With the results from last night, all the first round match-ups are now decided in the East.
(1) Boston - (8) Atlanta
(2) Detroit - (7) Philly
(3) Orlando - (6) My Raptors
(4) Cleveland - (5) Washington

Thank goodness the Raptors managed to slide up to 6th to avoid Detroit in the first round. The Pistons would have rolled over the Raps, whereas I think they've got a shot against Orlando and expect that series to be a long one. My heart says Raps but they have looked so bad at times down the stretch that my head says Orlando in 7. Boston should win in 4 or 5, Detroit in 5 or 6, Washington with Arenas improving should knock off the Cavs in 6.

The Western matchups are now set as well:

1. Lakers vs. 8. Nuggets
2. Hornets vs. 7. Mavericks
3. Spurs vs. 6. Jazz
4. Jazz vs. 5 Rockets

These are going to be some tough series to pick aside from Lakers-Nuggets. My heart tells me the Spurs will prevail against the SUns but my head tells me the Suns are due and the Spurs haven't been looking all that good. But the Spurs have looked not-so-good heading into the postseason a number of times. I'll take the Spurs in a real 7 game dogfight.

The Hornets have been a great story but it's so rare a that a team makes a great run it's first year in the playoffs. And Dallas has a ton of playoff experience, though mostly disappointing. I am really rooting for NO and I think they will prevail.

The Rockets have home court advantage (despite being the lower seed) due to having a better record. That could doom the Jazz as they had the best home record in the league and they are the only one of the top six seeds with a losing road record. I'll take the Rockets.

In the East, I don't see any of the top 3 seeds being tested though I suppose the raptors could take 2 games off the Magic. The Celtics and Pistons will lose one game between them in the first round. Like Travelpat I think the Wizards will finally knock off the Cavs after being eliminated by them the last two seasons.

Boston in 4. If they lose a game to the Hawks I think Garnett would commit suicide.

Detroit in 4 or 5. I don't understand how Philly has been winning even half of their games.

Orlando in 6. Sorry Pat. But I agree that it's the best matchup for your Raptors. Orlando has to be one of the most suspect 50 win teams ever. If Howard is ineffective (and he's really dropped off late in the season), they don't have much going for them.

Cleveland in 6 or 7. LeBron will refuse to lose. Arenas will jack up lots of shots. And it's unclear whether Caron Butler will be anywhere near 100%. On the other hand, Pavlovic is out for the Cavs, and god knows they're thin enough to begin with.


Yeah, the West is really a crap shoot. Even the Lakers are no sure thing. They have no one who can guard Iverson, and I don't really trust Odom to contain Anthony. One thing that's sure is it will be a high scoring circus.

I'm picking Dallas to "upset" New Orleans. Despite what they say, I expect the Hornets to wilt a bit under playoff pressure. Meanwhile, Nowitzki has been playing out of his mind recently.

The Rockets are the Orlando of the West -- a team that inexplicably achieved a great record. Just as people liked to say Golden State was the team no one wanted to face (and everyone got lucky there!), Houston is the team everyone wants to face. They're going down.

Spurs/Suns may be the most fantastic first round matchup in history. Honestly, despite my love for the Lakers, I think they are two best teams in the West. And although I was dismissive of the Shaq trade when it happened, it made sense when it comes to playing San Antonio. It's funny how Phoenix doesn't seem to miss Marion at all. Suns in 7, and a series for the ages.

My predictions for the first round of the playoffs:

Eastern Conference:

Boston over Atlanta

Boston is like Miami of 2 years ago. If they want a championship, they need to win now. In two years, they will be where Miami is now. Still, this will be an easy series against Atlanta. Don't be too sad for Atlanta though, they have some great young talent for the future....Al Horford and Josh Smith.

Detroit over Philadelphia

Detroit is way to strong for the 76ers. Maurice Cheeks has done a great job getting the most out the the talent he has. He deserves much praise for getting Philly in the playoffs.

