1ST ROUND - 1 GAMEThe first round of the play-offs was punctuated by the
Los Angeles Lakers being dumped out of the post-season by the number one seed
Denver Nuggets 104-94. Kobe Bryant's 29 points and 7 assists weren't enough to overcome a rampaging Carmelo Anthony who put up 39 points and added 11 rebounds. The number two seed
San Antonio Spurs also progressed over the
Dallas Mavericks 94-72, a team effort seeing Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili combine for 46 points to dump out Dirk Nowitzki (21 points, 7 rebounds) and the 7th seed Mavs. The other two match-ups saw two upsets, with the
Los Angeles Clippers routing the 4th seed
Portland Trail Blazers 97-71, Chris Kaman and Blake Griffin combining for 30 rebounds while Brandon Roy and Pat Mills were the only players to put up any resistance with 13 and 10 points respectively. The biggest upset of the first round was the
Sacramento Kings dumping the 3rd seed
Golden State Warriors out of the running with a close fought 119-115 win. Kevin Martin scored 31 for the away team while Tyreke Evans added 25 and Jason Thompson 20. Monta Ellis had 26 for the Warriors but got little help elsewhere.
1ST ROUND - 1 GAMEThe biggest upset of the post-season so far was easily the
Charlotte Bobcats, an 8th seed, knocking out the
Boston Celtics 109-86. Stephen Jackson lead the wa with 26 points, Gerald Wallace added 21 and 12 rebounds while Marc Gasol chipped in with 13 points and 13 boards. Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo lead the Celtics with 19 and 18 points respectively but it wasn't enough. Second seed
Washington Wizards easily dealt with the
Indiana Pacers 108-78, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler scoring 27 a piece while Mike Dunleavy's 15 lead the Pacers. In probably the most entertaining game of the round, the 4th seed
Orlando Magic knocked off the 5th seed
Cleveland Cavaliers 139-111. Vince Carter lead the way with 30 points and Mikel Pietrus surprisingly poured in 27, for the Cavaliers James had a monster game, 34 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists but it wasn't enough to get them to W. The final remaining game of the round saw the
Miami Heat, a 6th seed, beat the
Detroit Pistons 99-80 thanks ot Dwyane Wade's 39 point outburst. No Piston managed to crack 20 points, while Miami had two as Beasley added 21 and 13 rebounds.
CONFERENCE SEMIS - BEST OF 3Another top seed was conquered in the 2nd round of the play-offs in the Western Conference; after defeating the Lakers in the opening round, the
Denver Nuggets were swept 2-0 by the
Los Angeles Clippers. Game one was a low scoring and tight affair, the Clippers getting home by four points 89-85 behind Baron Davis' 24 point effort. Carmelo Anthony continued his strong form in the post-season, putting up 30 and grabbing 9 rebounds. In game two Carmelo again had a huge game with 31 points and 10 rebounds, but yet again it wasn't enough as the Clippers won 101-92. Eric Gordon scored 20 for the home team, Andre Miller added 19 off the bench and Blake Griffin grabbed 16 rebounds.
In a much tougher match-up the 2nd seed
San Antonio Spurs needed three games to overthrow the first round upset winners
Sacramento Kings 2-1. San Antonio dominated the first game, winning 100-86 with Ginobili, Parker and Duncan combining for 70 points between them. Kevin Martin again lead the Kings with 28 and Joel Przybilla added 17 rebounds and 5 blocks but it wasn't enough. Sacramento evened the score in the second game, winning 108-85 behind 24 points and 11 rebounds from Jason Thompson, 20 from Tyreke Evans and a surprise 15 point and 13 rebound showing from Ime Udoka against his former club. Tim Duncan had 23 points but the combination of Ginobili and Parker faultered, costing them the game. The third was a higher scoring afffair, Parker and Ginobili found their rhythm again and poured in 32 and 23 points respectively to lead the Spurs to a 114-107 win. Tim Duncan added 22 points and 12 rebounds, and while Tyreke Evans and Kevin Martin combined for 43 the second seeds carried on into the next round.
CONFERENCE SEMIS - BEST OF 3The 8th seed
Charlotte Bobcats, round one's cindarella team were swept out of the play-offs by an impressive
Orlando Magic side still not seeing the best of Dwight Howard. Jameer Nelson lead the way with 23, Vince Carter added 19 and Pietrus continued his surprising play with 17 on their way to a 105-89 win. Stephen Jackson had 24 points and rookie Derrick Brown finished with 15 for Charlotte. Game two was slightly closer but ultimately the same result, Dwight Howard finished with 18 points and 18 rebounds while Vince Carter scored 30 to counter Stephen Jackson's 35 as the Magic ran out 102-97 winners and progressed to the Conference Finals.
