Celtics back to finals after 21 years
June 1, 2008
Going into the fourth quarter at home with a 68-60 lead the Pistons may have thought that was enough to close out the game. They did not see what was coming from the Bostons, a team hungry to make the NBA finals for the first time since 1987.
The Pistons opened the fourth quarter with a bucket from Rip Hamilton to take the lead out to 10. Here is where it went wrong for the Pistons. They missed their next four shots and turned the ball over three times in a four minute period. During that time the Celtics scored 10 unanswered points to tie up the scores at 70.
The team from Boston now had a sniff for victory and there was no letting up. A 29-13 final quarter blew the game apart and with it they were heading to the NBA finals.
The Celtics had the lead after the first quarter after a 24-21 opening. They still lead a halftime by the same margin. They faded in the third quarter to make the Pistons think the game was theirs.
Then they hit them with a 23-6 run in the fourth quarter. It was too much for the home team to handle and they were out of the NBA finals for 2008.
It was Paul Pierce that sparked the Celtics in the fourth quarter. He hit two key baskets and some free throws that got things going. He ended the match with 27 to lead the Boston scorers.
For the Pistons it was the guards who did the bulk of the scoring when the big men were needed to step up and help overcome the rush of points the Celtics got in the closing quarter. Billups lead the scoring with 29 and Hamilton contributed 21. Prince, McDyess and Wallace could only score 20 between them.
Now just like in the days I first remember following the NBA from here in Australia it is the old classic matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. Who can forget the old rivalry of Bird vs Magic.
The 2008 series between the Lakers and Celtics has a lot to live up to. Play in game one begins on June 5 in Boston.
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Bryant shoots Spurs out of NBA finals
May 30, 2008
Kobe Bryant has scored 39 points to play a key role in eliminating the defending NBA champions, San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs came out firing and had a comfortable 13 point lead after a 28-15 first quarter. Tim Duncan and Michael Finley combined to give the Spurs 15 points in the opening period.
The second quarter started with the Spurs further building their lead after a 15-1 run in the first 7 or so minutes. At this point they were up 33-16. Jordan Farmar finally got things going for the Lakers with 3 straight baskets to edge back into the match.
By the end of the first half the Lakers had worked their way back to 48-42. Kobe Bryant was now starting to have more of a say in the proceedings and ended the half with 13 points.
The Lakers have shown in other games that they can chase down a lead and they again proved that in this game. Youth and speed can help when up against an older team.
Apart from a lead in the opening minutes the Lakers did not get their noses in front until it was 61-60 with 1:11 left in the third quarter. The Lakers slowly pulled away however could not shake the Spurs. With 2:45 to go on the clock the score was 85-82 in favour of Los Angeles.
It was not until the last two minutes that the Lakers got the edge and went on to claim their spot in the NBA finals for the first time in 4 years.
The Lakers must now wait to see who they will face in the finals. Boston has the lead in the series over Detroit who play on Friday night in Detroit. If the Pistons win at home the series will be decided in Boston on Sunday.
Celtics tease Pistons in game 5 win
May 29, 2008
Boston in the third quarter of their Eastern Conference final match had Detroit on the ropes. They held a commanding 17 point lead with 3:32 left on the clock in third quarter.
Did Boston go to sleep? or did Detroit wakeup? In the remaining minutes of the match Detroit worked themselves back into the match and with just 8 seconds left in the match they were just 1 point behind with the scores at 102-101 in favor of the Boston team playing on their home court.
The Celtics now lead the series 3-2 with game 6 back in Detroit on Friday. If the Celtics can steal another away win they will be going to the NBA finals for the first time since 1987 when the team included Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale.
In this game it was another Kevin who came up with the goods. Kevin Garnett scored 33 points for his team. He was backed up by Ray Allen who knocked in 29 including a key jumper with one minute left in the match.
Detroit will now need to make sure they are on their game when they play on their home court in the next match. If they have an off night they will be eliminated from the 2008 NBA playoffs.
Lakers one match from NBA finals
May 29, 2008
The Los Angeles Lakers have held off a late charge from San Antonio to win game 4 of their match against the defending NBA champs. With 56 seconds on the clock the Lakers were ahead 93-86. The Spurs got to 91-93 with 28 seconds to go however that was the end of the scoring.
The Lakers are now ahead in the series 3-1. With a home game on Thursday the Lakers would be odds on to wrapup the series and move into the NBA finals.
Kobe Bryant once again lead the way in the scoring for the Lakers with 28 points. It was a good team effort as the scoring was spread across the team.
San Antonio had three players that did the bulk of the scoring. Tim Duncan was top scorer with 29. Tony Parker and Brent Barry also make good contributions with 23 apiece.
For the Spurs to stay in the finals they will now have to go to Los Angeles and upset the Lakers on their home court.
