Injured Rondo inspires Celtics to win Game 3

The Boston Celtics clinched their first win in the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals by beating the Miami Heat 97-81 and avoid falling to a 0-3 hole that no team in NBA history has ever overcome last night in their homecourt at "Bean Town"

Celtics' point guard Rajon Rondo dislocated his left elbow during a collision with Dwayne Wade late in the third quarter and had to be carried out of the court yet he came back to start the fourth quarter much to the applause of the Boston crowd.

Rondo contributed 6 points and 11 assists after playing the 4th quarter with literally one arm to compliment stellar performances from Kevin Garnett who scored 28 points with 18 rebounds and Paul Pierce added 27 for the defending East Champions.

Shaquille O' Neal saw action for the first time this series but he was a non factor scoring only two points and no rebounds in 8 minutes of play but his presence alone ignited hope in the heart of the team after losing the first 2 games in Miami.

Wade led the Heat with 23 points while LeBron James scored 15 points but they combined to hit just 14 out of 35 shots. James even missed three of four free throws in a span that the Celtics started to pull away.

Game 4 will be in Boston, Monday night where the C's will try to even out the series while Miami tries to get a commanding 3-1 lead before heading back to Miami.

Rose power Bulls to 2-1 lead over Hawks

2011 MVP living up to expectations.

The Chicago Bulls took the driver seat of their Eastern Conference semifinals match up with the Atlanta Hawks after a 99-82 road win last night at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta led by their MVP Derrick Rose.

Rose flared up the Hawks with a career high 44 points seasoned with 7 assists and 5 rebounds to regain homecourt advantage in the series and push the Hawks to a seemingly "must-win" situation this coming Game 4 to be held once again in Atlanta.

Hawks had no answer for Rose since the opening tip-off allowing him to score 17 points in the 1st Quarter, much to the dismay of the home fans as the series shifted to the Phillips Arena for the first time.

Jeff Teague was the lone bright spot for the Hawks scoring 21 points but he was repeatedly punished in the defensive end by the wide arsenal of moves Derrick Rose showed throughout the game.

Chicago's bench was exceptional for this game as they sparked a pivotal second quarter push to pad the lead to double digits while their starters rested in the sidelines. CJ Watson, Taj Gibson and Ronnie Brewer did a good job starting the second quarter from both ends of the court, giving their team the spark they needed to stay comfortably ahead.

Josh Smith accounted for a respectable 17 points and 13 rebounds but he attempted a lot of long jumpers that did not get him much success and the frustrations from the crowd mounted as Game 1 heroes Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford was limited to 10 and 7 points respectively.

The Bulls head to Game 4 hoping to get a commanding 3-1 series lead while the Hawks hope to knot the series at 2-2 before heading back to the Windy City.

Griffin unanimously named 2011 NBA Rookie of the Year

Los Angeles Clippers' Power Forward Blake Griffin received the Rookie of the Year award after getting all of the 118 first place votes from the panel of media voters to be the first one to be the unanimous pick since David Robinson from the San Antonio Spurs did it in 1990.

Griffin became only the third player in league history to be named Rookie of the year unanimously the others being David Robinson and Ralph Sampson who accomplished it in 1984. Blake averaged 22.5 points (ranked 12th) and 12.1 rebounds (4th in the league).

He thanked his teammates and said that he is looking forward to the Clippers' future.

"My teammate are a huge help. They did an amazing job helping me learn about the game" he said in a humble statement.

Another achievement for Blake Griffin this year is winning the Slam Dunk Contest after jumping over a car in a dunk made with masterful presentation.

How far can Griffin lead his team next season? The basketball world sure will be watching how this guy develop and mature as a player.

Thunder halt Grizzlies to even the series

Too much explosiveness.

The Oklahoma City Thunder clamped down on the Grizzlies' frontcourt and recieved a major lift from the bench to take a 111-102 victory to avenge their loss in the opener and tie the series at 1-1 Tuesday night in their homecourt at Oklahoma City.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 26 points and their bench tripled their Game 1 production led by James Harden with 21 to lead by as much as 21 points in the final quarter and hold off a late comeback attempt by the Grizzlies.

Game One hero Zach Randolph was limited to 15 points in a poor 2-13 shooting clip as he was bother all game long by the Thunder's double teaming defense. His performance in this game was a far cry from his 34 points in the opener.

