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

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

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

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: Detroit vs. Philadelphia

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: Much like the Boston-Atlanta series, there really isn't much reason to watch any of this series unless you're a fan of either team. Philly had a very strong second half of the season to get into the playoffs, and they're a lot better than Atlanta, but they don't have a realistic shot of upsetting the Pistons here.

Why Detroit Will Win This Series: Because they're the Pistons, and winning in the postseason is what they do. They still have Chauncey Billups, they still have Rasheed Wallace, they still have Rip Hamilton, and Tayshaun Prince just comes alive in the playoffs. Not to mention that they probably have the best bench they've had in Detroit since they became a perennial powerhouse.

Why Philadelphia Will Win This Series: Because they're so pissed off at how the refs screwed them earlier this week against Cleveland, allowing the Cavs to shoot game-winning free throws after they thought the game was over, and put them in this position in the first place. They could be facing Orlando in the first round, not Detroit. So the Sixers will win this series to stick it to David Stern and the NBA.

Who Will Win This Series: Detroit 4-1. Realistically the Pistons should sweep this series, but they always seem to give at least one game away in each series during the postseason.

The Basketball Diaries

Philadelphia 76ers 121 Chicago Bulls 99

Seriously, do any of you out there really think the Bulls have any shot at still making the playoffs? I know they beat the Hawks on Tuesday night, but you can't honestly believe they're going to magically stop sucking do you? If you do, it's obvious you didn't see last night's game. The Bulls got blown out of the gate by the streaking Sixers, and never recovered. A couple of hours later they laid shattered on the floor. Actually, that's not true. They would actually have to give a shit for that to happen. Instead they all went out for ice cream afterwards. Aaron Gray bought for everybody, what a guy.

Boston Celtics 117 Phoenix Suns 97

I have to admit, I was kind of excited about this game. The Celtics are the Celtics, and the Suns finally seem to have adjusted to having Shaq on the team. So I figured this game was going to be very entertaining, and it was, but only if you are a Celtics fan. For the second straight game, the Suns lost to an Eastern Conference powerhouse as Kevin Garnett scored 30 points and Paul Pierce had 27 as Boston relatively coasted through the game. "I couldn't have imagined it a year ago," Pierce said, thinking back to the seven-for-one trade that bought Garnett out of Minnesota over the summer. "The whole face of the Celtics turned around when the trade happened with this guy. Everyone talks about MVP, and they talk about numbers, but this guy has changed the whole culture around here."

New Orleans Hornets 100 Cleveland Cavaliers 99

Chris Paul has long referred to his teammate David West as the "17-foot Assassin." If the Cavaliers didn't know why he does that, they found out on Wednesday night. Paul dished off his 20th assist of the night to West, and David drained a 17-footer with .6 seconds left to give the Hornets a road victory in Cleveland. "We knew we were going to have a chance to get the ball to Chris Paul and let him create," Scott said. "We knew we were going to get a good look at it. If we got the shot, we didn't want to leave a lot of time on the clock. It was .6 when David nailed it. It worked to perfection."

Elsewhere...

• Hawks 115 Bucks 96
• Raptors 89 Pistons 82
• Nets 124 Pacers 117
• Knicks 103 Heat 96 OT
• Rockets 97 TWolves 86
• Spurs 97 Clippers 88
• Wizards 104 Sonics 99
• Kings 107 Grizzlies 106 OT
• Bobcats 108 Lakers 95

The Basketball Diaries

Detroit Pistons 110 Phoenix Suns 105 OT

The Suns had recently seemed to figure it out, winning their last seven games, but they couldn't figure out how to stop Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups on Monday night. Sheed kept the Pistons out front early with a barrage of three-pointers, finishing the night 5-of-9 behind the arc for 23 points, while Billups scored 9 of his 32 during overtime to lead Detroit to victory. Also stepping up were rookie guards Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo as the Pistons had to make do without both Rip Hamilton and Juan Dixon. "This game is another vindication for the young guys," said Billups. "I have an unbelievable amount of confidence in those guys." Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 33 points.

Philadelphia 76ers 95 Boston Celtics 90

They've been doing it under the radar, but the Sixers have been playing very good basketball as of late. Something tells me their win over the Celtics on Monday night may help garner more attention, as the Sixers have now won 12 of their last 15 games and are over .500 for the first time this season. The key last night was a 19-0 run in the fourth quarter after facing a double-digit deficit. Andre Iguodala, who led Philly with 28 points, is pleased with the win but doesn't feel the Sixers have accomplished anything yet. "It shows how hard we've worked to get back," said Iguodala. "But I think we still have to have that mentality like we're a team that's still under .500 and still fighting. It's not over yet. We've gotten to a point where we want to be, which is over .500, but we still don't have an 'X' by our name" to signify a playoff berth.

