On an emotional night for Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, the Indiana Pacers took care of business and went out with a 107-103 win for the 2015-2016 NBA Regular Season.
The Indiana Pacers was cruising for most part of the game, when Lakers mad an improbable run towards the end of ballgame.
Boistered by the homecourt fans who were emotional over the announced retirement of Kobe after this NBA Season, Metta World Peace lead the Lakers defensive intensity in the fourth quarter, even adding a crucial 3 pointer before fouling out.
And as if on queue and as he had done all his career, Kobe Bryant made a 3 pointer to bring his team closer. However, his last trey to tie the game was off target and air-balled out of bonds.
Paul George was steady on the free throw line and finally closed out the Lakers.
Wow! The Dallas Mavericks is now up 3 - 0 against the two-time defending champs Los Angeles Lakers in their Western Conference Semifinal Playoff series. I just read that the Mavs beat the Lakers in Game 3, at Dallas, by the score of 98 - 92.
Peja Stojakovic and Dirk Nowitzki fueled the win from the outside.
The Lakers haven't really looked like the contenders they ought to be and basically riding their championship reputation towards the playoffs. Yes, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks are capable of beating the Lakers.
But by this lopsided of a series? Wow!
I can't recall Phil Jackson getting swept in a playoff series. I wonder what Kobe would do. I've heard in a pod cast, jokingly I may add, that Pau Gasol's uninspired play is due to a broken heart. That's talking about emotional injury.
Mark Cuban finally found the right deals to shore up his team. Tyson Chandler and Peja stojakovic was great acquisition this season. Dirk and Mavericks can surely exorcise the ghosts of playoff's past failures by sweeping the once mighty Los Angeles Lakers.
Uh-oh. A Mavericks-Heat finals rematch is now more seemingly possible.
Finally, Carmelo Anthony will now be a Knick.
Reports are abound that the Denver Nuggets, the New York Knicks and in lesser extent, the Minnesota Timberwolves all agreed in a multi-player mega deal that finally put an end to the Melo-drama trade speculations.
Though the deal is yet to be formalized, the Denver Nuggets let go Carmelo Anthony to his favored city to play at [Knicks] along with Chaucey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman. In return, the Nuggets will get Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov plus draft pics. Minnesota, as part of this deal, will get Eddy Curry and Anthony Randolph. There are other things involved but those are said to be the player movements.
Melo probably feels like leaping for joy at the top of the Empire State Building no less with this development. He has long given signs that New York is where he wants to play. Not to mention, he also get the $65 million extension.
For the price of giving four NBA starters for Anthony's talents, the New York Knicks are clearly following the blue print of the Miami Heat. And New York can still add another star come 2012.
With Melo, playing alongside Amar'e Stoudemire, the Knicks should be a shoo-in to make the playoffs in the next three seasons at least. And MSG can stand for Melo-Stoudemire Garden.
But to win a championship? they need solid bench play and, of course, defense.
Lebron James is fulfilling what he said some time ago. Number 23 should only be MJ's number. It is said that he has already applied to the NBA to wear number 6.
Being regarded by many since his younger days to be the next basketball great, James can not help but be compared to MJ. All the more when he wore jersey number 23 when he turned pro.
I guess it's a class act to pay tribute to greatness. And it shows that James doesn't want just to be called the next Jordan especially that he has yet to win an NBA championship. He wants fans to witness his very own greatness.
I would guess that Lebron chose 6, a number he wore during the olympics, because it is his the first major championship that he won so far in his career.
It remains to be seen though if other players using 23 would follow James' act.
The 2010 NBA Slam Dunk contest suck and set a new low. Imagine Nate Robinson becoming the first three-time champion of this kind of competition being somewhat tainted for earning it against inferior slam dunkers and coming up with a not-so-spectacular dunk himself.
It's fortunate that we now have youtube. I went on to wash away my disappointment in watching this year's NBA Slam Dunk contest by looking for arguably the greatest slam dunk competition ever in the history of the NBA All Star Weekend - The 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
I was surprised to learn that Clyde Drexler also participated in that year. Anyways, it was about Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins coming out with great slam dunks one after another. MJ might have won the contest because the NBA held it in Chicago, but I feel that there's really something in the way MJ hangs in the air that puts Nique's powering slams in pale comparison.
My top three favorite slam dunkers are Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter.
I hope Commissioner Stern & the NBA will do something for the fans in next year's NBA Slam Dunk Contest. They ought it fans like me to come up with participants that can entertain us either with dunks or at least with their personality.
That's for you too, Lebron. If you care enough not just for money, championships or fame, you ought to ask yourself if this is the kind of show the NBA fans deserve to see in a slam dunk contest.
