Jazz and Lakers make it interesting

Both the Utah Jazz and the L.A. Lakers came home for game 3 and didn`t disappoint their home crowds last night. Orlando did disappoint but we already knew they were going to lose.

The Jazz held Yao, T-Mac and the Rockets to a measly 67 points last night. Yao and McGrady did their fair share of scoring netting 26 and 24 respectively, but the bench didn`t make a single bucket and the other three starters combined for 17. That is not a way to win a series; or draw television ratings for that matter.

Kobe got some help from his friends last night and had a great game as well. The Black Mamba scored 45 while Kwame Brown scored 19 and Lamar had a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Suns had a notable brain cramp coming to the end of the game when, down by 4 with 38 seconds to go, the Suns let Kobe walk the ball up the court after a defensive rebound and run the clock down to 20 seconds. This is before Kobe decided to drive and get fouled with the shot clock waning. D`Antoni`s a good coach you say? Yeah, right.

It’s been a bad week for Michael Vick

Yesterday, a day after he missed a connecting flight and didn’t make it to Washington to speak to congress regarding after school programs, a Vick-owned property was raided by police and dozens of injured and emaciated dogs were found. It is believed that dog fights were staged there. While Vick does own the property, he does not live there. He, smartly, had no comment when asked about this but sooner or later he will have to answer to someone. One would only think the Falcons are kicking themselves for trading away their plan B, Matt Schaub earlier this offseason. This whole Vick situation is a trainwreck.

Baseball last night

Being the guy at the paper that’s forced to sit around and watch every baseball game on any given night can have its upside; for one, I happen to love baseball. There were plenty of standout performances around the league and nearly a record tied.

Jake Peavy, San Diego: Came within one strike of tying Tom Seaver’s record of 10 consecutive strikeouts. Peavy gave up only two hits over seven innings before giving way to Scott Linebrink and then Trevor Hoffman, the man who proceeded to waste the starter’s effort by giving up the game winning homer to Stephen Drew.

Barry Bonds, San Francisco: Hit the 741st home run of his career to move 14 away from breaking Aarons’ record. It shouldn’t be long before Bonds is the new home run king and everybody starts hating on him even more than they already do.

Tim Hudson: Racked up 12 k’s against the Marlins over eight innings but didn’t get the win after the Marlins came back in the 9th and eventually won on a bases-loaded wild pitch by closer Bob Wickman.

Jarred Weaver, Seattle vs. Joe Blanton, Oakland: A great pitching duel that saw the two pitchers toss complete games and give up a total of 9 hits. Sure two of Blanton’s were solo home runs, but an incredible effort by these two guys.

Shorts: Colorado collected 20 hits against the Mets in their 11-5 win ... It took the Pittsburgh Pirates 16 innings to beat the Houston Astros who had come back to tie the game in the 9th ... The man who got the game winning hit against the Astros you ask? Adam LaRoche, who – with that hit – raised his average to .106.

The Favs take charge

After losses in the first games of their series, the Mavericks and Spurs came back to take their game 2s last night. Lebron and company also won but we already knew that would happen. The Mavericks defeated the Warriors in a game that saw two of Golden State’s best players ejected for arguing calls. With Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson, it would be fairly hard to beat the best team in the league. As for the Spurs, they managed to hold off a late run by the Nuggets en route to a five-point win. This series may be a lot closer than anyone thought it would be.

Blow outs galore!

After game 1’s debacle where the Nets smartly countered the Raps “let’s give away free red t-shirts” idea by wearing red themselves, Toronto evened up their series with an 89-83 win last night. This six-point game was the closest of the night. Around the league, the Heat lost to the Bulls 107-89 to fall behind in their series 2-0. At least their series shifts to Miami for Friday which could help them out. The Lakers got smoked by Shawn Marion and the Suns 126-98 in a game that saw Kobe go 5-13 shooting. It’s not hard to strategize against the Lakers; just don’t let Kobe kill you. It’s really that simple.

Tonight we get to see Dirk (the future 2007 MVP) avenge his team’s game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors and Baron Davis’s beard. Lebron, healthy or not, will take on the Wizards in what shouldn’t be a close a game and the A.I. and Melo tag team looks to take down the Spurs again.

How the West was won

The Vancouver Canucks didn’t exactly win the West but, thanks to a 4-1 victory last night, they’ve advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs. So, now that the match ups are set, it’s time for my expert advice on who’s going to come out victorious in the conference semi-finals.

Anaheim vs. Vancouver: Well, now that game 7’s out of the way against Dallas, the Canucks are given the unenviable task of taking on the Ducks; a team that everyone and their mothers have going to the finals. Since I did take the Ducks to move on through, it wouldn’t look very good on me to turn my back on them. Also, the only person that could possibly keep Van-city in this series is Roberto Luongo; watch for him to steal a game, probably at home.
Pick: Anaheim in 5.

Detroit vs. San Jose: The Red Wings are just about due for their annual playoff collapse and the Sharks look like a team that can knock them down and out. Jonathon Cheechoo is expected to be back by game 1 but it’s still estimated that his knee’s only at around 60%. How much of an impact he’ll have is questionable. It’s foreseeable that this will be a physical series and the winner may just be banged up enough for the Ducks to coast through.
Pick: San Jose in 7.

