Eastern Conference Finals Game 2

After coming off a not so great game 1 the Celtics looked to bounce back against the Heat with hopes of heading back home with the series tied 1-1. The Celtics outscored the Heat in every quarter except for the 3rd including out scoring them 24-18 in the 1st and 4th quarter. The C's went into halftime up by 7 points and it was looking like they might actually hold off the Heat in this game going up by as many as 15 points one the first half and 11 points in the 3rd quarter. But then Lebron and the Heat came back with a vengeance after halftime out scoring the Celtics 35-22 in the 3rd quarter. With a close 4th quarter the game went into overtime after Ray Allen made a 3 pointer with 34.3 seconds left in regulation which brought the score to a tie at 99. James had an opportunity to end the game in regulation after being fouled on a layup that he missed and then missed both free throws, and then again as the clock ran out during regulation when he missed a jumpshot With Paul Pierce fouling out in the 4th quarter with 21 points Rondo took matters in his own hands scoring all of the Celtics 12 points in overtime. But that wasn't enough as the Heat held on to defeat Boston 115-111. Rondo led the Celtics in this outstanding game with 44 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assist playing all 53 minutes. James led the Heat with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. Wade added 22 points for the Heat, scoring 8 in overtime, along with Chalmers adding 22 points. The next game for the Heat and Celtics will be tomorrow at 8:30 on ESPN.


"Rondo was amazing. The performance he put on tonight will go down in the record books." -Lebron James

Terrell Owens Released From IFL

Poor T.O. things just seem to keep getting worse for him as time goes by. First after training after knee surgery with hopes to return to the NFL no team in the league seemed to be interested in him, then his issues with not paying child support to his many children mothers became public knowledge. After public humiliation things seem to be looking up for Owens when he signed with the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League back in February which also came with 30 percent ownership in the team. But then things seemed to go back to Owens old antics when he was on Dr. Phil and now Owens has been released from the Allen Wranglers. After failure to show up for a scheduled appearance at a children's hospital and refusal to play in two upcoming road games the wranglers decided to let Owens go. Jon Frankel, owner of the Wranglers stated, "It's disappointing and unfortunate but he could no longer be tolerated by the Wrangler organization." Under T.O. contract, Owens was not required to attend to play in all road games, which makes me wonder is there more to this story that's not being told, if Owens was up to his old ways of when he played in the NFL. But who knows. Owens did release a statement in which he stated, "I appreciate the opportunity that Mr. Frankel gave me and wish the Allen Wranglers all the best moving forward."

Western/Eastern Conference Finals Game 1

This holiday weekend brought us one game closer to the NBA Finals with the Eastern and Western Conference Finals beginning Sunday.  

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

The Spurs showed no signs of slowing down on Sunday as they push their winning streak to 19 games, including 9 straight wins in the playoffs.  After going down by 1 point, 47-46 at halftime and going into the 4th quarter down by 9 points, the Spurs fought back to get a 101-98 victory over the Thunder after an encouraging speech by Coach Gregg Popovich.  Popovich told his team going into the final quarter of play "I want some nasty" meaning more aggressive play and more confidence.  The Spurs has not loss a game since April 11th and this game was no difference as Ginobili sparked them to the victory over OKC with 26 points.  With the Thunder holding the Spurs to only 16 points in the 3rd quarter it looked like the Thunder may steal a game on Spurs court but the Spurs fought back in the 4th with Ibaka on the bench during the 4th  quarter for the Thunder.  Durant led the Thunder with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assist.  It will be interesting to see how the Thunder bounce back in game 2 tonight at 9:00pm on TNT.

