MySports Today

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.

The pressure is on the Celtics and Lakers tonight:

On Monday night, both NBA road teams pulled off impressive road wins.

The Orlando Magic defeated the Boston Celtics 95-90 at the TD Banknorth Garden, paced by Dwight Howard’s 16 points and 3 rebounds.

The Houston Rockets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 100-92 at the Staples Center, paced by Yao Ming’s 28 points and 10 rebounds.

Both series resume tonight and it is almost a must-win scenario for each of the Celtics and Lakers.  We’ll keep you posted here with the latest scores and details for each series.

Lebron James is your 2008-2009 NBA MVP!  James received 109 of 121 1st place votes to tally a total of 1,172 votes.  Kobe Bryant, the 2007-2008 NBA MVP, finished in 2nd place with 698 total votes (including 2 1st place votes).  Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul rounded out the Top 5.

James had a phenomenal year on both sides of the ball.  He is the 1st Cavaliers player to win the Top MVP Award.  James averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game.  At 24 years old (and 106 days), he is the youngest player to win the award since Moses Malone did at the age of 24 (and 16  days) during the 1978-1979 NBA season.  James also set some personal career highs – 81 games player; 49% field goal percentage; 79% free-throw percentage; and 93 blocked shots.

The Cavaliers had the best record in the NBA () and lost only twice at home during the regular season.  The Cavaliers swept the Detroit Pistons 4-0 in the 1st round of the playoffs and will take on the Atlanta Hawks in the 2nd round of the playoffs starting on Tuesday night.

The West is all set; the East still has 2 Games 7’s this weekend before we know who the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic will face in the next round.

Here’s how the west will play out:

Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers – Monday, May 4th and Wednesday, May 6th at Staples Center.  The Lakers won the season series 4-0.

Dallas Mavericks at Denver Nuggets – Sunday, May 3rd and Tuesday, May 5th at Pepsi Center.  The Nuggets won the season series 4-0.

In the East, the Cavaliers and Magic have already advanced.

Game 7 of the Chicago Bulls – Boston Celtics series is Saturday night at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston.  If the Celtics win, they will host the Magic on Monday, May 4th.  If the Bulls win, the Magic will host the Bulls on Monday, May 4th in Orlando.

Game 7 of the Atlanta Hawks – Miami Heat series is Sunday at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta.  The Cleveland Cavaliers will host the winner of that series on Tuesday night at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

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.

Derrick Rose was voted the NBA Rookie of the Year.  Rose received 111 first-place votes and 574 total votes from a panel composed of national sports writers and broadcasters.  O.J. Mayo of the Memphis Grizzlies was the runner-up for the award – he received only 5 first-place votes and 127 total votes.

Rose hails from the Chicago area and led his hometown Bulls to the playoffs with a 41-win season.  Rose became the 3rd Bulls player to win the Rookie of the Year Award – Michael Jordan and Elton Brand also won the top rookie honors.  Rose was the #1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft and he led all rookies with 6.3 assists per game and was 2nd in rookie scoring with a 16.8 points per game average.  Rose was named the rookie of the month in November, December and March this season.

Rose did not disappoint come crunch time in the playoffs.  In Round 1, Game 1 against the defending champion Boston Celtics in Boston, Rose scored 36 points, dished out 11 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds to lead the Bulls to the 105-103 upset overtime win over the Celtics.  Rose’s 36 points matched the playoff record for a rookie in his first NBA playoff game.  And in his 2nd playoff game – a 118-115 loss to the Celtics in Boston – Rose turned in another solid all-around performance – 10 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

Rose has received excellent commendations from players and coaches around the league.

Former Bulls coach Phil Jackson said:  “He can finish around the basket, and that’s not easy for – he’s not small, but he’s not a big guard.  He’s good at that, and that’s impressive for a guy that size.  His quickness to the basket is impressive.”

Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant had this to say:  “He plays both ends of the court, which is refreshing to see.  A lot of young players don’t play both ends.  He works hard at it, defense as well.”

Rose is a superstar in the making and will be the face of the Bulls franchise for years to come.

Kobe Bryant scored 23 points, and Paul added 21 to get the Lakers the win over Minnesota. Last night win brought the Lakers to the first NBA team to reach 50 wins. With 20 games left they would also like to be the first team to reach 60, Phil Jackson said. Brant and Gasol both went 5-for-5 from the line and Gasol grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds and this was the sixth win in a row for the LA team.

