Suns Level NBA Western Conference Finals
May 26, 2010
The Suns got plenty of output from their bench in game four of the Western Conference finals. The result was a 115-106 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The series is now tied at 2-2.
Kobe Bryant did his fair share of scoring knocking down 38 points. On the other side it was Amare Stoudemire leading the way with 21 points.
The Phoenix bench finally stepped up in this series to outscore the Lakers bench 54-20. Channing Frye broke his shooting slump in a big way hitting four 3-pointers as part of a 14 point performance. Leandro Barbosa matched that with 14 points and Jared Dudley scored 11. Goran Dragic had a solid performance playing point guard and added eight points to go with his eight assists in 18 minutes of play.
It was the reserves that blasted open the game in the closing quarter. They produced an 18-3 run which saw an 87-85 deficit turn into an 103-94 lead with 3:05 to play.
Frye had been terrible in the first three games hitting just one shot from 21 attempts.
” We thought we could come in here and get a game, and unfortunately you know we weren’t up to the task,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. ” But we outscored them from the field I think both games, shot better than they did, did a lot of things very good and it still wasn’t enough to win the game. They beat us at the foul line both nights, and that’s the difference in the margin of the game.”
Game five of the series will be played back in Los Angeles. History is against the Suns as Phil Jackson is 46-0 when his team takes a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series.
In the Eastern Conference the Magic finally got a win over the Boston Celtics. The series is 3-1 with game five to played on Wednesday night in Orlando. The Magic won game four 96-92 in Boston.
Mike Brown Sent On His Way
May 25, 2010
Mike Brown has been giving his marching orders. He was fired by the Cleveland Cavs late on Sunday night.
Having an MVP on the roster and not at least making it to the final showdown is going to put pressure on a coach. Mike Brown has now paid the price for the Cleveland Cavs exiting the NBA playoffs in the second round at the hands of the Boston Celtics.
Now Dan Gilbert is said to be asking LeBron James which coach do you want? Phil Jackson, Larry Brown and Pat Riley are a few names being thrown around.
Do you think Mike Brown deserved to be fired? Will this make it more likely that LeBron James will stick with the Cleveland Cavs?
Leave your comments below.
Boston One Game from NBA Championship Series
May 24, 2010
The Boston Celtics continued with their hotstreak as they took game three of the Eastern Conference finals against the Orlando Magic. They won the match 94-71 to take a 3-0 lead in the series.
Many thought the Celtics were too old to trouble the likes of Cleveland and Orlando. We now know that age will not weary the Celtics. The easily accounted for the Cavs and now are looking likely to sweep the Magic.
In game three it was another great team effort that got the job done. No one player really took control of the match in terms of scoring. Glen Davis top scored with 17 points, then came Paul Pierce with 15, Ray Allen 14 and Rajon Rondo with 11.
For the Magic Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter top scored with 15 points. Dwight Howard again did not do much scoring with just seven points on the night.
Boston can wrapup the series with a win at home on Monday night.
LeBron – Listen to the President
May 24, 2010
President Barack Obama recently sat down with Marv Albert to talk basketball. The interview will be shown on Tuesday 25th May EDT.
What is the hottest topic of conversation in the NBA? Right now it is what team will LeBron James play with next season.
Obama let his views be known on the subject. ”You know, like I said, I don’t want to meddle,” Obama told TNT. “I will say this: (Derrick) Rose, Joakim Noah it’s a pretty good core. You know, you could see LeBron fitting in pretty well there.”
I had said the exact same thing recently. LeBron James along with Rose and Noah at the Chicago Bulls would have the makings of a championship team.
What are the odds that this will happen? Only LeBron knows for sure.
Sure can’t wait to hear what happens.
Leave your comments below.
Celtics Do It Again
May 19, 2010
The Orlando Magic went into their Eastern Conference final series without tasting defeat. Now in two games they are 0-2. The Celtics took the second game of the series 95-92 to have a two game break heading back to Boston.
Vince Carter’s jumper pulled the Magic into a 90-89 lead with 3:35 left. The game was there for Orlando to win however they could only score two points over the after that.
The score was 92-91 to Boston but then a Kevin Garnett basket followed by two Pierce free-throws stretched the lead.
With 31.9 seconds to play Vince Carter went to the line with the score at 95-92 and missed both free throws. Orlando got the ball back with just over seven seconds left but failed to immediately call a time-out. That led to a rushed 3-pt shot that never looked likely to go in.
Paul Pierce led Boston with 28 points and Rajon Rondo added 25 points. Dwight Howard had 30 points for Orlando.
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Sore Knee or Not Kobe Fires Against Suns
May 19, 2010
Going into game one of the Western Conference final matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns there was talk about Kobe Bryant and how he would be affected by a sore knee.