Elsewhere...

• Heat 78 Bucks 73
• Nets 106 Knicks 91
• Nuggets 120 Grizzlies 106
• Rockets 108 Kings 100
• Sonics 97 Blazers 84
• Lakers 123 Warriors 119 OT
  

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

Utah Jazz 116 Dallas Mavericks 110

The Utah Jazz were on a roller coaster ride on Monday night. The Jazz blew a 21- point lead before going on a 16-0 run in the fourth quarter to complete their 16th straight home victory. Deron Williams had 17 points and 20 assists to lead the Jazz. "Everybody right know is fighting for their lives and fighting for a playoff spot. It was a fun game to be a part of," said Deron Williams. "I wish we would have held on to that lead. We let that slip away. We knew they were going to make a run, but we should have put them away a little earlier." Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 28, and Mehmet Okur had 20. Josh Howard led the Mavs with 25 while Dirk Nowitzki scored 23, but the Mavs fell to 4-4 since acquiring Jason Kidd.

New Orleans Hornets 100 New York Knicks 88

The Hornets had a little too much trouble with the Knicks before Chris Paul helped his team finish the game on a 10-0 run, and get out of Madison Square Garden with a victory. Paul finished the game with 27 points, 19 of which came in the second half, and had 8 assists and 5 rebounds. He's so good that even Isiah Thomas noticed. "As I said before the game, he's great. He's just as good in person as he is when you watch him on tape," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "I thought Nate in the first half did a good job in terms of applying pressure and trying to keep up with him, and then he got in foul trouble and I thought that took away some of his aggressiveness."

Philadelphia 76ers 106 Los Angeles Clippers 80

Yeah, because you really care about anything that happened in this game. Long story short, Philly outscored the Clippers over a regulated span of 48 minutes.

The Basketball Diaries

Cleveland Cavaliers 118 Orlando Magic 111

The Cavs game on Sunday ended with a sulking LeBron James sitting at the end of the bench, giving his teammates the cold shoulder as Cleveland was on the wrong end of a 30-point ass-whooping by the Nuggets. Apparently, LeBron was getting tired of having to carry the entire Cavaliers team on his shoulders. Well, on Monday his team got the message, or at least Larry Hughes did. Hughes scored 40 points to add to LeBron's 29 and 10 assists as the Cavs beat Orlando on the road Monday night.

Philadelphia 76ers 84 Dallas Mavericks 76

Mavs owner Mark Cuban recently came out and said that Dallas would not be making any trade for Jason Kidd before the trading deadline. His reasoning being that New Jersey wanted half of Dallas' roster, and that Mark likes the team he currently has. I wonder if after seeing them play on Monday night, could he possibly feel the same way? The Mavs were only able to score 23 points in the second half, as the Sixers won their fourth straight game behind Andre Miller's 21 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals.

Los Angeles Lakers 106 Charlotte Bobcats 97

So far for the Lakers the trade for Pau Gasol is working out splendidly. Gasol scored 26 points on Monday night, while Kobe Bryant scored 31 to lead the Lakers improve their record on their current road trip to 6-2. "Adding Pau to the mix, we have something that has to be dealt with," said Bryant after the Lakers improved to 4-1 since the trade for their new big man. Kobe's not kidding either. Once Bynum comes back, teams are going to have a hard time matching up with a front court that consists of three athletic forwards who are all at least 6'10 in Gasol, Bynum, and Lamar Odom. Oh, and they have to guard Kobe too.

Elsewhere...

• Spurs 93 Raptors 88
• Clippers 96 Bucks 89
• Rockets 95 Blazers 83
• Warriors 120 Wizards 117

The Basketball Diaries - Just One More Day

Cleveland Cavaliers 98 Philadelphia 76ers 92

I know a lot of Chicagoans who were Sixer fans last night, but we were all severely disappointed. None of us really expected Philly to beat Cleveland, but it would have been nice. It was a team effort for the Cavs with six players scoring double figures, led by the 22 of Larry Hughes' (who also, apparently, chopped off Andre Miller's head) and LeBron's 18. The Cleveland win puts all the pressure on the Bulls tonight in New Jersey.