Orlando over Toronto

Orlando should win this series, but they won't have as easy a time as Boston or Detroit. Toronto reminds me of my beloved Memphis Grizzlies of a couple of years ago. They are just good enough to make the playoffs, but not good enough to go anywhere once they get there. This off-season will be a crucial time is Raptors franchise history in my opinion. I think they have a great GM, and Bryan will make the right moves to make them better. My first suggestion for him would be to fire Coach Sam Mitchell.

Cleveland over Washington

This will be the Lebron Show. Agent Zero and team will not topple King James. The coup will fail in 5.

Western Conference:

Los Angeles over Denver

Denver plays no defense (except for Marcus Camby). Kobe Bryant is instant offense, and my boy Pau ain't too bad either. Lakers will end the Nuggets season. A second DUI may be in Anthony's future, cause when the Lakers get through with him, he is going to want to drink. Hey Melo, you got money, HIRE A DRIVER!

New Orleans over Dallas

New Orleans has surprised me all season. They will send the Mavericks packing, and Mark Cuban will fire Avery Johnson as coach...BOOK IT! Not only do the Hornets have the young guns in Paul, West, and Chandler, they have Bonzi Wells. Bonzi takes his game to a whole other level during the playoffs, plus he's playing for a contract. Yes, Bonzi is crazy as hell, and not a player you would want to have long-term. I think the word, CANCER, can truly be used to describe him. But short-term, he is deadly.

Utah over Houston

Houston, we have a trouble!- Two Years of the Jazz!! McGrady still won't have won a playoff series. Utah is better than most give them credit for. They are not to be over-looked. The West is wild and unforgiving, maybe next year, Rockets.

Phoenix over San Antonio

Yes, I said it! The world champs are going down in the first round. This has got to be the BEST first round matchup, possibly ever. I am so looking forward to watching this series. Shaq was brought in just for this matchup. Steve Kerr will be wearing Depends, before the series is over. His roll of the dice will pay off, momentarily, but look for him to crap-out in the second round.

I'm not ready to give up on Sam Mitchell yet. Almost always when a team's record improves as dramatically as the Raps did last season there always tends to be some slide back the following year, partly because other teams don't take them lightly any more.

I'm looking forward to the start of the series against Orlando tomorrow - and if the Raps can steal one of the first two in Orlando, it should be a WILD scene back at the ACC on Thursday night for Game 3 and I just got the good news that I'll be there!

Fortunately my friend Jim who has Raptor season tickets has invited me to that game. We won't be at Game 4 though as - speaking of wild scenes - the two of us will be at the Toronto FC soccer game that afternoon. I've been watching TFC's home opener and just like the 20,000+ sea of red that will greet the Magic Thursday night at the ACC - there is right now the usual 20,000+ sea of red PACKED into - and ROCKING BMO field, with the game just ending in a win for the good guys rewarding North America's best soccer fans with a 1-0 wind over Real Salt Lake.

Everybody has packed their Maple Leafs Blue and White away for this season and with the Blue Jays off to a rocky start it is all Red in this city with the Raptors and the TFC soccer team that are generating all the buzz for this week anyways here in Toronto. Tickets for either (unless you've got friends with season tickets) almost impossible to get your hands on.

And Smokey - most Canadians hope you are right with your prediction of the Suns knocking of the Spurs - as the Suns tend to be a favourite up here because of Captain Canada Nash.

Holy shit! That Spurs-Suns game was just amazing...one of the best NBA games I've seen in a long time. Tim Duncan hits a 3 pointer to send the game into double OT (he ends up with 40 points!!!) and the Spurs win by 2. Just a stunning game.

It sure was. Every time I thought Phoenix had iced it, the Spurs somehow came back. After a mediocre first 3 quarters, Nash was brilliant down the stretch, but not quite good enough to counter Duncan + Ginobli. Duncan scored 40 points and I actually thought Shaq's defense on him was really strong.

