who knows when and how to put his mother in her place, LeBron can do that. Which he did during the second quarter when she started saying something to Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce after a hard foul. It was though he'd forgotten that Mother's Day was but 24 hours beforehand when he told her to "Sit down and shut up."

"I told her to sit down, in some language I shouldn't have used," James said. "Thank God today wasn't Mother's Day. All I could think about is her. ... I know my mother. It's fine, we're good."

Doesn't this all seem familiar, though? No, not the stuff about LeBron's mom, but James struggling in the first two games of a playoff series, then going home and getting back on track. Last year he did the same thing against a heavily favored Pistons team, and now he's doing it against the heavily favored Celtics. The Pistons were good at home, the Celtics are good at home.

If he goes and scores Cleveland's last 25 points in game five to get the Cavs the win, the NBA would probably be better served to hire new writers.

The Basketball Diaries

Utah Jazz 123 Los Angeles Lakers 115 OT (Series tied 2-2)

The Jazz tried to give this one away, as they blew a 12-point lead in the final minutes and let the game get to overtime, but from there the defense locked down Kobe and the Lakers. LA only made two field goals in overtime, and the Jazz sent the series back to Los Angeles tied.

Deron Williams had 29 points and 14 assists, Carlos Boozer had 14 and 12 boards, Mehmet Okur had 18 and 11, and Andrei Kirilenko had 15 and 5 blocks. He also played very good defense on Kobe, because even though Kobe finished with 33, he only made 13 of his 33 shots.

"No excuses for me. [Kirilenko] did a great job," Bryant said. "They did a terrific job. They did big plays when they needed to."

San Antonio Spurs 100 New Orleans Hornets 80 (Series tied 2-2)

This game was not as close as the score would lead you to believe.

San Antonio took a 13-point lead until halftime, and nearly had it up to 30 before going to the bench in the fourth quarter. Tim Duncan had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and Tony Parker chipped in with 21 more points of his own.

Of course, the real difference in this game was that the Spurs finally stopped letting all the Hornets not named Chris Paul kill them. They figured out that Paul is going to get his no matter what, and the key to beating New Orleans is to stop everybody else.

"We've got to play Game 5 the same way we approached Game 3 and 4," San Antonio's Manu Ginobili said. "That is going to be huge, so we don't have to have any satisfaction with what we just accomplished. We are the same way we started."

The Basketball Diaries

San Antonio Spurs 110 New Orleans Hornets 99 (Hornets lead 2-1)

Yep, so the Spurs are definitely too old and slow to stop the Hornets. Chris Paul had another great night for New Orleans, scoring 35 points and 9 assists, while David West had 23 points and 12 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to push the Spurs to the brink of elimination.

Tony Parker seemingly answered every basket by Chris Paul with one of his own, and joined Manu Ginobili with 31 points on the night. The key difference in this game for San Antonio was that, while they still weren't able to really stop Paul, the role players hit their shots. Bruce Bowen had 12 points, all on three-pointers, and Michael Finley finished with 11 point of his own.

The Hornets, meanwhile, didn't get much from anybody but CP3 and David West. Peja Stojakovic only had 8 points, while Tyson Chandler was the only other Hornet in double digits with 12.

Boston Celtics 89 Cleveland Cavaliers 73 (Celtics lead 2-0)

I'm guessing that after this game was over, LeBron James showered as quickly as he could, and ran to the airport. Anything to get the hell out of Boston. James struggled from the field again on Thursday, going only 6-of-24 from the field. That brings him to 8-of-42 in the series.

Despite his horrible shooting, LeBron did manage to score more points than anybody on the Celtics, with 21, but I doubt that's of much consolation. Paul Pierce had 19, Ray Allen 16, and Kevin Garnett 13, but it was enough for Boston to get a pretty easy victory.

Still, given the way Boston played on the road in the last series, there's no way you can say that the Cavs are done in this series. Plus, you gotta figure LeBron's shots will start falling at some point. They have to, right?

The Basketball Diaries

Los Angeles Lakers 120 Utah Jazz 110 (Lakers lead series 2-0)

On the night when Kobe Bryant was given his first ever MVP award, he went out and showed everyone why he got it. Kobe scored 34 points, had 8 rebounds, and handed out 6 assists as the Lakers maintained their perfect playoff record, and more importantly, went up 2-0 on the Jazz.

Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol also had big nights, scoring 19 and 20 respectively (Odom had 16 boards as well) using their length and quickness to get Carlos Boozer in foul trouble, and just abuse Mehmet Okur. Derek Fisher had 22, and hit a big three in the third quarter to give the Lakers their double-digit lead back.

As for Utah, Carlos Boozer didn't get much playing time thanks to all those fouls, but he didn't do much with the time he had, finishing with only 10 points and 5 boards. He also missed seven of his 10 shots.

Deron Williams had 25, 22 in the second half, and gave the Jazz a spark at times, but they were forced to play from behind all night. Plus, Matt Harpring and Kyle Korver could never get going, but role players play better at home, and that's where Utah's going.

Orlando Magic 111 Detroit Pistons 86 (Pistons lead series 2-1)

The Pistons didn't just lose a game on Wednesday night, they may have lost Chauncey Billups as well. Billups strained his right hamstring early in the 1st quarter, and was lost for the game. He's scheduled to undergo an MRI on Thursday, and the Pistons are crossing their fingers.

If Billups is out for a considerable period of time, it could change this series.

Still, we'll have to wait on that announcement, so let's focus on the Magic. Orlando was raining threes on the Pistons, with Rashard Lewis bringing the most thunder. Lewis scored 33 points for the Magic, making eleven of his 14 shots (including 5-for-6 behind the arc), and taking over the game to finish the first half.

Speaking of thunder, Dwight Howard had a ho-hum 20 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks. In defense of his low rebound total, it's hard to get a lot of rebounds when you're swatting away so many shots.

The Basketball Diaries

Boston Celtics 76 Cleveland Cavaliers 72 (Celtics lead series 1-0)

This one was not pretty. While Kevin Garnett scored 28 points, nobody else really did much. Paul Pierce had 4 points while making two of his fourteen shots. Ray Allen went scoreless, but in his defense, he only took four shots. LeBron at least hit double digits with 12 points, but eight of those came at the free throw line, as he also struggled from the field at going two for eighteen.

Yeah, this one was what you might call a defensive struggle.

Sam Cassell managed to have a good night, as somehow always happens in the playoffs. The NBA's only alien scored 13 points, making some big shots to help the Celtics come back after the Cavs took a lead while KG was on the bench. Rajon Rondo had 15, but most of them were scored in the first half.

Zydrunaus Ilgauskas scored 22 points for Cleveland, but didn't help out much during the second half.

Still, this is only the first game of what could be a long series. I don't think LeBron is going to shoot this badly, nor do I expect it from Pierce or Allen, so it's hard to get a real read on how it's going to go. If the Cavs can stay within four points in Boston, with LeBron stuggling to get anything going, it's entirely possible they can steal a game in Beantown like they did in Detroit last season. Seemed to work for them last season.

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

Detroit Pistons 100 Philadelphia 76ers 77 (Pistons win series 4-2)

So this game was over after about three minutes. The Pistons jumped out to a 10-0 lead to start the game thanks to Rip Hamilton, who actually outscored the Sixers in the first quarter 13-12, and they never took their foot off the gas pedal on Thursday night. After falling behind 2-1 in the first three games of this series, the Pistons played like the team they're supposed to be the last three games and disposed of Philly rather easily once they showed up. Rip would finish with 24 points, and Chauncey Billups also had 20 to lead Detroit. "We really didn't catch a rhythm in this series until that second half of Game 4, and we really got our defense going, our offense going and things like that," Hamilton said. "And we kept carrying it over, so hopefully we can continue to do that." The Pistons now move on to face the Orlando Magic in a series that will begin on Saturday.

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

New Orleans Hornets 99 Dallas Mavericks 94 (Hornets win series 4-1)

For the second straight year, the Dallas Mavericks have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, as Chris Paul and the Hornets finished them off in New Orleans on Tuesday night. Paul finished with a triple-double, scoring 24 points, 15 assists, and 11 rebounds. A lot of those assists went to David West who had 25, Jannero Pargo who had 17, and Tyson fucking Chandler who had 10 points and 14 rebounds. "A lot of people may be surprised with how this thing turned out, but we're not too surprised," West said. "Coach has a lot to do with that, his mentality. It's a trickle-down effect. We go out and we pride ourselves on competing." That coach is Byron Scott who earlier in the day won the NBA's Coach of the Year award. As for the Mavericks, who knows where this is going to lead. I wouldn't be surprised if Avery Johnson is looking for another job next season.