Mike Conley scored 24 points and was a catalyst for the Grizzlies' late comeback aspiration, cutting a 21 point fourth quarter lead to just six in the final minute but the lead was just too big and they came up short.

Russell Westbrook also had a huge game for the Thunder as he scored 24 points and back-up point guard Eric Maynor added 15 markers. Power forward Serge Ibaka limped off the court with 2 minutes left in the game due to a leg injury and this could play a crucial factor as he is the main defender on Zach Randolph.

Despite the loss, the Grizz will head into Game 3 with the home court advantage after stealing the opening game on the road as both teams try to take the pivotal victory that would give the winner a 2-1 series lead.

Heat take Game 2 to gain 2-0 lead over Celtics

Miami only needs two more wins to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Behind a scorching performance by LeBron James who scored 24 of his 35 points in the second half, the Miami Heat pulled away with a late 14-0 run to secure Game 2 with a 102-91 victory over the Boston Celtics to gain a comfortable 2-0 series lead Tuesday in front of the fired up Miami fans in Florida.

James got very able help from Dwayne Wade who scored 28 points and Chris Bosh who tallied 17 points and 11 boards as they broke away from an 80-all deadlock with 7:10 left in the final quarter. Boston missed their next 6 attempts at the basket, allowing Miami to cruise along for the victory.

The embattled Celtics was led by Rajon Rondo with a double-double (20 points, 12 assists) while Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett added 13 and 16 points respectively. Ray Allen was a non-factor as he only accounted for an anemic 7 points on 2-7 shooting.

Game 3 will be on Saturday in Boston where the home team Celtics will try to avoid falling to a 3-0 deficit in which no team in NBA history have recovered from.

Rose named 2011 NBA MVP

He knew right from the start that he was on his way to being the MVP.

22 year-old All-Star point guard Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls became the youngest ever MVP in NBA history after he received the 2011 Kia Motors MVP plum last Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila Time)

after leading the Bulls to 62 wins this season, the most since the championship glory days and he joined Michael Jordan as the only 2 Bulls players to ever get the award.

Rose averaged 25 points and 7.7 assists as he led his team to being the number 1 seed in the entire league and he hopes to steer his squad to it's first ever championship since the Jordan-Pippen era. He collected 1,182 points with 113 first place votes from media voters in a land slide victory as he was followed by Orlando's Dwight Howard (643 points) while LeBron James ranked third in the list.

He stepped up his game even more in the play-offs as he led his team over the Indiana Pacers in the first round after dropping 39 and 36 points in the first two games before scoring 25 in game 5 to help his team wrap up the series.

Rose walked away with a sprained ankle in the last moments of their Game 1 loss to the Atlanta Hawks which ended 103-95 but he will try to get his team back on the right track in Game 2 as they try to even out the series.

Meanwhile, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau received the 2011 Coach of the Year Award, a testament to Chicago's success this season.

Hawks eliminate Magic to set up a showdown with the Bulls

Talk about serving ice cold vengeance.

The Atlanta Hawks avenged themselves against the team that ousted them in an embarrassing sweep last season by pushing the Orlando Magic out of contention after their 84-81 victory to wrap the series up 4-2 at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta.

Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 23 points and he made a crucial play by tapping the ball to his teammate Jamal Crawford in a rebound play in the final seconds of the game leading to Crawford nailing two free throws to seal the final margin.

Orlando had two close chances to salvage their season but JJ Redick missed an open three-pointer and Jason Richardson’s desperation attempt was blocked by Josh Smith.

Hawks now advance to the second round for the third straight year and this time they will be facing the top seeded Chicago Bulls who won their series with the Pacers in 5 games 4-1.

The Magic meanwhile head to their earliest off season since 2007 and their star center Dwight Howard becomes a free agent next year so uncertainty surrounds the Orlando camp this off season.

Celtics sweep Knicks to advance to the next round

Celtics earn a short break before battling in the East Semis.

The Boston Celtics completed their dominance of the New York Knicks by wrapping the series with a 4-0 sweep after their 101-89 win in the Madison Square Garden on Sunday to advance in the 2011 East Semifinals.

Spearheaded by their veteran forward Kevin Garnett who tallied 26 points and 10 rebounds complimented by another great performance by Rajon Rondo who had 21 points and 12 assists, the Boston Celtics give themselves time to rest themselves before their anticipated showdown with the Miami Heat who failed to complete a sweep as the 76ers forced Game 5 with a late rally in Game 4.