Earth to Raptors -Earth to Raptors. Please be advised playing defence is allowed in the first quarter of an NBA playoff game.

A message that the Raps clearly must not have gotten prior to allowing the Magic to score 43 points in the first quarter today - jumping out to a 24 point lead at one point. As is so often the case the Raps battled back and early in the 4th quarter actually pulled to within 5 points, but then they ran out of gas and Orlando coasted to the 14 point win.

There were some good signs from the middle of the second quarter on - but I'm not so sure if that was a case of the Raptors actually playing that well - or if it was more a case of Orlando letting up having jumped out to such a huge early lead.

I guess that question should be answered Tuesday night in Game Two. And hopefully the Raptors will show up in the first quarter this time!

Yes, the Suns-Spurs game was simple incredible. What a series it going to be!

Hey Larry, what did you think of my boy, Pau's game against the Nuggets? Did he go off or what?

Just because it's JiP's birthday.... the Sixers stun the Pistons.

Raps show their nerves again, as the Magic show some magic behind the arc scoring 43 first quarter points. Raps actually outscored Orlando in the final 3 quarters, but they need to show more poise and better defend the drive and kick.

Yes, and we thank you again and again for gifting him to us! His first playoff win, and in style.
Which brings me to one of favorite rants, which is why the hell does everyone think Marcus Camby is such a great defender? He can rebound and block shots, but can he guard his man? Seems to me that has something to do with defense.

Speaking of suspect defense, you Toronto guys should be used to that by now, eh?

Meanwhile, I'm revising my prediction on the Boston/Atlanta series. I'm now picking Boston in 3. (Yeah, I know it's best of 7.)

It was so thoughtful of them!

The Wizards' Haywood just got ejected for trying to hurt my boy Lebron on a flagrant 2. Is Delonte West the hottest dude in the NBA or what? The tattoos just suggest a certain edge, but vulnerability.

Chris Bosh played his heart out last night - playing 45 minutes - and scoring 29 - but missed an open 18 footer at the buzzer as the Raps squandered a magnificent comeback to lose 104-103 to the Magic. It was probaly the second best game of the playoffs so far - at least of the games I've watched with # 1 being the 2OT Game 1 Spurs and Suns. A nailbiting finish but by losing the Raps are now a VERY long shot to win this series - as only about 6% of the time does the team losing the first two games ever come back to win a series.

But there is reason for at least some hope for the Raptors IF they play a HALF DECENT first quarter. I'm not even asking for a good 1st quarter - just a half decent one. Last night it was another unbelievably brutal 1st quarter from their starters that really did them in. I'll cut bosh some slack here - as he was working hard but had virtually no help. Game One they allowed 43 1st quarter points and were down by 20. Last night they were not much better as they were down 35-18 at the end of the first quarter. For the rest of the series for long stretches they have been the better team and that was the case last night for the entire second quarter and much of the second half.

And I'm sorry - but Jose Calderon MUST be our starting point guard - TJ Ford has been a train wreck ever since he came back from injury and sulked his way back into the starting lineup. Ford's defence has been non-existent and the teams offence just seems to be much more in synch when Calderon is the quarterback. Never mind the fact that for the second straight game Ford had a brutal first quarter - turning the ball over 3 or 4 times and allowing his man open lanes to the basket or wide open for uncontested jumpers. And the offence in that quarter for the Raps has looked totally mixed up with him at ther helm.

I would be very interested to see what the difference has been in terms of scoring in this series when Ford is on the court compared to Calderon. I'm willing to bet that the Raps are probably -30 points or more into negative numbers when Ford has been on the floor and are well into positive numbers when Calderon is running the show. The Raptors slide down to 6th in the conference standings from contending with Cleveland and Orlando in a battle for 3rd or 4th place coincided with Ford's selfish and erratic return and that trend has continued within the first two games of this series.

I will be at the ACC tomorrow night giving it up in full throttle voice support of my Raps - but I may slip in one Boo - or at least a moment of silence - if TJ Ford is introduced in the starting lineup.

