LA takes command in San Antonio

The Los Angeles Lakers took a huge step towards getting back to the NBA finals with a hard fought 93-91 win in San Antonio to take a 3-1 lead of their Western Conference playoffs series.

The Lakers led wire to wire and it was the first home loss for the defending world champs in this year's playoffs.

Kobe Bryant had 28pts and 10-rebounds in the victory. Kobe was 14 of 29 from the field and despite his offensive game, he almost blew it at the end.

LA was up seven with 50-seconds to play when the Lakers tried everything they could to give the game away. First Pau Gasol (10pts, 10-rebounds) missed two free throws.

The Spurs Manu Ginobili (7pts) hit a three to make it 93-89. Kobe then tried to bully his way to the rack instead of taking time off the clock before throwing up a brick.

The ball got kicked out to Tony Parker who forced a goal tending call against Lamar Odom. Just like that it was now 93-91 Lakers with 28-seconds still left on the clock.

The Lakers could only get a wild shot by Derek Fisher that was ruled to have not hit the rim, but it went out of bounds off of the Spurs Robert Horry. LA got the ball back with two seconds left in the shot clock.

Bryant missed again and Tim Duncan (29pts, 17-rebounds) got the rebound with 2.1-seconds left in the game. After a Spurs timeout, Brent Barry got the inbounds pass, turned and pump faked Fisher into the air.

Instead of going right up and drawing a foul on Fisher, Barry turned and took a dribble before casting a shot that bounced off the glass. No foul was called and the Lakers had their win.

Los Angeles came out in attack mode to start the game. They grabbed four offensive rebounds before the Spurs collected their first rebound of the game. LA's tenacity paid off with a 22-8 early lead.

Boston recaptures road magic in Detroit

It took them seven road playoff games and three different cities before the team with the best road record in the NBA during the 2007-08 season finally got a road win in the playoffs.

I guess the Celtic's need some kind of motivation.

Game two of their Eastern Conference finals playoff series with the Pistons saw somebody come into the Boston Garden and come away with a win for the first time this postseason.

With home court taken away, how would the C's respond.

No problems in Bean Town. Boston played one of their best games in the post season, taking Detroit out of their game, beating them 94-80. Boston was up by as many as 24pts in the win.

Kevin Garnett had 22pts, 13-rebounds and six assists in the C's game three win. Home court has meant a lot to the C's until the last two games when home court was not the place to be.

Can Boston take control of the series with a win in game four at Detroit. The Pistons will want to come out with the intensity they had in game two in Boston when they rode a 32pts second quarter to a 103-97 victory.

Defending champs refuse to lay down for the Los Angeles Lakers

San Antonio's Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili two timed the Los Angeles Lakers in the Spurs 103-84 home win in the finals of the Western Conference playoff series.

LA looked like they could run San Antonio right out of the post season in the first two games of the series, but as has been the case throughout the playoffs, home has been where the wins are.

Manu scored 30pts and Duncan had a 22pts, 21-rebound night in front of the home crowd. Kobe bryant answered 30pts of his own, but he got little help from his teammates.

Kobe was able to kick up a little dust midway through the fourth quarter when he hit three straight 3's to cut the Spurs lead to 86-72. That was about it for the Lakers.

The Spurs has had trouble finishing games against LA. They were a combined 9of 42  from the field shooting during the fourth quarters in the two game in LA, but in game three San Antonio shot 12 of 16 from the field to salt the game away.

Tony Parker added 20pts and the Spurs shot 51% from the field in the victory. The Lakers hit on just 42% of their field goal attempts in game three.

Manu seemed like he was everywhere in the first half. He scored 22 in the opening half. 14 of those came in the second quarter. The Spurs had an answer every time LA got within striking distance.

The Spurs will try again in game four Tuesday night at home. the Lakers might be up two games to one, but it is the Spurs that have twice led by over 20pts in the series.

San Antonio must feel like they gave game one away and with they way LA played at home in game two protecting the home court in vital.

Best record means little on the road in 2008 playoffs

Boston cruised to the best record in the NBA this season. They started off beating eastern conference teams early in the season which prompted calls saying when the played the West it would be a different story.

It wasn't. Boston ran through Western conference teams as well on their way to a 66-16  record, 31-10 on the road. That was the regular season. The playoffs brought first 37-45 Atlanta, then Cleveland in the first two rounds.

Winning on the road is how you win championships, but the Celtic's have not been able to do that yet. They can thank god they have home court advantage. Their seven gamer against the Hawks was a huge shock.

Atlanta looked younger and fresher against Boston, at home. In Bean Town the Hawks had little coming, especially in game seven when the game was over by the middle of the second quarter.

Why does Boston have so many problems on the road. On reason is they are a team of jump shooters. Kevin Garnett is their inside presence, but he is not a true power forward.

It can be hard to make a lot of jumpers on the road and they do not do a very good job of getting their best shooter, Ray Allen, into the flow of the offense. Paul Pierce has not had a great shooting series and nobody off the bench has stepped up scoring wise to give the big three a boost.

Boston has been scoring many points. They have been playing good defense. The Cav's broke the century mark only once, but Boston has yet to score even 90pts in any game against Cleveland.

What happened to the free flowing, inside out side game that the Celtic's seem to have.

The Lakers took another step towards representing the Western Conference in the NBA Finals by beating the Utah Jazz on the road in game six of the Western Conference playoffs.

It was the first road win of the series and considering the Jazz were 31-4 at home during the regular season, the Lakers must feel like they can win anywhere.

Kobe Bryant has been at his MVP best, passing, playing defense, shooting when needed. The supporting cast has stepped up. Lamar Odom has had a very strong post season.

He and Kobe have finally found a comfort zone in the flow of the offense. The more they learn the triangle offense and defense, the better they will be. Kobe can now relax and just let the game come to him.

Real season get under in the NBA

Now that all of the formalities are over the folks in the NBA got down to business over the past weekend. Just about everybody took care of their business in game one of their first round playoff match ups.

The Spurs and the Suns started their series off with an instant classic. San Antonio won 117-115 in a double overtime game that Phoenix did everything but win in.

Tim Duncan had a 40pt., 15-rebound night against the Suns. Phoenix must wonder what they have to do to beat the Spurs.  Tim Duncan was everywhere. He did something he had not done all year.

Hit a three point shot.

Duncan made his one and only three this season when his team needed it the most, with 3-seconds left in the first overtime and the Suns up 104-101.

The Suns were ahead the whole game. Up 16 in the second quarter, the Sun could not maintain the lead. Point guard Steve Nash finished the game with 25pts and 15-assists, but the Suns could not make a play twice late in the game.

Phoenix had chances to win the game with the last shot in both regulation and the first overtime. They missed both. Tied with the clock running down in double OT, Manu Ginobili drove the lane to his left and hit a little fade away jumper from about five feet for the winning bucket.

The Cleveland Cavaliers got 32pts from superstar LeBron James to beat the Washington Wizards 93-86 in their first round game of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

This is the third year in a row the two teams have met in the first round of the playoffs. Cleveland quest to make it three in a row got off to a good start. It was 84-all with less then two minutes left when James took over.

LeBron scored four straight points and the Cav's never looked back. Zydrunas Ilgauskas chipped in with 22pts and 11-rebounds. Washington was led by point guard Gilbert Arenas who had 24pts before fouling out.

Philly stuns Detroit

One team came into their first round match up in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a gaudy 59-23 regular season record (Detroit) and one that despite their 37-45 record, got into the playoffs as a 7th seed.

The 76er's came back from 15 in the third quarter to win a playoff game in Detroit for the first time in team history. Philly was able to stay with Detroit early in the game. It was a 27-22 Pistons lead after the first quarter.

Detroit guard Rip Hamilton was in foul trouble in a hurry, picking up three in the first quarter alone. The Pistons looked like they had taken control with a 11-0 rn in the second quarter and they went into the half leading 51-38.

Philly came out of the half time break with a eight point run just to let Detroit know they were serious about winning this game. The Pistons responded with a 11-2 run of their own and it was 62-47 Detroit midway through the 3rd quarter.

Will Green hit two baskets that started a 10-0 Philly run to end the 3rd. Andre Miller had 20pts. for Philly. Green was 7 of 11 from the field (17pts). Rasheed Wallace had 24pts for Detroit, but he along with Tayshon Prince, missed short "bunnies" as they called them to either tie or take the lead late in the game.

Kings step up and beat New Orleans 94-91

Sacramento was happy to see Ron Artest back on the floor. The Kings guard/forward hit four three's in the fourth quarter helping the Kings hold off Western Conference leading New Orleans Saturday night at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

Artest had 22pts in the game and the loss knocked the Hornets out of first place in the West.

Both LA and New Orleans are 55-25, but the Lakers have the tie breaking edge with a better conference record.

Sacramento won without their top scorer and rebounder. Kevin Martin and Brad Miller were sidelined, but that did not stop the Kings from taking to the Hornets all night.

Artest got help from John Salmons(18pts) and Francisco Garcia (16pts).

The Kings trailed by as much as eight in the third before closing out the Hornets. "I'm very proud, I'm very impressed with our players who are taking pride in finishing the season strong." said head coach Reggie Theus.

