Hov's Kings - Retired

[Bucket]

dare, This time C's will win 4-1

[kibaxx7]

Again Bynum out. GO CELTICS!

[Houndy]

Celtics in 4

[Fresh8]

Hova, give me your association Final and I will play the Finals for you.

[dare]

I want to play it too

[shadowgrin]

Heat gone! Yes! Suck it Heat!

GO C's!

LUCK FA.

[hova-]

The 2011 Finals will be the first Finals where Kobe faces Shaq on different teams.



1. Los Angeles Lakers (59-23) vs 2. Bostons Celtics (52-30)

Projected Rotation: PG S. Blake - SG K. Bryant - SF R. Artest - PF L. Odom- C P. Gasol - 6th M. Barnes
Projected Rotation: PG R. Rondo - SG R. Allen - SF P. Pierce - PF K. Garnett - C S. O’Neal - 6th N. Robinson


Playoffs Stats leader:
K. Bryant (24.6ppg), P. Gasol (10.3rpg), S. Blake (6.0apg)
P. Pierce (18.4ppg), K. Garnett (9.4rpg), R. Rondo (9.7apg)


The NBA Finals will tip-off tonight when the Bostons Celtics will visit the Los Angeles Lakers @Staples Center for game 1 of what should be an exciting series. Let's break down both teams before tonight's big match.

The Lakers, the defending NBA Champion have officially announced that Andrew Bynum won't be able to play in the NBA Finals. The borderline All-Star center has broken two rips and can't do more than "just sit around" as he told reporters in yesterday's team meeting.

"It's really getting tough, I mean I played with pain last year and now I can't play at all, that's bitter", Bynum said. The young big man averaged 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in this postseason, shooting a team-high .580% from the field for the Lakers.

For Boston, it's some kind of a sweet, late revenge. Many said that the Cs would have won the 2010 NBA Finals if it wasn't for Kendrick Perkins' knee injury in game 6. The center just collided with Bynum whilst grabbing a rebound and had been out for six months. He never managed to get back into the rotation and was given away for basically nothing when Boston traded him to the other L.A. team, the Clippers this February.

"Kendrick was a major factor in the last Finals, but this year we have Jermaine (O'Neal) and Shaq (O'Neal)", Ray Allen says. "On frontcourt, we have an edge with Bynum out", the sharpshooter added.

Allen himself is not playing very well in the Playoffs. He only scores 13.4 points per game shooting a solid but not amazing .341% from downtown.

"If he finds his stroke in the Finals, everything is okay. We know we can trust him", Doc Rivers says. The Celtics have also become very deep on shooting guard where they can bring in Delonte West to guard Kobe Bryant on the perimeter and when the Lakers star starts to post up, Marquis Daniels comes into the game.

Where many think the series could be decided is the point guard spot. Steve Blake is playing surprisingly well in the postseason averaging 7.1 points and 6.0 assists per game. But guarding Rajon Rondo could once again be the task of Kobe Bryant. Rondo is almost averaging a double-double with 14.0 points and 9.7 dimes per game.

But the Celtics point guard can also be a problem for the Cs when he does not hit his open shots. Also, his free throw shooting cost them a lot last year, when he was an horrid .26% from the charity stripe. Right now at .66%, Rondo seems to be pretty confident with his stroke.



Talking about the "stars" of the series. Without a doubt, Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce have been the best scorers on their teams so far. Pierce lighted up Miami and King James, whilst Kobe seemed unstoppable at times vs the Mavericks. The Lakers might have an edge though, as Ron Artest has already proven he can guard Pierce, whilst Delonte West, Ray Allen and Marquis Daniels will have their hands full with the "Black Mamba".

But the Lakers aren't all Kobe. Pau Gasol is playing a heck of a season, averaging 20.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists in the postseason so far. He is shooting .505% from the field and .804% from the stripe.

"Honestly, without Pau, this team would not be a championship contender", Derek Fisher says. "He's a top 5 player in this league".

The Cs will try to defend Gasol via Kevin Garnett or if he's on the bench, with double-teams. Garnett is once again the last line of the defense for the Cs, averaging 9.4 bpards and 1.3 blocks per game.