Thoughts from the postseason so far:

Chris Paul has been spectacular! I thought the Kidd v. Paul matchup would be key but had no idea what a laugher it would be.

Bosh was fouled headed to the hoop last night, no question about it. I'm thinking at ACC the ref blows the whistle.

Jose Calderon's clutch shooting down the stretch is only going to multiply the amount of folks who share Travelpat's opinion of TJ Ford.

The Suns are letting too many easy buckets go for the Spurs. There's no way they should be down 2-0 otherwise.

Detroit took their foot off the gas after building a lead in game one.......ooops!

Maybe Charles Barkley is right, the Wizards could be the dumbest team of all time. Bulletin board material for Lebron wasn't too bright, and neither was failing to come through with the game on the line in Game 1.

(sorry I don't post more NBA in the regular season, I'm a hoops fan stuck in a hockey town )

Hey blueraider - I am completely with you on that non-call when Bosh was HAMMERED by Superman. But hopefully as you say - we'll get the calls at the ACC.

I know that the NBA is hugely popular in the U.S. but the Raptors are discovering just how tough it is to make a dent into the hockey dominated TV sports ratings up here. I posted these numbers over in the Hockey thread - but thought they may be of interest to some NBA fans too. These are the Top Ten English language ratings for sports programs this past weekend in Canada. One baseball game cracks the Top Ten with all 9 other spots - hockey.

# 1 - Saturday - Habs at Bruins - 1.68 million
# 2 - Sunday - Sharks at Flames - 1.485 million
# 3 - Saturday - Wild at Avalanche - 744,000
# 4 - Friday - Preds at Wings - 697,000
# 5 - Sunday - Wings at Preds - 674,000 (on CBC - does not include likely 200,000 or so watching NBC coverage)
# 6 - Friday - Stars at Ducks - 574,000
# 7 - Friday - Rangers at Devils - 433,000
# 8 - Sunday - Ducks at Stars - 355,000
# 9 - Saturday - Hockey Night in Canada pre-game show - 325,000
# 10 - Sunday - Blue Jays - Tigers 319,000

FYI - the Raptors Game 1 of the NBA playoffs drew only 218,000

And an update to the above - Monday's Game 7 Bruins at Habs set a new record on French language RDS with 2 million viewers, matching the 2 million watching in English on CBC for a total of 4 million - a number that rivals the Grey Cup or Super Bowl. I think the Raptors would be absolutely thrilled if they ever hit the 500,000 mark. Hockey Rules up here.

The Raptors's sticking with T.J. Ford is a mystery (although Calderon also sucked in game 1). It's not a good thing when Jameer Nelson is dominating your point guard -- that's the position where Toronto was supposed to have a huge advantage. Also, there's no point in trying to resurrect Bargnani now. I think this is Sam Mitchell's last year as coach.

As for Dallas, I thought the Kidd trade was a huge mistake, but I'm still shocked by the way CP3 is utterly humiliating Kidd. Dallas would have been so much better off with Devin Harris. Not that he would have stopped Paul -- no one can -- but he would have at least put up a little resistance. Paul blows by Kidd as if Jason weren't even on the court. Very embarrassing. And it didn't help Dallas that Nowitzki took only 11 shots. As usual, Dirk doesn't step up and assert himself in the playoffs.

I'm glad to see that the Shaq trade isn't working out for the Suns. He's actually playing with much more energy than anyone thought he had left, but I think that this time the absence of Marion showed. When the Spurs have both Parker and Ginobli on the court, the Suns are defenseless (given Nash's relative uselessness on defense).

And Blueraider -- the Internet was invented as a lifeline for people stuck in hockey towns.

Well - if nothing else the Raps playoff game tonight will net me a free red t-shirt. All ticket holders were emailed last night asking them to arrive at the game early as they say it will be huge line ups and delays entering the ACC because they will be handing out t-shirts to all 20,000 of us.