*****
Back to this year's All Star festivities in Dallas, TX. I was glad that my favorite player Steve Nash went on to win the NBA Skills challenge against a much younger crop of participants. It's not a totally disappointing day for me. hehehe!!!
Paul Pierce won the 3 point shooting contest, becoming the next Celtics to win it after Larry Legend Bird won it, I think thrice in a row. I thought that rookie Stephen Curry will win it because of his fine form. I guess he just tired out in the end.
Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers finished off the Denver Nuggets 119 - 92 in Game 6 of their Western Conference Finals Series and earn a return trip to the NBA Finals.
Meanwhile on the East, the Magic will try to advance to the NBA Finals since the Shaq and Penny days.
The Magic still needs the series 3 - 2 after Lebron James delivered another sublime playoff performance in Game 5 to extend the Cavs season. Finally, King James' men showed up when it matters the most - most notably Boobie Gibson.
No Escape this time for Kobe & company at the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers to even up their Western Conference Championship series 1 - 1 in the on going 2009 NBA Playoffs
I just checked the game on NBA Gamecast, and here is the final score.
I was out of the house early, gone to register in a short course and pay some bills. That is why I did not catch Game 2 of the West Finals between the Nuggets and the Lakers on TV.
Good thing I went to a bank in SM City North Edsa. Because I just learned that the activity area in THE BLOCK is now one of the free wifi locations in the Metro.
After I connected to the free wifi, I went to NBA Gamecast. Chauncey Billups clinch the game at the free throw line.
With the series going to Denver, the Nuggets are riding on a big confidence boost. The series could have been 2 - 0 in their favor now.
For most of the season, the Lakers are favored to take the West again. But Houston perhaps made the Lakers doubt themselves in their conference semifinal series.
If Denver defends their homecourt for games 3 and 4, I think they will be in the finals.
Rashard Lewis knocked the game winning three as the Orlando Magic toughed out a Game 1 upset over highly favored Cleveland Cavaliers 107 - 106 to start the 2009 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals.
Coming from a great Game 7 win over dethroned champs Celtics, the Magic again displayed mental toughness throughout the second half to defeat Lebron James and the Cavs to steal home court advantage in the series.
Coach Stan Van Gundy's gameplan worked as they allowed Lebron James to work hard for the bulk of the Cavs offense and limiting James' supporting cast to standing and watching most of the game.
James just put the lead back to the Cavs with a three point play that led to Dwight Howards sixth and last foul. But Rashard Lewis knocked in the game winning three. In the Cavs final play, James passed to a teammate who failed to connect from the outside. A jump ball resulted in the battle for the loose ball with just a second left in the game between Hedo Turkoglu and Lebron James. James tapped the ball to Williams who failed to connect from the top of the key.
The Cavs are coming from a long lay-off after breezing through the first two rounds sweeping the Pistons and the Hawks in double digit wins. In their first taste of competitive playoff atmosphere, James' cast never got going like they used to do in the regular season.
James scored 49 points but it appeared that carrying cavs the entire game took its toll on him somehow. He missed 3 free throws and had cramps at the end of the game.
The Magic meanwhile had a great team effort in defense and getting great games from Lewis, Howard and Turkoglu plus solid support from Pietrus and Alson.
The Orlando Magic finally put an end to the Boston Celtics' bid for a second consecutive championship, dethroning the champs with a convincing 101 - 82 Game 7 win right at the Celtics storied homecourt.
The win was a sort of statement in itself that the Magic is indeed a contender for the crown as they have shown in the regular season. Now they have the chance to face Lebron James and the mighty Cleveland Cavaliers that many have picked to reach the NBA Finals.
This time the homecourt advantage and the game 7 pedigree of the Celtics was not enough to stage a comeback hold off the young and hungry Magic team.
Rajon Rondo just beat the third quarter buzzer to pull the Celtics within five points of the Magic, 61 - 65. But the Magic scored 8 straight points at the start of the fourth to widen the gap.
All seemed is not yet lost when Dwight Howard picked up his fifth personal foul, forcing Van Gundy to sitt him on the bench. When Ray Allen knocked off a trey to cut the lead the Magic's lead to 12, I thought the comeback is again on.
But the threat was quickly fanned out by Hedo Turkoglu 3 and I could not watch anymore.
I was so accustomed with the Celtics coming big down the stretch especially in their homecourt. Perhaps I read too much off Bill Simmon's column. I actually waited for that magic feeling that something special is about to happen for the Celtics.
There wass magic alright but not from the champs. Rather, it comes from the guys from Orlando. They have learned they lesson well. This time they were ready for the champs. Ooops... the Celtics are now just former champs.
Glen "Big Baby" Davis nailed a jumper at the buzzer to lift the Bostic Celtics to a 95 - 94 win over the Orlando Magic to even their 2nd round Eastern Conference Semifinal Series, 2 all, in the 2009 NBA Playoffs.