Unlike that match-up, the 6th seed
Miami Heat made the 2nd seed
Washington Wizards work for their place in the conference finals, needing three games to finish the series 2-1. Miami came out flat in game one, with Caron Butler's 26 point, 10 rebound performance adding to Gilbert Arenas's 23 points to give the Wizards a 93-80 win. Dwyane Wade had 21 for the visitors and struggled with his shot all night. Game two was more the Wade of old, the Heat dominating the Wizards from start to finish and evening up the series with a 113-80 win. Wade finished with 32 points and was matched by Michael Beasley with 32 of his own to go with 12 rebounds. Caron Butler had another strong game with 23 for Washington. Much the same as the corresponding western Conference series, Washington clinched the series in game three, winning 111-100 at home. Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler combined for 68 points, and while Dwyane Wade added 37 of his own he got no help beyond Michael Beasley and his 25 point effort.
CONFERENCE FINALS - BEST OF 5The fifth seed
Los Angeles Clippers finally came unstuck in the semi finals, going down 3-0 to a professional
San Antonio Spurs outfit. Calling upon all of their finals experience, the Spurs defense smothered the Clippers out of the first game, winning 98-88. Tony Parker had 26 points to go with Manu Ginobili's 23, while for Los Angeles Andre Miller scored 18 off the bench to lead them while Chris Kaman struggled, grabbing only 4 rebounds for the game.
Game two was much the same, a lower scoring affair where Tim Duncan's 20 point, 15 rebound effort coupled with another impressive showing from Tony Parker (24 points, 8 assists) lead the Spurs to a 83-78 win. Baron Davis scored 20 for the home side, from there he had virtually no help, only Blake Griffin (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Andre Miller (12 points) giving any form of resistance at all.
Despite putting everything they had into the third and deciding game, the Spurs still managed to squeeze out a 99-94 win at home to sweep the series. Tim Duncan once again was dominant with 25 points and 11 rebounds, Manu Ginobili added 20 and Tony Parker once again impressed with 17 points and 13 assists. For the Clippers Al Thornton came to life for the first time in the post-season, adding 17 points to Baron Davis' 22 point effort but it wasn't enough, the Spurs progress to yet another NBA Final.
CONFERENCE FINALS - BEST OF 5The
Washington Wizards stamped their authority on the Eastern Conference, progressing to face the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Final with a 3-0 sweet of the 4th seed
Orlando Magic. Game one was an absolute demolition job, Gilbert Arenas's 36 point, 7 rebound and 7 assist effort overshadowed every other player on their way to a 102-65 win. Pathetically, the Magic only had two players in double figures, Rashard Lewis with 13 and Vince Carter with 10.
Dwight Howard continued to struggle in game two, albeit in a slightly closer game. Gilbert Arenas continued his amazing scoring form with 45 points as the Wizards ran out 98-83 winners. Vince Carter and Brandon Bass had 15 and 14 points respectively, but for the second game in a row Howard was nowhere to be seen.
Game three was basically clockwork for Washington, Gilbert Arenas finishing the series averaging 39 points per game after a 35 point effort to go with Caron Butler's 25 points. Dwight Howarf finally showed signs of life with 15 points and 19 rebounds, and Vince Carter's 27 points were wasted as the Magic went down 114-97 to see the Wizards walk into the Conference Finals. Dwight Howard for the play-offs averaging a miserable 11 points and 12 rebounds.
NBA GRAND FINAL - 1 GAMEWith a new one game finals format, the
San Antonio Spurs and the
Washington Wizards had everything to play for in a match that promised to be a high scoring affair. Unfortunately, it lived up to absolutely no expectations at all as the Spurs obliterated their Eastern Conference opposition 100-67. Tim Duncan had his best game of the play-offs with 32 points and 12 rebounds, Richard Jefferson, manu Ginobili and Tony Parker also contributed in double digits for the Spurs while for Washington Gilbert Arenas, fresh off a 39 point per game series against Orlando, could only come up with 16 points of his own as the Wizards embarrassed themselves in front of millions of people watching. Most people would assume the Spurs ageing squad would work against them, but it was their experience that saw them make it to the finals as they took out younger but less experienced teams along the way.
For his efforts
Tony Parker was named MVP of the finals, averaging 21 points per game on 50% shooting and 10 assists per game for the post-season
by Rip32 on Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:24 am 
Maybe you'll get lucky and have a max player tear his ACL.