Of course my guess is that the shirts will be one size fits all - meaning they will be designed for potential contestants for America's Biggest Loser - and look like tents on those of us of average or smaller size!

Let's Go Raptors!

The t-shirt will be in Dwight Howard's size. Hopefully you've got someone who can fill it.

Congrats Travelpat, Your boys got the win (and hopefully you got a t-shirt that fit)!!!

I read that the atmosphere was like a European soccer match, so Pat, obviously you helped! Wouldn't have thought Toronto could win with Bosh scoring only 15, but it was nice of TJ Ford to show up.

Meanwhile, the Wizards catch a huge break with the injury to Arenas. No one in that organization has the balls to say (or act on) it, but they are better off without him. An injury was the only way Butler and Jamison could get him off the court.

Well - I have almost no voice today having sung and shouted myself hoarse last night. It was an absolute hoot at the ACC. We were all given our Howard sized red t-shirts - that looked more like a dress on me - but we also were given freebie red towels to wave too. The crowd arrived early and the place was almost completely full more than 20 minutes before tip - with the decible level rising as game time approached. It was kind of funny in the minutes leading up to the game as the in-house scoreboard cameras would zoom in on anybody who had not yet put on their red t-shirt and the camera would stay on them with the crowd hooting and hollering at them until they would grudgingly pull their shirts on to wild cheers!

I've been to many Raptor games in my life at the ACC and it is not all that uncommon to hear people remark that the public address system is too loud and the music they play too loud. Well last night for long stretches and during the Raptor player introductions - you quite simply could not hear it at all. The crowd noise COMPLETELY drowned it out. And I'm not sure if I have ever heard a crowd as loud as it was at one point in the second quarter when Howard was at the free throw line. The noise as 20,023 Raptor fans ROARED - 'HOWWWAAAAARRRRD - HOWWWAAAAAARD' and cleartly had him rattled as he clanked both free throws.

And I'll eat a little humble pie here - TJ Ford was simply magnificent - as was Jose Calderon. Many times during the night the chant of 'TJ TJ TJ' reverberated around the ACC and then when Calderon was on the crowd would be singing full throttle 'Jose, Jose Jose Jose - Jose - Jose' to the tune of Ole Ole Ole. And TJ for the first time in months was actually smiling at times! Our two headed point guard was back - combining for 39 points and 16 assists with just 4 turnovers on the night. Moon and Kapono were stellar too.

I just wish I was going to Game Four tomorrow instead of the TFC soccer game which is taking place at the same time. Oh well - maybe I can get tickets for Game 6 - which I am more confident will be taking place now. Final word on the crowd - this is from one story I read today on the game - and refers to the European atmosphere LarryC mentioned.

• The Raptors owe some serious propers to the red-clad, flag-waving Air Canada Centre crowd, a lively and organized assembly which maintained a high-decibel level and gave their players the best home-court advantage they could possibly expect. The atmosphere resembled a European soccer match during stretches -- somewhat appropriate given Toronto's melting-pot makeup -- with the fans singing and chanting and standing the entire time while rooting their players to victory. *

When the 76ers beat the Pistons in game 1, I thought well ok it's a fluke, Detroit was taking them lightly. Then, the Pistons manhandle the 76ers in game two and thought ok, they woke up, series over. So you can imagine my surprise seeing Philadelphia blow out Detroit by 20 points. Is Detroit getting old or just not playing with intensity. It would be a nice upset should this continue.

Detroit loves to complain about how they get no respect. Well, that's because they don't deserve any. Congrats to Philly for its scrappy play, but there's no way on earth a team with Detroit's talent should be losing to them by 20. Knucklehead Rasheed leads the way with 2 points and a whole bunch of airballs. And "so underrated, he's overrated" Chauncy Billups goes 2 for 11. Please please please put Deron Williams on the Olympic team instead of Billups!

I'm starting to think the only thing that's a fluke for the Pistons was how they won the 2004 Finals. They have no chance of getting back there. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if they lose to the Sixers.