The Kings jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead behind the scoring of rookie center Spencer Hawes (5 of his 11pts) and Salmons. A Chris Paul to Tyson Chandler alley opp, dunk two minutes later tied the score at 12.

Paul has not had a very good run of it down the stretch and Sacramento took advantage, holding the MVP Candidate to 14pts on 4 of 13 shooting from the field. Paul did have 12-assists, many to Chandler or David West.

West lit it up for 30pts and 15-rebounds against Sac, but the Kings did a good job on everybody else. New Orleans shot just 38.4% from the field in the game ranking it as one of the Kings best defensive performances of the season.

"We played well defensively pretty well, we kept them really low. The last couple of games we basically let them really score on us so it was a good effort on defense for us." said starting point guard Beno Udrih.

A Hawes defensive rebound led to to him hitting a 19' jumper to start the comeback, making it a 64-58 Hornets lead with 5.43 left in the 3rd quarter. It was still a seven point game (73-66 Hornets) with under a minute left in the 3rd after West put back an offensive rebound with a short jumper.

The Kings were down five when Artest hit the first of his four three's making it a 75-73 Hornets lead. A Paul to Chandler Alley oop dunk was the only field goal made by New Orleans in the first six and a half minutes of the 4th quarter.

The Kings led by five, 80-75, by the time West broke the Kings run with a put back. The Hornets got as close as a single point twice, 80-79 and 92-91 late in the game but the Kings held them off.

Ron Artest's last two three's of the 4th gave the Kings first a 88-81 lead with just under three minutes lefts and 91-85 with 51 seconds left, but New Orleans still found a way to make a game of it.

Garcia fouled Morris Peterson shooting a three. Peterson made all three to make it a four point game. The Kings then turned the ball over when they could not get it inbounds for a five second violation.

Peja Stojakovic hit a three with 11-seconds left to make it 92-91. John Salmons made the final two points of the game from the free throw line, but the Kings still had to sweat out a Peja three that hit every part of the rim before falling out with a second left.

"Phil Jackson said watch out for the Kings, they'll play a part in what's happening to the West down the Stretch. " said Theus.

It looks like Phil is right, but Jackson, with a home game against the Kings in the regular season final, does not want Sac to have two much of a role.

LA makes short work of the Spurs

The Lakers opened up a close game in the third to run away and hide from San San Antonio, beating the Spurs 106-85. The win puts the Lakers on the verge of winning the Western Conference.

Tied at 53 after two quarters, the Lakers used a rebounding edge of 31-16 in the second half to blow the game open. LA, clinched their first Pacific Division title in four years and they will have home court advantage as long as they stay in the playoffs if they can beat Sacramento at home Tuesday night.

The Lakers started the 3rd quarter on a 17-6 run to take control of the game. A 19-5 run to start the 4th quarter to all the drama out of the contest.

Kobe Bryant had 20pts, 5-rebounds and 5-assists in three quarters of work. Kobe did not play at all in the 4th quarter. Lamar Odom had 17pts and 14-rebounds.

Tony Parker (20pts) led the way for the Spurs who played without guard Manu Ginobili. Tim Duncan added 16pts and 12-rebounds as the Spurs lost for only the second time in their last ten games.

Sacramento plays roll in playoff chase

This is not what any coach has in mind when they think about their team in a playoff race, but reality has set in for the Sacramento Kings who will not be making a trip to the post season in 2008.

They can, however, affect who does make it into the post season. With games against Golden St., the Lakers, Phoenix, Denver and

Sac’s last seven games pit’s them against five teams looking to make the playoffs in the Western Conference. Their last three are against the New Orleans Hornets, Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs.

All three of those teams are fighting for the top spot in the west and the home court advantage that comes with it.

Despite a losing record and zero hope of reaching the post season, the Kings still have a lot of heart and they are trying to win every game night in and night out.

The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers found that out this week as the Kings have a mini, three game, winning streak after getting past the Clippers 110-98 in Sacramento Thursday night.

Kevin Martin led the way with 26pts as the Kings beat the Clippers for the first time in four tries this season. The Kings improved to 35-40 and they have won four out of their last five contests.

Although a playoff spot is out of the question, the Kings have improved under first year head coach Reggie Theus. The Kings already have two more wins this season (35) then they did all of last season.

Can the Kings have an effect on the Western Conference playoff race? The answer is yes and no. With games against the Warriors and Denver, Sac will play a roll in who makes the playoffs.

Of course neither Golden St, or the Nuggets want their season to come down to beating the Kings, but both those teams look at Sacramento as a win they need to have to make the post season.

That could make a team tight. The Kings are a loose bunch right now and they are happy to be able to play in some games that mean something, Even if they are meaningless to them. The playoff type atmosphere the last seven games will bring means a lot when it comes to getting the experience needed to be able to compete at that level.

It has been two years since the Kings have reached the post season, but it looks like they are headed back in the right direction with coach Theus at the helm.

Warriors breeze past Trailblazers 111-95

The mark of a good team is winning games you are supposed to win. That is what the Golden St. Warriors did when they hosted the Portland Trailblazers Thursday night. They started the game knowing that the Denver Nuggets had beaten the Dallas Mavericks, thus moving a game closer to the Warriors.

It also meant Golden St. could move a game closer to the Dallas Mavericks in the race for the final two playoff spots in the West. Golden St. got off to a somewhat lackadaisical start, falling behind 12-6 early on.

Portland, playing without their best player, shooting guard Brandon Roy, seemed to be ripe for the pickings. With the tight playoff race the Warriors are involved in with both Dallas and Denver, a win against a fading Portland team would move them just a half game back of Dallas with 11-games to go in the season.

The Warriors offense had a hard time finding any kind of rhythm in the first quarter. It was a 24-12 Portland lead with four minutes left in the opening quarter. The subs came pretty quick. First rookie Brandon Wright came in for Al Harrington and a couple of minutes later Austin Croshere the floor as well.

GSW was down 26-12 and nothing they did seemed to work. “Well this game all we care about is the end result. I did not like our start, but we had enough guys to play well that we won a game that we were supposed to win.” Said a happy head coach Don Nelson after the game.

Baron Davis hit a three At the 2.25 mark of the first quarter after a called Warriors timeout and that was followed by a steal on defense that led to a Monta Ellis dunk. Davis was at it again when he picked the pocket of Martel Webster and fed Croshere for a dunk.

A Stephen Jackson three later and it was a 30-22 ball game. Portland was up eight, but at least the Warriors were showing signs of life. A Kelenna Azubuike offense rebound and put back made it a 34-30 Blazers lead with 9.35 to go in the second quarter.

Golden St. finally got back into the lead when Harrington hit back to back three’s to make it 44-42 Warriors. Golden St’s defense picked up quite a bit in the second quarter.

The Warriors shot 56.5% in the second quarter and they held Portland to eight of 21 from the field (38.1%). Golden St. carried the run into the third and after Baron Davis scored it was 68-61 Warriors with seven minutes left in the third.

From there it was all Golden St.

“They kept the paint real crowded tonight. It seemed like they were everywhere. We knew they could hot. That is Golden St. for you, they just heated up.” Said Portland's Travis Outlaw after the game.

Golden St got a shot in the arm from Matt Barnes. Barnes, has been going through some tough times, but he came in and hit two three’s that helped give the Warriors a 82-68 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter.

The Warriors were playing the confident, we are a playoff team type basketball they need to play the rest of the season. Up 19 at the end of the third quarter, the Warriors fans gave the team a standing ovation as they walked off the court for the quarter break.

Golden St. was a red hot 9 of 13 (69.2%) from the field in the third. Jackson had 14 in the quarter alone. The Warriors took advantage of everything, hitting 18 of 20 free throws in the quarter.

The Warriors were shooting 52.5% for the game at that point and they had just come off a quarter were they outscored Portland 40-20. Without Roy, the Blazers had little firepower to counter the Warriors attack in the second and third quarters.

The victory was a double bonus for the Warriors. Point guard Baron Davis came out of the game after playing just eight minutes of the second half. He did not return.

Baron is ill and they will need him to be fresh with one of the biggest stretches of the season coming up. "When you're out there, it was a weird feeling. I didn't feel like I could do what I wanted to do, but I just wanted to try and make hustle plays and be there for my teammates and that's all that matters to me." said a tired Davis after the game.

It’s money time for the Warriors the next two weeks. Golden St. has head to head match ups with both Denver and Dallas on the road next week. The Warriors travel to Denver before hosting Dallas March 30th.

They follow that up with a brutal back to back at San Antonio and Dallas. That’s three games with the two teams closest to them in the playoff race.

“It’s big, It’s real big. We don’t wanna have no letdowns. We gotta win the majority of these games (upcoming road games) to be in the playoffs, that’s our goal. We don’t wanna bust our butts all year and not make the playoffs. I think we need to approach this road trip with a sense of urgency.” Said Jackson after leading the way with 24pts.

Monta Ellis had 18pts and 10-rebounds and Azubuike score 14pts off the bench. Azubuike played 32-minutes and when you can get productive minutes from your bench it helps your whole squad out.