Big last quarter sees Pistons home
May 27, 2008
A big game from Antonio McDyess saw the Detroit Pistons level the Eastern Conference finals at 2-2. He stepped up with 21 points and 16 rebounds as Detroit defeated Boston 94-75.
Boston’s big three players Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen had trouble hitting baskets. They were a combined 11 from 38 from the field. Shooting like that is not going to win games it that is how it was for Boston.
For Detroit Richard Hamilton chipped in with 20 points and Rasheed Wallace scored 14.
San Antonio win game 3 at home
May 27, 2008
As expected playing on their home court the San Antonio Spurs won game three in the series against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers still lead the series 2-1.
After a tight first quarter the Spurs blew the game open with a 28-15 second quarter. From that point they cruised to a 103-84 victory.
Coming off the bench it was Manu Ginobili who sunk 5 from 7 3pt attempts to help himself to 30 points for the match. He was backed up with 22 points from Tim Duncan and 20 from Tony Parker.
The Lakers once again relied on Kobe Bryant for their points. He contributed with 30 however the next best of 15 from Gasol was not enough to overcome the Spurs.
Game four will be in San Antonio on Tuesday with a 9pm ET tip off.
Celtics take upper hand with elusive away win
May 25, 2008
The Boston Celtics had gone 0-6 on the road in the 2008 NBA finals. Today in Detroit they finally claimed a win on the road. The Celtics had dropped a game at home in game 2 so an away win was crucial to the success of the team from Boston.
Kevin Garnett was the man for Boston. He had 22 points and 13 rebounds to help Boston take back home court advantage. The Celtics led by as many as 24 points in this match. The game was setup with a 25-17 opening quarter for Boston and this was followed up with 25-15 in the second quarter to go into the halftime break with a 50-32 advantage.
The home team was able to get the Boston lead back down to 10 points with 2:17 left in the match however that was as good as it got.
Now that the Celtics have a taste for an away victory it will be interesting to see if they can win back to back away matches.
Lakers crush Spurs to go up 2-0 in Western Conference Final
May 24, 2008
The Los Angeles Lakers have cruised to a 30 point win over the defending NBA champions, San Antonio. The final score was 101-71.
The Lakers scored first in the match and were never behind. The Spurs could only manage to pull level at one stage before the Lakers surged away. The scores were level with 2:14 left in the second quarter.
The Lakers did a good job sharing the scoring. Kobe Bryant was top scorer with 22, closely followed by Odom on 20. The best someone could do for the Spurs was 13 from Tony Parker.
Is it time to write off the defending champions? Look at their series against New Orleans they did manage to come back after losing the first two games, and in that series the first two games were comprehensive defeats.
History is against the champs but there is still a long way to go before you can count them out.
The Spurs get the chance to open their account with a home game on Sunday.
Pistons win game 2 to level series against Boston
May 24, 2008
The Pistons grabbed home court advantage from the Boston Celtics. Should Boston fans now be worried? You have to consider that the Celtics have not won a game away from home in the NBA playoffs.
Richard Hamilton lead the way for the Pistons as he scored 25 points to help his team to a 103-97 win over the top seeded Boston Celtics. The home team have struggled in the playoff series to date and were taken to 7 games by Atlanta in the first round and Cleveland in the second.
It is now crucial for the Celtics to win away from home for the first time. If they don’t they could be eliminated on May 30 in game six in Detroit.
Playing at home the Celtics had not previously found themselves behind going into the fourth quarter. Against the Pistons that is how it was with the score at 78-69 in favor of the visitors. Boston fought back to trail by just two points with 5:09 left on the clock after a three pointer from Ray Allen.
Boston were still hanging in the match and with two minutes left in the match they were just down by four. From here Detroit slowly pulled away with a basket by Hamilton and a layup by Billups.
A 3pt shot by Allen with 10 seconds on the clock game the Celtics a sniff as the score was 100-97 in favor of the Pistons. The Celtics were now forced to foul and hope for some misses, however the Pistons managed to sink a few free throws and the match was gone.
Game 3 is in Detroit on Saturday followed by another game at home for the Pistons on Monday.
Lakers storm home to take game one against Spurs
May 22, 2008
The Los Angeles Lakers rallied in the fourth quarter of their match against the defending NBA champions to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 89-85 in game one of the Western Conference finals.
NBA superstars Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan lead the way for their teams. Bryant knocked in 27 points for the Lakers while Duncan bettered that with 30 points for the Spurs.
It was a 24-13 final quarter that saw the Lakers take out game one at home. Bryant stepped up for the Lakers down the clutch with 14 fourth quarter points. Duncan could only manage 8 points for his team.
The win is a good boost for the Lakers who overcame a 20 point deficit to win the game. After it looked like Bryant was going to be shut out of the game after only 2 first half points he lifted to claim the match.
Game 2 of the series will be played in Los Angeles on Friday.