Man the Spurs are looking great. Duncan seems to be playing as if the Suns getting O'Neal was a personal affront to him. Tonight in Phoenix they didn't even have to come back from 15+ down to win...they led the whole game. I heard that loudmouth Stephen A. Smith ranting about the Hack-a-Shaq thing...f*ck off I say...if a guy who is a professional with as many years as Sahq still can't hit free throws, well too bad. The Suns would have been better off keeping Marion. At least he had a shot at slowing down parker and Ginobili. Anyone who accuses the Spurs of being boring just isn't paying attention.

And I am loving the Sixers winning against the Pistons.

OK - screw the transit workers here in Toronto. Last night they voted down a contract their union leadership was recommending be accepted and immediately walked off the job. So there is no public transit in Toronto today and that is usually how well over half the people get to the ACC. To make matters worse - just down the road at the same time 20000+ - including me will be trying to get to BMO Field for the Toronto FC soccer game. This is going to be quite the adventure for people trying to get to the Raps game today. And I'm facing a one hour walk to BMO Field with my two friends - through what is expecteds to be heavy rain later today.

Hopefully all 20000+ are able to get to both especially for the HUGE game at the ACC that the Raps MUST win. The Raps will need all 20,000 roaring just like the other night to help them win because you just know Orlando will play better today. Its all up to the Raps now with Captain Canada's suns flaming out against the Spurs.

Let's Go Raptors!

I agree completely (on both counts). For a while, the Shaq trade was looking much better than I thought it would be (i.e., not an abomination!), but now it's obvious that the absence of Marion is killing poor Steve Nash. Now, Nash has to guard someone...someone like Parker (or, worse, Ginobli), which is an enormous drain. To make his defensive burden even worse, now teams can pick and roll them to death, knowing how useless Shaq will be. And then O'Neal's being at (and over) the free throw line knocks Nash's offensive rhythm out of whack. It's sad to see -- the Suns used to be my second favorite team, Steve Nash my favorite player, and D'Antoni one of my favorite coaches, but now the whole franchise is going down in flames.

Once again it looks like the Piston's own over-confidence will finish them off.I wish they would put-up or shut up!

I can't believe it, the Hawks won a game. Who'd have dreamed Atlanta would win a game before Phoenix would? Kevin Garnett is going to commit seppuku.

I really thought that Kevin Garnett would never allow this to happen. Atlanta has some nice young talent, but I figured the Celtics would be a team possessed. Gotta think the Celtics come out on fire in game 4 and finish it up in 5.

And yesterday just reconfirmed my absolute dislike of Carmelo Anthony.

Well - the rain held off - and the 'adventure' of Toronto fans trying to get to the ACC for the Raps game and BMO field for the TFC soccer game with no public transit due to the strike actually ended up being a lot of fun. It became a bit of a pub crawl for thousands. We started with a pint at the Firkin - in the gay village and then started our long 4-5 km walk to BMO Field. As we progressed south and west - we could not help but notice hundreds of others all decked out in red either heading to BMO Field like us or the ACC. We stopped for another pint at the Elephant and Castle as we approached the area of the ACC and it had fans working their way to both venues. We had been walking for about 30 minutes by now but others we chatted with told us they had been walking for over an hour by then.

We continued westward towards BMO Field passing hundreds of Raptor fans walking the other way as we were now west of the ACC. Greetings of Let's Go Raptors and TFC echoing back and forth. 20 minutes or so further along we made one last pub stop at the Wheat Sheaf which was full by now mostly just TFC fans - but the odd Raptor fan was present squeezing in one last reasonably priced pint before getting to the ACC and having to pay the inflated MLSE price for beer. As we left the Wheat Sheaf we noticed a nice touch by TFC, as they had a couple of those double decker touring busses tooling about stopping at every pub in the area picking up fans who needed a lift that last km or so down to BMO Field. It looked like they were having fun as the bus crawled through the traffic jam of those who drove to the game, with chants of 'This is our bus!' echoing from the bus mimicking the 'This is our House' chant that TFC fans at BMO Field are known for.

And those of us at the soccer game had a blast - with the energy of the crowd matching the playoff atmosphere at the ACC and about 2 hours later we spilled out of BMO Field a noisy, happy and tipsy lot with a 2-0 win. Unfortunately as we all began our scarf waving loud long walk back into the downtown area we were greeted with the very long faces of those coming out of the ACC the other way. Everybody saying Bosh was amazing - with 39 points - but that he had very little help - especially from 3 point land. From everything the fans we saying it sounded like a tight game until the last 2.5 minutes and after that we couldn't score and they couldn't miss including a couple of clutch 3's. Any highlights I've seen or news reports I've read seem to match what the fans leaving the ACC were telling us as our paths crossed on our long walks home. Bosh - brilliant, little support and the Magic - to their credit - hitting clutch shots down the stretch.

I should have known better than to predict in a previous post that I was confident a Game 6 would happen. Anytime I slip in a remark like that about one of my teams, they end up losing.

So I'm going to say Orlando wins tomorrow - no Game 6 coming back here. And hope like crazy that my record of almost always being wrong with predictions holds true to form.

Delonte definitely came up big in the game today. I wouldn't neccessarily say Delonte is the hottest dude, but he definitely has some beautiful eyes!

I would say he's actually damn scary looking. Sort of like a babyfaced killer (i.e., psychopath). But he was also a killer on the court today, and that's what matters.

And speaking of killers, what did I tell you -- Arenas plays and the Wizards lose. Gil just killls his own team. Twice as many turnovers as assists, always what you look for from your PG.

Larry, that's kinda cold. You guys took my boy-next-door. He's not actually pretty, but he's a killer on the court!

Don't worry Smokey, I'd never say anything like that about Pau. I'm not a fan of the scruffy look, though. I wonder what he'd look like with a haircut? He can keep the beard, but please shave around it!

Back to basketball. One of my favorite things to watch in playoffs is who makes or loses money based on their performance. So far, the "biggest loser" has got to be Iguodala. He buffoonishly turned down a contract offer for almost $11m/year, and now he's getting absolutely, utterly, completely demolished/decimated/destroyed by Tayshaun Prince. Philly may be having a great series, but it ain't thanks to AI lite, that's for sure.

He's WAY prettier than Delonte West, fo sho!

If you thought it was a bit of a shock that the Pistons and Sixers were tied at two, what about those Atlanta Hawks tying Boston at two games a piece. What is it about superior teams that they don't take these low seeds seriously. I mean the Celtics should have swept the Hawks. The Celtics had a 75-65 lead after 3 quarters and let Atlanta take over in the fourth.

Maybe the Celtic's egos are even bigger than the Pistons but I doubt it.

It does seem like the Celtics are emulating Detroit. But I can't see Garnett playing down to his competition (unlike most of the Pistons). Maybe their "old folks" are running out of gas, as a lot of people were predicting earlier in the season. Paul Pierce may not have recovered from that body slam in Game 3. After getting trashed talked on his knees by Horford, I was sure he'd come back with a huge game. Who'd have dreamed that the Western series would be more one-sided that the Detroit and Boston series!?

And so a somewhat disappointing season comes to a close for the Raptors. They just had no answer for Superman Howard. Anytime one player scores more than 20 points with more than 20 rebounds in three games of a series - you know the other team has a problem.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the off season for the Raps. A few rumblings of the coach being fired - but I can't see that happening. Colangelo has said he wants to re-sign Calderon - but can he and TJ Ford co-exist moving forward. Ford says they can - but his sulk routine when he was not the starter says otherwise. Bargnani was a bit of a disappointment all season - but what was most frustrating is that for stretches he would play amazingly well - so we won't give up on him yet.

Kapono showed his shooting skill in the playoffs - one of the best Raps of the series - which just has all Raptor fans shaking their heads wondering why Mitchell used him so sparingly in the regular season. I also have to question why Mitchell did not use some of the players that do show some toughness occassionally on this roster like Humphries at all in this series. Surely he could have helped in the paint with some of the banging going on there. For me that was a real head scratcher.

Bosh - continued to show is the leader of this team and at times was brilliant in the playoffs even has he was getting hammered by Howard who weighs something like 60 lbs more than him. Bosh must be sore today - but hopefully - even though he naturally has a fairly skinny frame - he can still add a few more pounds of muscle over the off sedason. And not to take anything away from Howard - who dominated this series - but he was aided by the officials at times. As clearly illustrated on replays last night on the TSN telecast up here in Canada - he was getting away way too often with hooking Raptor players away with one arm - moving them out of the way by the sheer strenth of his arms. And this was not by body positioning as in blocking out - but this was actually exending out his arm and more or less swatting people out of his way. He would get called occassionally for it throughout the series - but they showed numerous replays where he was getting away with it. Twice resulting in technicals to Raptor players. And also at a key stretch in the 4th quarter of last nights game they again showed how he was getting away with just planting himself in the paint at both ends of the court without ever getting called for a 3 second violation which often resulted in rebounds for him at both ends of the floor as the Magic opened up a 10 point lead in the dying minutes after the Raps had narrowed the gap to 2.

Boy it would have been nice to have Garbajosa in this series - but gee I was writing the exact same thing 12 months ago. The Raps AGAIN missed the toughnes he brings. So hopefully he can come back next year as good as ever. If not we need somebody else with his toughness.

While I believe Garnett is really hungry, I'm not sure about Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. I've just never thought Pierce was a guy that was able to take over and lead a team though I think he believes he should be the leader and might have a bit of resentment towards Garnett. Though I have issues with teams with losing records in the playoffs, I have to admit I would love to see the Hawks beat the Celtics.

So how'd that Shaq trade work out for the Suns?

Shaq (Suns) and Kidd (Mavericks) didn't work out, because they didn't fit those teams styles. The teams could not adjust in the amount of time they had left in the season. Gasol, on the other hand, complimented the Laker's style, so no big adjustments were necessary.

Those trades smacked of desperation at the time, and that is just how they played out. Shaq actually played much better in the San Antonio series that I expected. But he sure threw Steve Nash's game to hell. (I also wonder if physically Nash wasn't quite right).

And then there was Shaq's inimitable free throw shooting. I'll never forget his immortal words when he was a Laker: "I'll make them when I need to." So...I guess he didn't need to win another playoff series. Too bad that his team mates did.

Arenas sits and the Wizards win. What did I tell you?

Shameless plug alert. Sixers done in 6, fans done in 5

Even though the Sixers last won the title 25 years ago, that's your last championship in any sport, right? I love Philadelphia, but you're not the greatest sports city.

Correction: Philadelphia is not the greatest basketball city. (Or NBA basketball, to be precise.) The Sixers have always been an inconsistent draw. If the team isn't winning attendance drops some. And if there's no draw (such as when Iverson was traded, or in the period after Barkley was traded and before Iverson was drafted) and the team isn't winning attendance really drops.

On the other hand, last year the Flyers had the worst record in the entire league by far, and the worst season in their history by far, and attendance only dropped slightly. And the last time they won the Stanley Cup was 33 years ago.

And that's somewhat strange to an outsider, considering the history of basketball in that city. The college scene with its Big Five is unparelleled in this country, and the players that have come out of there(Chamberlain et al) is superb.

Now you want basketball hell...I'm living in it. A collection of mid major college teams in the region and the occasional short lived pro teams throughout its history, one of which is playing tonight.(Atlanta)

It is strange. Hard to explain why, really. Speaking of the Big Five, in your many sporting travels have you ever been to the Palestra?

Good grief -- Atlanta has forced a game 7 vs. Boston.