For a while there, it looked like the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to run their home winning streak to 24 games to start the season. The Cavs led by 2 points after the first 12 minutes of the game, and had increased that lead to a comfortable 10 points by halftime. But the 2nd half was a completely different story. The Lakers outscored the Cavs 50-30 in the 2nd half and cruised to a 101-91 win at the Quicken Loans Arena – handing the Cavs their first loss at home all season long.

While everyone expected Lebron and Kobe to duke it out all night long, it was Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Zydrunas Ilgauskas who led the charge. Kobe battled the flu pre-game and needed an IV at halftime to even keep playing after the break. He ended up playing “only” 35 minutes and scoring “only” 19 points on 8 of 17 shooting. Lebron played 40 minutes and had an awful shooting night – 16 points on 5 of 20 shooting from the floor. Lebron did manage to grab 8 rebounds and dish out 12 assists though.

But the real star of the game was Lamar Odom. Odom scored a game-high 28 points on 13 of 19 shooting. He also grabbed 17 rebounds – 7 of which were offensive rebounds, giving the Lakers countless 2nd chance opportunities which helped break the game open in the 2nd half. Pau Gasol played a game-high 44 minutes – he scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out 6 assists. For the Cavs, Ilgauskas turned in a team-high 22 points and 9 rebounds – 5 of which were offensive rebounds.

At 41-9, the Lakers now have the best record in the NBA. They just finished an undefeated 7-game road trip and get to have an easy home return against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night at the Staples Center. The Cleveland Cavaliers have a percentage points lead over the Boston Celtics for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs are 39-10, but have 4 games in hand against the Celtics who sit at 42-11. It should be a fun race in the East down the stretch.

Well it definitely lived up to the hype. For the 2nd time this NBA season, the Lakers ended a double-digit Celtics winning streak, this time on the Celtics own home court in Boston. It was a back and forth game all night long, with the Lakers leading by 3 points after the 1st quarter and the Celtics leading by 1 and 4 points, respectively, after the 2nd and 3rd quarters. In the end, it took 2 free throws by Lamar Odom and 2 missed shots by Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in order for the Lakers to preserve the win.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. He also hit three 3-point shots in the final quarter to help the Lakers tie the game. Pau Gasol also stepped up the plate in a big way – Gasol scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Lamar Odom scored 20 points and had 6 rebounds, while Derek Fisher also chipped in 13 points, 5 assists and 3 steals.

For the Celtics, Rajon Rondo just missed a triple-double in one of his best performances of the year – 16 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds. Ray Allen led the Celtics with 22 points. The Celtics dynamic duo – Paul Pierce (21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists) and Kevin Garnett (16 points and 6 rebounds in only 33 minutes) had efficient nights, but they weren’t enough to lift the Celtics over the Lakers.

The Lakers (40-9) are now 5-0 on their current road trip and now have a percentage points lead over the Celtics (41-10) for the best record in the NBA. The Celtics have a 1/2 game lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference and take on the New York Knicks tonight at Madison Square Garden. Will a Celtic player be able to score 50 points tonight to make it 3 games in a row in which a Knicks’ opponent scores 50 points? Stay tuned.

Just 2 nights earlier, Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant poured in 61 points against the New York Knicks setting a Madison Square Garden record in the process. Last night, Lebron tried to 1-up Kobe, and although he didn’t quite reach the 61-point mark, his better overall game helped the Cleveland Cavaliers win a close game in New York. Lebron contributed his 21st triple-double of his young career. He scored 52 points on 17 of 33 shooting from the floor (16 of 19 from the free throw line). He also dished out 11 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds. In 44 minutes, he only had 3 turnovers and he also had 2 blocked shots. In contrast, Kobe only had 3 assists and no rebounds in his performance at the Garden on Monday night.

The Cavs needed Lebron’s full effort in order to pull out the win against the feisty Knicks. The Cavs blew a 12 point 1st quarter lead, but held on for the 5-point victory with an efficient 25-point 4th quarter. Knicks forwards Al Harrington and David Lee were a formidable duo on Wednesday night. Harrington led the Knicks with 39 points and 13 rebounds, while Lee chipped in 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. But it wasn’t enough to take down the Eastern Conference’s 2nd best team.

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers take on the Boston Celtics in Beantown tonight in a rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals. Then the Celtics take on the Knicks at the Garden on Friday night in New York. Will a Celtic player score 50+ points to make it 3 games in a row in which a Knicks opponent has a player that scored 50 or more points at the Garden? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see if Paul Pierce has it in him…