MySports Today

The Orlando Magic defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-90 in Orlando on Saturday night to advance to the NBA Finals to take on Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Magic’s Dwight Howard dominated all night long – scoring 40 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.  4 other Magic players scored in double digits, as the Magic hit 12 3-pointers. 

Lebron James scored 25 points and had 7 assists and 7 rebounds in defeat.  James did not talk to the media after the loss and did not shake hands with any of the Magic players on the court.  James finally came out of his media shell today – just 24 hours after the heart-breaking loss.

The Magic Lakers NBA Finals series begins on Thursday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets 119-92 in Denver on Friday night to advance to a 2nd straight NBA Finals.  It was also the franchise’s 30th trip to the NBA Finals – an NBA record.  Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 35 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds.  Paul Gasol had another prime-time performance too with 20 points and 12 rebounds.  Lamar Odom added 20 points for the Lakers off the bench while Trevor Ariza chipped in 17 points.

Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with 25 points, but it wasn’t enough.  The Nuggets trailed the Lakers by 5 after the 1st period and 13 at the break and could never muster a strong comeback.

The Lakers will either face the Magic or Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.  The 2 teams will play Game 6 tonight in Orlando to determine the Eastern Conference representative.

The Cleveland Cavaliers avoided being eliminated from the playoffs with a 112-102 win over the Orlando Magic at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.  The Cavs almost let a 20+ point 1st half lead slip away and actually trailed by 1 point at the end of 3 quarters.  But Lebron James carried the team on his back with a triple-double – 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists – down the stretch to preserve the win for the Cavs.  Mo Williams also had 24 points to help out Lebron.

For the Magic, Hedo Turkoglu scored 29 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, while Dwight Howard chipped in 24 points and 10 boards.

The two teams face off in Game 6 in Orlando on Saturday night at 8:30PM EST.  The game will be televised on TNT.

Jennie Finch – oh we, oh where are you these days.  The MLB schedule is about 2 months in, and I’m already getting sick of it.  Let me see some more coverage of great women’s softball action soon.  Just to refresh your memory – take a look at a few sweet Jennie Finch classics…

The Red Wings ousted the Blackhawks with a thrilling 2-1 overtime win in Detroit.  Darren Helm scored the game winner for the Red Wings just 3:58 into OT.  The Red Wings will face the Penguins in the Stanley Cup for the 2nd straight season.

After high scoring affairs in the series 1st 4 games, this was a defensive struggle.  Neither team scored until the 3rd period and each team was 0 for 3 on the power play.

The Red Wings struck 1st on Dan Cleary’s goal 6:08 into the 3rd period.  Patrick Kane tied the game with just over 7 minutes to play in regulation.

Chris Osgood saved 30 shots for the Red Wings while Cristobal Huet shined for the Blackhawks saving 42 shots on the net during the night.

Danica Patrick made her best finish at the Indy 500 over the weekend, finishing just behind winner Helio Castroneves and 2nd place finisher Dan Wheldon.  Her 3rd place finish was the highest finish for her at the Indy 500 and if not for a spectacular race from the winner, we might be talking about Patrick as the 1st female winner in Indy’s most historic race.  Checking out some of these pictures convince me that she is #1 in my book any day.  Go Danica – we need some more top 5 finishes from you this 2009 Indy schedule.

The Yankees defeated the Rangers 11-1, pounding out 19 hits along the way.  Alex Rodriguez went 5 for 5 for the Yankees, with 4 RBI’s and 2 runs scored.  Overall, the Yankees pounded out 19 hits and 3 walks against 3 Rangers pitchers – Matt Harrison, Kris Benson & Warner Madrigal.

Phil Hughes pitched a gem for the Yankees – 8 scoreless innings of 3 hit, 1 walk ball.  He also had 6 K’s and Manager Joe Girardi pulled him after 8 innings because he had racked up 101 pitches.

With the win, the Yankees moved into sole possession of 2nd place in the AL East, just 1 game behind the Red Sox.

This not good news.  Two of tennis’ hotties – Jelena Dokic and Daniela Hantuchova – will meet very early on in this week’s French Open.  I wrote about Hantuchova earlier this week – Hantuchova Hottie.  Now feast your eyes on Dokic.  Assuming each player advances in the first few matches, the 2 will square off in the 4th round of the French Open.  We hate to see a tennis hottie eliminated before the quarterfinals, but at least we’ll get to watch each of them in 3 separate match-ups leading up to the 4th round.  Enjoy…

All you have to do is see this video and you will agree.

and now we have the cavs girls for their 2008 calendar shoot.

The Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 106-103 at the Staples Center on Thursday night.  The series is now tied at 1, and the 2 teams will face off again on Saturday night at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Carmelo Anthony led the way for the Nuggets with 34 points and 9 rebounds.  Chauncey Billups scored 27 points in 43 minutes.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 32 points, while Pau Gasol scored 17 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.  Lamar Odom had a solid night in a reserve role – 10 points and 9 rebounds in just 29 minutes – but it wasn’t enough.  Holding the ball with the final shot down by 3 points, Head Coach Phil Jackson opted to keep the ball out of his star’s hands.  Instead of going to Kobe – whom Jackson felt would get fouled by the Nuggets to force 2 free throws – Jackson drew up a play for point guard Derek Fisher who missed a 3-point shot that would have tied the game.

This is shaping up to be a great series out west.  The Lakers will need to find a way to win at least 1 game in Denver if they don’t want to face an almost unsurmountable 3-1 deficit.  We’ll keep you posted…