Boston's defense has not been that good though lately, partially because of the difficulty to guard the Heat's big three. The Lakers have the best defense of all playoff teams with 90.9 points allowed per game, whilst the Cs allowed over 99 points per game. Offensively though, 102.6 points per game don't look too shabby for the Cs. Thy also shoot a strong .355% from downtown and have the fewest turnovers of all teams in the postseason at 12.6 per game.

The Lakers though had two less games, going 12-6 in the Playoffs compared to the Celtic's 12-8. With 7.8 steals per game, the Lakers are one of the top ball thief teams in the league.

"They define themselves through defense and we will have to work hard for every bucket", Kevin Garnett, a tough defender himself, mentioned.

What will also be interesting, is the battle of Bryant and Shaq. They played together in four finals and will now face each other for the first time at this stage. The first as a franchise player, the latter as a role player, giving his Cs 9.0 points and 5.7 boards per game on .581% shooting.

"It's nothing special", Bryant downplays, "he is there, I am there ... I doubt we will defend each other a lot on the court", he smiled.

For Shaq it's all about the ring. "But there's one problem", the "Big Shamrock" says. "I will have to steal one ring from Kobe after the Finals, that's the only way I can have one more", he says with a smile on his face, foretelling a Celtics win. "

The Diesel also said that he is closing in on becoming the perfect player when reporters asked about his free throw shooting. "I once told you", he started "that me hitting .40% from the free throw line is God's way to say nobody is perfect. Watch out now", Shaq spread laughter. He's currently shooting .66% from the line, a career-high.

Watch the NBA Finals tonight on ABC, tip-off at 8 p.m.

[dare]

Nice preview lots of information in there. Gasol will be the X-factor for our team as he will be banged up with Celtics Bigs

[Murat]

Good preview

[Fresh8]

Go Kobe!

[|)e8*]

CELTS FTW!

[Valor]

Shaq vs Kobe

just a heads-up, you forgot to add the /size at the Lakers vs Celtics header

[kibaxx7]

Great preview It's gonna be tough with Gasol playing like that. Go Celts!

[Houndy]

Amazing preview, Go C's

[hova-]

███ Lakers steamroll Celtics in game 1 of the Finals
LOS ANGELES (AP)

The L.A. Lakers were able to grab a blowout win in the first game of the NBA finals as they downed the Bostons Celtics 88-124 at Staples Center.

Pau Gasol was the man of the match as he finished with 29 points and 16 rebounds. Lamar Odom added 15 and 10 boards, whilst Kobe Bryant had a good all-around game scoring 15 points and adding 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

The Celtics were down by 24 at the half and never managed to come back, as Paul Pierce shot 4-18 for 13 points and Ray Allen 4-14 en route to 10 points. Rajon Rondo had a team-high 20 points and 5 assists.

The next game will be in two days in L.A. before the series moves on to Boston.

███ LeBron takes third MVP in a row, "doesn't feel wrong"
DALLAS (AP)

LeBron James has won his third straight MVP of the regular season trophy. Runner up was just like last year Kevin Durant, but this season it was pretty close.

James earned 1004 points from the judges while Kevin Durant received 865 points. LeBron had more 1st place votes than everybody else, but Durant had way more 2nd and 3rd place votes than James. Dirk Nowitzki finished third with 321 points followed by Kobe Bryant's 301 points.

James, who averaged 26.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game this season, also said that he does not feel wrong about what happened at the Heat's last playoff game vs Boston.

"I just showed how I felt and I did not feel good at that moment. I needed to be alone", the 26-year old forward said in his MVP press conference.

James had left the court 5 seconds before the end of game 7 when the Heat lost the Conference Finals against the Celtics. He was fined 10k$ for repeatedly not attending a press conference after a match.

███ All NBA Teams announced
NEW YORK (AP)

Just after the last Conference Final had been played, the NBA announced the All-NBA teams for the 2010-2011 campaign. Take a look below for the players who made it.