Who would of thought  that a 50 win season might not be good enough for a playoff spot.

The Warriors, with 11-games left to play, are 44-27. Winning just six of their last 11-games would put them at 50-32, but will that be good enough. Playing .500 ball in the West has not been good enough all season and now is not the time to start playing it now.

The Warriors improved to 19-0 this year when they hold teams under 100pts.

GSW comes up just short of a LA sweep

Golden St. and the Los Angeles Lakers hooked in two instant classic's over the Easter Holiday. Sunday night in LA the Warriors sprinted out to a 72-49 halftime lead only to see the Lakers not only come back, but take a two point lead before the Warriors won in overtime.

A great win. Somehow it did not seem like it to the Warriors who were concerned about how easily they let Los Angeles get back in it. Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson were unstoppable in the first half, combining for 48, first half points.

Kobe Bryant helped fuel the Sunday comeback with 27 of his game high 36pts coming in the second half.

As good Golden St. was in the first two quarters, they were as bad or maybe even worse in the third quarter when they shot a horrible 19% to let the Lakers back in it.

Jackson was part of the third quarter problem for the Warriors, hoisting up three's from anywhere on the court. Once a clear two on one break was aborted by Jackson who casted a three that was way off.

That confidence served Jackson well late in the game when the Warriors needed him the most. Jackson played tick for tact with Kobe who drilled two three's with less then a minute left in the game.

Both times Kobe's buckets pulled the Lakers to within a point of Golden St., and both times Jackson answered with a three of his.

The rematch in Oakland saw Kobe Bryant go off for 30pts, but it was the play of his supporting cast that proved to be the difference in the game. Forward Lamar Odom had a monster game in Oakland.

Odom went off for 23pts and 21-rebounds as the Lakers returned the favor and beat the Warriors on their home court. The loss prevented Golden St. from winning the season series from the Lakers for the first time since 1994-95.

The win moved the Lakers back atop the Western Conference, a half game ahead the of the New Orleans Hornets. The Warriors fell 5.5 games behind the Lakers in the Pacific Division.

The game had the feel of a playoff game and it could be a sign of things to come. If both teams maintain the current pace, they will face off against one another in the first round of the playoffs.

Sprint to the finish in the NBA

All bets are off as teams in the NBA make that last mad dash for a playoff spot. It does not get any wilder then the Western Conference. With 20 games remaining the top eight teams are only four games apart in the standings.

A bad week could drop you from leading your division to not even making the playoffs.

Photo by Keith Collier

The Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs share the best record in the west, but they are being pushed by Phoenix, Houston, New Orleans and Utah for the west's top seed.

Houston is simply the hottest team in the NBA right now, having won 19 games in a row. You would think a streak like that would put you on top, but not in the West were the top 11 teams all have a better record then Toronto, the team that currently holds downs the 5th spot in the East and they are the last team (34-28) that is over .500 in the East.

The Rockets are now a game back of the Spurs and Lakers. Who knows how long they can keep playing like this.

Losing big man Yao Ming has not slowed them down one bit. Tracy McGrady has stepped his game up and the rest of the team has responded.

Point guard Rafer Alston has been solid at the point and Dekemba Mutombo has been a defensive force on the inside. Mutombo had five blocks in the Rockets 91-73 win over the Nets for number 19 in a row.

What will be the difference out West. Health, for one, will be a big factor in who claims the top spot out West. The Lakers Nation held their breath when Kobe Bryant broke one of his fingers right before the All Star break.

It has not affected him or the Lakers who are surging ever since trading for big man Pau Gasol before the trading deadline. The Lakers have gone 8-2 in their last ten games, the same as the Spurs.

Gasol has been a god send to Kobe and the Lakers. Kobe now has somebody to pass the ball to who can make something happen with little time left on the clock.

Gasol, the first option in Memphis, has not had a problem with being the second option in LA's triangle offense that is run around Kobe. He has fit in to a team that was winning before they got him.

The Spurs did not stand pat, picking up forward Kurt Thomas. Thomas is a veteran who can step away from the basket and score along with the ability to defend and rebound.

This will take a lot of pressure off Tim Duncan, keeping him fresh for the playoffs.

The playoffs, in the west, have already started. In the East they have started as well, but it seems like few teams really want it.

There is a good possibility the three teams will make the playoffs under .500. Washington (30-32), Philly (30-34) and Atlanta (26-37) hold down the last three playoff spots in the East.

Washington got small forward Caron Butler back from injury for the stretch run and that will help them win more games then they lose this season.

Philly and Atlanta are just ahead of New Jersey, Chicago, Charlotte, Indiana and Milwaukee. Those seven teams are just three games apart in the Eastern Conference standings.

None of the seven seem to be very interested in reaching the .500 mark. They just want to make the playoffs.

Tie breakers are going to big in determing playoff spots. Every game inside the division will count as two.

It's all or nothing in the NBA

Sacramento got into the act as well, sending point guard Mike Bibby to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for what seemed like half the team. The Hawks are on the fringe of the Eastern Conference playoffs and they think Bibby can help put them over the top.

Atlanta is just 21-28, but they are tied for the eighth and final playoff spot with New Jersey and Philadelphia. The East is in shambles right now and the Hawks figure it is better to make the playoffs then not which they have done for the past couple of years.

They now have a proven winner to bring the ball up for Joe Johnson and Co.as they head into the stretch run for a shot at a playoff berth. Atlanta needs some new blood, they closed out the first half of the season by losing to the reeling Charlotte Bobcats 100-98 after blowing a 14pt lead to head into the All Star break with a four game losing streak.

The Kings seem to have an abundance of guards and new head coach Reggie Theus has continued to shake things up.

In a twist of fate, Bibby's first game with his new team should come against his old team, back in Sacramento Feb. 20th.

It is the only time Atlanta plays in Sacramento this year and it should be an interesting home coming for Bibby and the Kings fans.

Mike has been the heart and soul of the Kings, coming to Sac right before the Kings made a run at a NBA Championship when he was teamed up with Chris Webber.

The game will match two teams sweating out the details, trying to make it to the playoffs in 2008. Sacramento acquired point guard Anthony Johnson, 2006 first-round pick Shelden Williams, forward Lorenzen Wright and backup guard Tyronn Lue and a second-round draft pick this year in the trade.

That's a crowded squad up in Sac right now and the Kings cleared a ton of cap space next year by letting Bibby go.

Sacramento comes out of the All Star break 23-28, 8.5 games out of the 8th spot in the West. Golden St., Denver and Houston are currently behind the eight ball as the Association heads towards the post season.

If the Kings are to make a move for a playoff spot they will have to beat teams in their own division. Sac is 0-7 against Pacific Division teams so far this season. With Phoenix, Golden St. and the Lakers residing in the Pacific it will not get any easier for the Kings down the stretch.

11 of Sac's final 31-games are against the Pacific and only the Clippers appear to be out of it when it comes to making the playoffs, but they beat the Kings.

Coach Theus gained a lot of confidence in the rest of his team during the first part of the season when Bibby, Martin and Ron Artest were hurt. Players like Beno Udrih and John Salmons stepped their games up when given the chance.

The Kings got something they lacked in the Bibby trade, depth on the low blocks. Center Brad Miller has been playing out of his mind the last month, but the Kings need to give Miller help.

Shelden Williams and Lorenzen Wright, both big men, will help the Kings in the rebounding department, were Sacramento is next to last in rebounds per game in the NBA.

The homecoming's continued Tuesday after the All Star break when the Jason Kidd to Dallas trade was back on again after it got nixed by Devon George of all people.

J-Kidd was all set to head back to the team that drafted him out of Cal way back when George invoked his no trade clause to stay in Big D. With the help of retired Keith Van Horn the trade is back on.

Van Horn will be paid some four million dollars just to come back and sit on New Jersey's bench for the rest of the year. Van Horn has been working in Colorado since he stopped playing basketball last year but he was still under contract by Dallas.

In order to make the money work, Van Horn's contract was thrown into the mix and Dallas had their man, again.

J-Kidd will now be teamed with Dirk Nowitzki. Starting point guard Devon Harris heads over to New Jersey along with Trenton Hassell, Maurice Ager, center DeSagana Diop and forward Keith Van Horn along with Dallas’ first round draft picks in 2008 and 2010, and cash considerations. Dallas also gets forwards Antoine Wright and Malik Allen.

What will J-Kidd mean to the Mav's down the stretch. Stability. He can make everybody on the team better. Harris is a very solid, young point guard, but the Mav's want to win now.

Dallas hopes J-Kidd can handle the Baron Davis's and Steve Nash's of the Western Conference world come playoff time.

Jason fits in perfect with the Mav's controlled fast break offense and come playoff time he should be able to keep the Dallas offense running smoothly.

With the nightmare of their playoff disaster in 2007, the Mav's pulled out a pretty big stop in order to make it back to the NBA Finals.

They know J-Kidd has at least two more good years in him and Dirk ain't getting' any younger so Dallas said what the heck. Look for Jason Terry to see more time at the off guard spot with J-Kidd in the fold now.

It seems that teams like San Antonio, Utah and Denver are content to stand pat and play with the hand they were dealt.