Down by one with only 11.3 seconds left, the defending champs were facing a dark prospect of going down 1 - 3 in the series. The Magic were able to clamped down on Allen and was successful in forcing the ball out of Pierce's hands but they failed to cover Davis making the game-winning jumper as time expired, stunning all the Magic fans at their homecourt.
Finally, I was able to catch an exciting game on these NBA Playoffs live and not just from highlight reels.
I honestly thought that the Celtics would lose when Pierce passed the ball. Instead, I was surprised in a good way to see Davis pull through and the men in green still prevailing in the game.
Later in an interview, Davies credited the extra effort he made in shooting practice and believing in himself making it as the key to that shot.
The champs will definitely have momentum on their side going to Game 5 in Boston.
Without a doubt, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers is head and shoulders above everyone else in the Western Conference.
Kobe Bryant played the part he loved the most, closing out the San Antonio Spurs right at their homecourt and led the Lakers in stomping its class in the Western Conference, 102 - 95
For much of the season, the Lakers and Spurs are 1 and 2 respectively in the West. Kobe and the Lakers showed it could remain that way.
A spectacular first quarter and a focused Bryant are all that is needed to top the Spurs in this game. The win clinched the Pacific division title for the Lakers and a play-off spot.
More importantly, it proved that the way to the finals will go through the Lakers.
Also, it showed why the Spurs will be dangerous come playoff time. Manu Ginobili will return. The Lakers did not have an easy time beating the 2007 champs even without Ginobili.
Defending champion Boston Celtics visited the Orlando Magic in Orlando and show who is still the number one in the East.
Strong play of the Magic recently and the dip in form of the Celtics and Cavaliers allowed the Magic to take the lead in the East as they recorded a franchise record in 41 starts.
The Magic who is shooting well lately was off the mark the whole game allowing the Celtics to cruise to its seventh straight win.
It's Christmas Day and the San Antonio Spurs played the perfect Scrooge to the Phoenix Suns and their fans as the Spurs presented another dagger to their collective hearts, beating the Suns on Roger Mason's three at the buzzer, 91 - 90.
I caught the game on TV with the Suns jumping to a 11 - 0 start. There was a noticeable bounce on Shaq as he seem to be his old self. I really enjoyed Shaq and Tim Duncan going at each other like in their past and Shaq getting the better of it. The half ended with the Suns up by six, 45 - 39.
In the third, the Spurs once again employed the hack-a-shaq to the boos of the Phoenix crowd but Shaq made some of the free throws and the Suns stayed on top 76 - 71.
The Spurs turned the game into the grind-out defensive game that they mastered.
Shaq ties it at 84 all after a soft foul was called on Duncan with under five minutes left in the game. Duncan then took the ball away from Shaq for a Parker lay in. On the ensuing play, Shaq was able to get the fifth foul on Duncan. But Parkers connects on a jumper for an 88 - 84 Spurs lead.
But the Suns were not done yet. Richardson connects on an open corner three and Nash makes the technical free throw called against Parker to tie it at 88 the that set up the wild finish.
The Spurs defense trapped Nash on the corner forcing him to call the Suns last timeout with 7.7 seconds left. On the next play, Amare makes a great pass on a cutting Grant Hill on the baseline to take the lead 90 - 88 with only 4.3 ticks left in the game.
Coach Poppovich brought in his 3 point shooters including Roger Mason and let Parker create on the final possession. With Grant Hill all over him, Parker dished out to Mason on the corner for the game winner.
The MVP, the most valuable Portland player, Brandon Roy played a career game to lead the Portland Trail Blazers show the visiting Phoenix Suns the door, 124- 119 at the Rose Garden. Nash failed to tie it up again on a missed three and Roy finally sealed the win on two free throws, 124 -119. Fan notes: I was glad to see the Suns and Trailblazers especially Nash, Stoudemire, Shaq, Fernandez and Oden. Maybe I missed it but I did not see Nicolas Batoun on the floor.
2007 Rookie of the Year, Brandon Roy scored a career high 52 points on 14 of 27 shooting as the Portland Trailblazers stopped its 11 game losing streak to the Phoenix Suns.
In a pretty much exciting game featuring my two favorite teams, I really did not care who is going to win.
The second unit of the Suns, particularly Matt Barnes were able to lift the Suns in the first half. But the night obviously belongs to Roy as no Suns were able to stop him. He even scored 15 straight points in the third quarter.
Nash tried to rally the team in the fourth. The last time on two free throws to give the lead to Phoenix 119-117 with a little less than two minutes to go.
Aldridge ties the game with a buzzer beating shot before Roy connects on his last three to give the lead to Portland 122-199.