San Antonio Spurs 92 Phoenix Suns 87 (Spurs win series 4-1)

Suns general manager took a pretty big risk when he traded for Shaq, a move I never thought made any sense, but the reason he did it was to beat the Spurs. Well, it didn't work. The Spurs knocked the Suns out of the post-season for the second straight year. Tony Parker had 31 points, Tim Duncan had 29 and 17 boards, while nobody else on the Spurs roster managed more than 8 points. It didn't matter though. The Spurs move on to the next round where they'll be facing the Hornets in what should be a very entertaining series. As for the Suns, you have to wonder whether it's time to blow it up. I'm not sure what Shaq's plans are, but I'm willing to bet the Suns wouldn't mind if he just retired. I don't think Mike D'Antoni will get fired because he didn't make the trade for Shaq.

Detroit Pistons 98 Philadelphia 76ers 81 (Pistons lead series 3-1)

Something told me that the Pistons weren't going to come out in game 5 with the same lackadaisical demeanor they showed in game 1 of this series, and I was right. Yeah, me! They jumped out to a 14-point lead after the first quarter, and never relented. Chauncey Billups had 21, Rip Hamilton had 20, and Rasheed Wallace had 19 to lead Detroit. "We knew Game 6 was going to be an elimination game either way it went," Billups said. "We wanted to be on the upper hand of that."

Houston Rockets 95 Utah Jazz 69 (Jazz lead series 3-2)

Everything the Rockets hadn't been doing in the first four games of this series, they did last night, as they handled the Jazz rather easily to stave off elimination for a few more days at least. Tracy McGrady had 29 points, Luis Scola had 18 and 12 rebounds, and Rafer Alston scored 14 to extend the series back to Utah. The odds are still in Utah's favor considering they've only lost 5 times all season at home, but two of those losses came to these Rockets, so I guess you never really know. "We're in a great situation," McGrady said. "We know we can win in Utah because we've done it before." Yes, you're one loss away from having your season end, and you have to do it in the toughest place for a road team to win. What a great situation.

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

Cleveland Cavaliers 100 Washington Wizards 97 (Cleveland leads 3-1)

It's unfortunate that this series probably only has one game left in it, because really, it's been one of the more entertaining matchups this postseason. It all started with the trash talk about LeBron from the Wizards, then Brendan Haywood sent LeBron flying into the crowd, and now even Jay-Z has gotten involved with a diss record on DeShawn Stevenson. Which I'm guessing will be the highlight of Stevenson's career. "He's worth $500 million, and he's writing songs about me," Stevenson said before tipoff. "What does that say about DeShawn Stevenson? Ballin'!" Yes, ballin all the way to another first round exit. LeBron scored 34 points to lead the Cavs, but it was Delonte West who hit the game-winning three-pointer in the final seconds that helped Cleveland place their foot on Washington's throat.

Phoenix Suns 105 San Antonio Spurs 86 (San Antonio leads 3-1)

The Suns came out on fire on Sunday, and maintained the intensity all day as they blew the Spurs out at home to stay alive. Unfortunately, they waited until the series was already over before they started playing. Boris Diaw had a huge day for the Suns, scoring 20 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and handing out 8 assists as Frenchmen continue to dominate this series. Which is an odd thing to say because usually the only thing the French dominate at is getting their ass kicked in wars.

New Orleans Hornets 97 Dallas Mavericks 84 (New Orleans lead 3-1)

The Mavericks started this game where they left off in game 3, but New Orleans' bench took things over in the 2nd quarter to get the Hornets back into the game, and once they took the lead they didn't give it up. David West had 24 points and 9 rebounds, while Chris Paul had 16 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds to help put the Mavericks on the brink of elimination. As a side note, Mavs fans suck. After Jason Kidd got ejected in the 4th quarter for a flagrant foul on Jannero Pargo, the Hornets had a 19-point lead, but there were still 6 minutes left in the game. That didn't stop Mavs "fans" from filing out of the arena in droves. It's hard enough to come back from that kind of deficit, but it's a lot harder when your home crowd just gives up on you and leaves. I mean, it's not like there were any high school football games going on.