Golden State Warriors 111 Dallas Mavericks 82

The Warriors tightened their grip on the West's final playoff spot with a win over half of the Mavericks. Neither Dirk, Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse, or Erick Dampier played for the Mavs, but the win counts the same in the standings for Golden State. Still, the Warriors have to beat Portland tonight to make sure they play this postseason. "Win or go home. What better way?" asked Baron Davis. "Who would have thought we would be in this position at the end of the year? The mission is not over. We win tomorrow, that's when the mission starts."

Los Angeles Clippers 103 Phoenix Suns 99

The reason the Warriors have to win tonight is because the Clippers beat Phoenix on Tuesday. Elton Brand scored 21 to lead the Clippers who are using the Dallas Mavericks for motivation to win tonight against the Hornets. "From what I'm hearing, Dallas didn't play their guys," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "Obviously Phoenix played their guys, so it tells you they (the Mavericks) probably prefer to play Golden State than us. That's what it comes down to." That's right coach. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact Dallas already has home-court wrapped up. They're just scared of you.

Elsewhere...

• Hawks 118 Pacers 102
• Magic 95 Wizards 89
• Pistons 100 Raptors 84

The Basketball Diaries - Eddy Curry Is Still Fat And Slow

Chicago Bulls 98 New York Knicks 69

I was at this game last night (Thanks, Greg!) and the thing I noticed more than anything else was just how fat Eddy Curry really is. It was also obvious that he's slow, and sucks on D. Of course, I already knew all of this from his playing days with the Bulls, but I just like to point it out as often as I can. The Bulls owned the Knicks from the outset as this game was never close. The only disappointment came when the Bulls couldn't manage four damn points in the final two and a half minutes and cost me a free Big Mac. Bastards. Oh, and there were extracurricular activities afterwards because of it. Jerome James tried to go after Tyrus Thomas in the tunnel after the game cuz the Knicks thought they were trying to rub it in. "I think they were definitely trying to rub it in," said Eddy Curry, who spent his first four seasons with the Bulls. "But we'll see them next year." Oh shut up, Eddy. You knew exactly what was going on. Hell, you wanted one of those damn Big Macs. I saw your mother in the crowd.

New Jersey Nets 96 Washington Wizards 92

Things are falling apart and fast in Washington. The Wizards lost their five straight since losing both Agent Zero and Caron Butler, and now the Nets are withing two games of the Wiz for the sixth seed in the East. Richard Jefferson led the Nets with 35 points. Of course, there was still some good news for the Wizards....

Philadelphia 76ers 90 Indiana Pacers 86

...because this Pacers loss clinched a playoff berth for them. Now they get to lose in the first round! Congrats, Washington. The Sixers were shorthanded but it didn't keep them from basically ending the Pacers season. Andre Miller had 19 points and 11 assists for Philly. As for the Pacers and Jermaine O'Neal, they're realizing their fate. "We didn't really meet the challenge that we needed to meet, especially since we're in the playoff push," O'Neal said. "There's not a word that really describes the feeling of it, especially when we struggled the way we struggled tonight."

Elsewhere...

• Hawks 104 Celtics 96
• Bobcats 92 Heat 82
• Hornets 103 Clippers 100 OT
• Kings 112 Grizzlies 100
  

The Basketball Diaries-I Can't Believe I Forgot To Set The Tivo

Phoenix Suns 129 Dallas Mavericks 127 2OT

I'm going to be kicking myself for a while after forgetting to record this game last night. The Suns dominated the first and fourth quarters, but thanks to a third quarter in which they were outscored 38-16 the Suns needed two overtimes to overtake the Mighty Mavs. Steve Nash showed his MVP form by scoring 10 points in the final minute of regulation to force the first overtime. Amare had 41 and 10, while Nash had 32, 16 assists and 8 rebounds. Dirk had 30 and 16 while Jerry Stackhouse dropped in 33 of his own, and I hate myself for missing all of it.

Chicago Bulls 88 Philadelphia 76ers 87

The Bulls played like crap for about 45 minutes, and then finally got their act together in the final three minutes to win their 4th straight and 10th of their last 13 in Philly. Kirk Hinrich put the Bulls ahead with 26.7 seconds left, and then after an ugly air ball by Andre Iguodala, Adrian Griffin went to the free throw line to ice the game. He missed both free throws, a common theme for the Bulls last night. The Bulls only shot 6-15 from the line last night, but Ben Wallace tipped the second miss around for a while and killed some time. Of course, the officials also robbed the Sixers of about 2.5 seconds when they called a timeout. I didn't complain about it when Iguodala's last second shot glanced off the side of the rim.