It will be a wild ride in the West. All the fresh faces back in familiar places has only added to the excitement of a title run.

Sac takes care of business against Charlotte

The Kings won a game against the Bobcats Wednesday night that need to win if they have any designs on making the playoffs in 2008. Behind 22pts and 21-rebounds from center Brad Miller the Kings notched there second straight win, a 105-91 victory.

The Kings entire starting five finished the game in double figures with Ron Artest and Kevin Martin scoring 22pts apiece.

Sacramento head coach Reggie Theus is still getting used to having a full team to coach.

With Mike Bibby, Artest, Martin and Miller all healthy Theus has many options to run the offense through. That showed against the Bobcats.

"We had 90 shot attempt's and that's something I wish we could get every night . 90 shot attempt's gives you pretty much a good chance to win any game you play in." said coach Theus.

You have to have the ball to shoot it and grabbing rebounds is one way of getting the rock. Sac had 13 offensive rebounds in the game, led by Miller's 3.

Sacramento led 55-52 at the half, but they out scored Charlotte 29-16 in the 3rd quarter. Kevin Martin and Ron Artest combined for 21 of those points.

The Kings held Charlotte to just 21.7% from the field (5 of 23) and they pulled 20-rebounds in the quarter. The Bobcats were 0 for seven from three point land in the 3rd.

Charlotte made one last run, cutting the Kings lead to just six (89-83) with 6-minutes left in the game. Sac held the Bobcats without a field goal for the next four minutes.

Charlotte was held to a couple of free throws until Gerald Wallace scored with 2 minutes left. The Kings were up 14 by then and the game was over.

Next up is the West leading New Orleans Hornets with their all star tandem of point guard Chris Paul and swingman David West. "We gave up 22 fast break points against Charlotte. That could double if we are not careful with this team coming up."said a happy Theus after the game.

Caution gets thrown to the wind as the NBA trading deadline approaches

Shaq to the Suns, J-Kidd to Dallas, C-Webb back to the Warriors. who would have thought that would happen, but anything goes in the 2007-08 season as teams are rolling the dice to get into position to play for a championship.

This year.

The run and gun Phoenix Suns granted a player his wish while shaking up their line up in the process. Out went Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. Banks will be an afterthought, but Marion was a key part of the exciting Suns offensive attack.

Who needs the 24-second clock, not the Suns. Or maybe they do. Running past everybody during the regular season has produced little in the playoffs.

Phoenix is gambling that the big guy can be an enforcer on defense while adding some scoring punch on the low block when the Suns break gets slowed down.

Now Shaq is in the valley of the Sun hoping to extend his streak of making the NBA Finals with every team he has played for during his NBA career.

First Orlando, then three rings with the Lakers before winning one with the Miami Heat. Is an appearance in the NBA Finals on the horizon for the Suns. Only time will tell.

First Shaq has to get healthy, he came over to the Suns with a  hip condition and he has not played for his new team. When will he be back and how effective will be a big factor in how far the Suns go in the playoffs this year.

Golden State had their team imploded 14-years ago as one of the best, young nucleus in the league at the time was torn apart with the feud between head coach Don Nelson and then rookie Chris Webber.

Time does indeed heal wounds and the unthinkable happened. First Golden St. re hired Don Nelson last year, then they made one of the best trades in recent history before making history with their first round defeat of the West leading Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs.

Sac ends home slide, beat rampaging Magic

Sacramento limped back home to face the team with the most road wins in the NBA so far this season. The Magic rode into Sac with 15 road wins and in first place in the Southwest division of the Eastern Conference.

Photo by Keith Collier

The Kings were not impressed. John Salmons scored 21 and center Brad Miller added 20pts in Sacramento's 104-100 win.

They helped offset a monster night by the Magic's big man Dwight Howard.

Howard was 11 of 13 from the field scoring 29pts and pulling down 15-rebounds.

Orlando out scored the Kings 38-26 in the fourth but they could not climb out of the 19-point hole Sacramento had put them in.

The Kings backed up their win over Orlando with a 116-113 win over visiting Memphis Thursday night. Once again John Salmons shined for Sacramento.

Salmons busted the Grizzles for 28pts, 11-rebounds and seven assists in his best all around game of the year. Sacramento was down 10 in the fourth quarter before fighting back for the victory.

Center Brad Miller had another strong game for the Kings. He had 22pts, 10-rebounds and five assists. Beno Udrih score 25pts and Francisco Garcia had 22.

It was Garcia that hit perhaps the biggest shot of the game. Sacramento was down 111-113 with 10-seconds left. That gave the Kings their first lead of the game since the second quarter.

Rudy Gay scored 31 points for Memphis, but he dribbled the ball off his leg trying driving to the basket with five seconds left. Brad Miller made two free throws to close out the scoring.

Teams make up ground as season heats up

The Western Conference looks a lot different then it did a couple of weeks ago. Golden St. was 0-6, the Portland Trailblazers were floundering and Sacramento endured a seasons worth of injuries and suspensions in the first two weeks of the season. The Kings started off 0-7 on the road.

Things have turned around for all three teams.

Portland is the hottest team in the NBA right now having reeled off nine straight wins. Portland, sans top pick Greg Odom, has their head above water at 14-12.

They sit just two games behind surprising Denver (14-10) who lead the Northwest Division. The play of Brandon Roy has been the main reason Portland is able to do without Odom.

Roy dropped in 25pts in Portland's 101-96 win over Toronto Wednesday night to improve to 11-3 at home.

Martel Webster and leading scorer and rebounder LaMarcus Aldridge have had just enough good games between them to help Roy win games

.

Utah was thought to be the class of this division.

The Jazz still might be, but they are just 14-13 despite having three of the best players in the league, Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams and Andre Kirilenko.

Sacramento, fresh off their 102-89 victory at Milwaukee, is 11-14.

Under .500 yes, but they are 6-4 in their past ten games and three of those wins came on the road. Ron Artest scored 26pts and chipped in eight assists in the Kings win against the Bucks.

He got a hand from point guard Beno Udrih. Beno who, fresh off a 0-8 night in Sacramento's 106-101 win in New Jersey the night before, drilled six of seven 3's on his way to 24pts.

The Kings are missing their two best players, but they are playing with the team they have now. For the first time Kings head coach Reggie Theus has been able to coach one group of players for a stretch of time.

Being a rookie coach is hard enough without having your roster getting turned upside down a couple of times in the first few weeks of the season.

Theus has had to make do with the hand he was dealt and he has played it well. If they can get back to full strength and keep their stars, Sacramento could make some noise in the Western Conference.

Players like John Salmons (career high 31 against the Nets) and Udrih have stepped up big time. Ron Artest missed the first seven games of the season and he looks like he is starting to hit his stride.

Kevin Martin, the Kings leading scorer will be out another month, but point guard Mike Bibby could return sometime in January.

Sacramento will play host to Denver (12/23), Boston (12/26), Philadelphia (12/28) and Phoenix (12/30). It will be a busy X-Mas week for the Kings   who play two of the leagues elite teams in Boston and the Suns before the year is out.

Golden St. improved to 15-11 after topping Memphis 111-98 on the road. Al Harrington scored 14 of his 25pts in the third quarter when Golden St made their move in the game.

Minnesota wasted a 14pts first half lead. Golden St. out scored Minnesota 37-17 in the third. Monta Ellis (24pts) and Stephen Jackson (20) helped burn the Wolves all game.

Golden St. is now 14-5 since Jackson started playing this season after their poor start. His toughness on defense has been the key for the offensive minded Warriors.

Golden St. has allowed 15pts a game less during that 14-5 streak. The Warriors are still playing Baron Davis too much, but it is hard to take him out of the line up.

Baron is the glue that holds it all together. He is almost impossible to guard one on one and this puts stress on the defense allowing other players to get a little extra room.

Golden St. has pulled to within three games of the first place Sun who are 18-8. Who would of thought that was possible two weeks ago.

Kings get clipped at home

It has not happened that often. Top teams have made their way into Sacramento only to leave with a loss added on to their record. The world champion Spurs, contending teams like Utah, Houston and Detroit have been hit with a loss in Sacramento.

The Clippers limped into the contest last in the Western Conference with their best player, center Elton Brand at home hurt.

Enter Chris Kaman. The new look center for the Clips is doing more then hold down the spot for Brand.

Kaman was a missed free throw away from his career high, scoring 26pts and pulling down 12-rebounds in the Los Angeles victory.

This was one that Sacramento let get away.

The Kings went ice cold in the second half. They only scored 35-pts in final two quarters to open the door for a Los Angeles comeback. The Kings injury depleted squad was without Kevin Martin, the NBA's 8th leading scorer.

Martin was the latest King to get hurt. He, along with point guard Mike Bibby have forced Kings head coach to try many different combinations to make up for the scoring of martin and the play making abilities of Bibby.

Ron Artest was the high scorer for Sacramento, but he made only 8 of his 22-shots from the field (22pts). With all the high powered teams that have come through Sac the past two weeks, maybe the Kings were over looking the last place Clippers.

"I don't know what to say, quite honestly," Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "We were up at halftime and I just think our guys, sometimes their tendency is to relax. You've got to learn to play with a lead. The energy level was zero."