(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

The game for the Heat and Celtics seemed that the Heat would have their way with the Celtics after going up 21-11 and James outscoring the Celtics by himself 13-11 at the end of the 1st quarter.  The Celtics came out and looked tired and fatigued after coming off the 7 game series against the Philadelphia 76ers.  Although the Celtics were outplayed in the 1st quarter they fought back and went into halftime tied with the Heat 46-46 (after a shot by Joel Anthony of the Heat was called back due to a shot clock violation).  The Celtics seemed like their old selves outscoring the Heat 35-27 in the 2nd quarter in spite of receiving three technical fouls in the 2nd quarter alone.  Coming back out after the half everything seem to go the Heat way with the Heat pushing the lead back up to 9 at the end of the 3rd quarter outscoring the Celtics 26-15.  The Celtics were held to under 20 points in every quarter except for the 2nd quarter and the Heat eventually pushed the lead to as many as 16 points during the 4th quarter.  With the Heat shooting 50% from the field and the Celtics being held to 39.5% shooting the Heat held off the Celtics to win game 1 93-79.  The dynamic duo of Wade and Lebron combined for 54 points and James led both teams with 32 points and 13 rebounds.  Garnett led the way for the struggling Celtics with 23 points and 10 rebounds.  Ray Allen continue to show signs of pain struggling the entire game and ending with only 6 points from 1-7 shooting.  We will see tomorrow if the Celtics can bounce from last nights game, as game 2 will be played Wednesday at 8:30 on ESPN.

Nick Farley Arrested in Alabama

Nick Fairley has gotten himself in to trouble in Alabama for the second time this off season in a two month time span.  Fairley was arrested over the weekend for driving under the influence and attempting to elude police after being clocked going 100 MPH on an Alabama highway.  This is the second time that Fairley has been arrested after being arrested April 3rd for possession of marijuana, in which he is scheduled to be arraigned for that charge July 31.  During this recent incident, Fairley initially refused to yield for police, but once he stopped he declined a field sobriety test offered by the police.  Nick Fairley is facing charges of reckless driving, no proof of insurance, and an open container of alcohol. Fairley has since posted bond and hopefully after this second run in with the lay he will remain out of trouble for the remainder of the off season.

76ers Force Game 7

AP Photo/Matt Slocum

After the Celtics took a 3-2 lead over the 76ers after Game 5 a lot of people had written the 76ers out of the competition.  Well they proved those people wrong last night after beating the Celtics 82-75.  Philadelphia outscored Boston every quarter except for the 2nd quarter in which the Celtics outscored the 76ers 17-11.  The 2nd quarter was the lowest scoring quarter for both teams and going into halftime you could tell that Philadelphia was not going down without a fight.

        

        Former Philadelphia 76er, Allen Iverson presenting the game ball
              (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia gained a little motivation from one of the greatest 76ers to play the game Allen Iverson who was on hand for the game to present the game ball to the referees before tip-off and remained on sight to watch the game and help cheer his former team to a playoff victory.  Behind the 76ers fight was the ugly play by the Celtics in which the 76ers held them to 33% shooting, forced 17 turnovers and the Celtics was only 3-14 from 3-point range.  Holiday led the Sixers with 20 points, 6 assist and 2 steals while Pierce led the Celtics with 24 points and 10 rebounds.  It all comes down to this last game Saturday, where both teams are in the mindset of win or go home.  Game 7 will be a great game as both teams put up a big fight down to the last second to determine who will be advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Magic Shaking Things Up in Offseason

After being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers, the Magic has shaken things up for the team already this offseason.  After a very rocky season with Dwight Howard asking to be traded the Magic has decided to end the rough season by firing head coach Stan Van Gundy and parting ways with General Manager Otis Smith.  Tension between Van Gundy and the Magic arose during the season when he claimed that team officials told him that Howard asked management to fire Van Gundy, in which Howard denied all allegations.  Smith and Van Gundy are both still under contract through next year and both contracts will be honored by the Magic organization.  Van Gundy ended his career with the Magic with a 259-135 record through his 5 seasons and a 31-28 record in the playoffs.

CEO Alex Martins stated, "It's time for a new leadership and a new approach.  We simply came to the decision that we were not on the right track."

Although Dwight denied the claims of trying to get Van Gundy fired, it makes you wonder whether he really has that much pull with the Magic organization with the firing of Van Gundy coming right after the season and right before Howard decides whether he will sign a long term contract with the Magic.  Just something to make you go hmmm.

UPDATE:  Sources close to NBA Analyst Chris Broussard that Shaquille O'Neal will be meeting with the Magic as soon as next week about the General Manager position.  O'Neal began his NBA career with the Magic, playing for the organization from 1992-1996, and later played under head coach Stan Van Gundy while playing with the Miami Heat, in which O'Neal had a little to do with Pat Riley deciding to fire Van Gundy as the head coach of the Heat.  With O'Neal having pull with getting Van Gundy fired it's starting to be not so far fetch that maybe Howard had something to do with Van Gundy getting fired from the Magic.

