Hov's Kings - Retired

[Lamrock]

Looks like the Cheat can stop Howard after all. Nice playoff recaps, though it's realistic to a fault that Portland's out in round 1.

[Valor]

boooooooooo losing to the Celtics in 7 AGAIN is so shit

It's another Laker-Celtic again since Orlando loss

[Pistol]

Lakers will for sure take down Dallas. The Heat and Celtics series will be a great one. I hope the Celtics take them down.

[shadowgrin]

Loving the playoff recaps.

[Houndy]

Lakers will for sure take down Dallas. The Heat and Celtics series will be a great one. I hope the Celtics take them down.

I'm sorry bro, but Kobe now has a 0 in 3 point range. Dallas all the way.

[hova-]

Justine., already corrected

Valdis, the Thunder take one step after another, next season should be Conference Finals

Thierry •, if they did not play vs the Lakers, the Spurs would have been to the Conference Finals. Deep roster, TD, Manu and Parker still got it.

Houndy, why do you have a Durant avatar?

Lamrock, thanks. Well, without Roy, the Blazers had no chance at all. But at least they got a really talented roster with Maynor, Batum, LA and Oden.

Valor, the injuries made it. But the Cs definitely deserve it. Let's see if they can beat the cHeat.

Agent420, will cover them today.

shadowgrin, thanks, man.

[Fresh8]

Great to see you getting through playoffs quickly.

I must add that I am very sad of that Bogut CHOKE.

[hova-]

███ NBA Playoffs Conference Finals start tonight
NEW YORK (AP)

We are at the stage of the Conference Finals which will start tonight at 8 p.m. when the Miami Heat will host the Bostons Celtics @AmericanAirlines Arena.
Later on the Lakers will host the Dallas Mavericks for the first time in Playoffs since 1988.

The NBA Finals could be either a rematch of the Celtics-Lakers finals from last year, but there are also chances that the Mavs will face the Heat in a 2006 finals rematch.

Dallas vs Bostons and Heat vs Lakers would be the first Finals matchups respectively. It's also interesting to see the four best regular season teams being the last four teams in the Playoffs.

1. Los Angeles Lakers vs 2. Dallas Mavericks
1. Miami Heat vs 2. Boston Celtics

███ Shock for Mavs: Butler out for Lakers series
DALLAS (AP)

Mavericks fans and officials are shocked: Caron Butler will be out for the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. The 6-7 swingmen sustained an knee injury in the Mavs' game vs the Thunder.

"At first we thought it wasn't too bad, but X-rays showed that Caron has torn a ligament in his knee, which won't require surgery, but needs at least four weeks to heal", GM Donnie Nelson confirmed speculations.

Butler, whose contract will expire after the season, has been Dallas' 2nd option in the postseason so far averaging 15.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

"For us, that is a huge blow, I cannot believe how this happens right now", an obviously shocked Dirk Nowitzki told media yesterday.

███ Shaq: "Heat haven't faced real Superman yet"
BOSTON-MIAMI (AP)

After the heated controversy about Dwight Howard saying that the Heat cannot guard him, and the elimination of the Magic in seven games against Miami, Shaquille O'Neal tries to keep the dispute on going.

Shaq said via his twitter account THE_REAL_SHAQ, that "they haven't faced the real Superman yet", in allusion to the Magic's center calling himself "Superman" since the 2009 dunk contest.

O'Neal is averaging 9.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game as the Celtics' starting center in postseason.

███ Terrence Williams named Most Improved Player of 2011
NEW YORK

New Jersey Nets swingman Terrence Williams has been named "Most Improved Player" of the NBA's 2011 season, the NBA announced yesterday.

Williams upped his averages from 8.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game last year to 13.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists in this year's season.

Nevertheless, the sophomore forward has been linked to trading rumours recently and attracts attention from many ball clubs looking for a point forward.

███ Howard named Defensive Player Of The Year
NEW YORK (AP)

Dwight Howard is the Defensive Player Of The Year of the NBA in 2011. The 6-11 power center averaged 12.8 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 2.3 blocks per game this season.

Howard has won the award for the third time in a row, beating out Gerald Wallace and LeBron James who were voted 2nd and 3rd respectively.

"I already told you, that Dwight Howard determines how often he will win this award", Magic Coach Stan van Gundy told reporters earlier today.

The Magic have been eliminated in a seven game series against Miami and Howard has already been seen in the gym working on his game.

███ Spoelstra is Coach Of The Year 2011
NEW YORK (AP)

Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra has been named Coach Of The Year 2011 by the media, the NBA announced two days ago.

Spoelstra has led his Heat from a 47-35 to a 66-16 record, although many link this to the top notch roster improvement by Pat Riley, who won the Executive Of The Year award for this year.

Spoelstra is the first Filipino-american to win this award and one of the youngest coaches next to Mike Brown and Doc Rivers to ever win the COTY.

[dare]

Another disappointment for the Mavs but I like it.

[Bucket]

I love Shaq
Yeah, Butler out another Celtics-Lakers finals

[Fresh8]

Lakerssss!

