Hawks break away from Heat

Last night the Hawks regained the lead in their series with the Heat, winning 106-91, making the series 3-2. Atlanta had to do this with a short bench. Al Horford ended up being taken to the locker room and sitting the rest of the game after being fouled hard and landing on Dwayne Wade. Also Williams was out for his 3rd straight game with a sprained wrist. Mike Bibby also didnt play very much after he got his 4th foul so the Hawks had to reach deep into their bench with Soloman Jones and Mario West getting extensive minutes, which didnt happen during the regular season. The series is also starting to heat up with tempers flaring and the games getting physical. Last night there were a lot of hard fouls and fights that almost broke out. One started when Soloman Jones made a hard foul on Wade and Magloire came in and shoved Jones and then Smith shoved Magloire back before the refs came in and broke up the fight before punches could be thrown. All four players were given technicals for the incident. Another one was when Pachulia caught Jermaine O'Neal with an elbow to the head when he drove to the lane. The next time Pachulia came down the lane on the Heat side of the floor O'Neal caught him across the head also, neither of them were called a technical or flagerant foul.

Nuggets Close out Hornets

Last night the Nuggets closed out their series with the Hornets. This was their first, first round victory since 1994 when they were an eigth seed beating Seattle who was the number one seed. The Nuggets did this in convincing fashion, like they have the rest of the series, 107-86. Even though Denver lost a game, they outscored New Orleans by an average of 24 points a game. Carmelo led the Nuggets to the win with 34 points and was helped out by J.R. Smith who had 20, 15 of which came in the second half, and 13 points and 11 assists by the Denver native Chauncy Billups. A big part of the win Wednesday night was poor shooting by the Hornets. From beyond the arc they went 3-20 which is 15% and 29-76 overall which is 38%. Although the final score was a blowout it was actually a pretty good game up until the end of the game. Going into halftime the score was 49-49 and then tied at 62 later in the third quarter. The Nuggets however eventually went on a 24-4 run to break away and never looked back. Denver will now be facing the Mavericks in the next round who beat also beat the Spurs in 5 games. The Nuggets swept the Mavericks 4-0 in their season series this year.

Heat vs. Hawks - Game 2

After a game one blow out loss to the Hawks, the Heat came back with a 108-93 victory to ties the series up at a game a piece. This was the Heats first playoff win since 2006 in Game 6 of the NBA playoffs against the Mavericks. Dwayne Wade was the hero for the Heat as usual, scoring 33 points. 13 of his points came in a row before the end of halftime to give his team the lead and momentum going into the locker room. Wade also hit a season high 6 threes in the game, which doubled his previous playoff high. When Dwayne Wade scores more than 30 points in a playoff game the Heat are currently 18-1, which shows the Hawks might wanna play some defense on this man if they want to win the series. However, the rest of the supporting cast also had good games too. Daequan Cook had 20 points shooting 6-9 from beyond the arc and Jermaine O'Neal had 19 points. The Heat also set a team high playoff record of 15 three pointers in a game, going 15-26. In the long run i think that the Hawks will pull off the series win because they have the better team all-around. However, if Dwayne Wade keeps playing out of his mind like last night he could maybe pull off a few more wins for the Heat and take the series.

Nuggets vs. Hornets - Game 2

Last night the Nuggets again pulled off another huge win against the Hornets, 108-93. Chauncy Billups again was the leading scorer in the game with 31 points coming off his 36 point game one game, also where he set a Nuggets playoff record with 8 three-pointers. Another crazy stat by Chauncy is that he has back to back turnover free games in this series. Last night the Hornets tried putting Chris Paul on him, but Chauncy lit him up just like he did Rasual Butler. Carmelo Anthony also had a big game scoring 22 points and dishing out 9 assists. When Carmelo and Chauncy are both hitting on all cylinders the Nuggets are a very tough team to beat. The key in this game was the Nuggets defense. They forced 17 turnovers in the game while they only had 6 turnovers. They also blew them out of the water in the steal category with 8 while the Hornets had a measly one steal. Some of the key contributors to the tough defense were Kenyan Martin, Dahntay Jones, and Nene. The Nuggets should easily come out of this series with a win, which will be the first round one win for the franchise in 15 years. If they do it in 4 games and sweep the Hornets that would be huge for their success in the later rounds because they will get more rest.

Top Five Power Rankings- 3 through 5

3. Coming in at third are the 60-20 Boston Celtics. The Celtics are again having a great year and are of course the leagues reigning champions. Now, with everyone healthy again and KG coming back the Celtics should be able to make another run deep into the playoffs and defend their championship. With all of the stars on their team and a great coach in Doc Rivers i think that the Celtics can do it again even though it will be a tough run with the Lakers and Cavs also having magnificent seasons.

4. My fourth ranked team, also with the fourth best record of 58-22, is the Orlando Magic. The thing that makes the Magic special is, Dwight Howard. The bigman owns the paint and is a shot blocker and shot changer. He also leads the league in rebounding and blocks. Not only do they have Dwight Howard but a great supporting cast around him. In one game this year the Magic broke the NBA record for most three pointers in a game.

5. The last team in my power rankings is my favorite team, the Denver Nuggets. The arrival of Chauncey Billups has been a great addition to the team, leading them to win their division which no one had imagined them doing. The real test however will be if the Nuggets can get to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1994.

Top Five Power Rankings-1 and 2

1. My number one team has to be the Cavaliers, who own the best record in the NBA. They are also an amazing 39-1 at home and are going for an NBA record 40-1 tonight if they decide to start everyone instead of benching people to rest for the playoffs. Not only do they have the best record in the NBA but the best margin of victory which is an impressive stat to me. Another thing that makes them standout to me is the one and only LeBron James who will Probably be the leagues MVP.