Washington Wizards 112 Indiana Pacers 96

Jermaine O'Neal returned to the lineup for the Pacers, but it didn't keep them from losing their 11th straight game. Agent Zero had 35 points and 8 assists to help the Wizards push the Pacers further into their free fall. Jermaine O'Neal is sick of the losing, and sick of talking about it too. "This is probably going to be my last interview about what we need to do," O'Neal said. "We need to play defense."

Elsewhere...

• Magic 101 Jazz 90
• Raptors 104 Knicks 94
• Bobcats 111 Kings 108
• Celtics 109 Hawks 88
• Cavs 118 Grizzlies 96
• Rockets 109 Clippers 105
• Pistons 87 Blazers 75

The Basketball Diaries - What the Hell, Phoenix?

Philadelphia 76ers 99 Phoenix Suns 94

Okay. So you're the Suns and you're one win away from being the first team in NBA history to sweep your season road games against the Eastern Conference. That's right. You are 14-0, and the only team standing in your way is the Philadelphia 76ers. You then beat Philly by 49 points behind Pat Burke's 55 points. Wait. What? No way?! Philly won!? How in the hell did that happen!? Is Ashton Kutcher going to jump out from behind the Phoenix bench or something? Phoenix didn't have Shawn Marion or Boris Diaw, and apparently they're very important. Andre Iguodala had 24 points while Willie Green added 20. Who the hell is Willie Green? Ya, I don't know either, and I think that's the point. For shame, Phoenix. For shame.

Chicago Bulls 113 Golden State Warriors 83

This game was pretty close at halftime, as the Bulls went to the locker room with a 62-58 lead. They then came out and outscored the Warriors 51-25 in the second half to send them on their way. Ben Gordon had 22 points, but 16 came in the first quarter. After that it was the freshmen who controlled the game. Tyrus Thomas tied his career high with 14 points while Thabo Sefolosha scored a career-high 19 to help the Bulls pull away. "They are starting to play a lot better. Obviously, they started off a little bit slower. Just the whole rookie process, but they are starting to play better now," Gordon said. "We need both of those guys big time down the stretch, so it's good to see them come around."

Boston Celtics 102 New York Knicks 94

Look out world, here come the Celtics!! Al Jefferson had 26 points, Paul Pierce had 24, and Gerald Green had 21 as the Celtics were able to hold off the Knickerbockers after blowing an early 28-point lead. That's two wins in a row for the Celtics, and it seems like they're going to try to blow the chance at landing Greg Oden or Kevin Durant in the draft. "Two games is good, we want to build on it and just get better," Pierce said. "There's teams that are battling for playoff position. The Knicks are trying to get into the playoffs -- we want to spoil their fun."

Elsewhere...

• Heat 92 Wizards 83
• Hornets 107 Hawks 100
• Jazz 104 Grizzlies 88
• Raptors 106 Rockets 90
• Nuggets 111 Magic 101
• Kings 135 Bobcats 120 (Defensive struggle)
• Clippers 96 Sonics 91

He Is What He Is

The turbulent tale of Allen Iverson has started a new chapter.

Iverson's eleventh season with the Philadephia 76ers will be his last. Bubbachucks released a statement yesterday making it clear he's leaving the City of Brotherly Love:

"As hard as it is to admit, a change may be the best thing for everyone. I hate admitting that because I love the guys on the team and the city of Philadelphia. I truly wanted to retire a 76er."

76ers owner Ed Snider was barely civil in reponse. Asked if Iverson had played his final game as in Philly uniform, he succinctly answered, "Probably," then promptly sent Iverson home. He is no longer scheduled to play this weekend.

(And it doesn't sound like they're stopping with Iverson. According to the New York Post, GM Billy King is looking to trade Chris Webber too.)

The question is, where will A.I. go?

Boston's putting on the full court press. (They had already started talking pre-season.) Denver could be a great match - imagine fourth quarter play teaming Carmelo with The Answer.

Or Minnesota, Atlanta, Indiana, Memphis....

Wherever Iverson ends up, it will likely happen quickly. Rumors are he'll be playing in a new uniform by Monday.

You can be sure the drama will follow.