NBA

[Dissident]

Le Bron MVP - and by a fair margin as well.

Very deserved.
I'll be wearing my 23 Cavs jersey tonight at basketball!

[kouta43]

Rockets beat the lakers by 8 ill be wearing my rockets jersey all week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[brod]

2008-09 NBA AWARD WINNERS

MVP - Lebron James (Cleveland)
6th Man of the Year- Jason Terry (Dallas)
Defensive Player of the Year- Dwight Howard (Orlando)
Rookie of The Year- Derrick Rose (Chicago)
Most Improved - ?

MVP voting
1172 L. James
698 K. Bryant
680 D. Wade
328 D. Howard
192 C. Paul
33 C. Billups
21 P. Pierce
9 T. Parker
7 B. Roy
3 D. Nowitzki
2 T. Duncan
1. Y. Ming

[brod]

Conference Semi-Finals

EAST
(1) Cleveland vs (4) Atlanta
(2) Boston vs (3) Orlando

WEST
(1) LA Lakers vs (5) Houston
(2) Denver vs (6) Dallas

[brod]

(1) LA Lakers vs (5) Houston
GAME 1

HOUSTON 100 - LA LAKERS 92

The Rockets won for the first time against the Lakers this season, but it was the one that counts as Houston flexed their muscle with Yao Ming collecting 28 points and 10 rebounds. Ming collided heavily with Kobe Bryant and limped off the court and down the tunnel, but re-emerged to help his Rockets take the 1-0 lead. Bryant paced the Lakers with 32 points, after missing Sunday's practice with a sore throat, and showed no lack of energy scoring 22 of the Lakers last 42 points.

STAND OUT STATS
- Lakers poor shooting from distance (2/18 3pFG - Bryant 1/7 3pFG)
- Rockets went to the free throw line 10 more times than the Lakers and shot them well (25/29), the Lakers did not (12/19)
- Andrew Bynums (starting centre) inability to hit the boards (3 rebounds)
- Ron Artests game (21 points 8/15FG, 3/6 3pFG, 7ast, 3reb, 2 steals)

[brod]

(2) Denver vs (6) Dallas
Game 1

DENVER 109 - DALLAS 95

Nene had the half of career, scoring 18 of his careers playoff high 24 points in the first two quarters, after Carmello Anthony got in foul trouble and the Mavs came blazing, taking an eight point lead into quarter time. The Nuggest then outscored the Mavs in each of the last three quarters, who they have now a 5-0 record against this season.

STAND OUT STATS
- Jason Kidd had 8 turnovers (he had only 3 in the entire first round) and only 4 assists
- The shooting by the Nuggets 54.8% (40/73FG)
- Nuggets contribution off the bench -JR Smith (15 points, 7/13FG, 6 ast, 3st, 3 reb) & Anthony Carter (12 points, 6/8FG, 4ast, 3 reb, 2 st 21min)
- Free throw disparity - Nuggets shot 36 FT, the Mavs only 13
- Fast Break Points (Nuggets 29 - Mavs 4)
- Points in Paint (Nuggets 58 - Mavs 30)

[brod]

(2) Boston vs (6) Orlando
Game One

ORLANDO 95 - BOSTON 90

Dwight Howard returned from his one-game suspension to get 16 points and 22 rebounds Monday night and Orlando, which led by as many as 28 points in the second half, held off the late-charging Celtics 95-90 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals

STAND OUT STATS
- Celtics did not attempt a Free Throw in the first half (Rondo attempted 12 in the third quarter)
- Rondos near quadruple double (14pts, 10 reb, 8 ast, 7to) and his 2/12FG shooting
- Poor shooting by both sides (Orlando 43.2%, Boston 38.5%)
- Great bench help by Pietrus for Orlando (17pts on 7/13FG)

[Johno6]

Houstan were paying about $7 to win game one werent they?

Lakers looked very ordinary most of the night.... Yao just took the piss most of the night, and brooks killed fisher. way too quick

[RoosterMarty]

Cavs won today very comfortably, LeBron obviously didn't feel the pressure of being named MVP as he dominated from tip-off.

[kouta43]

Houstan were paying about $7 to win game one werent they?

Lakers looked very ordinary most of the night.... Yao just took the piss most of the night, and brooks killed fisher. way too quick

Get on houston in game two paying about 5s not bad for a two horse race.
Back ron artest for playoffs mvp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[brod]

(1) Cleveland vs (4) Atlanta
Game One

CLEVELAND 99 - ATLANTA 72

Cleveland took their time to get their rythmn back after a nine day break, ahead by only 5 at half time, but exploded in the second half to outscore the Hawks 50-28. Lebron James was awarded his MVP trophy and the went to work, scoring 34 points and adding 10 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists.

