NBA League sources have confirmed that the Boston Celtics are willing to consider trades involving either Ray Allen or Rajon Rondo, 2 of the key stars who helped bring an NBA championship back to Boston in 2008.  Allen has an expiring $20 million contract at the end of the 2009-2010 NBA season, and the Celtics seem reluctant to give Rondo the lucrative, long-term deal that he seeks.  While the 34-year Allen is in the twilight of his career, the 24-year old Rondo has emerged as a big-game player, averaging 11.9 points, 8.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds during the regualr season.  Rondo also had 3 triple-doubles in the playoffs this past season.

While Celtics GM Danny Ainge and Pistons GM Joe Dumars never actually spoke about this proposed trade, NBA league sources have reported that low-level executives from the Celtics and Pistons discussed a trade that would have sent Allen and Rondo to the Celtics for Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey.  The trade makes little sense for the Pistons (unloading 3 of their 4 best players for 1 old guy and 1 young guy), and reports have it that the Pistons exec immediately rejected the deal.

It should be interesting to see if the Celtics make a move this off-season.  Without Kevin Garnett much of the season, the Celtics weaknesses were exposed as the Chicago Bulls took them to the brink of elimination with a grueling 7-game series in the 1st round of the playoffs.  It seems clear that Ainge is trying to make some productive moves now to better his ball club before it’s too late.

The NBA Conference Finals are finally set – the Denver Nuggets (Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups) v. the Los Angeles Lakers (Kobe Bryant) and the Orlando Magic (Dwight Howard) v. the Cleveland Cavaliers (Lebron James).

Both Game 7’s on Sunday were disappointing lopsided victories for the Lakers and Magic.  The Lakers rushed out to a 51-31 halftime lead and never let off the gas pedal, cruising to a 89-70 win.  Pau Gasol had a monster double-double – 21 points and 18 boards, while Kobe Bryant scored 14 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.

The Magic led the Celtics by 7 at halftime and 5 at the end of the 3 quarters, and most felt that the final collapse would occur in the 4th quarter as it had so many times this post-season.  The Magic, however, answered the call, crushing the Celtics 35-21 in the 4th quarter to run away with a 101-82 victory in Boston.  Hedo Turkoglu knocked in 25 points, while Dwight Howard finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds.  Ray Allen led the Celtics with 23 points, while Rajon Rondo had a solid game with 10 points, 10 assists and 6 boards.  But Paul Pierce only scored 16 points and Glen “Big Baby” Davis socred 13 points and grabbed only 4 rebounds.

The Nuggets play against the Lakers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday night at 9PM Eastern Standard Time.  The game will be televised on ESPN.   The Magic play against the Cavaliers at the Quicken Loans Center in Cleveland on Wednesday night at 8:30PM Eastern Standard Time.  The game will be televised on TNT.

Both the Lakers and Celtics answered the call on Wednesday night in the 2nd game of their respective 2nd round match-ups.

The Lakers defeated the Rockets 111-98 behind Kobe Bryant’s 40 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.  The game was over-shadowed by the altercation between Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest when it appeared that Bryant elbowed Artest’s neck.  We’ll keep you posted how it all shakes out and if any suspensions will be issued by the NBA.  The Lakers visit the Rockets in Houston for Game 3 on Friday night.

The Celtics defeated the Magic 112-94 behind Eddie House’s 31 points off the bench and Rajon Rondo’s huge night – 15 points, 11 rebounds and 18 assists. The Celtics visit the Magic in Orlando for Game 3 on Friday night.

While I normally think Bill Simmons is pretty funny, you have to take your hometown cap off when you watch Rajon Rondo’s foul on Brad Miller at the end of the 1st OT session in Boston last night.  Gimme a break.  If you don’t make a play on the ball, it is a flagrant foul, plain and simple.  No question about this one.  Even thug Jalen Rose thought it was a flagrant foul as he stated on Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio.  I just hope the Bulls win Thursday night to send this back to Boston for a 7th and deciding game on Saturday night…

The Boston Celtics showed why they are the defending NBA Champions – crushing the Chicago Bulls 107-86 at the United Center on Thursday night.  The Celtics now have a 2-1 lead in the series.

The 2 teams next face off at 12 noon on Sunday at the United Center.

Meanwhile, the Jazz chipped into the Lakers 2-0 lead with a dramatic 88-86 win over the Lakers on Thursday night.  Derron Williams hit a fadeaway jumper with 2.2 seconds left to give the Jazz the win.

The 2 teams next face off at 9 pm on Saturday night in Utah.

Despite finishing the NBA Season with the 2nd best record in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, the defending champion Boston Celtics were concerned about their chances in the playoffs.  Right before the playoffs started, they got word that Kevin Garnett – their leader and defensive stopper in the middle – would miss at least the 1st round of the NBA playoffs and maybe more.  In the 1st game of the playoffs against the #7 seed Chicago Bulls, rookie guard Derrick Rose burst out onto the NBA playoff scene with an incredible 1st ever playoff game – 36 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds and 1 steal.  The Bulls upset the Celtics in overtime 105-103 behind Rose and a solid team effort that saw 5 Bulls players score in double-digits.

The Celtics struggled to pull out a 118-115 over the Bulls in Game 2 of the series on Monday night.  Ray Allen hit a game-winning 3-point shot with 2 seconds left in the game to prevent the Bulls from taking a 2-0 lead in the best of 7 series .  But the win did not come without a cost.  Rajon Rondo had the game of the night – 19 points, 16 assists, 12 rebounds and 5 steals – but he did injure his left ankle.  Rondo will not practice on Tuesday or Wednesday to rest the sore ankle, but he will play on Thursday night in Chicago.  Leonard Powe, however, is not so fortunate.  Powe injured his knee on a spin move and could only play 3 more minutes on the bum leg.  Tests on Tuesday revealed a torn ACL and Powe will miss the rest of the 2009 playoffs.

All in all, the Celtics are counting their blessings.  Ray Allen came to life in Game 2, scoring 28 of his 30 points in the 2nd half to help the Celtics pull off the win.  Paul Pierce has yet to bust out in the series -23 points and 7 rebounds on Saturday and 18 points and 8 rebounds on Monday.  Eventually a huge night will come for the Celtics, and when that happens, it could mean the end for this spirited Bulls run.