I was glad to finally catch my Phoenix Suns play this season but was immediately disappointed as a hot shooting Dwyane Wade carried Miami to an easy win over my Suns 105 - 92.
Wade scored 43 points on a 15 of 41 shooting night to lead all scorers. My favorite player Steve Nash did not play due to injury.
This was the first game between the two teams who figured in a prominent mind-season trade last year that brought Shaquille O'neal to the Suns and Shawn Marion to the Heat.
When I tuned in, it was the beginning of the fourth quarter with the Heat leading by eleven, 81 - 70. My Suns are still adjusting to their change in identity and I missed the free flowing offense I have been accustomed to.
Wade, Marion and Beasley was in the bench that time. But my Suns failed to capitalize. I even did not recognize manning the pointguard for the Suns at the time.
When Stoudemire returned, the Suns went on a little run closing the gap to 99 - 90. But two dunks - one by Haslem and the other an alley-oop by Marion - stopped the momentum and secured the win for the Heat.
Shaq scored only 12. Boyet Sison of the Sports show Hardball, predicted a better game for the big Aristotle based on Shaq's past first games against his former teams. I guess age is gaining on the big fellow.
True to his promise, Joe Dumars has shook up the Detroit Pistons' roster and that no one is indespensible. No less than the Pistons leader and 2004 Finals MVP Chauncy Billups and Antonio McDyess was traded to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson.
Joe Dumars was not satisfied with 6 straight conference appearance. He wants the Pistons to play in June. While he found no trade scenario's to his liking in the offseason, he seemed so focus in bringing the Pistons another championship to make this trade very early in the season.
Pundits has said that the trade works more in favor of the Nuggets this season and works for the Pistons come 2010 for the Lebron sweepstakes, I feel that this trade will do wonders for Detroit in the PR and marketing aspects. With Iverson in the fold, they could no longer be described as boring to watch.
For Iverson, this maybe a good chance to finally get a championship ring. And that he is on the last year of his contract should be enough to motivate him.
As for Dumars, he just made a strong bid to be executive of the year if this trade catapult the Pistons to the finals in June
The Portland Trail Blazers bounced back from an opening loss to the Lakers with a win over the San Antonio Spurs in their first game at home 100 - 99.
Oden or not, the Blazers displayed a lot of promise of surpassing their 41 - 41 regular season finish last year. A 19 year-old French player was a revelation in the game by the name of Nicolas Baton. A very long and athletic rookie.
The Blazers have a solid young core and with the addition of Oden, will be contenders in this season and in the future as well.
This is the very first game that I was enable to watch, albeit, not from the start to finish. But everytime I do so, I can feel the electricity in the crowd as the young blazers strut their ways.
Also, I did get to see Rudy Fernandez playing in the NBA. I had some doubts when the Spurs, the veterans that they are, tried to win it at the end.
Good thing Roy and Aldridge were up to the task.
My favorite team, Phoenix Suns, opened up their 2008-2009 NBA campaign with a win over arch-nemesis and playoff-tormentor, San Antonio Spurs.
The win gave the post-D' Antoni era of the Suns to a good start and debut win for new coach Terry Porter.
Although the Spurs, played without Manu Ginobili, I still think the Suns' win is a step in the direction for the team and hopefully will translate to a better playoff performance especially against the spurs.
Some light moment happened at the start of the game as Shaq was immediately grabbed by Michael Finley and Coach Popovich giving the two thumbs up sign to O'neal.
Still, the Spurs employed the hack-a-shaq at the end of the first half. Amare Stoudemire lead the team with 22 points.
Unforunately, the Suns fell to the New Orleans Hornets on their second game. Their turnovers really hurt them as they continue to struggle against the team that dominated them last season.
The Portland Trailblazers opened up their 2008 - 2009 campaign on the Greg Oden's wrong foot. It seemed that Oden's NBA career is cursed as he logged in 13 scoreless minutes before hurting his foot. I hope that it is only a minor sprain.
One good thing I noticed from the box scores was that Rudy Fernandez scored 16 points on his first NBA game. Maybe the fates are not stacked against the Trailblazers after all. Next to Phoenix Suns, I am rooting for the Trailblazers.
Meanwhile, the top picked in this year's draft, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls opened up his NBA career with a win. That also means rookie coach Vinny Del Negro debuted with a win on his NBA coaching career.
I can't wait to see my Steve Nash and my Phoenix Suns play.
The team that was used to be called Seattle Supersonics is now officially Oklahoma City Thunder after a formal announcement has been made by its officials. [ Click here for the article source]
Last year's rookie of the year, Kevin Durant and newly-drafted point-guard, Russel Westbrook, will have a new home and new team name to start fresh and continue the team's rebuilding program.
