The Boston Celtics just won their 17th NBA title by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in game 6 of the NBA finals tonight by a score of 131-92. It was a HUGE blow out victory for Boston (the biggest in NBA finals history.

The Celtics played flawless basketball and the Lakers were pretty much done by half time. Paul Pierce won the MVP for the 2008 NBA Championship playoffs. Kevin Garnet, Ray Allen and others all contributed with great games. Ray Allen tied the NBA record for number of three pointers made in a Championship game, by hitting seven three pointers.

It was fun to watch… well it was fun for me to watch, since my Father’s side of the family is from the Boston area and I have been a Celtics fan for a LONG time.

Anyway, congrats to the Boston Celtics organization an all their fans.

Here is a run down of the first round from last night’s 2007 NBA Draft:

1 Portland Greg Oden – C
2 Seattle Kevin Durant – SF
3 Atlanta Al Horford – PF
4 Memphis Mike Conley – PG
5 Boston Jeff Green – SF
6 Milwaukee Yi Jianlian – PF
7 Minnesota Corey Brewer – SG
8 Charlotte Brandan Wright – PF
9 Chicago Joakim Noah – PF
10 Sacramento Spencer Hawes – C
11 Atlanta Acie Law – PG
12 Philadelphia Thaddeus Young – SF
13 New Orleans Julian Wright – SF
14 Los Angeles Al Thornton – SF
15 Detroit Rodney Stuckey – SG
16 Washington Nick Young – SG
17 New Jersey Sean Williams – C
18 Golden State Marco Belinelli – SG
19 Los Angeles Javaris Crittenton – PG
20 Miami Jason Smith – PF
21 Philadelphia Daequan Cook – SG
22 Charlotte Jared Dudley – SF
23 NY Knicks Wilson Chandler – SF
24 Phoenix Rudy Fernandez – SG
25 Utah Morris Almond – SG
26 Houston Aaron Brooks – PG
27 Detroit Arron Afflalo – SG
28 San Antonio Tiago Splitter – PF
29 Phoenix Alando Tucker – SF
30 Philadelphia Petteri Koponen – PG

Last night, the San Anotonio Spurs finished their sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers to win their fourth NBA championship since 1999.

First, I would like to say congratulations for a job well done. The Spurs play great fundamentally sound basketball and it wins them championships.

Are they the best NBA team in history?

Well, they are one of only four teams to win at least four championships. The other teams are the Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, and Los Angeles Lakers. Speaking of that last team… the Lakers won three championships in a row from 2000-2002. If they hadn’t split up Shaq and Kobe would the Spurs have won the next few championships?

What do you think? Are the Spurs the best NBA team ever? Are the Lakers the best NBA team ever? How about Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics or Michael Jordan’s Bulls?

The San Antonio Spurs won game one of the 2007 NBA Finals, by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 85-76. What they did best was take Lebron James out of the game. They basically dared the rest of the Cavs to beat them.

I personally don’t think that the Spurs will be able to hold James to such low numbers (14 points, seven rebounds, four assists) every night, but in game one the Spurs showed why everyone considers the West so much better than the East this year….

The 2007 NBA Championship starts tonight. I think this is a great match-up, between two really solid teams. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.

While the Western conference seemed much better than the Eastern conference this year and San Antonio has to be the favorite in this series, Lebron has shown signs of living up to his billing. King James might just win a championship this year.

So who do you think is going to win it this year? The Cleveland Cavaliers or the San Antonio Spurs?

The winner of this year’s NBA Draft Lottery was the Portland Trailblazers. They managed to get the first pick in the draft this year. They are expected to take 7 foot center Greg Oden from Ohio State. Greg is projected to become one of the top big men in the game.

Now that the 2007 NBA draft order is set…

Here is the order for all the picks in the 2007 NBA draft:

1. Portland
2. Seattle
3. Atlanta
4. Memphis
5. Boston
6. Milwaukee
7. Minnesota
8. Charlotte
9. New York1
10. Sacramento
11. Atlanta (via IND)
12. Philadelphia
13. New Orleans
14. L.A. Clippers
15. Detroit (via ORL)
16. Washington
17. New Jersey
18. Golden State
19. L.A. Lakers
20. Miami
21. Philadelphia (via DEN)
22. Charlotte (via CLE and TOR)
23. Chicago2
24. Phoenix (via BOS and CLE)
25. Utah
26. Houston
27. Detroit
28. San Antonio
29. Phoenix
30. Philly (via DEN, GSW, DAL)

Unfortunately, my Houston Rockets have a pretty low pick and they could really use a top 10 pick this year. Albeit, their new coach (Rick Adelman) should improve their offense quite a bit.

How did your team fair?

Today, Dallas Mavericks Center Dirk Nowitzki was the first European player ever named NBA MVP. Dirk certainly had an excellent regular season. From Tim Duncan to Kobe Bryant you could have made a case for quite a few players being right for the trophy. However, Dirk really did have a great year.

Dirk’s Dallas Mavericks won 67 games (not many teams have done that). He scored 24.6 points per game, had 8.9 rebounds per game, 3.4 assists per game, and shot over 90 percent from the free throw line. Not bad…

A lot of you have been making your case for who should win on this post. Now that it’s official what do you think? Should Dirk have won?

The official announcement isn’t due until next Tuesday, but ESPN is reporting that Dirk Nowitzki is scheduled to be the winner. It’s unclear how definite this is, but I guess we’ll all find out next Tuesday.

The other day the 2006-2007 All-NBA team was announced. The only thing that was a bit of a surprise was that Lebron James was missing from the first team. Many people thought that he would be on the first team. Steve Nash was the only unanimous selection.

