Boston move past Magic to the Finals

Last year during the Playoffs, the Celtics were missing Kevin Garnett and still took Orlando Magic to 7 Games in the Eastern Conference Finals, but they were eliminated. This year, the Magic couldn't stop Celtics, who beat them in 6 Games.

The Big 3, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, along with Rondo, played great throughout the series, and so did Orlando's Dwight Howard, however Rashard Lewis had a terrible series, averaging 3 points while shooting 27 % from the field in the first 3 games. Meanwhile, the Magic's newest addition, Vince Carter, who was supposed to lead them to the next level, forgot to show up which is nothing unusual as he tends to disappear when it matters.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 31 points, meanwhile Dwight Howard finished with 28. Nate Robinson energized the Celtics off the bench in the second quarter making the lead bigger, and Orlando's hopes slimmer. Boston never let them back in the game, putting an end to the series.

Boston have now advanced to the Finals, their second appearance in the past 3 years, as they face the defending Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers. Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic will probably have a busy off-season as they continue trying to get it together to make a run at the NBA title again next season.

Here are some highlights of Game 6 between Boston and Orlando, enjoy:

Lakers eliminate Suns, advance to the Finals

This past Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers qualified to the NBA Finals for the third time in a row after defeating the Phoenix Suns in 6 Games. The Suns were looking to keep their hopes alive in Game 6, but the Lakers stopped them behind Kobe Bryant's 37 points to win 111-103. Ron Artest hit 4 of his 7 three point shots, finishing with 25 points. Derrick Fisher contributed a lot as well, hitting several big shots in the Second half. Meanwhile the Suns' Steve Nash finished with 21 points and 9 assists, but it wasn't enough to take the series to Game 7.

I think this was an entertaining series filled with a lot of action, and my personal favorite game was the 5th. After being down by more than 10 points in the fourth quarter, Steve Nash brought his team back into the game with some help from the bench. Phoenix tied the game with only 3.5 seconds left as Jason Richardson hit a 3. The game was going to Overtime until Ron Artest tipped in Kobe Bryant's missed shot at the buzzer to defeat the Suns. That game gave the Lakers a 3-2 lead and a lot of advantage going into the next game.

The celebration hasn't started yet because the Lakers will now be playing Boston Celtics in the Finals, which means the 2009 Champions taking on the 2008 Champions. There's a strong rivalry between these two franchises, they've won the most titles and made the most appearances in the Finals. And not to mention, two years ago Celtics won a title defeating none other than the Lakers, so Kobe Bryant and his teammates will be seeking revenge. Look out for a more detailed preview of the Finals in my next blog, but for now enjoy these videos:

Highlights of Game 6


Ron Artest's Game-winner in Game 5

Wizards win the Lottery, Arenas on the trading block?

The Washington Wizards won the NBA Draft Lottery this past week, and it seems like they will be taking John Wall with the Number 1 pick. They only had 10.3 % chance at winning it, 5th in the league, compared to the New Jersey Nets who were at 25 %. The Sixers took the Second pick, meanwhile the Nets ended up with the third pick. You can check out the rest of the NBA Draft order here:
http://www.nba.com/news/features/2010.draft.order/index.html


The Wizards had a very tough season, their owner, Abe Pollin, died earlier this year. They also traded Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood after the team failed to meet expectations. And most importantly, their superstar player, Gilbert Arenas, was suspended by the NBA in January for the rest of the season, due to gun possession in the locker room. Winning the Lottery is a step forward for the franchise as I believe John Wall would be a good fit next to Andray Blatche.

However, rumors are floating around that Wizards are looking to trade Arenas, which could be difficult because of the recent incident, and his big contract. There's still many teams that would probably be interested in acquiring Arenas as he's a very good player, and I think it's time for him and the Wizards to move on. The Knicks, Mavericks, Pacers, Magic, Raptors, Hawks and many other teams could make a move to add Arenas to their roster. I think it's a risky move, but still worth it. Arenas might be able to contribute a lot to his team in the right situation, while Wizards continue their rebuilding process.

In the end, I'd like to add that I have high expectations for this off-season. It might be the best ever, I'm hoping for a lot of changes and trades, more competition, and new contenders as I'm personally bored of the same teams in the title picture such as the Lakers.

NBA Draft Lottery tomorrow

The 2010 NBA Draft Lottery airs tomorrow at 7:30 on the Score, it's a very important event that could play a major part in the future of the NBA, especially since this year's draft class is strong.

John Wall is the clear favorite to be the Number 1 pick, so expect any team to win first pick to pick him. New Jersey Nets lead the way at 25 % chance of winning the lottery, after finishing the season with a 12-70 record.

Here are the chances for each team to win the Number 1 pick in order, with Nets being the highest, and Houston Rockets the lowest with only 0.5 %, also their Regular Season record is shown here:



This is one of the best classes in recent history, so every team will be getting a good prospect no matter what. Unlike the previous drafts, it has a lot of variety, from Guards to Forwards to Centers, and there's many potential All-Star players and Role Players this year.