Sacramento is not good enough to look past anybody. Teams might have overlooked Sac without Bibby and now Martin,  but after their home wins, every team that comes into Sac will be ready.

The Kings will now hit the road where they are an NBA worst 0-7 away from Arco Arena. They are the only team without a road win in the NBA this season.

That is not good with six of their next seven games on the road. A 7-2 home record has the Kings respectable at 7-11, but the next two weeks will go a long ways towards a Kings playoff spot or a lottery pick in next years draft.

Cuttino Mobley scored all of his 12pts in the second half, hitting a big three point shot that helped the Clippers gain a ten point advantage by the middle of the fourth quarter.

Golden St. one of the league hottest teams

The Warriors might have been the last team to win in 2007-08, but my how things have changed. Golden St. became one of a just a handful of teams that got back over the .500mark after starting out the season 0-6 in the history of the NBA.

The Warriors are known for getting hot in the second half of the season. Each of the last few years GSW made a run at a playoff spot. Last year Theus broke their NBA long 13-yaer streak.

The Warriors have picked it up a little earlier this year and it has them out of the cellar and at 7-6 after sweeping Sacramento and Houston and back to back nights. GSW beat the Kings in Sac 103-96 and Houston at home 113-94 the next night.

Stephen Jackson heated up from behind the arc at the right time. Jackson was one of five from three before nailing two key three's late in GSW's win against the Kings.

Jackson finished with 21 and Monta Ellis scored 22. The Warriors had five players score in double figures against Sac. Center Andris Biedrins was six of seven from the field, finishing with 13pts and 13-rebounds.

It's Wednesday, We must be in Phoenix

The grind of a NBA season has many twists and turns throughout the year. The Sacramento Kings had the chance to make up ground on Western Conference leading Phoenix with an unusual home and home with the Suns.

Tuesday night in Sacramento the Kings got 33pts and 12-rebounds from Ron Artest, but fell 100-98 to the Suns. Artest had a chance to tie the game at the end, but he missed a short jumper with seconds left.

The Suns got the rebound and broke for the basket at the other end. Lady luck seemed to be with the Kings. The Suns Leandro Barbosa dropped the ball out of bounds as he went up for a lay up giving Sac on more chance with 3-seconds left.

The Suns Amare Stoudemire had a monster game scoring the last six points for Phoenix on his way to a 33pt, 13-rebound performance. He biggest play was on defense. Stoudemire stepped out away from the basket for a block on John Salmons last second three point attempt that sealed the deal for the Suns.

The next night the two teams hooked up in the Valley of the Sun were Phoenix ran away from the Kings with a 47pt first quarter outburst on their way to an 80-point half and a easy 127-111 win.

The Suns got a chance to rest their starters in the fourth quarter of their second straight win over Sacramento. Shawn Marion and Steve Nash led the Suns first quarter onslaught.

The two combined for 25 first quarter points. The Suns hit 18 of their first 21 shots as the Kings played without their best defender, Ron Artest, who was away from the team tending to his ailing daughter.

Sac got a career high 31pts from Francisco Garcia who got the start in place of Artest. Sac also played without their second string point guard Beno Udrih who had been starting in the place of starting point guard Mike Bibby.

Beantown's D has them in first in the East

The Boston Celtic's entered the 2007-08 season with star studded roster and the big three, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce had not disappointed.

Pierce leads the team in scoring, dropping in 22.3 a night while KG and Ray Allen are right behind Pierce at 20.7 and 20.3 each. Both Pierce and Garnett are shooting better then 50% from the field. KG is at 56.4% and Pierce is hitting 50.3% of his shots.

Everybody expected that. Nobody has been able to guard KG by himself and adding Allen and Pierce to the mix was going to be impossible to stop.

The real problem the rest of the league is having is that Boston is stopping them. The Celtic's have the best scoring defense in the NBA giving up just 88.7 a game.

Boston is the only team under 90pts in the league. Yes you do win championships with defense and every true superstar knows that. With all the flash and dash of their 9-1 start every body plays harder on defense then they do on offense.

Boston is holding the rest of the league to a NBA best 40.1% shooting from the field. That is nothing more then good old fashioned in your face defense and hustle.

Now their is zero stress to produce on the offensive end of the court and each of the big three can just relax and let the game come to them. That frees them up to exert more of their energy on defense and it shows.

They have only given up more then 100pts twice in their first ten games. Boston beat New Jersey 112-101 and Orlando handed the Celtic's their only loss, a 104-102 defeat in Orlando.

Boston got a quick rematch with the Nets four days later and thumped them 91-69.

What does a week mean?

They are just one week into the 2007-08 season and looking at the standings their are a few surprises. Not so much at the top where San Antonio in the West and Boston in the East are holding it down.

It's the middle of the pack and the bottom of the barrel that are raising more then a few eyebrows are the association. New Orleans has started off the season strong, going 6-2 tied for second in the Southwest.

The Southwest has the look of the best division in the league this year. The Spurs, Houston, New Orleans and Dallas have a combined record of 24-7 so far.

Only Memphis (2-5) is dragging down the Southwest, but the Grizzles showed some signs of life with a 105-96 win over the Rockets in which Tracy McGrady went for 41pts.

The Hornets are being lead by point guard Chris Paul who gets better and better each year he plays in the league. Paul dropped in 27, including the game winner with 2-seconds left in the Hornets 84-82 win against New Jersey.

Paul is getting help from David West (18.3pts per game) and on the boards with power forward Tyson Chandler (10pts, 11.6-rebounds per game). Peja Stojakovic could be the X factor.

The sharp shooter can stretch the defense when he is on. He has been up and down this year, but he did have a 36pts outburst in which he was 10 of 13 from behind the three point line in a 118-104 Hornets win over the Lakers last week.

Kings win two out of three during home stand

Things got better for Sacramento during their four game home stand. The Kings won two games, breaking out of an early season slump.

Sac got 29pts from Kevin Martin and a 12pts, 16-rebound night from big man Brad Miller in their 100-93 over the struggling Timberwolves.

Martin lit it up in the second half, scoring 24 of his points after the break.

This one was back and forth all game. The game was tied 21-times.

The final score was the biggest margin either team had all game. Sacramento is now one game back of the Lakers and two   games clear of the 0-5 Warrior's.

The Kings saw their first round pick Spencer Hawes make his NBA debut in the game. The seven footer only played six minutes scoring two points. He had three fouls defending the basket.

"They went after him, but you kind of expect that when you have a rookie on the court, playing for the first time." head coach Reggie Theus said after the game.

Hawes will need time to work himself back into shape. It will be hard at first. Learning the league while getting into playing shape is hard. You could see the rust, but you could also see how big he was around the basket.

The Kings are hoping he can use that size to dominate in the middle.

The Kings got a total team effort in the win. Brad Miller stepped up against Minnesota grabbing big rebounds down the stretch. Point guard Beno Udrih got big minutes in the fourth quarter coming through for the Kings at the end.

Minnesota got 17-points and 12-rebounds from forward Al Jefferson who led the Timberwolves in scoring. Rashard McCants came off the bench to score 16.

Minnesota made more field goals (36-82) then Sacramento (30-74), but the Kings made more free throws (34-40) then Minnesota took (18-24). Martin was 12 of 17 from the line.

Sacramento was attacking the basket all night and it paid off with the amount of free throws they shot. Coach Theus has them playing aggressive basketball

The Timberwolves are still trying to find themselves in the wake of the Kevin Garnett trade in the off season. KG has been the foundation of the franchise the past ten years.

Minnesota is starting over with a young group being lead by Jefferson and McCants. It will be a long season for Minnesota and their fans who are just a few years removed from watching them play deep into the playoffs.

The Kings will return home to face New York Nov. 16th, Detroit  Nov. 18th. and Phone ix Nov.20th. Sacramento will be tested this week at 5-2 Utah before playing at Minnesota.

Sac hard up down in the Big Easy

It was opening night and boy, was there a party. Unfortunately the party was on the Sacramento Kings who opened up the 2007-08 NBA season with a loss to the New Orleans Hornets 104 to 90.

Photo by Keith Collier

The Hornets were welcomed back to town after playing most of their games in Oklahoma City in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster that hit New Orleans.

The Kings had to make due without their two best players, forward Ron Artest and point guard Mike Bibby. Bibby tore ligament in his left thumb and could be out up to eight weeks while Artest is serving a seven game suspension after pleading no contest to a charge related to domestic violence.

Kevin Martin continued to shine, scoring 26pts (7 for 17). John Salmons, starting in the place of Artest, poured in 22 and Francisco Garcia had 17.

Sac kept it close in the first quarter before getting out scored 28-18 in the second. The third was much of the same with New Orleans winning the quarter 30-19. Point guard Chris Paul was the man for the Hornets.

Paul scored 22pts and dished out 12-assists. New Orleans as a team hit just over 50% of their shots from behind the arc 10-21 and they shot 39-77 (.506) for the game. It is hard to beat somebody when you give up that kind of shooting percentage.

That is where the Kings miss somebody like a Ron Artest who can play D against anybody from a guard to some power forwards. Peja Stojakovic said hello to his former team by dropping in 19pts (7 0f 12) shooting.