All NBA 1st Team

G D. Wade MIA
G K. Bryant LAL
F L. James MIA
F K. Durant OKC
C D. Howard ORL


All NBA 2nd Team

G C. Paul NOH
G R. Rondo BOS
F D. Nowitzki DAL
F P. Gasol LAL
C A. Bogut MIL

All NBA 3rd Team

G T. Evans SEA
G D. Rose CHI
F C. Boozer CHI
F C. Bosh MIA
C C. Kaman LAC

███ All-Defensive NBA teams announced
NEW YORK

The All-Defensive NBA teams have been published by the NBA two days ago. Take a look at the players below.

All NBA Defensive 1st team

G D. Wade MIA
G M. Ginobili SAS
F G. Wallace CHA
F J. Smith ATL
C D. Howard ORL

All NBA Defensive 2nd team

G C. Paul NOH
G K. Bryant LAL
F T. Duncan SAS
F L. James MIA
C A. Bogut MIL

███ Draft Lottery chances presented
NEW YORK (AP)

The 2011 NBA Draft still is some time away, but the NBA already presented the lottery chances for the number one pick. Take a look below for the teams who have a chance for the number one pick.

1. Detroit Pistons .25%
2. Los Angeles Clippers .199%
3. Toronto Raptors .156%
4. Washington Wizards .119%
5. Seattle Supersonics .088%
6. New York Knickerbockers .068%
7. Charlotte Bobcats .043%
8. Memphis Grizzlies .028%
9. Cleveland Cavaliers .017%
10. New Jersey Nets .011%
11. Minnesota Timberwolves .008%
12. Utah Jazz .007%
13. Denver Nuggets .006%
14. Golden State Warriors .005%

███ UNC Star George Randolph declares for draft
CHAPEL HILL (AP)

North Carolina Tar Heels forward George Randolph has decided to declare for the upcoming NBA draft, the youngster said in a press conference this week.

The 6-5 F-G backed his decision with the loss in the Final Four against the UConn Huskies, as he felt like he needed a change of scenery after the tough loss.

Randolph is known as a three point sharpshooter and will most likely be drafted among the top 10 of the upcoming draft. He averaged 16.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game this season.

[Fresh8]

KOBEEEE!

PAAARRR-UUUU (that's how Andrew Gaze pronounces it)

[dare]

Nice win by the Lakers. Hope you get at least the top 3 pick.

[Valor]

booooo @ the MVP selection first three time MVP to not even come close to a championship, if he gets it in real life I dunno wt to say

[shadowgrin]

Wade and Ginobili in the All Defensive team, the hell.

[hova-]

Sit, it's only one home game they won. No reason for getting hysteric

dare, I hope that I get that 5th at least. Don't wanna be the dumbass of the lottery. Number three would be decent, too.

Valor, ye that's pretty ridiculous. But don't forget that the MVP is for the regular season. You can't win a championship in regular season. You can only have the best record, the Heat did that. It's not unrealistic considering all those numbers, but I would have gone with KD.

shadowgrin, it's the goddam steal numbers. I will try to get them down via editing next season. Maybe it works.

[Fresh8]

It's better than real life.

[hova-]

Sit, Loosing to the Cavs aint too bad

Surprised that no one mentioned Tyreke Evans making the All NBA third team ...

[Fresh8]

Noone cares bout Reke

[The X]

I admittedly am not a fan of the brown bricks (shits) for five liners, but you pulled out a great five liner with the awards etc

Noone cares bout Reke

Co-sign

[hova-]

Phil Jackson has won his 12th Championship, his 6th with the Lakers



1. Los Angeles Lakers (59-23) vs 2. Bostons Celtics (52-30) 4-3

The Los Angeles Lakers have made it once again. They landed their third title in a row making the second threepeat in 10 years for the franchise and giving their Coach his third threepeat of his career.

After a blowout game 1 win, the Celtics managed to come back in game 2 of the series, grabbing a road win in L.A., 97-80.

Nate Robinson, who played great Finals had a team-high 19 points and Kevin Garnett added 16 and 11 boards for the Cs who outscored L.A. 24-14 in the third playing tough defense.

"Defense is the key, we knew that, I'm just so sad that we could not do our thing in every game", Garnett said.

Kobe Bryant had 33 points in game 2, but he lacked any support as Pau Gasol rolled his ankle early in the game and only had 10 points and 9 boards.



