The Boston Celtics capped the greatest single-season turnaround in National Basketball Association history by winning their record 17th championship with a 131-92 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers. Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, who won the best-of-seven NBA Finals four games to two for their first title in 22 years. The Celtics have now won 9 of 11 NBA Finals matchups against the Lakers, whose 14 championships are the second-most in league history. The two franchises have combined for half of the NBA’s 62 titles. Rajon Rondo added 21 points, 8 assists and 6 steals for Boston, which last won an NBA championship in 1986 with a team led by Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. This year’s club was led by the All-Star trio of Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Allen scored 26 points and Pierce 17.

After losing Game 5 in Los Angeles to send the series back to Boston, the Celtics outscored the Lakers 34-15 during the second quarter at TD Banknorth Garden to open a 23-point halftime lead. Garnett’s eight baskets at halftime were as many as the Lakers scored as a team during the first half. Boston extended its lead to as many as 42 points in the second half to finish 13-1 at home during the postseason. NBA Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 22 points on 7 of 22 shooting.

The Celtics’ championship capped a campaign in which they won a league-best 66 games during the regular season. It was a record-setting turnaround for the franchise, which had the second-worst record in the NBA last season at 24-58 and finished in last place in the Eastern Conference. Boston was given 75-1 odds to win a championship after last year’s NBA Finals. The Celtics’ odds dropped after the offseason addition of All-Stars Garnett and Allen, who joined Pierce to spark the team’s 42-game improvement, the biggest one-year turnaround in NBA history. The Celtics finally won on the road in the next round to capture the Eastern Conference title against the Detroit Pistons in six games and set up another meeting with the Lakers in the NBA Finals. Boston won the first two games at home and after losing Game 3 in Los Angeles, took control of the Finals by rallying from a 24-point deficit to win Game 4 on the road. It was the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.

The Los Angeles Lakers avoided a second straight home collapse, beating the Celtics 103-98 to send the National Basketball Association Finals back to Boston. The Lakers, who surrendered a 24-point lead in Game 4 four days ago, twice blew double-digit leads last night at the Staples Center before pulling out the win to deny the Celtics a chance to celebrate their first championship in 22 years. Boston leads the best-of-seven playoff series 3-2 and hosts Game 6 tomorrow. A seventh game, if necessary, would also be played at TD Banknorth Garden, where the Celtics have a 12-1 record in the postseason.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 25 points, including 15 in the first quarter as Los Angeles opened a 39-22 lead last night. While Bryant hit only 3-of-16 shots the rest of the way, teammates Pau Gasol and Odom picked up the slack. Gasol had 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Odom added 20 points and 11 reboundsAs happened in Game 4, Boston recovered its early deficit. The Celtics cut the Lakers’ 19-point advantage to three at halftime and took a 58-57 lead 2:01 into the third quarter on a free throw by Pierce. The foul shot capped a 34-14 run for Boston.

The Lakers regained a 79-70 lead after three quarters and were up by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter. Boston again responded, with a 16-2 run to tie the score at 90-90, yet wasn’t able to go ahead. With the Lakers nursing a 97-95 lead in the final minute, Bryant stripped the ball from Pierce and scored on a two-handed dunk with 37.4 seconds left. The Lakers added four free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal the win. While Pierce had 8 assists, 6 rebounds and hit 16 of 19 free throw attempts for the Celtics, teammates Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen combined for 29 points and took only 9 foul shots. The Celtics now head back home, where they’ll look to claim a record 17th NBA championship. No NBA team has blown a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

Game six of the NBA finals between Lakers and Celtics will be telecast as a same day delay on ESPN at 14.00 IST on the 18th of June. Those of you who want to catch the game live, you can log on to NBA.com and catch the game live.

The Boston Celtics pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in National Basketball Association history, rallying from a 24-point hole Thursday to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 97-91 in the NBA Finals.

