Celtics Back to the NBA Finals

Looking too old, tired and easy to beat up, the Boston Celtics proved once again that they up for a challenge, beating the Orlando Magic 96-84 to win the series in six games. The C's are back into the finals,their 2 finals appearance in the last three years.

Paul Pierce was instrumental leading the Celtics with 31 points and 13 rebounds while Allen and Rondo added 20 and 14 points respectively with Nate Robinson had his best game in the playoffs scoring 13 points,12 in the 2nd quarter after Rondo hurt his back. The contribution of Robinson is big for the Celtics as they need an extra points from the bench.

Dwight Howard was impressive for the Magic cause, scoring 28 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. His dominance was not enough for the Magic. They fell short again after that runner-up finished last year.

With this win, the Celtics will have to face either the winner of the Lakers-Suns series with the Lakers holding a 3-2 series lead.

Artest To The Rescue

Trading Trevor Ariza to the Houston Rockets for Ron Artest made a positive note for the defending champs. Artest rebounded a missed jump shot by Kobe Bryant and banked on a wild shot at the buzzer. The shot went in, much to the delight of the Lakers and their fans. It was only the second basket of Ron Artest in the entire game and the last shot is the most important of them all giving the win for the Lakers 103-101. Kobe Bryant lead the Lakers with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. The game was very much heading into overtime after the Suns rallied from an 18 point deficit to tie it from a Jason Richardson's bank a 3 pointer after two consecutive tries from the three points line. But that all set up for the heroics of Ron Artest. Steve Nash lead the Suns with 29 points and 11 assists, his best game of the series. Phoenix will come back home in Game 6 and will have another shot to extend the series if they win in their homecourt. The Lakers will try to finish the Suns in that game.

Magic Lived for Another Day

With the season on the line was no stopping the Orlando Magic to put on a show in game 5 of their series against the Boston Celtics toppling the latter 113-92 and cut the series deficit down 3-2. Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard has been instrumental in both wins, finished with 24 and 21 points respectively. Howard added 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Rashard Lewis and JJ Reddick added 14 points apiece for Orlando hitting 13 3-pointers in the game.

Howard was so dominant once again after Kendrick Perkins was ejected late in the 2nd quarter and Glen Davis suffered a concussion after an elbow hit on the head by Howard. Rasheed Wallace relegated to play defense against Howard scrord 21 points off the bench but fouled in the fourth quarter, but tweaked his back in the process. The Magic has won 2 in a row after winning that game 4.

Game 6 will head back to Boston hoping they could end the series or the Magic will win game 6 and force a decider in their own homecourt.

Suns Tied Series With the Lakers

Kobe Bryant was as impressive again for the Lakers but the trio of Channing Frye, Leandro Barbosa and Jared Dudley leveled the output of Kobe. This three players coming from the bench were superb in that fourth quarter run, hitting 3 pointers of their own after they stretch the lead from 89-87 to 98-89. That was the run that made the difference of the game highlighted by those bench players. Amare Stoudemire was held down to 21 points after a 42-points output in game 3, still leads the Suns. While Barbosa and Frye socred 14 points as the latter found his touch in this game and Dudley contributed 11 points. Kobe Bryant leads the Lakers with 38 point and dished out 10 assists.

The Series will now shift back to Staples Center in Los Angeles, California where the Lakers looking for the critical win in game 5 while the Suns will have the opportunity of stealing the homecourt advantage of the Lakers.

My Prediction: Suns will win in Game 5 and will closed out the series in game 6 at their homecourt.

Magic Keeping the Hopes Alive

The Orlando Magic lives for another day and forced a game 5 in the series, winning 96-92 in overtime over the veteran-laiden Boston Celtics. Dwight Howard's great performance and clutch baskets down the stretch, helps the Magic to avenge its game 3 loss. Howard finished with 32 points and 16 rebounds while Jameer Nelson had 23 points and 9 assists. Nelson contributed back-to-back crucial 3-pointers in overtime.

While the Magic having a great game, the Boston Celtics were challenged with this one. They came short for a series sweep. Rajon Rondo was held down to 9 points and 8 assists that caused to that Celtics loss. Paul Pierce leads the Celtics with 32 points, needing 25 shots to get that points. Ray Allen added 22 points, including a barrage of 3's in the regulation and overtime that keep the C's into the game. Game 5 will be going back to Orlando, a do-or-die game for the Magic, as the Celtics still holds the series 3-1.

Fearless Forecast: Orlando Magic will win game 5 but the Celtics will go back home and win game 6 to finish the series.

Mike Brown Fired as Cavaliers Coach

The Cleveland Cavaliers have fired Mike Brown as head coach. He has one year remaining on the contract for the Cavs but the Cavaliers opted to fire him.

The Cavaliers were the number 1 team in the season but were ousted by the Boston Celtics in the second round of the playoffs, fall short once again for that championship ring that the team desired. Last year, the Cavaliers was also the number one team winning 66 wins in the season but loss to the Orlando Magic in the conference finals. This time, they fell short again, much of the blame going to Mike Brown.

Mike Brown is best to be remembered as the coach that has the highest percentage of winning in the history of the Cavaliers franchise having an overall winning percentage of .663 winning 272 games while losing only 138 games.

Stoudemire Carries Suns Over Lakers

Amare Stoudemire defies his critics by almost singlehandedly carried the Suns for an all-important win over the lakers, 118-109. Stoudemire had a game-high 42 points plus 11 rebounds. He was supported by another big man Robin Lopez who had 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting. This was the best game by Stoudemire in the playoffs, after having not-as-spectacular in the first 2 games of the series. Kobe Bryant led the defending champs with 36 points and 11 assists and Pau Gasol added 23 points. Lamar Odom was not much of a factor this time, having a miserable game scoring only 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting. The Suns has cut the series deficit 1-2 with them going for an equalizer in Game 4 at home.