[Houndy]

I'll change it, but it's because Durant is one of my favorite players

[kibaxx7]

A sim I ran yesterday also had Williams as MIP, Spoelstra COTY, Howard DPOY. No changes at all

[CHUCK]

Man I'm ready to see what Shaq can do!

[Martti.]

Miami and LA will in 7, that's usually the scenario in 2K11.

[Lamrock]

The Big Diesel is running on fumes. Cheat-Celtics is a great matchup though.

[hova-]

dare, yeah without Butler it should be pretty hard for them. You should not like that !!

Valdis, seems like you all think the Cs can beat the cHeat ...

Sit, sry for Bogut choking, at least the Lakers now have really good chances with Butler out.

Thierry •, well, Howard will win this award IRL for the next 5 years, Spoelstra will win it if the Heat end the season with a similar record like in my D ... Williams is the only one who shouldn't be rewarded in every D.

CHUCK, Shaq'S playing really well since the departure of Kendrick Perkins. He still got game.

Martti., Yeah, it's what everybody likes to see. But a Mavs-Heat rematch would also be awesome.

Lamrock, as I said, he still got game. Maybe he can have another trip to the finals.

I will post the Conference Finals recaps tomorrow, then the Finals will come with an deeper preview and recap and then -> let's go back to Seattle and into the offseason.

[Martti.]

Martti., Yeah, it's what everybody likes to see. But a Mavs-Heat rematch would also be awesome.

I'd like to see it.

[kibaxx7]

Thierry •, well, Howard will win this award IRL for the next 5 years, Spoelstra will win it if the Heat end the season with a similar record like in my D ... Williams is the only one who shouldn't be rewarded in every D.

Yeah, for Howard and Spoelstra there's nothing I can do, but I remember seeing Adelman winning COY and DJ Augustin winning MIP in some sims.

[hova-]

The Cs withstood the Heat's late two game run to finish the series in game 7


1. Miami Heat (66-16) vs 2. Boston Celtics (52-30) 3-4

The Celtics are back into the Finals and will meet the Lakers for the third time in four years to battle for the Larry O'Brien Trophy. It was a hard way for Boston, but in the end the Miami Heat had to admit that their roster may not be deep enough to win it all.

The Heat took a 1-0 series lead though after winning the first game @AmericanAirlines Arena 90-107. LeBron James had 25 points, 9 boards and 12 assists to continue his pure domination. Information has already been leaked that the Heat's swingman will win his third straight regular season MVP award. The Cs did not find their rhythm in game 1 as Paul Pierce only had 7 points. Chris Bosh added 29 for the Heat.

Game 2 was a different story. The only real close game was decided by three pointer from Ray Allen with 10 seconds left in the game to seal the deal for a 103-100 win @Miami. The hero for the Cs though were the role players, led by Shaquille O'Neal. O'Neal, who trash-talked earlier that the Heat "haven't faced the real superman yet" and backed up his words with a nasty performance.

The "Big Diesel" scored 27 points and grabbed 8 boards in the Cs first series win. Nate Robinson added 13 points and Jarvis Hayes had 10 points in the 2nd quarter (3-4 3pt) and 11 for the game.
Dwyane Wade flirted with a triple-double (30/10/8) and LeBron James added 32 points and 9 assists, but the Heat had problems to contain the Celtics' deep frontcourt.

The frontcourt wasn't the problem for the Heat in game 3, when the series moved to Boston. Paul Pierce scored 29 points and Rajon Rondo had 26 and 11 dimes to outplay the big three from South Beach. Big three was maybe the wrong term anyway, as Chris Bosh only scored 5 points, very well guarded by Kevin Garnett. Dwyane Wade was the game-high man with 31 points, but the Heat lost game 3 96-108.

And they also lost game 4. Wade once again had a monster outing with 39 points and 9 rebounds, but the Cs relied on many shoulders and were able to take a big lead in the third leading to a pretty clear 93-111 win. Paul Pierce had 23, Rajon Rondo 21 points, 6 boards and 11 assists and Ray Allen added 18 points.

The Heat had already proven that they are able to come back from a 1-3 deficit when they beat Orlando three straight games. And they did their best to make things happen again vs Boston.
LeBron James had a triple-double, 32 points, 10 boards and 10 assists and Chris Bosh added 22 points and 18 boards to lift the Heat at home to a game 5 victory. Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 12 points and 6 rebounds to counter Kevin Garnett's 27/11 game.

The Celtics planned to make things clear in game 6 at home and knock out the Miami Thrice. The Thrice though had other plans. They combined for 94 points, with Chris Bosh scoring 34 and adding 11 rebounds and LeBron James closing in on another triple-double (32/7/10). Boston was blown out at home 131-103 despite Paul Pierce's 32 points.

Many thought, this would be the turning point of the series as the Heat had homecourt advantage being the top seeded team in regular season. The series went back to Miami were the fans once again all wore white t-shirts and the city already went nuts before the game. But as Kevin Garnett said later: "Never underrate the heart of a champion".

"We have been on top before and correct me if I'm wrong, but Chris (Bosh) and LeBron (James) haven't been there. They underrated us. That's what happened", the high-intensity Cs forward said later with sweat running down his forehead.

