On the surface, calling the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns history a “rivarly” may not be accurate. The Spurs have clipped the Suns four times in the past five seasons. But while it may not be a “rivalry” in the literal sense, bad blood most definitely remains.

Losing to a team multiple times over multiple years fosters and helps build that sense of resentment. The lasting image of Robert Horry shoulder-checking Steve Nash into the announcers table is one of the more memorable and infamous events in playoff history. The Suns also felt the aftershocks after Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw were suspended for attempting to come to the aid of their woozy leader. For kicks, let us not forget Bruce Bowen miraculously avoided suspension after kneeing Nash in the groin in Game 3 of that series. Read the rest of this entry »

The NFL playoffs last one month. So does March Madness (for now). Baseball lasts all of October with a little bit going into November. The NBA playoffs started on April 17th and won’t be over until sometime in June. It’s been two weeks and we’re still in the first round. That’s just too much. For all of David Stern’s brilliant decisions in the last few years, his biggest mistake was changing the first-round playoffs from a best-of-five series to best-of-seven in 2003. Read the rest of this entry »

Four wins down, 12 to go. If you’re into math, that’s 25% of the way home to being crowned the H.T.I.C. of the NBA. For some, the first four wins were essentially a cake walk. For others, scratching, clawing and the sheer grace of the ghost of James Naismith are the reason they’ve advanced to the round of eight.

Regardless, you’re here. And that’s all that really matters.

Since Mike played his last game as a Chicago Bull in June of 1998, David Stern’s league and the power that came with it have rested in the west. It is a conference of big men, agile guards and competition trumping that of their eastern counterparts. The 2004 Detroit Pistons, 2006 Miami Heat and 2008 Boston Celtics were the only exceptions to the rule. Other than that, the Lakers and Spurs have presented themselves was kings of the court winning eight combined titles since 1999. Even with the league’s MVP resting in the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference could very well continue their dominance with the emergence of the already coined “team of the future,” the Oklahoma City Thunder.

We’re getting ahead of ourselves though. There is a series set to kickoff in Hollywood.

Los Angeles Lakers Vs. Utah Jazz

Playing without several of their top players, the Jazz are running off heart – and behind the league’s best point guard in Deron Williams. If Jerry Sloan’s crew can keep their head above water until Game 3 (i.e. at least take one in L.A.), the return of Andrei Kirilenko could be big. The Jazz can find solace in knowing they can potentially dictate the tempo of the series with Williams having the supreme advantage over the Lakers point guards. And Boozer is coming off a stellar first round series, including a 22/20 performance in the Game 6 clincher versus Denver.  All that’s standing in their way is that 14 game losing streak at the Staples Center.

But the Lakers are the Lakers and beating them four times in a seven game series isn’t exactly the easiest task to accomplish. Especially when you consider the Lakers have won 77% of their games since acquiring the Pau Gasol a few seasons ago. The Spaniard and Odom are the size that the Jazz do not have and Phil Jackson probably will look to expose this from the opening tip. Even more so than consistent help off the bench, Ron Artest has to be more of an offensive threat as completely disappeared at times in their opening round series. And like him or not, Kobe Bryant is still one of the best players on the planet and arguably the best closer in the game.

J. Tinsley | MZ | S. Cadet — Lakers in 6 Jason H. — Lakers in 7

Patrick M. — Utah in 6

Finding a good picture of this happening seems impossible. Maybe the photogs were sleeping, just like everyone else, when the Cavs’ Mo Williams decided to rise to the rim and on Paul Pierce. At this point, I’m not even sure which is worse — Paul Pierce’s decision-making…or Mike Brown’s post-game reaction. I guess I’ll pardon Mike, as this may have been Williams’ first known slam as a Cav. Pierce, what’s your excuse? Read the rest of this entry »

Before we get things started, let’s take a look back at a few things we’ve learned from the first round.

– The NBA is both a players & coaches league: Since the NBA is star driven, we’ve been conditioned to think that coaches don’t matter.  As seen in the Denver/Utah series, coaches matter a lot under the right circumstances.  The absence of George Karl hurt the Nuggets immensely, who looked downright clueless with Adrian Dantley manning the ship.  While the Jazz looked unstoppable running the system that Jerry Sloan’s had in place since the days of Methuselah.  From a talent standpoint, both teams were pretty even matched.  Deron Williams had his showing out party, but the difference were the men who drew the X’s & O’s.

– Injuries can hurt & help a team: Injuries were the talk of the league leading up to the playoffs, as vital players suffered both minor & major injuries as the season winded down.  But going back to Utah, the loss of Mehmet Okur played a pivotal part in their win as well.   It freed up more time for the likes of Paul Milsap, C.J. Miles & Wesley Matthews.  What they lost in Okur’s shooting was more than made up in better defensive match-ups and a balanced scoring attack.

–You’ve got to be able to win on the road: Regardless of whether the Hawks win game seven or not, any team that is a bad on the road as they are will always be pretenders.

– Never count out those veteran laden teams: Both Boston & San Antonio had up and down seasons with rosters built (& only care about) what happens once the 82 game season is over.  Be it pacing their selves, finally recovering from injuries or increased Geritol doses, both teams were able to turn it on once the playoffs started. So until the teams are dissembled, you can never count them out.

Cleveland Cavaliers Vs. Boston Celtics

There’s a bout going down on Saturday and we’re not talking about Mayweather vs. Mosley. With Lebron James’ elbow hurt, look for him to go to the rack early and often in this series. The old timers should give Cleveland a scare as the Cavs have a propensity to be too reliant on Lebron. Boston’s attack is simply more balanced with more dependable scorers and a defense, like Cleveland’s, that can put the clamps on down the stretch. For Boston to be the first team to four wins, “the big three” have to play like it every single game.

Ray has to knock down shots, Pierce has to prove why he is one of the more clutch players in the league and Garnett has to do more than yell and attempt to scare people. Which is a stretch at this point, on top of the fact that the C’s bench is too weak, thanks to the dud acquisitions of Sheed, Marquis Daniels and Nate Robinson. For Cleveland, it’s simple – just provide enough help for LeBron so he can take over the last four minutes of the game.

J. Tinsley — Cavs in 6 Patrick M. | S. Cadet | Jason H. — Cavs in 7

MZ — Celtics in 7

Mr. Commissioner,

I know you’re as excited for the NBA offseason as anyone. Typically July and August are dead zones for the NBA as the sports world is focused on baseball, the NFL preseason and whatever US Weekly style floater ESPN can drum up about A-Rod or Tiger Woods. Not this year though. Nope, we’re in for two months of LeBron getting his attention-whore on as he makes every franchise genuflect before him in hopes of wooing him to their franchise. With D-Wade, Bosh, Amare and all the other marquee free agents up for grabs as well, the league’s going year round. Read the rest of this entry »

Seriously.

You bust your hump to continuously carry your team which should have been renamed “Lukewarm” long ago and in a matter of a seconds, it all goes down the drain. This time you pour in 34 points to go along with eight assists all the while you knew your body was going into overdrive. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re back again with the second part of first round preview.  Hopefully today’s games will follow the lead of the later games yesterday and provide a great game from start to finish.  Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time for the NBA playoffs and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  Baseball’s just warming up & a few months from warranting paying attention to it.  Only thing popping off with football is the draft & spring practices in college.  Hockey’s playoffs have begun, but you can’t even find those games on TV if you wanted to.  The Lakers appear to be in prime position to repeat, but there are capable teams in both conferences standing in the wings & waiting to take it off their hands.  Which makes the NBA playoffs the hot ticket, the intensity picks as the O’Brien trophy is the ultimate prize. Read the rest of this entry »