Paul Pierce scored 20 points and Ray Allen added 19 to spark an astonishing victory that put Boston ahead three games to one in the best-of-seven series, a lead no team in NBA Finals history has ever squandered to lose a title. “We sucked it up,” Pierce said. “I said, ‘Don’t look at the score. We just have to go out and compete and see where it is at the end of the day.’ I know what it is to dig deep and get the win.”

The Celtics would win their first championship since 1986, and stretch their record total to 17, with a victory in game five here Sunday after they trailed 45-21 in the second quarter and 70-50 midway into the third quarter. “It’s a great position to be in. We’re thrilled with the win and it’s a great comeback, but we still have to win one game,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “It’s a great comeback but you don’t get anything for it.” The Celtics took their first lead of the game at 84-83 on Eddie House’s jumper with 4:07 remaining. Allen sank a reverse layup and Kevin Garnett followed to cap an 8-0 run that gave Boston an 88-83 edge.

NBA Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant hit two baskets to pull the Lakers within 89-87 but James Posey, who came off the bench to score 18 points, sank a 3-pointer from the left side to stretch Boston’s lead to 92-87. The Lakers trimmed the gap to 94-91 on a Gasol dunk with 40 seconds to play but Allen answered with a driving layup past Sasha Vujacic to put the Celtics ahead 96-91 with 16 seconds remaining. Bryant, who made only 6-of-19 shots, missed a final attempt and the Lakers’ giveaway was complete, snapping their home playoff win streak at nine games.

In all probability game 5 should see the Celtics win their 17th title so make sure you don’t miss it. The Lakers Vs Celtics game 5 won’t be shown live in India but will be telecast as a same day delay at 14.00 IST on Monday the 16th of June on ESPN.

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett must bounce back from horrible shooting performances if the Boston Celtics are to keep the Los Angeles Lakers from leveling the National Basketball Association Finals.

The Lakers dropped the first two games in Boston but can pull even in the best-of-seven championship series with a victory in game four here Thursday after shutting down the Celtics’ top scorers in a 108-102 game three triumph. “We’re a pretty confident bunch,” Lakers star Kobe Bryant said. “It’s just about doing what we’ve got to do to win. You just go out there, do the things you’ve been taught and control the things you can.”

The Lakers have won 15 in a row at home and are 9-0 at home in this year’s playoffs, one victory shy of matching the one-season NBA home playoff win streak record, while the Celtics are only 2-8 on the road in the playoffs. “This is where they are comfortable. They have a lot of confidence playing in this building and we have to somehow, some way diffuse that,” Garnett said.

A Boston victory would put the Celtics on the verge of their first NBA crown since 1986 and record 17th overall while the Lakers could move halfway to a 15th NBA crown and their first since 2002.

Game four of the NBA finals between Lakers and Celtics will be telecast as a same day delay on ESPN at 14.00 IST. For those of you who want to catch the game live, you can log on to NBA.com and catch the game live.

It’s been a long time coming. In fact, it’s been more than 20 years since the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have met in the NBA Finals.

Boston’s Big Three of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce match up against LA’s finest in Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. It should be an entertaining best-of-seven series, which will become another exciting chapter in NBA Finals history. Both teams have been on a mission. The Celtics had the biggest turnaround in NBA history during the regular season, as they finished a league-best 66-16, a 42-win turnaround from a season ago. They struggled in rounds one and two, needing seven games to oust both Atlanta and Cleveland. Allen, Garnett and Pierce got some much needed help from center Kendrick Perkins, swingman James Posey and guard Rajon Rondo in Boston’s six-game series victory over the Detroit Pistons in the East finals. Each of the Big Three will be appearing in the NBA Finals for the first time. They are all All-Star players and have received much recognition throughout their storied careers, but a victory over the Lakers would be the most impressive entry on their resumes.

LA’s season took a turn when it acquired Gasol in a trade from the Memphis Grizzlies on February 1. Gasol was the low-post scorer the Lakers desperately needed, and he became the perfect compliment to 10-time All-Star Bryant, who captured his first NBA MVP for his outstanding regular season. The Lakers, who were the top seed in the Western Conference, finished the campaign with a 57-25 record and captured their first Pacific Division crown since the 2003-04 season. Bryant has continued his stellar work in the postseason. He led the Lakers to a sweep over Denver in round one, a six-game series victory over Utah in the West semis and a surprising 4-1 win against Tim Duncan and the defending world champion San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals.

There is history, star power, plenty of storylines and many intriguing statistics in this matchup. Will Bryant end his MVP season with the fourth championship of his career? Can Allen, Garnett and Pierce complete their journey to the promised land? Two of the elite franchises in sports have made it back to the big dance. This is great for the league and fantastic for the fans. It will all be settled on the hardwood.

Series begins on the 5th of June and airs on ESPN. For those like me not receiving ESPN on their cable network you can catch the match live, free on NBA.com.

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers dispatched the defending champions the San Antonio Spurs, and they’re now headed to the NBA finals for the first time in four years. Bryant scored 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers rallied from an early 17-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 100-92 on Thursday night and win the Western Conference finals in five games.

A basket by Lamar Odom gave the Lakers an 83-76 lead with 5:40 remaining, but a 3-pointer by Brent Barry and a basket by Tony Parker drew the Spurs within two points. Manu Ginobili missed a 3-pointer that could have given San Antonio the lead before Bryant’s jumper with 3:33 to play made it 85-81. A foul shot by Tim Duncan drew the Spurs within three, but two more baskets by Bryant made it 89-82 with 1:47 to play, and the Spurs weren’t closer than five points after that.
Los Angeles will face either the Pistons or Boston Celtics, who lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final 3-2, with Game 6 in Detroit tonight (Tomorrow morning in India). The Lakers and Celtics have not met in the final since 1987. Either way who ever the Lakers face in the NBA final, it promises to be an exciting one and DR. Whites cant wait for the series to get underway.

Richard Hamilton scored 31 points and the Detroit Pistons advanced to the National Basketball Association semifinals for the sixth year in a row by defeating the Orlando Magic 91-86 Tuesday.

The Pistons captured the best-of-seven Eastern Conference second-round series 4-1 and will play either the Boston Celtics or Cleveland Cavaliers, whose series is tied 2-2, for a berth in next month’s NBA Finals.

On the other hand there was the very recent fourth game between Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers to decide who faces the Pistons on the finals. The entire hometown crowd was behind Wally but ultimately, it was LeBron James who impacted the game and the series with his one thunderous dunk. The Cavaliers won 88-77 and advance to the finals of the series.

The NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 (Pistons Home advantage) will be aired Live on ESPN India on 20th May, 2008 at 6:30 a.m. IST. 

The Game 2 of the finals, where the Cavaliers will have home court advantage, will be held on 23rd May at the same early morning timing of 6:30 a.m. There will be repeats of both games on the next day at 9:30 a.m.

Game 3, 4 and 5 will be aired on the 26th, 28th and 30th, respectively at the same time of 6:30 a.m. The 5th game will be played only if necessary. 

Note: There seems to be some discrepancies between the ESPN India timings and the NBA schedules announced due to which the games might be pushed forward a day. We will update this post if there is any further news. 

Also, our resident Basketball expert Dr. Whites (Author profiles coming soon) is out of town so please excuse me if I made a mistake. 

The top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers and the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz continue their battle in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals. This is the fourth time the Lakers and Jazz have met in the playoffs. Los Angeles defeated the Jazz in seven games in the 1988 West semis. Utah knocked out the Lakers in five, 4-1, in the 1997 semifinals and swept LA in the 1998 conference finals. The Lakers had little trouble winning the first game of this series and will probably be looking to sweep the Jazz in Four. Kobe Bryant of the Lakers who has reportedly won this year’s NBA MVP award is looking in good touch and with the help of Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Luke Walton will be looking to put it past a relatively youthful Jazz team.