2. Coming in right behind the Cavs are the LA Lakers, who are just a game back for the best record in the NBA. They also just got Andrew Bynum back which will help them largely throughout the playoffs. However, as evidence of last year, they dont need Bynum to make a deep run into the playoffs. The Lakers are also 21-7 against the top 10 in the league which no one else in the league is even close to. A large part of their success is the duo of big man Pau Gasol and possible MVP recipient Kobe Bryant. The Lakers have also swept the Cavaliers this season, giving them a legitiment case to be put ahead of the Cavs in the rankings but for now will sit at number 2.

Tar Heels Domination

The Michigan State Spartans had high expectations coming into the national championship game, with the game being played closed to home in Detroit. Before the day of the game estimates were that 60,000 of the 70,000 fans at the game were to be Spartan fans. The hometown crowd however seemed to be a non factor. The Tar Heels jumped out to an early lead at half 55-34. This was the most points scored in the first half in tournament history and also the largest halftime lead. North Carolina then kept this lead and won convincingly by 17 points, 89-72. A large factor in this game was the Spartans 21 tournovers that led to 25 North Carolina points and also kept them from making a run to make the game closer. The closest the Spartans ever came to the Tar Heels was 13 points throughout the latter parts of the game. The five starters for the Tar Heels will be entering the NBA draft this next year, with a good chance of the majority going in the first round. "You've got six NBA players that could be drafted in the first round or early second," Spartans guard Travis Walton said. "You're looking at a team that could probably beat the worst team in the NBA."

Red Hot Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets took on the Oklahoma City Thunder last night to capture their 8th win in a row. They also have won 9 of their last 10. The Nuggets squeaked out the win 122-112 by having a huge fourth quarter. As usual Carmelo had a big game which took them to a win, going for 31 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Backup center Chris Anderson also came up big with 7 blocks in the game, while his fellow center, Nene, was the second leading scorer with 23 points. With that win last night the Nuggets are 27 games above five hundred for the first time in francise history. The Nuggets also only need 2 more wins to surpass the franchise record of 54 wins set back in 1987-1988. To extend their win streak they will need to beat the Lakers tonight in Los Angeles. If they go into LA and win they will clinch being the Northwest champs and also clinch a 2 seed, giving them homecourt advantage in the playoffs for the first time in 21 years. "It would be huge, man, especially at this time of the year and for what we're trying to accomplish," Anthony said. "That would be a big win for us."

Thriller in Boston

Last night, Boston Celtics who are second in the east took on the Charlotte Bobcats 9th in the east and just out of the playoffs at the moment, went head to head in a barn burner going into double overtime. The Celtics came out on top 111-109 complements of a 3 from Ray Allen, who seemed to somehow find himself open behind the arc alot in the game, with two seconds left. Ray Allen went 5-13 behind the arc with 22 points in the game and you could say he was the player of the game because of his huge shots. He not only hit the game winner but also hit a 3 to tie the game in the first overtime and kept it going. Paul Pierce also had a great game shooting fifty percent from the field and having 32 points. In my opinion Paul Pierce is one of the most underrated players in the NBA and should get more hype in the MVP race. One reason i think he doesnt though is because he has such a good supporting cast around him. One way the Bobcats hurt themselves was only getting to the freethrow line 4 times and going 5-7 while the Celtics got there often shooting 18-26. The Bobcats Raja Bell also got a very good look at the end of the second overtime to win the game but it just barely rimmed out.

MVP race

This years MVP race in the NBA is a very close one with 3 amazing players at the top of the pack for likely winners. These 3 players are Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade who are all very deserving of the award. My personal pick for MVP would have to be LeBron James. One example of his outstanding play is the Cavaliers owning the best record in the NBA right now and not having the best talent around him. Only one player in the last five years has won the MVP with less than 60 wins and the Cavs have already surpassed that with 61 wins already. The other reason i think he will win is because of his crazy stats. He is second in the league in scoring with an amazing 28 points a game but the thing that sets him apart from the other is his 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game which makes his game all around better. He is also just plain exciting to watch with his highlight dunks and huge blocks. LeBron can also beat you a multiple of different ways which makes him a very hard man to defend. He can either drive to the whole and dunk it on you or step back and drain a three, he has also improved his mid-range game alot over his career in Cleveland. His 6'8, 250 pound body with lightning quick speed is also another reason he is very hard to defend on the Strong Forward position.

Change In Topic

Now that the NFL season has come to end it is going to be very hard to post about the NFL so i have decided to talk about basketball. I will not only discuss professional basketball in the NBA but also the NCAA since the tournament is still going on and is getting very exciting. There may be on a occasion a day where i still post about something new story in the NFL and also post about the NFL draft. To get you acquainted with me as an NBA fan ill start by telling you my favorite teams and players. My most favorite team in the NBA is the Denver Nuggets who are currently second in the Western Conference behind the Lakers. The Nuggets have two of my favorite players in Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith. J.R. Smith is a four year veteran who came straight out of highschool and Carmelo is a 5 year veteran out of the University of Syracuse. Another team that i like to watch in the NBA is the New Orleans Hornets. The main reason i like the Hornets is because of Chris Paul, their starting pointing guard. Chris Paul was drafted from the Hornets 3 years ago as the 4th overall pick out of Wake Forest. He is now one of the most exciting players in the league and is already setting records like the one for steals.