The Cs opened the game on a 20-5 run and never let go. Paul Pierce underlined his series performance with an all-around 25-5-6 game and Kevin Garnett had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. The Cs also showed that they have the better bench, especially when it comes to defense, but also on offense. Nate Robinson showed some great spark with 18 off the bench.
The Heat once again had big games from their three main guys, but no bench player scored more than 8 points.

Dwyane Wade had 25/5/7, LeBron James 33 and 8 assists and Chris Bosh 20/11/5. It wasn't enough. The well-experience Cs succeeded and went on to the Finals, whilst the Heat will have another try next year.

LeBron James left the court with 0:05 seconds left and did not talk in public since then, he will have to appear in front of the media when he receives the MVP award though.

Chris Bosh did not find any words and cried in front of the cameras whilst Dwyane Wade announced that the Heat will come back better next year.

The Celtics already prepare to take revenge for last year's finals against the Lakers.



Game 1: 90-107 Heat
Game 2: 103-100 Celtics
Game 3: 96-108 Celtics
Game 4: 93-111 Celtics
Game 5: 99-111 Heat
Game 6: 131-103 Heat
Game 7: 115-104 Celtics

Series MVP: Paul Pierce. After a bad performance in game 1 (7p), PP scored 24 points per game to give LeBron nightmares. Still the best wing scorer in the league.







The Lakers did a good job defending Dirk Nowitzki, but will miss Andrew Bynum in the Finals


1. Los Angeles Lakers (59-23) vs 2. Dallas Mavericks (54-28) 4-1

It wasn't an even series at all between the Mavs and the Lakers in this year's Western Conference Finals. The injury of Caron Butler was too much for Dallas and the team never really gave Los Angeles an headache at all.

The Lakers threw in all they had and let their star players play big minutes to limit the series to only five games. But they already paid the price for the "Butler-luck" as game one ended with a shocking evil tidings.

Andrew Bynum and Brendan Haywood collided hard in mid-air and the latter landed on Bynum's body. The Lakers center could not get up without help of his team mates and was later diagnozed with two broken rips, an injury that will end Bynum's postseason for this year.

"That's really tough for us", Kobe Bryant said. "The Cs have so many big guys down there and we will definitely miss Andrew, others will have to step up now".

Talking about the Conference Finals. The Mavs had no chance at all. Game one already showed the Mavs' problems without Caron Butler. On the one side, they were missing his scoring and his ability to penetrate and make room for Dirk Nowitzki, who only shot 4-18 for the game. On the other side, the Mavs had no one to guard Kobe Bryant. "Black Mamba" exploded for a playoff high 39 points and also added 8 boards and 5 assists to grab game 1 at home.

Game 2 looked even more shocking for Mavs fans. Dallas shot 23/77 from the floor and only had two guys in double figures (Dirk 22p/13t and Beaubois 13p).
The Lakers showed no mercy as Kobe scored 31 points and Pau Gasol added 13 points, 10 boards and 8 assists.

The Lakers took an predetermining 3-0 lead as they won game 3 in Dallas 94-90. Lamar Odom scored 16 points and grabbed 5 boards and Shannon Brown had 11 points in the fourth to overcome Nowitzki's 23 points and Brandon Haywood's 17 and 10.

The Mavs withstood the Lakers at least once, in game 4 @Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki, who had been defended very well for the whole series by Pau Gasol and - at times - Ron Artest, scored 39 points and added 13 rebounds. The Mavs were able to grab the win.

But the series moved back to L.A. were the Lakers ended the Western Conference Finals thanks to an erruption from Pau Gasol. The Spaniard had 35 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks and Ron Artest added 18 points to grab a 98-107 game 5 win. Nowitzki had 27/13 but it wasn't enough.

"It's so frustrating, especially for him", Jason Terry said. "He's playing like a beast, he had those 30, 40 points outings in the Playoffs, but we simply could not get it done".

"Talking 'bout Dirk, oh man, he looks so boring and soft, but I tell ya'll that he is the toughest to guard PF in tha league, man", Ron Artest said later. "He can shoot the ball so good from everywhere, ya know. I'm glad my psychiatrist helped me to deal with all his wicked-[expletive] shots that go in".

The Lakers hope that the fact that they had two games less than Boston could give them an advantage for the Finals. It's Boston - L.A. once again, fellas!


Game 1: 91-103 Lakers
Game 2: 68-93 Lakers
Game 3: 94-90 Lakers
Game 4: 101-112 Mavs
Game 5: 98-107 Lakers

Series MVP Kobe Bryant. 39 points in game 1, 31 in game 2. Kobe started off on fire and then focussed on passing out of the double team. His scoring went down each game, a sign of pure wisdom.

[Murat]

Wow, recaps good. But Bynum injured again Good luck Celtics

[Bucket]

As I said another Celtics-Lakers finals with C's winning 18th.

[Valor]

As I said another Celtics-Lakers finals with Lakers raping the Celtics

Fixed

[Fresh8]

Trade Bynum for Melo in this D.

[dare]

It's going to be tough for my team with Bynum out, hope its not like 2008 finals.