Detroit Pistons 93 Philadelphia 76ers 84 (Series tied 2-2)

During the first half it looked like the Sixers were going to do the impossible: go up 3-1 on the mighty Pistons. Then at halftime the Pistons remembered they were the Pistons and realized there's no effin way they should be losing to the Sixers. They came out of the locker room and absolutely dominated in the second half, turning a 10-point deficit into a 9-point victory. Even though the series is still tied at 2, Philly's only chance to win this thing was if they won on Sunday night, and I think it's safe to say Detroit's going to take this one now.

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

Spurs 102 Suns 96 (Spurs lead 2-0)

This game lacked the same excitement of the double-overtime thriller in game one, but in the end the result was the same. It also featured the Suns blowing another double-digit first half lead, as the Spurs outscored the Suns 27-11 in the third quarter. Tony Parker finished with 32 points and 7 assists to lead the Spurs, while Tim Duncan had 18 points and 17 rebounds, including a monster dunk to help end a 10-0 run the Suns went on late to get back into the game. Oh, and Manu Ginobili had another ho-hum 29 points off the bench. Still, even though the Spurs now have a commanding 2-0 lead in this series, I full expect the Suns to take the next two in Phoenix, which is fine with me. I'll take as many games between these two teams as I can get.

Hornets 127 Mavericks 103 (Hornets lead 2-0)

You know, in my preview for this series I really thought that the Hornets inexperience in the postseason was going to kill them. Well, I'm an idiot, because somehow, after tauting Chris Paul all season, I somehow assumed he would just start to suck. Yeah, he's not going to do that anytime soon. Paul dominated the Mavs for a second straight game, consistently making Dallas' attempts to trap him futile. CP3 finished with 32 points and 17 assists and just carved the Mavericks up. "Sitting there watching Chris really develop into the best point guard in this league, it's amazing to watch how he's really risen his game to another level," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "But that's what great players do. He's definitely one of the best on this league right now." Though I should mention Paul wasn't the only performer on the Hornets, as David West finished with 27 points and Peja Stojakovic had 22.

Magic 104 Raptors 103 (Magic lead 2-0)

How about that Dwight Howard? After putting up a 20-20 in game one of this series, he only managed to score 29 points and 20 rebounds as he helped the Magic narrowly escape with a victory over the Raptors on Tuesday night. With the consecutive 20-20 performances, Howard becomes only the 4th player in NBA history to do that in the postseason. The other four? A couple of scrubs named Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett. "It was tough to come back and try to play the same way I played the first game. But one of the things [coach Stan Van Gundy] has put in my head, and [Magic assistant Patrick Ewing], is just trying to play as dominant as I could on both ends of the floor. Since the last game, the only thing on my mind, when I go to sleep, when I wake up, at the gym with the guys, is to dominate." The only thing on my mind in those situations? Adorable puppies.

The Basketball Diaries

Utah Jazz 90 Houston Rockets 84 (Jazz lead 2-0)

It's pretty odd, while I was well aware of the Jazz' 37-4 home record this season, I was just as aware of their 17-24 mark on the road. Still, I figured they'd be able to get at least one victory in Houston and take care of the Rockets at home. I didn't think they'd win the first two games in Houston though, virtually locking up this series already. (There's no way Houston can win 2 of 3 in Utah. Not happening.) Really, that's fine with me because the Jazz are my pick to come out of the west and lose to the Celtics in the NBA Finals. Deron Williams had 22 points and one sore ass, while Mehmet Okur had 16 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Jazz. "It's great for us to come out the way we did and not settle for the one victory," said Williams, who re-aggravated a tailbone injury. "We wanted to get both of them, get greedy. We've just got to go back now and take care of business." Tracy McGrady had 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists for the Rockets, but for the second straight game he went scoreless in the 4th quarter. Not exactly the kind of performance he needs to have if he ever wants to see the second round.