The Lakers and Gasol were able to shake off that loss though, and came back stronger in game 3. Kobe again scored 33 points but needed 29 shots for them, but Lamar Odom filled in the void left with Gasol's ankle problems.

The Sixth man of the year who started with Andrew Bynum out with broken rips, scored 23 points and added 10 rebounds to give the Celtics headaches on defense.

The offense was more of a problem though. Paul Pierce only scored 18 points on 8-21 shooting and the Cs only shot .43% from the floor, despite Shaquille O'Neal going 7-8 en route for 15 points.

The Lakers took game 3 at Boston, 105-94. "It's always important to win on the road in the Finals, especially with us having homecourt", Bryant said after the game.

But the Celtics came back in game 4. The game was tied at 46 at halftime, when the Cs began to show their best defensive effort of the postseason. They held L.A. to 39 points in the 2nd half to grab the 85-105 home win.

Kevin Garnett had 20 and 7 rebound and Paul Pierce added 22 points. Nate Robinson showed great spark off the bench with 16 points. He averaged 12.4 points per game in the Finals.

The Lakers once again heavily relied on Kobe Bryant, the Finals MVP, as he scored 36 points on 13-23 shooting and added 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Pau Gasol had 17 points and 14 rebounds as well as 3 blocks, but could not hit one shot in the 2nd half.



In game 5, the Lakers had a different hero than Bryant. Steve Blake hit a three with 4.3 seconds left on the shot clock to lift his Lakers to a 89-86 road win, grabbing a 3-2 lead in the series.

"Steve played so well in this series, I'm glad to have such a floor general next to me", Bryant said. Blake averaged 9.4 points and 7.2 assists in the series, but struggled with his three point shot.

The Cs felt like they had a chance to win the game before when Paul Pierce did not get a foul called on a drive to the basket. Pierce struggled just like he did last year, scoring 19 points per game but on .43% shooting from the field.

Kobe had 27 points in game three and neither Delonte West nor Ray Allen, who only averaged 13.2 points in the finals could stop him.

Allen though, was the man in Boston's do-or-die win in game 6. Facing elimination, the Celtics were able to down the Lakers in a defensive battle 92-88. Allen had 21 points, hitting 4-10 from deep, but it was Paul Pierce who hit a go-ahead jumper with 9.2 seconds left on the clock to give the Celtics a four point lead.

Shaquille O'Neal, who said he wanted to continue his career for another year, scored 14 points and added 9 boards.

"You know, Shaq really played very good in the final stages" Doc Rivers said. "He can still help any team". O'Neal averaged 10.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in the Finals. The Cs grabbed game 6 and forced a decisive game 7.



In game 7, the Lakers used homecourt advantage to finish strong in the fourth and beat the Celtics. Pau Gasol had 28 points and 12 boards, looking like his old self after the ankle problems and Kobe Bryant added 19 points and 8 boards.

The Cs struggled on offense, with Ron Artest limiting Paul Pierce to 5-12 from the field. Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 9 dimes but could not give his team a lift on offense. It were not his Finals, as he struggled with his shot once again, going 3-10 in game 7.

"I'm so happy, I cannot tell you how good this feels", Bryant said after the game, soaked in champaign. Phil Jackson announced that he might add another year with the Lakers as he's feeling better than ever before.

The Cs will also try to keep their core together. "We will try our best to keep our guys and try again next year", Danny Ainge said.

Guys like Nate Robinson and Jarvis Hayes though could draw a lot of interest from other teams. The Lakers will face those problems, too, as Shannon Brown already said he wanted to test the market.

The Lakers will visit the White House next week. Stay tuned and expect an exciting offseason. Check video highlight of the Finals below.

phpBB [video]

Game 1: 88-124 Lakers
Game 2: 97-80 Celtics
Game 3: 105-94 Lakers
Game 4: 85-105 Celtics
Game 5: 89-86 Lakers
Game 6: 92-88 Celtics
Game 7: 95-106 Lakers

FINALS MVP: Kobe Bryant. Averaged 29 points and 7.8 boards per game. Also added 1.9 steals and 2.6 assists per game.