This Summer should determine the future due to a lot of great available Free-Agents such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudamire, and of course the draft class, which will also have major trades. For example, if Nets draft John Wall they will most likely be trading Devin Harris, their starting Point Guard, on the draft night.

Visit this site to customize your own Draft Class, and a possible outcome out of 2183 others:
http://espn.go.com/nba/lottery2010/mockdraft

Here's what I got, click on the picture to go larger:

Celtics eliminate Cavaliers

After struggling during the Regular Season, the Boston Celtics have picked it up in the Playoffs, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Orlando Magic. In the first round, they eliminated Miami Heat in 5 games, but they faced a real challenge in the Second round when they played LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cavaliers were the favorites to win it all this season until Boston took 3-2 lead. Cavs seemed lost, and the real surprise came when LeBron James quit on his team. Some might blame it on the elbow injury, but it was apparent James wasn't even trying, he didn't attack the basket as much he usually does and he didn't set up his teammates either. He was being passive at times and then took several bad shots. But even then, Cavaliers were expected to force a Game 7.

However, Game 6 was no different. Celtics were rolling and the Cavaliers couldn't stop them. Their bench stepped it up and hit big shots. Kevin Garnett had a great game, finishing with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists. Rondo had another double-double with 21 point and 12 assists. Paul Pierce came up big in the second half to make the lead bigger. Rasheed Wallace contributed as well off the bench, making it too hard for the Cavs.

Boston are playing great Basketball, but do they still have what it takes to win it all? We'll find out in the upcoming weeks.

Forget the "Big 3", it's all about Rondo

When the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship two years ago, it was all about Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, better known as the Big 3. As of today, they continue to contribute but just not as much as before. The Big 3 era is officially over, because Rajon Rondo is currently the Celtics' best player.

Rondo has been phenomenal for quite some time, he was voted as an NBA All-Star for the very first time this year, and he's currently leading Boston in a tied series vs the Cleveland Cavaliers. On Sunday, Rondo had a triple double as he put up 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists. He was doing it all on both ends of the courts, and made sure his team got the victory.

He's becoming one of the best Point Guards in the League, and his recent performances back it up. Last week, he had 19 assists against the Cavaliers, and he was setting up all of his teammates for open shots. I believe Rondo has what it takes to take it to the next level, and so does Boston Celtics coach, Doc Rivers. In a recent interview, he said he was impressed with Rondo and how he's become more of a leader than he once was.
However, he isn't perfect yet. He must work on his jumpshot and his Free-throw shooting in the off-season, or else he will never reach that top level.

I hope you enjoyed reading my Blog, and I'd like to finish it off with an amazing play by Rondo this past Sunday:

Suns sweep Spurs

On Sunday, Phoenix Suns ended the series against San Antonio Spurs in 4 games. A lot of people, including myself, predicted the Spurs to win in 6 or 7 games, but they were surprisingly swept. This goes to show that anything could happen in the NBA, as Phoenix advance to the Western Conference finals. Suns won 107-101, led by Steve Nash who finished with 20 points, scoring 10 of them in the fourth quarter despite an eye injury.

Nash averaged 22.0 PPG, 7.8 APG, 4.5 RPG in the Second round, meanwhile his teammate, Amar'e Stoudemire, averaged 20.5 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.2 BPG. It's also important to point out that Goran Dragic has been huge off the bench, especially in Game 3, when he scored 23 points in the 4th quarter.

Suns will rest until the Lakers-Jazz series is over, which the Lakers lead 3-0. The Western Conference finals will definitely be exciting, and I think it's a great opportunity for Steve Nash, one of the greatest Point Guards in NBA history, to put the final touches on his legacy. He's been the League's Most Valuable Player twice, in 2005 and 2006, a 7 times All-Star, 3 times All-NBA First Team, 2 times All-NBA Second Team, and a 2 times All-NBA Third Team, but now it's time to add a ring to his impressive resume.

LeBron James wins MVP

Cleveland Cavaliers' superstar, and arguably the best player in the NBA, LeBron James, was named NBA Most Valuable Player, for the second time in a row. He led the Cavaliers to the best record this season, 61-21, while averaging 29.7 PPG, 8.6 APG, 7.3 RPG. He currently led his team to the Second round of the playoffs, after defeating the Chicago Bulls in 5 Games in the First round.

James had plenty of great performances this Season. For example, this past February, he had 43 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists against the Denver Nuggets. He also had 37 points, 9 rebounds, 12 assists, and a game winning block, against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

He received 116 first-place votes out of 123, Kevin Durant finished second with only four votes. It's no surprise, James has been the most consistent player in the league, and he definitely deserved this award more than anyone else.

James was presented the Award this Sunday by NBA Commissioner, David Stern.

"To be MVP is definitely an honor. It's a humbling experience," James said. "To receive that while you are trying to win a championship, you have to balance it out. I've been able to do that so far."

Winning this award is very important to LeBron James, but he has made it clear that a Championship run is a lot more important than individual accomplishments. Here are some highlights of the Press Conference on Sunday: