POINT TAKEN!

It was another blowout in a series that is, paradoxically, both tightly fought and yet, did not have a single game that went down the wire.

Again, offensive brilliance by guards Paul and Parker were on full display, as well as some defensive tenacity displayed by both(several times, Paul posted up parker and the Frenchman never backed down, bumping Paul to kingdom come.)

But in the end, it was the contributions (and lack of) of other plays that defined this victory. Manu hit 5 3pointers, David West finished with 10points and a sore back (this, after his stud of a game in Game 5).

Duncan was efficient and effective down low, Udoka got 2 dagger threes plus a killer block on Pargo and Pargo shot 0-5.

Now, it comes down to one game. Spurs in 7, I say.

THE PRINCE OF SWAT SEND PISTONS TO ECF!

Forget about the King for a while.

All Hail The Prince!

Here's the series-winning defensive gem Tayshaun Prince had in Game 5 against Most Improved Player of the Year Hedo Turkoglu.

How important was this play? Had Turkoglu scored, it would have been a one point game where the Magic could have fouled, then had the chance to either win the game or send it into overtime. But they never got the chance because of this block.

And you remember Prince's block on Miller don't you?

Just goes to show why defense wins championships.

OH WOW, PAU!

You have got to hand it to Mitch Kupchack.

This has got to be the best trash-to-riches story since the Bulls bought the Suns' 7th pick and turned it into Luol Deng or since Ainge turned Al Jefferson and Jeff Green into Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

Pau Gasol, Spaniard extraordinaire, forcefully took the baton of responsiblity from MVP Kobe Bryant to turn the last minute of Game 5 into his own personal highlight reel and catapult the Lakers to a 3-2 series lead over the Jazz.

What made this even more surprising was how Kobe seemed to totally trust Pau, a Laker for half a season, with the game on the line.

Now, this exciting and explosive series goes back to Utah, arguably the hardest homecourt to steal a game from. But I got a good feeling about this. I think the Lakers are due.

WAY TO GO, LEBRON'S MOM!

We should all have moms like this mom...




But only if we're as good as Lebron

JAZZ AND LAKERS RENEWING RIVALRY!

Break out those memories of John Stockton, Jeff Hornacek and Karl Malone versus Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

Here comes Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, Memo Okur and Carlos Boozer versus Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher.

Game 4 was a classic game that should be appearing in BTV's greatest games in a year or two.
You've got two great teams, great defensive plays, highlight reels, a buzzer beater, overtime...

The only thing missing was a fistfight and the game didn't even need that.

So now we go to LA, all tied up. Advantage still goes to the Lakers but man, do they know they're in a fight!

Two thumbs up for Kirilenko for the great defensive play. This from a guy who came into the season demanding a trade (just like Kobe), made up with his coach (just like Kobe), found his role (just like Kobe) and is now flourishing (just like Kobe)

So i guess he's the Russian Kobe.

NOW IT'S A SERIES!

There's no place like home. And Game 4 proved exactly that.

It was another classic battle between Tony Parker and Chris Paul, two of the fastest, most acrobatic and defense-deficient point guards around.

Tony Parker finished with 21 points and 8 assists while Chris Paul scored 23 points and dished out 5 assists.

Sadly, neither Tim Duncan's dance partner (David West had just 10points on 4-15 shooting) and nor Manu's scoring counterpart (Peja Stojakovic scored 8points) showed up for Game 4.

But the Hornets still have the upperhand here. They can afford to just win home games while the Spurs need to steal one from the Hive.

Your move, Spurs.

PLAYOFFS PROOF THAT ALL STARS RULE

Let's stop fooling ourselves.

The NBA playoffs is not about the team. It's about the superstars and All-Stars who play the game. And chances are, the more All Stars you have, the longer yo play in April.

Take a look at this list of past, present, should-have-been and will be All Stars...

Lakers - Kobe, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol
Jazz - Deron Williams, Memo Okur, Calros Boozer
Spurs - Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, TonyParker, Michael Finley
Hornets - Chris Paul, Peja Stojakovic, David West
Celtics - KG, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Sam Cassell
Cavs- LBJ, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Wally Szcerbiak, Ben Wallace
Pistons - Chanucey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince
Magic - Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis

Teams that were eliminated had their share of All Stars but in less dazzling form or less in quantity, teams like Atlanta (Josh Smith and Joe Johnson), Houston (McGrady), Denver (Carmelo, Iverson, Camby) even Dallas (Nowitzki, Howard amd Kidd).

And how about those who didn't have any All-Stars like Chicago, Memphis and Minnesota?

Which just goes to show that basketball is, slowly but surely, becoming a superstar's game.

D'ANTONI NY BOUND!

This has got to be one of the weirdest coaching decisions ever.

Why would a highly successful coach of a perennial playoff team exchange Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire for Jamal Crawford and Eddy Curry?

Too much sun, Coach D'Antoni? Or too much money?

I know that defense isn't your style. I know that you felt Steve Kerr didn't have faith in you or your system. I know you lost in the first round to your nemesis, the Spurs.

But really...you just felt you had to jump from the pinnacle of the coaching ladder to land at the very bottom, some 25 teams down?

But maybe it's the system that's important. After all, Crawford doesn't play any defense. Neither does Curry. Neither does anyone else in the Knicks roster. Well, except maybe for David Lee.

Ten bucks says he gets traded for someone like Ricky Davis.

GOING CLUTCH!

Pistons must be running on diesel, coz they started out cold but kept getting hotter and hotter.

With one of their key cogs still missing, the Pistons weren't firing at all cylinders but still managed to get the job done in a thriller in Magic-land, 90-89.

Tayshaun Prince, probably one of the quietest NBA stars around, drove a dagger into the hearts of Magic fans with just 8 seonds left and Orlando didn't have any magic lef tin them, squandering an 11 point halftime lead and a chance to even the series up.

Hedo Turkoglu led the Magic with 20points but didn't get much help from Dwight Howard, who scored 8points on 25% shooting.

Now, the Magic have the uneviable task of winning 3 straight to get to the Conference finals. Can they do it?

ALL THE KIING'S MEN

When Game 3 started, everyone was focused on the King.

Which is probably why the Cavs' Game Three heroes are a quartet of role players who weren't even a part of the team till midway of this season.

Delonte West scored 21pts, a far cry from the 7 pts he scored in games 1 and 2 combined and Joe Smith scored 17 on a perfect 7-7 stint.

Wally World scored 16pts, 12 in the first half and Ben Wallace scored 9 points and grabbed 9 rebounds plus two blocked shots.

With support like that, Lebron James finally broke loose to score 21 points, including 3 3pointers and came away 8 assists. But his biggest contributions came on the defensive end, as he logged in two of the most amazing blocks in the playoffs so far, both coming on fastbreak plays, with the unfortunate Rajon Rondo on the receiving end.

If the all the King's men keep playing that way, the Celtics may have to rely on their homecourt advantage to pull them through to the conference finals.

But then again, we all know what LBJ did to the Pistons last year on the Pistons' home court.

GOOD "D" OR BAD "O"?

This seems to be the most pressing question of the Celtics-Cavaliers series...

We know the Celtics are the best defensive team in the NBA...but are they really this good?

Good enough to hold Lebron to 16+points a night, at around 19% shooting?

Or is Lebron just going through a rough offensive patch?

Game 3 should show us the answer. If Lebron breaks through with some home cookin', shakin' and bakin', then we know Paul Pierce is going to have nightmares the rest of the series. But if almost-MVP Lebron fails to show up...then Celtics might have an easier 2nd round than anyone ever expected.