There will be no Lebron James vs Kobe Bryant NBA Finals showdown this year. No “The King” vs “The Black Mamba”. No face-off between the reigning MVP and last year’s MVP. No box-office extravaganza for the NBA executives. And finally, we will be seeing no more of those annoying Nike puppet commercials.
Superman Dwight Howard made sure of that. He delivered with 40 points and 14 rebounds as the Orlando Magic won Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-90.
After Hedo Torkuglo of the Orlando Magic hit a leaning jumper with 1 second left in the shot-clock to put his team ahead 95-93, I thought “this is it, Cleveland Cavaliers will enter Game 3 down 0-2 in its Eastern Conference Finals series”. After the time-out, Lebron James showed the world why he is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. He came to work and hit an improbable game-winning buzzer beater behind the three-point line!
During the 1st quarter of his team Orlando Magic’s Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 duel with MVP Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers, 2009 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard dunked the ball so hard that it brought down the 24-second shot clock above the basket. The game was temporarily halted for 8 minutes as it was being repaired. It was a sign of good things to come as they won 107-106.
The play was reminiscent of a young Shaquille O’Neal. Although I must say that it was not even close to what Shaq had done. Need proof? Watch these.
It has been a thrilling series between the LA Lakers and the Houston Rockets in the West and the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic in the East.
On their Semifinals Game 6 doubleheader last Friday, the Lakers and the Celtics failed to show the exit door for the Rockets and the Magic respectively. Because of this, another doubleheader will be played on May 17, Sunday (Monday here in the Philippines). This will be the penultimate do-or-die Game 7 for both series.
Whoever survives between the Lakers and the Rockets will earn the right to face the Denver Nuggets led by Chauncey Billups in the Western Conference Finals. On the other side, first-time NBA MVP Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers are already waiting to take on either the defending champion Celtics or the Magic for the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Cleveland Cavaliers with first-time NBA MVP Lebron James at the helm has already advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals since May 12 via a 4-0 sweep of the Atlanta Hawks. The Denver Nuggets on the other hand won Game 5 of their Semifinals encounter with the Dallas Mavericks today to take the series 4-1 and earn the first berth to the Western Conference Finals.
Two other Semifinals series are still underway.
In the Western Conference, the LA Lakers currently have the lead 3-2 over the Houston Rockets who is trying to make it even and force Game 7.
I arrived home this morning coming from an exhausting 2-day training I have facilitated. It’s a Friday and I immediately checked what NBA game is on ESPN. It was Game 6 of the first-round playoff series between the defending champion Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls. When I saw that its already on the second overtime period, I immediately dropped my bags to tune in. I felt like, “Wow, just in time”. Nothing beats watching a LIVE game than just seeing it on replays or reading it on the news.
With seven seconds left in the second OT and the Celtics down by three points, Ray Allen hit his 9th trifecta (that three-pointer tied Vince Carter and Rex Chapman’s playoff record). He finished with a career playoff -best 51 points! In the third OT, Joakim Noah managed to steal the ball from Paul Pierce and run the length of the court for the breakaway jam. That gave the Bulls a one-point lead and Pierce’s 6th personal foul. That was a very foolish foul by “The Truth” since you know that Noah is going for a dunk in that play.
