Celtics 112, Nets 101: Early indications have the road to the NBA Finals going through Boston. If the Nets entertain any hopes of becoming a legit contender, they'll have to find a better measuring stick. As if the Nets didn't have enough concerns about Vince Carter, their star left the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury. At least he had 17 points when he left. Beating up on the Eastern Conference may...
Last Night's Action: Nets Hit a Wall
Last Night's Action: One Goes Up, One Goes Down
The Final List Is Revealed
Over the weekend on NBC and last night on MSG, the final five moments of the “50 Greatest Moments on MSG” were shown. Spoiler Alert, don’t keep reading if you don’t want to know about this yet.
Last Night's Action: Minislumps
-Reds 4, Mets 2: Maybe the Mets want to take another road trip. They're 1-3 on their current homestand after winning eight of nine on their road trip. Tonight, they looked unspectacular against Cincinnati's Bronson Arroyo. Of course, no one expected the Mets to continue the blistering pace of their road trip, and their fans should be pleased with Orlando Hernandez's decent performance against the talented Reds offense. He'll be a useful fifth starter if he can pitch like this, but manager Willie Randolph should be wary of overusing him. He has a history of tiring late in the season.
Enough!
We get it Larry; none of this is your fault. It’s not your fault that you have had to use 40+ different starting lineups. It’s not your fault that there is no morale on this team. It’s not your fault that on a day when we should be enjoying a great 96-94 win, we are instead focusing again on all the off the court crap that comes with being a Knicks’ fan.
Where Did That Come From?
Sometimes the Knicks and the NBA makes Gothamist scratch its head. That's what happened during the Knicks' 105-103 victory Detroit at the Garden Friday. A team that could be bound for its third straight NBA Finals lost to a team that would be bound for the lottery had it not traded its pick away unprotected to the Chicago Bulls. With a loss to the lowly Bobcats in the rear-view mirror, the Knicks knocked off the league's best team.
Second Thoughts?
Do you think Larry Brown might be reconsidering his decision to leave Detroit for New York? Since Detroit is a league-best 32-5, it is probably safe to assume that they have no regrets about Larry’s departure. Thursday they showed their old coach that he has a lot of work to do if he wants to ever see the NBA Finals again.
What Can Brown Do For You?
This afternoon, the Knicks will announce the hiring of NBA vagabond Larry Brown as the new coach of the Knicks. The contract pays Brown around $10 million per season. Brown is 64 and is already a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. He has coached teams to both an NCAA title and an NBA championship, and is widely regarded (along with Phil Jackson) as the NBA's top coach.
NBA Finals: Pistons "Rob"bed by Spurs in Game 5
Holy cow. Last night's NBA Finals contest was about as tight and as exciting as a sporting event can be. The game was tied at halftime, tied at the end of regulation, and won at the end by one point on a 3-pointer. It was jaw-droppingly intense. And somehow, San Antonio scraped out a 96-95 OT win to go home with a 3-2 lead.
NBA Finals: Nobody's Watching, But They Should Be
While examining your weekend options, it's worth a mention that Game 2 of the NBA Finals is Sunday night at 9pm. If you haven't been to your local sports bar lately, it's a great excuse to pound some beer and wings with your buddies on a school night.
The NBA Finals
The Spurs are led by Tim Duncan, their multi-talented Center. Duncan has been the MVP of both NBA Finals he has been in and is currently averaging almost 25 points a game in the playoffs. Duncan had been hobbled earlier in the playoffs with an ankle injury, but he increased his scoring in each round of the playoffs and will have had ten days to rest by the time the Finals start on Thursday.
Farewell to Reggie Miller, the Knicks Killer
While the Knicks lost last night's game by 18 points, they wake up with a real sense of relief this morning. Reggie Miller, the skinny, gawky perennial clutch shooter for the Indiana Pacers, has played his final game at MSG. While Reggie had a rough shooting night (13 points), teammate and fan-puncher Stephen Jackson picked up the slack with 33 points to lead Indiana to a win.
NBA Expansion Draft May Effect Nets, Knicks
Last Friday was the deadline for teams in the NBA (except for the Pistons and Lakers) to turn in their list of unprotected players that will be made available for the expansion Charlotte Bobcats during the expansion draft. Charlotte will form the core of their new team during the draft, to be held on June 22, assuming the NBA Finals do not reach a seventh game. In that case the draft will be held on June 23.
Lord Stanley, Florida. Florida, Lord Stanley
Last night, the Tampa Bay Lightning won The Stanley Cup, defeating the Calgary Flames 2-1 in the 7th game of the NHL Finals. Led by Ruslan Fedotenko's two goals, the 12 year-old Lightning franchise won its first championship and is the first team formed in the 90's to win the Cup. There is nothing quite like a 12 year-old team winning The Stanley Cup, a trophy awarded for 111 years making it the oldest trophy in sport. The Calgary Flames franchise is also relatively young, starting in 1980 when the Atlanta Flames moved north. The Flames were attempting to become the first Canadian team to win the Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
Pistons Win; Whatevs Wins Bet - Bovs!
Last night, the Nets lost the 7th and deciding game to the Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Why did we all know this would happen? Maybe because the Nets were blown out in their first two games and had to return to the scene of the crime? Or was it the fact that Jason Kidd was held scoreless in the playoffs for the first time in his career because of his back and knee ailments? Or was it just that the Pistons were the better team? Whatever it was, the Nets lost the game 90-69 (box score) and will not return to the NBA Finals this year. Chauncey Billups scored a game-high 22 points, with his teammates Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace adding 21 and 18 points respectively. The Pistons now move on to play the Indiana Pacers to see who goes to the NBA Finals.