There seemed to be no problem for the LA superstar as he helped the Lakers to a 128-107 win. From 35 minutes 28 seconds in the game he scored 40 points to lead the Lakers scoring drive.
For the Phoenix Suns it was a rude shock after easily accounting for the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semis.
Amare Stoudemire was best for the Suns with 23 points. Steve Nash could only manage 13 points for the Suns.
The LA starters shot over 50 per cent for the match.
You can watch video of the game below.
Boston Continue Winning Ways
May 17, 2010
The Boston Celtics have started the Eastern Conference finals with a win over the Orlando Magic. The older more experienced Celtics won the match 92-88 in Orlando.
This comes not long after knocking out the no. 1 seeded Cleveland Cavs in the Conference semis.
34-year-old Ray Allen scored 25 points for the Celtics. Orlando were expecting Rajon Rondo to do the majority of the ball handling but the Celtics mixed it up using Allen.
Vince Carter top the scoring for the home team with 23 points. Dwight Howard only managed 13 points.
Boston Eliminate the Cavs
May 14, 2010
The Boston Celtics too old? If they are don’t tell them. The Celtics have eliminated the top seeded Cleveland Cavs after winning game six, 94-85 to win the series 4-2.
Next up for the Celtics will be the Orlando Magic who will be well rested after defeating the Atlanta Hawks 4-0.
The game was there for the Cavs to win after starting the third quarter with a 5-0 run to lead 55-51. The Celtics then started a move that would in the end clinch the series.
The key plays were back-to-back three point baskets with a bit over two minutes to play in the third quarter. The score went from 67-61 out to 73-61 in a blink of an eye.
The fourth quarter started with Boston up 76-67. Cleveland trimmed that back to 78-74 with 9:35 to play after LeBron James hit a three point shot.
A Rondo layup and a Paul Pierce 3pt shot again put Boston out to a handy lead. From that moment the Cavs were gone and the Celtics closed out the series.
LeBron James scored 27 points for the Cavs in what might have been his last game in the uniform. Kevin Garnett top-scored for the Celtics with 22 points and Rondo had 21.
The Cavs failed again to reach the NBA final, what will the summer bring as teams throw their money at LeBron James?
Win or Go Home For Cavs
May 13, 2010
With three of the four Conference finals spots decided the last team to get in could be decided today. The Lakers advanced past Utah to join the Suns who defeated the Spurs. They will play in the Western Conference finals.
The Magic defeated the Hawks and now await the winner of the Boston-Cleveland series in the Eastern Conference final.
The Cavs and Boston series has been very up and down. We saw Boston grab home court advantage in game two when they defeated the Cavs 104-86. Next up the Celtics suffered their worst ever home playoff loss going down to the Cavs 124-95.
Now you might have expected the Cavs to power on to a series win but Boston had other ideas. The won game four 97-87 in Boston and then in game five thumped the Cavs 120-88 in Cleveland.
Boston coach Doc Rivers could be heard in the huddle saying we win this together and as a team they did work to get the win. All five starters were in double figures as they humbled LeBron James and Cleveland.
Now it all comes down to game six in Boston. A win for Boston and they take the series and move on to face the Magic, Cleveland on the other hand must win to force game seven.
LeBron James need to work with his team to earn the chance to move on to the finals.
Goran Who? Dragic Lead Suns to 3-0
May 8, 2010
I have gotta say I have not heard of Goran Dragic in the past, but I have now. He fired the Suns to a 110-96 win over the San Antonio Spurs to take them one game from the Western Conference finals.
Dragic scored 26 points off the bench to help the Suns recover from a slow opening quarter. He did all that in just over 17 minutes on the court.
The Spurs playing on their homecourt opened with a 28-19 quarter but that was the last quarter they won. The Spurs closed the gap to six by the half and then were ready to pounce going into the final quarter.
It was 72-71 to the Spurs as the fourth quarter started. The Suns took the lead when Dragic scored the first of his 23 fourth quarter points. The teams swapped baskets before a Dragic 3pt basket with 8:05 to play gave the Suns the break they were looking for. It was 85-80. From there it was the Dragic show as he added three more 3s and several other baskets to allow the Suns to crush the Spurs at home.
Now with a 3-0 lead you would be thinking the Suns are a safe bet to advance to the Western Conference final.
Just for some background info Dragic, 24, is from Slovenia and is 6-3. He had been averaging 5.6 in the playoffs and averaged 7.9 on the season. He is playing his second season with the Phoenix Suns after being drafter as the 45th pick in 2008. He actually started playing soccer until an injury forced him to switch sports at age 11.