The Kings fell to 0-3 after losing to San Antonio (96-80) and Dallas (123-102) on the road. The Kings finally get home Nov. 6th when they host Seattle

Sacramento is being led by shooting guard Kevin Martin. He has shown why the Kings made him the 26th pick of the 2004 draft out of Western Carolina. Martin averages 25.3pts a game which is good for 11th highest in the league right now.

The Kings have three home games in a row. After hosting rookie sensation Kevin Durant and the Supersonic's, the Kings will entertain Cleveland Nov. 9th and Minnesota Nov. 10th.

New head coach Reggie Theus is looking for his first win in the NBA. The former Kings player knows that the NBA is a long haul and he is bidding his time until he can field a full squad.

Point guard Mike Bibby will be out at least six more weeks and forward Ron Artest will miss the next four games. The Kings need Ron's defensive presence on the court.

Martin has been getting help from John Salmons who scored 27 against Dallas. Salmons was 10 of 18 from the field and seven for seven from the free throw line in the Dallas loss.

NBA gets set to kick off 2007 season

This should be a very interesting NBA season. For the first time in years there seems to be no clear cut favorite in both leagues to make the finals. San Antonio seems to be one of the few teams that have a shot at a title in 2007-08..

Photo by James Taylor

The Spurs are bona fide title contenders but after them who is out there. San Antonio dismantled Cleveland in the 2007 NBA Finals with their defense.

Yes, D does win championships. Just ask the Cav's who were held in check the whole series.

That is nothing new for the Spurs who have been doing this to teams ever since Tim Duncan hit the scene.

Houston made some moves once they got their big man Yao Ming back from an injury. He and teammate Tracy McGrady seemed to get on the same page the second half of the 2006-07 season and a year older and wiser should make the Rockets even better in 2007-08.

The rest of the teams in the west are question marks. Phoenix and Dallas had two of the best records in the league last year and neither made much noise in the playoffs.

Of course both will be good and they do have a chance to make the finals, but will either of them step up.

The Spurs do not win a championship every year. Dallas and the Suns have no excuses. The Mav's getting ousted by the Warriors in the first round of last year's playoffs shows that records mean little when it comes to playoff time.

Both Dallas and Phoenix had better records than San Antonio last year. In fact they were the only two teams in either league to win more than 60-games. Dallas won 67, nine more then the Spurs who finished second to Dallas in their division.

The Suns won 61. They beat the second place Lakers and Warriors by 19-games out west. Even though the Mav's and Suns had a better record overall the San Antonio, the Spurs took care of business against the Western Conference.

Dallas was 40 and 12 inside the west, San Antonio was right behind them at 38-14. The Mav's losing to Golden St. shook Dallas to it's core. It was not the ending to their season they had planned. It was like going to the dance with the prettiest girl in town and having some guy take her away from you in front of everybody.

How will Dallas bounce back. Will anybody take them serious until they make the finals and win the whole thing, probably not. They still have a lot to prove. Same with the Suns. Every year Steve Nash runs and guns his team to very entertaining wins, but come playoffs time the well runs dry.

Now their are cracks in the armor. Swingman Shawn Marion wants out. He has seen the Suns fail in the playoffs one two many times. He does not think the teams style of play has what it takes to be champions.

You would never know it by the way he has gone about his business in training camp this year. Marion is a pro and he would not let anything get in th the way of trying to win games for the Suns.

Nobody can play forever at the levels NBA players play at and Marion knows his clock is ticking. Big man Amare Stoudemire had knee surgery last week to remove loose cartilage.

The team is hoping he bounces back, but two years ago when he missed most of the season with a knee injury the Suns were just fine until the playoffs came around.

The Utah Jazz seem to be turning the corner and becoming a threat in the west. Their best player, forward Carlos Boozer led the team in scoring at 20.9pts and game to go along with 11.7-rebounds.

He was a force in last year's playoffs along with young point guard Deron Williams. Williams showed that he is a true superstar in the league right now.

He is the perfect complement to Boozer and swingman Andre Kirilenko. How far they can go in 2007-08 depends on their health. They might nit have enough to get by the Spurs just yet, but they showed with their run through last year's playoffs how much talent they have.

Boston showed their fans they are serious about bringing a world championship back to Boston with their signing Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Paul Pierce has the best team around him that he will ever have.

The same goes for KG and Ray Allen. All three are superstars and they have been ever since they stepped foot on a NBA court. Now they have a chance to win a NBA Championship.

Ray Allen can still lit it up from the outside. With KG roaming around in the middle, Paul Pierce will have even more room to operate. They have all been used to carrying a team the whole season.

Now they can take turns. I do not think KG knows how good it is going to feel when he gets winded and Pierce or Allen go off for three or four minutes and the team does not really need for KG to exert himself.

That never happened at Minnesota. If KG was not on his game then the Wolves had a hard time of winning. Same with the other two players. It should make for a fresh bunch of all stars at the end of the season and in the playoffs.

Cleveland will be heard from. LeBron James had his coming out party last year when he led the Cav's to their first appearance in team history. King James will have to be on his game to make it back to the finals

The Cav's finished three games back of Detroit for the best record in the East last year while making it to the finals. The Cav's stayed pretty much pat and resigned most of their players from last year.

Forward Anderson Varejao is still holding out but guard Sasha Pavlovic resigned with the team last week.

King James does not want any distractions and he knows that everybody on the team, including himself, needs to work on their game if they are going to make it back to the finals.

They got past Detroit after a couple of years of trying last year and now they have Boston to worry about. What about the Miami Heat. Who knows how many games Shaq will play.

He seems to play about as much as Roger Clemens travels with the Yankee's. Not much. The big man tries to save it for the post season, but guard Dwanye Wade will need the help during the season.

The main man Dwanye Wade is hurt and it looks like the Heat have made a big fall from the championship season of a few years ago.

The team is a year older and they added Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway to replace Gary Payton coming off the bench. Who knows what Penny will be able to give Heat.

I can't see him giving the squad much more then mop up duty at the end of quarters and half's. Getting older does not seem to help people who get hurt a lot , which is what happens to Hardaway when he plays, but for some reason Miami thinks he can help.

The Toronto Raptors made the second biggest stride in the east last year behind Cleveland. They were the surprise winners of the Atlantic last year finishing 47-35.

Their resident superstar, forward Chris Bosh is having knee problems and the season has not even started yet. That is not a good sign and the team is hoping that he can be ready at some point during the season.

The Raptors would be wise to rest Bosh during the pre season. He does not need to get warmed up. He just need to stay in shape and healthy. Use the time to check out Bosh's back ups.

Chicago was third in the Central behind Detroit and Cleveland in 2006.The Bulls return a young veteran squad led by Loul Deng who came into his own last year as the Bulls go to man.

The Bulls play in one of the best division's in basketball and that could toughen them up for a run in the playoffs. Tyson Chandler turned into a rebounding machine last year and point guard Kirk Hinrich proved that he is a solid point guard.

Chicago got bigger with the drafting of a very active Joakim Noah out of Florida and he should provide depth down on the blocks. Things are looking up in Chi-Town.

Monarchs breath life back into division hopes

Photo by Keith Collier

Kristin Haynie led the way with a season high 14-points in Sacramento's 81-74 victory over San Antonio at home.

The win pulled Sacramento to a game back of San Antonio and two games back of west leading Phoenix.

The Monarchs had to pick themselves off the mat to win this one.

Down by as much as 11-points in the third quarter, Sacramento used a 11-0 run to end the third and start the fourth quarter before pulling away late for the win.

Nicole Powell and Kara Larson both added 13-points to the Monarchs cause. Hayine hit from behind the arc with just under five minutes left in the game to give Sacramento a 72-69 lead.

The Monarchs would never trail in the game again.

Sacramento has clinched a playoff spot out west and now they will see what seed they can earn over the last two games, which are against, of all teams, Phoenix.

A two game sweep is all that stands in the way of a Western Division championship for Sac-Town.

Phoenix heads out to Sac August 17th and the Monarchs need to win to make Sunday's final mean something in the standings. A Phoenix win Friday night and the west is theirs in 2007.

Sac fails to keep pace in playoff chase

The Sacramento Monarchs could not make it two in a row and back up their 82-76 win over Seattle last Friday, falling 63-55 to Indiana on the road Sunday night. The Monarch's missed a chance to clinch a playoff spot and they have gone just 5-5 over their last ten games after starting the season 11-6.

Photo by Keith Collier

Sacramento got buried a first half hole that saw them down 40-23 at the half.

The was no second half comeback like they had in Friday night home win on Seattle.

The Fever came into the game on a down slide having lost six of their last seven games.

Sac could not take advantage and they got a chance to watch what it is like to get into the playoffs as Indiana clinched a spot with their win.

They can thank a 16-4 start to the 2007 season for that. They did lose star forward Tamika Catching's to an injury that started the Fever's slide. She will be hard to replace, but at least they are in.

The Monarchs still have their eyes on a possible division title. They sit just one game behind Western Conference leading San Antonio and Phoenix. The Monarchs have a tough three game road trip staring them in the face.

Tuesday they head across the country to play Connecticut, one of the hottest teams in the WNBA right now. They are riding a four game win streak and they sit 16-12 in third place in the East.

Things really heat up when they play a back to back at San Antonio and Houston Thursday and Friday nights. A win at San Antonio would serve the Monarchs well.

One more win and Sacramento is in the playoffs. Out of the seven teams in the Western Conference, Sac is one of only three teams over .500.  Sacramento will return home for games against Washington August 12th and San Antonio August 15th.

WNBA heats up as playoff approach

The Sacramento Monarchs picked a bad time to start slumping.

A three game losing streak cost them their lead in the Western Conference to San Antonio which they now trail by two games with 12 games left in the regular season.

Sacramento, now 13-9, got 19 points from guard Ticha Penicheiro, 12 from Nicole Powell and 11 from Yolanda Griffith.

LA fell to 8-14 and they have not been able to fill the void left by center Lisa Leslie, who out for the year to have a baby.

Photo by Keith Collier

Not known for her scoring, Penicheiro ranks 9th on the team in scoring (5.8pts per game), but she was off the chains in the pivotal fourth quarter when the Monarchs pulled away.

Ticha dropped in 11 of her 19 in the fourth helping Sacramento hold off the Sparks. Sac holds the number 2 seed in the West right now, but they have their eyes set on catching San Antonio at the top of the division.

Sac has two more games left with San Antonio and eight out of their final 12-games are against the Western Conference. The ball is in their court and if they are to catch San Antonio in the west they will have to do it against the Western Conference.

Draft goes as planned, Oden, Durant taken one two

The Portland Trailblazers did what the basketball world assumed they would do, draft center Greg Oden with the #1 pick. The Trailblazers did not stop their. They revamped a team in need of a overhaul. Gone is forward Zach Randolph. He was as close to a 20pt ten rebound man Portland has had in the past five years.

He was shipped off to the New York Knicks along with guards Dan Dickau and Fred Jones. In return, Portland got point guard Steve Francis and forward Channing Frye. Portland paid the Suns for the rights to guard Rudy Fernandez, who was Phoenix's first round pick (24th).

The Trailblazers now have a young team which they plan on building around Oden. Point guard Steve Francis needs to play like his early days in Houston for this team to win. Portland added a third first round pick, Finnish guard Petteri Koponen (30th).  They went big school in the second round, drafting Josh McRoberts (37th, Duke) and guard Taurean Green (52nd, Florida).

Seattle was also busy during the draft. They sent All Star guard Ray Allen and the rights to Glen Davis to Boston for guards Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and forward Jeff Green the fifth pick in the 2007 draft.

West was starting to come into his own before Boston went out and got ..........  He should play well with Durant. Seattle also lost the services of Rashad Lewis who bolted for the riches of free agency.

Once again the Atlanta Hawks passed up on the best point guard, which is what they have needed for years, to take another forward. This time Al Horford (3rd) out of Florida was Atlanta's bonus baby.

He will join a line up already loaded with talent at his position.

After making the NBA Finals, Cleveland had zero picks in the 2007 draft. The Detroit Pistons on the other hand, had three picks, including two in the first round.

The Pistons went small selecting Rodney Stuckey (#15, Eastern Washington) Aaron Afflalo (#27, UCLA) and Sammy Meija (#57, DePaul).

The World Champion Spurs did pretty good in the 2007 draft. They might have gotten the steal of the draft when they took Marcus Williams who Arizona's heart by staying in the draft, with pick #33 in the second round.

Look for that kid to stick. He came out after his sophomore year. San Antonio took forward Tiago Splitter (Spain) with the 28t pick of the first round and Giorgos Printezis, a center from Greece.

Their draft is not about world champions, it is about the have not's. Take the Charlotte Bobcats. His airness, Michael Jordan os running the show and he wants to win.

He made a draft day deal with Golden St. for guard Jason Richardson. Jordan went for some experience over youth, sending the rights to forward Brandon Wright to the Warriors for J-Rich.

Michael is getting one of the best rebounding guards in the NBA with J-Rich. He is one of the hardest working players in the league and coming off a year that saw him slump, but make the playoffs for the first time in his career, you know J-Rich wants to get back to the post season.

He will show that is is still a 20pt a night scorer in the league and when healthy, J-Rich is a tough match up for a lot of teams. It is very hard to match his athletic ability when he attacks the rim.

Charlotte drafted Jared Dudley out of Boston College with the 22nd pick and they got forward Jermareo Davidson, Golden St's second round pick (36th) in the Richardson deal.

The Milwaukee Bucks took a chance on Chinese forward Yi Jianlian with the sixth pick of the first round. Yi is big and he can move. He will remind people of  Dirk Nowitzki without a the three point shot.

Yi has said he does not want to play for the Bucks so it will be interesting to see how long it takes Milwaukee to sign him.

San Antonio takes it to the house

Another NBA Championship trophy that is. Their finals series victory sweep over the young Cav's was the franchises fourth, equaling the total of one future Hall of Fame power forward, Tim Duncan.

Tim was drafted in 1998 and 1999 saw the team get down for the first time when they best the New York Knicks on point guard Avery Johnson's little jumper in the deciding game.

The only trouble the Spurs seemed to have with the Cav's was, well none. OK Cleveland came back from behind in games one and two, but they never pulled them out.

In games three and four Cleveland kept it close, but in the end nothing they did could keep the lead in the fourth quarter. What happened to the big fourth quarters for Cleveland.

The Spurs shut down Cleveland showing that no matter who scores twenty points it is all about the defense. Take game four. The score at half time looked like the score of a high school game.

The more the Spurs played Cleveland the better they got at defending the Cav's offense. That's what makes the Spurs so great. They are continuously getting better at what they do.

After lighting them up the first three games, Tony Parker chilled in game four. He did not get into a scoring groove until the fourth when he hit a couple of big shots to help ice the game away.

This is one wacky series

The San Antonio Spurs sit just two more wins away from their fourth NBA title in nine years and a place among the leagues all time great teams. The Spurs built a 27pt, second half lead only to again watch Cleveland make a run at them in the fourth quarter.

The lead went from 27 in the 4th to just 95-87 with 4:55 left after Lebron James hit a three point shot. That was as close as the Cav’s would get. King James finished the game with 25pts, but early foul trouble sent him to the bench in the 1st quarter and for some strange reason, James sat there for a long time.

James played less then three minutes of the first quarter.

That is way too long for James to sit. The Spurs quickly took advantage of James being in the bench in the first quarter to jump out to a big lead.

What goes on in the fourth quarter in dumfounding. If Cleveland would treat the whole game like the fourth quarter, this would be a totally different series and the Spurs would be the team playing for their lives and not Cleveland.

Of course that would be too easy.

The Cav’s outscored San Antonio 30-14 in the fourth quarter of game two. A 22 to 4 run at the start of the fourth quarter got Cleveland back into the game. San Antonio outscored them 10-8 the rest of the game, but the ease at which Cleveland got back into the game was amazing.

How can you have letdowns two games in a row in the fourth quarter? Is it San Antonio relaxing or do the Cav’s just play with a desperate sense of urgency when the fourth quarter rolls around.

If possible, Cleveland should just act like the fourth quarter is the first or at least the second period so this can be a real series. Right now it is boring because the Spurs jump out too such big leads which suggests to people that they are a much better team.

When Cleveland makes their comeback, it makes people wonder what in the world is going on and why did Cleveland not play like that from the start of the game. Besides, with the Spurs up 27, how many people turned off the game thinking it was over.

Foul trouble put LeBron on the bench in game two, but he committed only one more foul the rest of the game. Head coach Mike James has to do a better job of putting players on the court that give his team a chance to win. This is not some stretch of the season, it's the NBA Finals.

Tony parker was the straw that stirred the drink in game two. He was the games high scorer with 30pts. On 13 of 20 shooting from the field. He scored ten points in the third quarter when the Spurs put their stamp on the game and pulled away for the big lead.

With all the talk about Tim Duncan and LeBron James, Parker has been the MVP so far in the series the way he has attacked their defense when he had the ball. There is nobody on the Cav’s who has been able to stay with Parker.

That has made it extremely difficult to apply much of a double team on Tim Duncan. When you can not double Tim, that makes it nearly impossible to stop him. It was Duncan's rebound and put back basket that stopped Cleveland’s run in the fourth quarter of game two.

The series shifts to Cleveland for the next three games. The Spurs would like to put away the young Cav’s, but they know that all they really need to do is win one of the next three games to set themselves up to win at home in game six or seven.

Cleveland’s fourth quarter’s have shown the Spurs that it is best pound on them as much as possible, because with a team that has somebody as good as LeBron James on it, they are never out of it.

San Antonio gets off to a good start, beat Cav's at home

San Antonio got 24pts and 13-rebounds from forward Tim Duncan in their 85-76 win over Cleveland in game one of the 2007 NBA Finals. It was Duncan and point guard Tony Parker early and often. The Spurs held the lead throughout the game.

Cleveland kept it close, but LeBron James was off the mark the whole night. He only scored 14pts, a lot for you or me, but King James needs to score at least 20 for the Cav's to have a chance of winning.

