Novak Djokovic is, in basketball parlance, on fire.

2011 is shaping out to be Djokovic' year, seemingly at the expense of Roger Federer, to the gloom of die hard fans like me.

Novak Djokovic on Fire
Image from tennis-wallpapers.net

Over last week, I was keeping tab on the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. I fought the urge to blog about it because Roger Federer is playing & I do not want to jinx him.

I was doing my regular online sports browsing this morning when I learned that Novak just won the BNP Paribas Open championship over world no. 1 Rafael Nadal, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.


2011 is heaven for Djokovic.

• 2011 Australian Open
  
• Dubai Duty Free Tournament Championship
  
• BNP Paribas Open
  
• 18 consecutive wins in 2011
  
• 3 Semis win over Federer
  
• 3 - 0 in finals (so far)
  

To the sadness of Federer, die hard fans like me, Novak now seemed to have Federer's number.

Federer, my good ol' great Federer. I don't think he suffers a dip. It is just that his opponents improved over the times he was giving them a beating on the tennis court.

If these achievements come down to Novak's confidence, it probably came from leading Serbia to the Davis cup title at the end of last year.

Well, the good thing. Roger Federer will playing for Switzerland in the Davis Cup July this year. :)

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Almost a month ago, I was happy to blog about the Chicago Bulls because I was able to watch them beat the much hyped Miami Heat.

Back then, the Bull's win for me is an indication that they are serious contenders in the Eastern conference in the play-offs.

To my surprise, the Chicago Bulls is now number one in the team standings in the Eastern Conference after their win against the Washington Wizards, 98 - 79. That is without Joakim Noah & Carlos Boozer.

Wow!

Perhaps they got more inspired seeing MJ & Scottie Pippen recently celebrate the 20th anniversary of Chicago's first NBA championship.

Well, the NBA championship is really won by the team that peaks right into the playoffs.

Though I agree that Derrick Rose should be the MVP of the regular season, (barring any major collapse of the Bulls) I'd still think the Celtics will prevail in the East though.

As for my favorite Phoenix Suns team, Captain Nash is injured and may be it is a little too late to catch the Memphis Grizzlies for the 8th place in the west.

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Loul Deng's crucial 3 pushed the Chicago Bulls past the mighty Miami Heat, 93 - 89 as the NBA 2010 - 2011 regular season veers to its homestrecth.

I was lucky to be able to watch an important NBA game especially in the east today, the much hyped Miami Heat visited the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.

The first half was all Heat, with Lebron James ending the half rolling in a jumper, the Heat up 53 - 44. I decide to watch something else at the break.

When I switched back, the Chicago Bulls are now up 80 - 75 with less than 6 minutes to go. But James and the Heat scored 9 straight points to go up 84 - 80.

That is when the Bulls woke up.

Kyle Korver started the run with a three-pointer and then challenged Mario Chalmers' shot on the other end, leading to an offensive foul on Chalmers.

The Bulls regained the lead back on Rose's basket, 85 - 84. Deng's jumper at the top of the key and a long two by Rose, put the Bulls in control 89 - 84.

But the Heat weren't finished. Wade scores, and James completed an end-1 play to tie the game 89 - all with just 36.8 seconds left.

In the next play, Rose bid his time before driving on the middle against James, attracting a double-team from Wade that made Deng free for a corner three. Chicago up, 92 - 89 with just 16 seconds left.

Lebron James' tying three didn't even hit the rim. Korver was fouled and made one of two free throws to round up the scoring.

This great win by the Bulls, against the Heat no less, announced its contention for the east title. And now they really complete with Joakim Noah playing again.


Chicago Bulls logo and Miami Heat logo are taken from wikipedia.

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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.

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