Some NBA awards

Only a year after he was on the chopping block and called one of the worst coaches in the league, the Raptors’ Sam Mitchell took home the honours for coach of the year. Mitchell was at the head of a revamped Raptors team that improved their win total by 20 games from last year; an NBA best. Picking up 49 first place votes for a total of 394 point, Mitchell edged out Utah’s Jerry Sloan (301 points) and last year’s winner, Avery Johnson of Dallas (268). I personally think that Mitchell isn’t anything more than a right place, right time coach and cudos should be awarded to GM Bryan Colangelo; the real man who turned this team around. It’s pretty hard to lose games in the Hotlantic division, especially when you have the best point guard tandem in the NBA and a stud like Chris Bosh.

As for Sixth man of the year, Leandro Barbosa was the run away winner. The man nicknamed “the Brazilian Blur” picked up 101 first place votes to dominate second-place finisher Manu Ginobili 578 to 269. Barbosa is part of the Phoenix Sun’s high scoring offense and is their key component coming off the bench. Personally, I hate the Suns and think that everybody’s favourite South African, Steve Nash isn’t an MVP and that their coach Mike D’Antoni is wildly overrated because he can’t get his team to play enough defense. The Suns have given up over 100 points a game over the past three seasons despite having a stopper like Raja Bell and defensive player of the year candidate Shawn Marion. For me, coaches should be able to teach defense and MVP’s should be able to play it.

NHL moving along

With the match ups set for round two in the East and only Vancouver taking on Dallas in a game 7 tonight, the NHL playoffs are progressing quite smoothly. With the West still to be decided, there’s no reason we can’t have an East preview here now, is there?

Ottawa vs. New Jersey: The Senators had little to no problem against Sidney Crosby and the young Penguins but the Devils are a whole different monster. Jersey may have had some trouble with the Lightning but that was a trend all year. I can’t really see the Senators pulling it out against Marty Brodeur and Jersey’s superb defensive style but very well could take them the distance.
Pick: New Jersey in 6.

Buffalo vs. New York: The Sabres get their second intra-New York match up of the playoffs after knocking out the Islanders in 5. The Rangers breezed through an overwhelmed Thrashers team. Jagr and company could steal a game or two but this is the Sabres series to lose.
Pick: Buffalo in 5.

Upsets galore!

Game 1’s in the NBA’s playoff match ups proved didn’t prove to be incredibly favourable for the home teams this weekend with five of the eight underdogs taking home a win. Only the Pistons, Cavaliers and Suns managed to walk away with wins against their lower seeded opponents. The Mavericks, number one in the West, couldn’t handle the Baron Davis-led Warriors in what was the biggest upset of the weekend. Vince Carter’s playoff return to Toronto ended up with a lot of boos and a win. The Rockets and the Bulls were both victorious in the 4 vs. 5 match ups and Denver’s scorers were able to take down the fundamentally sound San Antonio Spurs. If some of these surprises carry through in the playoffs, it should be a good one.

The Intern's NBA Playoff column

I am sitting here still shaking with glee because today kicks off the NBA playoffs. Next to Halloween this is my favorite time of the year. What makes it even more exciting is that my Raptors are in the playoffs for the first time in what seems like an eternity. The two major storylines - I think - are Nellie’s return to Dallas in the Warriors vs. Mavs match up of and, my personal favorite, Vince Carter’s unwelcome return to Toronto. Is there any player in the NBA hated by a city more then VC? Now that that’s out of the way, on to my first round predictions.

Eastern Conference

Detroit Pistons (1) vs. Orlando Magic (8)

Right now I am actually watching this game and I can safely say that barring the starting five of the Pistons contracting the bubonic plague there is no way the Magic can win this series. They look so inexperienced next to the hard-nosed, grizzled Pistons. I say the Pistons in four.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2) vs. Washington Wizards (7)

I foresee that the only purpose of this series is for the Cavs to pad their stats. Cleveland should seriously hand out brooms at the first game. No brainier, Cavs with the sweep.

Toronto Raptors (3) vs. New Jersey Nets (6)

What a great match up. As much as I want the Raptors to win, this is going to be a real test. With New Jersey’s three-headed monster fully healthy, they might be too much for the Raps to handle. But then again, Jersey doesn’t really have much of a bench. This series is really a crap shoot and can totally go either way. I know my opinion is completely biased but i am picking the Raptors to win in seven.

Miami Heat (4) vs. Chicago Bulls (5)

This has the makings of a great series. You have the returning champions versus the very talented Bulls. The major weakness of the Bulls is their non-existent inside game and, of course, the Heat will exploit this with both of their big men. The Bulls will try to counter this with their speed and over abundance of talent. I take the Bulls in seven.

Western Conference

Dallas Mavericks (1) vs. Golden State Warriors (8)

Even though the Mavs have the best record in the league and are arguably the best team in the league, that doesn’t change the fact that the Warriors have had the Mav’s number all year. This might be attributed to the Nellie factor. As much as I would love to take the Warriors, I know in my heart it’s a lost cause. I’ll go with the Mavs in six.

Phoenix Suns (2) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (7)

Even though Kobe Bryant is probably the most complete scorer of my generation it doesn’t hide that fact that they have a pretty rotten team. What I find quite amusing is that Kobe can score 50 and his team can still lose. How does that make any sense? With that being said I am definitely going to have to give the nod to the Suns. They have too many scoring options for the Lakers to handle. I’ll go with the Suns in 5.

San Antonio Spurs (3) vs. Denver Nuggets (6)

The Spurs obviously have the advantage in this series based solely on their playoff experience. But to credit the Nuggets they have two of the leading scorers in the game in Melo and AI, also they just seem much rested. I am going to go with the Spurs in six.

Houston Rockets (4) vs. Utah Jazz (5)

This series is so well matched I am seriously going to flip a coin. The coin came up heads so I will take the Jazz in seven.