The first team was made up entirely of Western Conference players. It consisted of Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash, and Kobe Bryant.

Here are the voting results for all of the 2006-2007 “All-NBA” Teams:

(First-place votes in parentheses)

First Team
F — Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas (125), 634
F — Tim Duncan, San Antonio (94), 573
C — Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix (36), 494
G — Steve Nash, Phoenix (129), 645
G — Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers (128), 643

Second Team
F — LeBron James, Cleveland (64), 494
F — Chris Bosh, Toronto (8), 234
C — Yao Ming, Houston (38), 333
G — Gilbert Arenas, Washington 295
G — Tracy McGrady, Houston (10), 278

Third Team
F — Kevin Garnett, Minnesota (5), 225
F — Carmelo Anthony, Denver (1), 142
C — Dwight Howard, Orlando (1), 108
G — Dwyane Wade, Miami (1), 241
G — Chauncey Billups, Detroit 86

Other players receiving votes
Carlos Boozer, Utah, 127; Shaquille O’Neal, Miami, 70 (3),; Jason Kidd, New Jersey, 58; Marcus Camby, Denver, 42 (2),; Shawn Marion, Phoenix, 41; Allen Iverson, Denver, 39; Tony Parker, San Antonio, 39; Vince Carter, New Jersey, 15; Deron Williams, Utah, 15; Josh Howard, Dallas, 11; Elton Brand, L.A. Clippers, 8; Mehmet Okur, Utah, 7; Baron Davis, Golden State, 6; Michael Redd, Milwaukee, 6; Ray Allen, Seattle, 5; Richard Hamilton, Detroit, 4; Joe Johnson, Atlanta, 3; Ben Gordon, Chicago, 3; Chris Paul, New Orleans, 3; Paul Pierce, Boston, 2; Ben Wallace, Chicago, 2; Jason Terry, Dallas, 2; Eddy Curry, New York, 2; Luol Deng, Chicago, 1; Chris Webber, Detroit, 1; Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana, 1; Pau Gasol, Memphis, 1; Tyson Chandler, New Orleans, 1; Manu Ginobili, San Antonio, 1.

Does this mean that Lebron is out of the running for the NBA MVP?

Should Kobe win it this year? What do you think? Here’s some good video to back up his claim for the MVP:

Dwayne is probably my favorite player to watch in the NBA right now. He just has a certain quiet confidence about him that I really like. He has been injured, so who knows how he will do in the playoffs, but should he be this year’s MVP? Check out this video:

He certainly makes a good case for himself. He is a lot of fun to watch. Check out this King James video to see why he should be the 2007 NBA MVP:

These video highlights make a good argument that he should be.

For all you rabid Steve Nash fans—  a little video gift:

With the NBA’s All Star Game quickly approaching some of the brightest stars will be unable to shine because of injuries. Three of the biggest stars in today’s NBA will not be able to participate in the game due to medical reasons. Yao Ming has been sidelined since December with a fracture in his right leg. Yao was voted in by the fans as a starter but will be unable to play on any level for another 2-3 weeks. The Phoenix Sun star Steve Nash will have his starting position up for grabs because of an injured shoulder. Allen Iverson, who was traded to the Denver Nuggets earlier this year, will not display his abilities due to an ankle injury. Perhaps this year’s biggest surprize, Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz, will also miss the star-studded event because of a knee injury.

Along with the All Star Game, all of the other fan favorites will be back including: The Rookie vs. Sophmore Game, All Star Celebrity Game, Slam Dunk Competition, Three-point Shootout, Skills Challenge and Shooting Stars Challenge. Tyrus Thomas, Dwight Howard and Gerald Green will challenge the reigning champion Nate Robinson in the Slam Dunk competition. The celebrity game will feature the likes of Reggie Bush, Nelly, Jamie Foxx and Michael Clarke Duncan. The three-point shootout will feature Gilbert Arenas, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Damon Jones, Jason Kapono and Mike Miller.

The action will begin on Friday night and will conclude on Sunday with the NBA All Star Game. While injuries have plagued the West squad, the East should have it’s roster intact. In total there are six players who will be making their first appearance in an All Star game, but plenty of fan favorites will be having repeat appearances. The NBA All Star Weekend is a very unique sports scene and is always an enjoyable watch. All of the action will be televised nationally on TNT.

As the NBA season approaches its All Star break it has become increasingly clear that the Western Conference has far more depth and talent than the rival Eastern Conference. With a little over 40 games played now for each team, the East has only one club with at least 27 wins: the surprise Washington Wizards. The West on the other hand, has 6 teams with more than 27 wins.

The Atlantic Division leading Toronto Raptors are at an even .500 winning percentage right now and have a record of 23-23. Of the three division leading teams in the Western Conference, none of them have fewer than 30 wins.

It is unusual to see such a large imbalance of power in professional sports, but it may end up being a detriment to the Western Conference teams. Not only do they have to compete with each other throughout the season, but they must also jockey for position in the playoff races as well. Many believe that just getting through the playoffs in the West will leave a team too drained to make an impact in the finals, much like the Dallas Mavericks last season.

The West is loaded with legitimate title contenders and there are still plenty of teams who could make a late playoff push. Denver and Golden State have each made significant trades that could help them make a run at the playoffs. This year’s chase for the Western Conference Title could go down as one of the best of all time.

Here are the results of our last poll:

Who will be the 2007 MVP in the NBA?

• Lebron James: 35% (61)
• Dwyane Wade: 30% (52)
• Other: 10% (17)
• Kobe Bryant: 9% (15)
• Steve Nash: 6% (11)
• Dirk Nowitzki: 6% (10)
• Yao Ming: 5% (8)
• Chauncey Billups: 1% (1)

Total Votes : 175