Cleveland Cavaliers 116 Washington Wizards 86 (Cavs lead 2-0)

I had high hopes for this series, what with the fact that these two have now played in the postseason the last three years, and the trash-talking going back and forth between the teams before the series started, but those hopes have been squashed so far. The Wizards look like a team that's out of sync as they try to work their three big pieces back into the puzzle, and LeBron James looks like LeBron James. LeBron scored 30 points, handed out 12 assists, and grabbed 9 rebounds as the Cavs just blew the Wizards out of the gym. Though on the bright side, at least the bad blood has remained, as Brendan Haywood was ejected for a flagrant foul on LeBron, and there were some hard fouls being handed out by both teams all night. So at the very least, maybe we'll get a fight out of this series before it's over. Unfortunately, I think that's the only thing left to look forward to, but you never know in the playoffs. Things could turn around drastically come game 3 in Washington.

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

The Basketball Diaries

Chicago Bulls 107 Toronto Raptors 97

Finally, it's over. Now I know how those hostages in Iran felt like the day they were finally freed. Well, I guess it's not exactly the same. They were held hostage for 444 days, while I was only held captive for 180 or so, but in my defense, they never had to watch this team play and document them all season. Frankly, I could have done 444 days without this team standing on my head. Pussies. Oh! And Tyrus Thomas led the Bulls with 26 points.

Detroit Pistons 84 Cleveland Cavaliers 74

You know, I gotta be honest with you all right now. It's really hard to care about any of these games because none of them mattered as all the playoff spots had already been clinched going into last night's games. I mean, sure, some seeds may have changed but that doesn't mean much this year. All it means is that Boston and Detroit will have different teams to play on their way to meeting in the Eastern Conference Finals, and out west the seeds are damn near irrelevant. Anybody can beat anybody, anywhere. So let's just get to the elsewhere, shall we?

Elsewhere...

• Mavs 111 Hornets 98
• Pacers 132 Knicks 123
• Magic 103 Wizards 83
• Bobcats 115 Sixers 109
• Celtics 105 Nets 94
• Heat 113 Hawks 99
• TWolves 110 Bucks 101 OT
• Rockets 93 Clippers 75
• Nuggets 120 Grizzlies 111
• Spurs 109 Jazz 80
• Suns 100 Blazers 91
• Sonics 126 Warriors 121

The Basketball Diaries

Los Angeles Lakers 124 Sacramento Kings 101

If the Lakers won this game it would clinch home-court advantage for them in the playoffs, and apparently the Maloof brothers are taking heavy action against the Lakers at the Palms, because the Kings sat everybody on their team that could have helped them win this game. Kobe finished with 20 points, and Pau Gasol had 22 as the Lakers cruised to a victory. The last time the Lakers had home-court advantage? That would be in 2000, which not coincidentally led to the first of three straight NBA championships.

New Orleans Hornets 114 Los Angeles Clippers 92

While the Lakers win ended any hopes the Hornets may have had for home-court in the playoffs, their victory over the Clippers did serve a purpose as it clinched the Southwest Division. It's the first division title in the 20-year history of the Hornets, be it in Charlotte or now in Nawlins. "A lot of people had us not even getting in the playoffs," New Orleans center Tyson Chandler said. "I don't think any of us believed that. We all believed that we're one of the better teams in the conference. If you win this division it says a lot about the team because this is the best division in basketball." Oh, go to hell, Tyson. You had nothing to do with it. If it weren't for Chris Paul you'd still be an absolute waste of cap space. (In case you were wondering if the years since Tyson left Chicago have helped ease my hatred for him, they haven't.)

Detroit Pistons 115 Minnesota Timberwolves 103

Sticking with the clinching theme, the Pistons victory over the Wolves on Tuesday night assured them of the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference. Not that they were ever really in any danger of losing it to begin with, but I guess it's a big deal. Congratulations, fellas. "That's nice to have, but I don't think it is critical," Saunders said. "With the 2-3-2 format, I don't know how much it even means." Well, way to piss on the parade, Flip.

Elsewhere...

• Magic 121 Hawks 105
• Nets 112 Hornets 108 OT
• Blazers 113 Grizzlies 91