MySports Today

The Cleveland Cavaliers will host the Orlando Magic in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday night in Cleveland.  The game will start at 8:30PM EST and will be televised on TNT.

The Magic stole Game 1 of the series with the 107-106 upset win in Cleveland on Tuesday night.  It was the 1st loss for the Cavs in the 2008-9 NBA playoffs.  Dwight Howard led the Magic with 30 points and 13 rebounds, but it was the play of role players that helped lead the Magic to victory.  Rashard Lewis knocked down 22 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.  While Hedo Turkoglu scored 15 points and dished out a game-high 14 assists.

The Cavs focused too much on Lebron James who came through all night long – 49 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists.  Delonte West had only 6 assists, however, and the team will have to have a more balanced attack if they expect to even the series tonight.  We’ll keep you posted…

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.

While the action on the NBA hardcourt has been great during the 2008-9 NBA playoffs, some off-court actions are taking center stage these days.

First – Mark Cuban – After the Denver Nuggets defeated the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday with a controversial no-foul-call finish, a fan reportedly called the Nuggets a bunch of “thugs”.  Mavericks owner Mark Cuban then looked at the mother (Lydia Moore) of Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin and told her “that includes your son.”  For an owner of a professional sports team to make a comment like this to a fan is a joke.  Cuban did later apologive to Martin’s mother in a post on his blog, but he did not attempt to apologize to her or to Martin during Monday night’s Mavs win over the Nuggets in Dallas.  In his “An Apology to Kenyon Martin’s Mom” post, Cuban did say that he should not have made those comments to Martin’s mother, but that the whole thing has gotten blown out of proportion.  Whatever…

Second – Glen “Big Baby” Davis – After Davis hit the game-winning jumper in Sunday’s 95-94 Celtics win over the Magic, Davis started celebrating and didn’t see a 12-year old standing near his courtside seats right on the court.  As Davis ran towards the Celtics bench, he bumped the young fan in the back and as the boy took a half step back his hat fell off.  The Boy’s father – Ernest Provetti – wrote a letter to the NBA demanding an apology from Davis and the Celtics.  Provett stated that Davis had “no regard for fans’ personal safety”.  Davis had this to say about the incident:  “If I’ve hurt anybody or I’ve done any harm to anybody, please forgive me because my intentions were just harmless.  Davis went on to say that if he knew that he had bumped the young man, he would have gone up to him and tried to apologize to him or make him feel better.  Guess what Mr. Provetti – when you sit in courtside seats, there is a good chance that a player could fall into your seats at some poitn during the game going after a loose ball or trying to make a play.  If you are worried that you or your son might get injured in those courtside seats – don’t sit there!  Plain and simple.

Third – Carmelo Anthony – His girlfriend – La La Vazquez – was caight on video struggling with an arena security guard during Game 4 of the Mavericks-Nuggets series in Dallas.  It is believed that the altercation started when Vazquez started fighting with nearby rowdy Mavs fans.  Vazquez was escorted from her seat.  Check out the Vazquez video here and no word yet on whether or not she will be allowed to enter the arena if the Nuggets have to return for a Game 6 in Dallas.

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.