Leading by as much as 23 points, the Celtics had to withstand a furious rally by the Knicks as the home team cut it to as close as 4 points in the 7 minute mark of the final quarter feeding off the support of the fans.

This loss ended the Knicks most successful season in the last decade and it renewed bad memories of the last time they qualified for the playoffs which was in 2004 where the team was also sent home by a sweep.

Carmelo Anthony led his team with 32 points and Amare Stoudemire added 19 markers and 12 boards but shot an anemic 5-20 clip evident of his struggles brought upon by back spasms he suffered in Game 2 which came after a magnificent opening game performance.

Knick’s star point guard Chauncey Billups wasn’t able to play for the rest of the series after straining his left knee at the final minute of Game 1.

New York Knicks’ very own Big Three

A freshly brought together trio looks to bring the Knicks back to it’s glory days.

It has been a crazy trade deadline for the NBA as major roster shake-ups occurred but the most notable of all is the big time reinforcements the New York Knicks acquired.

Former Denver superstars, Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups has joined Amare Stoudemire in the Big Apple as the teams push for the nearing post season.

The trio showed some promising flashes of brillance in the few games they played together including a win against the tournament favorite Miami Heat and a blow-out demolishing of the Utah Jazz with Billups sidelined due to an injury.

The knicks’ trio really gave New York fans something to be excited about as the season boils down to it’s most anticipated phase, the playoffs.

It is not going to be an easy ride for the Knicks though as Boston still holds the leader spot of the East and the Chicago Bulls has been on fire lately, with D-Rose playing like an MVP and not to mention the struggling but ultimately talented Miami Heat.

How far can the Knicks go this season? Only time can tell but one thing is for sure and that is the fact that they made the coming playoffs very interesting.

The Retooled Phoenix Suns

After struggling to regain their competitive form since losing Amare Stoudemire to Free Agency, the Suns are finally starting to get their acts together fueled by new found team chemistry upon the arrival of Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and Mikael Pietrus as they try to make a run to qualify for the play-offs.

The big trade that sent Jason Richardson and Earl Clark to Orlando seemed to have ignited the competitive flare of Phoenix as the team is jelling just at the right time to engineer an attempt to make it the post season after an anemic start for the year.

Vince Carter wasted little time showcasing his offensive arsenal in the Valley of the Suns as exemplified by their lights out performance against the Amare Stoudemire led New York Knicks at the Madison Square Garden just this past month.

Gortat and Pietrus meanwhile, provided the defensive toughness that the team lacked for majority of the season as well as rebounding and unselfish playing style and the trio seemed comfortable playing side by side with two-time MVP Steve Nash in the open court.

Another factor in this recent brilliance is the resurgence of Grant Hill who seemed to have a fountain of youth as he took up the role of being a steady force in the offense from the outside or taking it strong to the rim. Hill made it to past the first round of the play-offs for the first time last year as the team went on to the Western Conference Finals only to fall to eventual champions Los Angeles Lakers.

Phoenix have won 7 of their last 9 games before getting stopped by the Dallas Mavericks last night but they still have to play to a higher level as they are still behind the Memphis Grizzlies who are on a rampage of their own for the 8th seed in the Western Conference.

There is still time to catch up though, as the NBA calendar comes down to the latter part of the season.

Bieber named NBA all-star celebrity game MVP

He might not have won a Grammy but at least he took home the 2011 NBA All-Star celebrity game MVP Trophy.

Teen singing sensation Justin Bieber bagged the MVP honors of the NBA All-star celebrity game despite playing for the losing team and after getting nothing out of his 2 Grammy nominations early this week.

With his signature shaggy do hair bouncing as ran up and down the court, Bieber tallied 8 points 4 assists ad 2 boards for the West Squad who lost 54-49 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in a very fun filled game.

NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen led the winning East team with 17 markers and he also provided the defensive highlight of the night as he rejected Bieber’s shot in the 3rd Quarter.

The recording artist showed some awesome moves like his assist pass to A.C. Green that led to the opening basket, some smooth dribbling and he even nailed a 3 pointer.

Bieber was joined by Zac Levi, Trey Songz, Romeo Miller and Rob Kardashian in the West team coached by NBA Legend Bill Walton while Magic Johnson called the shots for the East team consisting of Nick Cannon, Jason Sudeikis and Common and Michael Rappaport .