Tony Parker also had 24pts to go along with seven assists in the Spurs victory. San Antonio is bucking to win their fourth championship in nine years. That would certainly cement Tim Duncan as the best powerforward in the history of the NBA.

A funny thing happened at the end of the game, with the Spurs up big. Cleveland cut a double digit lead down to eight points with just over a minute left to play. Daniel Gibson missed a three that would have cut the Spurs lead to five.

The Spurs came down the court and ran a play for Duncan who calmly made a lay up and San Antonio was on their way to a win in game one. It was funny how easy it was for Cleveland to make a run at the end of the game.

King James throws his hat into the ring of great players.

He has arrived. It took him four years, but the transformation of Cleveland from an afterthought to Eastern Conference champs is complete. This could be the start of a long run in the NBA Finals from King James and Cleveland. Detroit was the best team in the East this year and Cleveland out them away, winning four straight after dropping the first two in Detroit.

James shook off a couple of bad performances like a bad habit and Detroit had know answer for him. With the future of the Pistons in doubt, how long can they keep the current team together, and the sudden aging of the Miami Heat, there appears to be nobody capable of containing an improving LeBron James.

The Spurs hope that defensive demon Bruce Bowen can slow down King James. It will be a tough match up for Bowen. Bruce did a great job of rough housing Suns point guard Steve Nash in the Spurs series win over Phoenix in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

He might get a taste of his own medicine against LeBron. James is much bigger and stronger then Nash was and James in capable of going blow for blow with Bowen who has to be careful not to get caught up too much with LeBron and take himself out of his game.

The Spurs should have an advantage in the middle with Tim Duncan. The Cav's have not face anybody in the playoffs that can dominate the middle like Duncan can. The bigger the stage the better Duncan seems to play.

A fourth title in nine years would put San Antonio up their with the best NBA teams in the history of the sport. LeBron James is trying to take another big step towards becoming an all time great.

Just 22, he has a chance to play for many NBA titles in his career. Looking at how he willed his team to the 2007 NBA Finals, the rest of the East and the NBA better watch out.

LeBron has led his team to the finals with a lot less talent then a certain Mr. Jordan, who needed Scottie Pippen to help him reach the promise land. No, Lebron is not as good as Jordan, the scoring averages and Jordan defensive prowness set him apart from everybody, but King James is just as dynamic.

If greatness is measured in NBA rings, then James is showing signs of being a true superstar and not just a great player that never really wins the big one. There is a long list of those type of players.

Sure fire Hall of Famer's, but Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki have all been unable to lead their teams to a championship. Nash is the only one to have not played in a NBA Finals and might be wondering what it takes to reach the finals.

King James wonders no more. After watching draft mates Carmelo Anthony make the playoffs and Dwanye Wade win a NBA Championship James was getting left out in the cold in the voting for the MVP.

Look for that to change next year. A deep run in the playoffs can help a player the next year if his team does well. With King James and his supporting cast getting better game by game a 60 win season could be in the works for Cleveland next year.

Spurs sit and wait for NBA Finals

San Antonio are happy to be playing for their fourth NBA title in nine years, but they must not have been thrilled to watch LeBron James completely take over game five of their Eastern Conference Finals series with Detroit.

James scored 25 of Cleveland's last 26pts in regulation to force overtime. Four of those points came by way of the dunk. Not your average, break away dunk, but the take your man off the dribble and dunk over anybody else who came over and tried to help out.

Nobody really did. After beating so called defensive stopper Marshawn Prince, James seemed to take a page out of good friend Dwanye Wade's book and dunked very hard, right in the middle of Detroit's defense. Nobody else even thought about jumping to try and block his shot.

The stakes are a little higher this year. The Cav's have made it to the promised land that is the NBA Finals. This is what the fans and ownership of the Cav's had in mind when they sweated out the details until they got the right to draft King James right out of high school four years ago.

Year's one and two failed to bring a playoff berth to Cleveland. Year three saw the Cav's blow that three games to two lead and now, in year four Cleveland made the NBA Finals, just four short years from a 33 win season.

What LeBron did in game five against the Piston's, 48pts, 9-rebounds and seven assists, showed why the current method of crowning the league's MVP needs to be revamped. The regular season is very important, but it is played to get to the ultimate prize. A berth in the playoffs and a shot at a NBA title.

What you do in the playoffs should add to your resume for the MVP  voting.Dirk Nowitzki (the leagues current MVP) and point guard Steve Nash (winner of two MVP's) hold the last three MVP trophy's and neither one of them did what they do with the little help that King James gets from his supporting cast.

Nash has an all NBA defensive performer in Shawn Marion. Shawn can also score with the best of them. Amare Stoudemire is a stud in the middle. Leandro Barbosa and Raja Bell are solid players.

As a team, the Suns seem to have a lot more talent, on paper, the Cleveland. Being paper champs does not get you very far in the NBA and the Suns have yet to crack the NBA Finals despite all the wins they have had in the regular season.

There was King James. He completely took over game five and in game six, showing true superstardom, he made sure his teammates got involved in game six. The Pistons could not focus in on LeBron like they wanted because the rest of the team was scoring.

Playoff get underway in 2007

Miami's defense of their NBA title did not get off to a good start with a 96-91 loss at Chicago in the teams opening round series in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Luol Deng was every where with 33pts and eight rebounds.

Deng earned his points the hard way. He did not attempt a three the whole game making 14 of his 22 shots from the field. The Heat were led by the Dwanye Wade who scored 21pts in 33-minutes of action.

Wade does not shoot with his left at all, but he seems to be able to do just about everything else despite the fact that he needs surgery on his injured left shoulder. This is going to be a tough match up for the Heat who face a team that missed out on the second seed on the last day of the season.

Denver entered the post season one quite a roll having won 10 out of their last 11 games of the season. The Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony duo has started to pay off. They combined for 61pts in a game one win over the San Antonio Spurs.

It could be a short post season for the Spurs if they do not find a way to slow down the Melo man and the answer the rest of the series. San Antonio ended the season on a four game losing streak and they need to turn things around in a hurry if they have any plans on winning another title in 2007.

Granted the Spurs three top players, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili for the last week of the season, but a home loss was never part of the plan. The last time this happened to the Spurs they lost to these same Nuggets before sweeping the next four games on their way to the title in 2005.

Last year the Phoenix Suns faced a 3-1 hole against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. The two teams got a rematch in the 2007 playoffs and it looked like Kobe would lead the Lakers to a opening game win.

Kobe lit it up for 28 first half points, but he finished the game shooting wild three's trying to keep his team in the game. Bryant finished the game with 39pts, but it was not enough to stop Steve Nash and Co in game one.

Last year LA reeled off three wins in a row before the Suns re grouped to win the series in seven games. That was without Amare Stoudemire doing his thing in the middle. Amare made his presence felt with a 23pt, 12 rebound game. The Lakers have no answer for him. Leandro Barbosa was off the charts in the second half for the Suns.

He finished with a team high 26pts on 10 of 22 shooting showing us why he was voted NBA Sixth man for 2006-07. The Lakers got 17pts and 16-rebounds from Lamar Odom, but he and Kobe were seldom on the same page in the game.

It was either Kobe one on three or pass the ball to Odom and watch him do his thing. That will not win the series for the Lakers who need a total team effort if they are going to have a chance against the Suns.

NBA switches back to the old ball

The NBA thought they were doing it's players a favor. Somebody got the bright idea that a new, synthetic ball would improve the play of the game. New Years day brought a old ball.

After many complaints by the games biggest names the commissioner's office agreed to revert back to the good old leather basketball the game has been using for years.

Players such as Phoenix Sun point guard Steve Nash have complained about the new ball from day one. Players complained that is was hard to handle and very slick

The new ball had the new ball feel to it all the time. Their have been a lot more turnovers this season. Some are partly due to the ref's clamping down on palming and calling a lot of traveling this season.

Some of it has to do with the now new, old ball they opened the season with. Players could not get a good grip on the ball. It was slipping out of their hands all the time, plus it was a hard ball to shoot.

Making jumpers in the NBA is hard enough as it is. The worse thing about the ball was that is was actually cutting the hands of players while they were playing with them.

Those old indoor outdoor basketballs we all played with as kids did not to that. Cut your hands and draw blood. That's crazy. It was a black eye in the face of the commish's office and they admitted their mistake, switching back to the leather ball.

Standings

Schedules

NBA's leading scorers

NBA's leading rebounder

NBA's leading assists

NBA

Kobe Bryant and his Lakers almost gave away game four of the Western Conference playoff series against San Antonio. Up seven with under a minute left, Los Angeles had to sweat out a non call and a missed Brent Barry 3-pointer to win 93-91 and go up three games to one in the series.

WNBA

The Sacramento Monarchs have started out the 2008 season 2-4 after falling 87-64 at Connecticut Saturday night. They have won their only to home of games of the season. Sac opens with seven of their first 11 games on the road. 5/30/08 Houston @ Sacramento 7pm 6/6/08 Detroit @ Sacramento 7pm

Inside SportsNFLNBANCAAHigh School SportsFutbolBaseballUp Coming Events

1st String Magazine All Rights Reserved 2000-06