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You can almost hear the music cue up that old '60s hit, "Hang On Sloopy." The Orlando Magic did indeed hang on as they hooped and hollered after saving face in Game Four. The diminutive one, Jameer Nelson, wormed his way into nine assists, and gave the Magic the moral victory they needed.   Make no mistake. The Magic won, but it wasn't due to what they did—rather it was because of what the Celtics didn't ...

  The Celtics limped into the playoffs with little or no kind of love from fans and NBA analysts. The story line in the first round was that LeBron James would extend his kingdom on the parquet.  He did for one brief moment in game three. The Orlando Magic composed of Superman and his legion will head into the jungle on Saturday looking to duplicate what James and his gang did. The generic ...

Ever since David Stern masterminded his ingenious plan to pump NBA marketing dollars into individuals, the modern game has thrived.  It has brought back the casual fans, who are big on name recognition.  It began with the ascension of Michael Jordan and, let us hope, ends with the dethroning of the self-anointed NBA King, Lebron James.  For two years running LBJ has used the regular season as his personal "And 1" ...

The evolution of the green has the rest of the NBA taking notice, after all they were all but written off by the supposed expert NBA analysts.  The lone voice of dissent was Skip Bayless of ESPN; he has been shouting their praises all season long and even he was ridiculed. Now it seems like he was right after all. You have all heard it already, they were the over the hill ...

It is now time for the Atlanta Hawks to praise Mike Woodson for what he did with this moribund band they call a team. Woodson knew he had to formulate his game plan around a bunch of athletes who after essentially five years together do not know how to function as a team.   Mike Bibby's days of running an offense is over.  He was supposed to be the wise sage who could help ...

The Cleveland Cavaliers are finally admitting that they underestimated Rajon Rondo after watching him carve up their defense in the first four games of their second round playoff series.   The Celtics have a player that the rest of the NBA free-agents are drooling to play with—Rajon Rondo.  Rondo may have made Boston a more attractive destination with his pass-first mentality and his recent play. Rondo has done things that not even the estimable ...

The Boston Celtics need their frontcourt bench players to step up.  Realistically there is no way the Cavalier bigs should be able to match up with the Celtics—they didn't.  Glen Davis muddled his way into foul trouble and it looked like the pressure of finding out that he is on a real team has derailed Rasheed Wallace.  Shaquille O'Neal made a minor contribution, but because of Celtic ineptitude a six-point foray ...

    The Boston Celtics continue their maddening ways of not adjusting to Rajon Rondo's game. The second half of game one saw the Cleveland Cavaliers gear their defense toward stopping Rondo's penetration. The Cavaliers were quick to help and recover, forcing the action, which fueled their fast break.  Paul Pierce struggled mightily and Ray Allen could not use his length over Mo Williams or Delonte West effectively.  Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins missed ...

So it begins.  The King, LeBron James, is trying to expand his fiefdom beyond MVP status. The dreaded green monster, the Boston Celtics, once again stand in his way. He has surrounded himself with a giant of a man in Shaquille O'Neal and, of course, his serfs. But for the story of the king to gain significance, the king must suffer some type of mortal wound to rise against the ...

Game Four was the Dwyane Wade show. It went a little bit like this: See Dwyane dribble, dribble Dwyane, dribble! See Dwyane run, dunk, Dwyane, dunk! See Dwyane shoot, make those threes, Dwyane, shoot!   The Miami Heat coach, Eric Spoelstra, usually rests Wade at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Last night it had to be different. It had to go that way because the Miami Heat were in desperation mode.   The Celtics could ...