STAND OUT STATS
- Cleveland commited only 7 turnovers, while forcing 17 from the Hawks (5 from Joe Johnson)
- Cavs bench outscored the Hawks 20-6, with the Hawks bench shooting 4/19FG 0/6 3pFG
- Cleveland had 15 offensive rebounds, The Hawks 6
-

[brod]

(2) Denver vs (6) Dallas
Game Two

DENVER 117 - DALLAS 105
(Denver lead series 2-0)

Carmello Anthony scored 15 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 10 in a 16-2 spurt the Nuggets used to start the quarter and break open a close game.

STAND OUT STATS
- Excellent games by the 6th Men - JR Smith (21pts, 6/10FG, 3/7 3pFG, 3ast, 2 st) and Jason Terry (21pts, 7/18FG, 6ast, 3reb)
- Jason Kidds scoring woes - 4 points (1/6FG, 1/5 3pFG)
- Another great game by Nene (25pts, 8/12FG, 8reb)
- Great stats sheet from Ditk Nowitzki (35pts, 11/20FG, 12/13FT, 9reb, 4ast)

[brod]

(1) LA Lakers vs (5) Houston
Game Two

LA LAKERS 111 - HOUSTON 98
(Series tied at 1-1)

Desperate to salvage a split at home, the Los Angeles Lakers blitzed Houston in the first quarter. The Rockets withstood the initial charge, and stuck around for another rough-and-tumble game that turned chaotic. Emotions boiled over in the second half, with Derek Fisher of the Lakers and Artest getting ejected and technical fouls assessed to Bryant, Artest, Luis Scola, Luke Walton and Lamar Odom. Odom replaced C Andrew Bynum in the Lakers' starting lineup. Bynum was scoreless with one rebound in 8 minutes, while Odom collected 11 boards.

STAND OUT STATS
- Yao Mings lack of shots (3/4FG) as he played only 26 min due to foul trouble
- Battier continuing to struggle (6pts, 3 ast, 1 reb in 36min)
- Bench spark of Landry for the Rockets (21 pts 7/9FG, 10 reb in 24 min)
- Great game by Pau Gasol 22 points (9/13 FG), 14 reb, 4 blocks and 4 ast
- Good shooting game from Kobe 40 points (16/27 FG, 2/3 3pFG, 6/7FT)

[brod]

(2) Boston vs (3) Orlando
Game Two

BOSTON 124 - ORLANDO 94
(series tied at 1-1)

Rajon Rondo took the pass from Eddie House and bolted for the basket, cutting between 6-foot-11 Dwight Howard and 6-10 Rashard Lewis for a thunderous dunk.
In a crucial game for the Boston Celtics, the little guys came up big.
Rondo had 15 points, 18 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the playoffs, and House scored a career playoff high-shattering 31 points on Wednesday night to lead Boston to a 112-94 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 2 that evened the Eastern Conference semifinals.

STAND OUT STATS
- Improvement in shooting from the Celtics (38% in Game 1, 51% in Game 2)
- Howard, Lewis and Alston struggle from the field (14/39 FG, 2/7 3pFG) Howard was also 2/8FT
- Pietrus continues to be strong of the bench 17pts, 3 reb
- Paul Pierce played 16 min scoring 3 points due to foul trouble

[ORDoubleBlues]

Any chance Houston had is probably now gone with Yao Ming now out for the season with a broken foot. The Rockets are currently down 1-2 in the series.
Denver beat Dallas 106-105 on a buzzer beating 3 pointer from Carmelo Anthony
Cleveland up 3-0 over Atlanta and Orlando up 2-1 over Boston.

Also RIP to legendary former Cavaliers, Nets, Magic and Piston coach Chuck Daly who died over the weekend of pancreatic cancer at 78.
Daly was best known for leading the Detroit Pistons to two successive championships in 1988/89 and 1989/90 - with a team that included Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman - and being the coach of the famous 1992 dream team at the Barcelona Olympic games.

[Johno6]

Any chance Houston had is probably now gone with Yao Ming now out for the season with a broken foot. The Rockets are currently down 1-2 in the series.

How the **** did houstan win game 4?

[dodgingandweaving]

Cluth BIG BABY clutch!!

[Johno6]

Was the game in LA?

If so you would of got some big juicy odds again...

Its a week of upsets in sports....

[Pup]

Cluth BIG BABY clutch!!

Just watched the replay. Was a terrific finish, not the best game but very entertaining.

I can not believe he hit the shot on the buzzer to be honest. If you were Magic i would let him have the ball every time when the game was on the line rather than some of his team mates. Full credit to him though, Hit it when the pressure was on.

[kouta43]

Houston have a couple of young guys who can turn it up brooks wafer lawry will be hard without yao but 1 player dont make a team.
We have got this far without mcgrady and im sure we can push L.A this series.