Utah, which won its second straight Northwest Division crown during the regular season, has made it to the West semis for the second straight year. The Jazz needed six games to eliminate Tracy McGrady and the fifth-seed Houston Rockets in the quarterfinals. Point guard Deron Williams led Utah in scoring (20.8 ppg) and assists (8.5 apg) in the opening round, while All-Star forward Carlos Boozer contributed 16.0 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. The Jazz will be looking to put in a strong performance in game two to avoid going down 2-0 in this best of seven game series.

Match airs live on 10th May on ESPN at 5.30 a.m IST

A must watch match if your a fan of the NBA. The New Orleans Hornets go head to head against the San Antonio Spurs in game three of the western conference finals. The 2nd second seed Hornets hold a 2-0 lead over defending champions the San Antonio Spurs. The series now shifts to San Antonio and the Spurs who are led by Tim Duncan will be looking to avoid going 3-0 down. The aging Spurs will be hoping for good contributions from their big three of Tim Duncan, Toni Parker and the sixth man of the year Manu Ginobili to pull back a game for the Spurs.

Meanwhile the New Orleans Hornets who are growing more convincing with each passing quarter will once again depend heavily on point guard Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic to show up with their “A” game as they try to inch closer to the conference finals.

You can catch this Match live on the 9th of May on Star Sports India at 5.30 a.m IST

The Atlanta Hawks just won’t let go of their first trip to the postseason in nine years. The playoff team with the worst record did it again to the team with the best mark, forcing an improbable Game 7 with the Boston Celtics, as Joe Johnson hit a crucial 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining with the twenty thousand plus crowd chanting for a game seven. Hawks held on for a 103-100 victory Friday night. The Hawks, just 37-45 during the regular season, have now beaten the Celtics three times in the space of a week to set up a deciding game in a series that was supposed to be a sweep. After all, Boston went an NBA-leading 66-16 and defeated Atlanta in all three meetings before the playoffs.But, against all odds, the Hawks are heading to Boston for Game 7 on Sunday.

The Celtics are still the favorite, having won all three games on their home court in the series by an average of 22 points. But the Hawks have lasted longer than anyone would have expected.

It came as a total surprise when The Atlanta Hawks took two games from the Boston Celtics at home. Now yet again they come to TD Banknorth Garden for Game 5 of their first-round series with the Celtics, where they were beaten by an average of 21 points in the first two games of the series.

The Hawks have nothing to lose, as they were 29 games behind the top-seeded Celtics during the regular season. But Atlanta was a completely different team at home, trash-talking with the Celtics and not backing own from physical play.

In face of their first true test of the season, the Celtics are all geared up for this match. Although, there have also been reports of disharmony amongst the “Big Three” of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. But the biggest worry for the Celtics is the availability of Garnett for this game, as he got into a confrontation with Atlanta’s Zaza Pachulia, and he could be suspended for shoving an official. Losing Garnett for such a crucial game would be a massive blow to their chances, especially when he has proven this year as the heart and soul of the Celtics, especially on defense.

Boston Celtics vs Atlanta Hawks on 03 May, 2008 at 5.30 AM IST on ESPN India

The Pistons hold a 3-2 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers in the best of a seven match series. The teams traded wins in the first four games. But after a dominating second half in Game 4 and a start-to-finish pasting in Game 5, the Pistons have the Sixers looking rattled for the first time. One more victory and the Pistons will move into the second round of the playoffs however that’s easier said than done. Especially against the Sixers who will be playing at home backed by fans that are desperate to keep their team’s playoff dreams alive. The second-seeded Pistons have more talent than the seventh-seeded Sixers, but during this best-of-seven series, Detroit has earned the reputation of a team that does not always play with urgency.

The seventy Sixers meanwhile are in a must win situation or this years playoff run will end early.

Catch this match live on Star Sports starting at 5.30 a.m IST, Friday 2nd May 2008.