James named 2011-2012 NBA MVP

Lebron James has become the 8th player in NBA history to be named season MVP at least three times. The other seven players include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6 MVP titles), Michael Jordan (5 MVP titles), Bill Russell (5 MVP titles), Wilt Chamberlain (4 MVP titles), Larry Bird (3 MVP titles$, Magic Johnson (3 MVP titles), and Moses Malone (3 MVP titles).

The NBA will officially announce James as MVP on Saturday May 12th and James will be presented with the Maurice Podoloff trophy on Sunday before the Heat tip off against the Indiana Pacers for game 1 in the 2nd round of the eastern conference. Lebron ended the regular season averaging 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.9 steals per game and 53% shooting.

"Lebron, to me, is the favorite every year. The years he doesn't win it, it'll usually be because people are just tired of voting for him. Statistically, if you go all-around game I don't know how you don't vote for him every year." -Doc Rivers, Boston Celtics head coach

Reigning MVP Derrick Rose had a rough season and missed the remainder of the Bulls run in the playoffs going down in the 1st game. The title was seen to be a close race between James and Kevin Durant. Later in the season Tony Parker made a splash in the media getting some MVP champs after he led the spurs on an amazing run at the end of the season.

Miami Heat Instagram

Although James felt that winning MVP for the 3rd time would be a major honor, his main focused has been winning his first championship.

Junior Seau Dies at Age 43

Former NFL Linebacker Junior Seau was found dead earlier today due to a gunshot wound to the chest.  The incident is currently under investigation by the police as it is suspected to be an self inflicted gunshot wound and suicide.  Seau is known as one of the best linebackers to play in the NFL over his 20 year career with the San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and New England Patriots.

Seau was drafted #5 overall in the 1990 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers.  Seau was a 12-time Pro Bowler and led the Chargers to the Super Bowl in 1994.  Seau was traded to the Dolphins in 2003 and then signed with the Patriots after having a 1-day contract with the Chargers. Seau ended his career with the Patriots in 2009 and finished with 1524 tackles, 56 1/2 sacks and 18 interceptions.

Four Saints' Players Suspended

(Associated Press)

Well it doesn't look like Sean Payton will be the only one facing the consequences for the Saints' Bounty Program, Roger Goodell announced early Wednesday that four Saints' players will also be facing a suspension.  Linebacker Jonathan Vilma received the harsher punishment of the four players, has been suspended the entire 2012 season effective immediately and will last through the Super Bowl.  During its investigation, the NFL found that Vilma pledged $10,000 in cash to any Saints player who knocked former Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner out of the 2009 divisional playoffs as well the same offer for Favre during the NFC title game.  Along with Vilma, defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove, who is now a member of the Green Bay Packers, has been suspended 8 games, defensive end Will Smith has been suspended 4 games, and linebacker Scott Fujita, now a member of the Cleveland Browns, has been suspended 3 games.  All suspensions are without pay and although Vilma suspension is immediate, Hargrove, Smith, and Fujita are allowed to participate in their teams offseason and preseason activities.

"No bounty program can exist without active player participation.  The evidence clearly showed that the players being held accountable today willingly and enthusiastically embraced the bounty program.  Players put the vast majority of the money into this program and they share responsibility for playing by the rules and protecting each other within these rules." -NFL Commission Roger Goodell

All suspensions for each player is expected to be appealed, in which each case will be heard by Goodell.  Evidence against the players include Fujita pledging a significant amount of money in the Saints' bounty program, Hargrove submitted a sign declaration to the NFL that the Saints' bounty program existed and that he was an active participant in the program, and Smith helped former Saints' defensive coordinator Gregg Williams create and fund the bounty pool while he was a captain of the defense.  The Saints' bounty program ran from 2009-2011 and paid out improper cash bonuses for hits aimed at harming or knocking out opposing players.  It was discovered that 27 Saints were involved in the bounty program. Saints' head coach Sean Payton suspension began April 16th and will last the entire 2012 season through the Super Bowl and was also fined $500,000.