ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY'S QUESTIONS

The Beast of the East remains to be the defending champions. KG and Ray Allen had a bad game but Paul Pierce took over with 27pts and Lebron missed a layup and 2 free throws in the last minute to seal the Cav's fate. Celtics win by 5pts.

The premier big man of the future? Neither Bynum nor Oden, if we go by this game. Bynum logged 8 points and three rebounds, Oden had 5 rebounds, blocked a shot and missed his four free throw attempts before getting injured. Yes, again.

Bulls versus Skiles. Winner, Bulls. Derrick Rose had 11 points and 9 assists, Deng had 21 pts, Gordon had 18, Hinrich had 15pts, Tyrus Thomas had 15 pts and 10 rebounds. Bulls win by 13pts, Skiles loses 100 strands of hair.  

WHATTA GAME! Boston wins Game 1, 98-88!

It was a great basketball game.

Lead changes, highlight reel plays, smothering D, diving and clawing for loose balls, clutch shots...

It even featured the dead coming back to life, as Pierce bucked a sprained knee that had him writhing and crying, then hobbling off to the dugout before coming back to score 11 points in the second half and lead Boston to victory with 24pts.

KG, after a nervouse showing in the first few minutes, settled down to his old role of demolisher (did you see that dunk?!) and proved you don't have to be The Man to be a man.

And Ray Ray seems to have found his form and rained down 19pts in able wingman support.

Still, Kobe just scored in the mid 20's and we know he's capable of going for forty for 4 straight games.

Game 2 should be interesting but I'm still calling it for the Celtics.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!

Guess now the Pistons wish they didn't win in Boston.

After getting it done there, the pistons came home to a rude awakening...that of the Celtics socking it to them mercilessly on the road.

The Celtics led from start to finish, even as the determined Pistons staged comeback after comeback. KG just wouldn't allow them to feel good for more than a day or two.

Ray Allen's shooting touch seems to be the key here. When he's got it on, the Celtics lose. So I suggest that Jesus Shuttlesworth takes his shooting range and loses it by the highway, the way you'd try to lose a persistent puppy.

Coz when he's shooting blanks, the Celtics are winning them.

Oh, and by the way, the Celtics have got homecourt advantage back. i suggest the Pistons lie low and do the "home-team-wins" thing until we get to Game 7. If not, this may be over in 6games.

PISTONS POUND CELTICS!

You could hear the collective gasp of disbelief grow louder and louder.

The green clad players grew more desperate with each tick of the timer, each tock of the clock.

And then, it was official. Detroit's Fab 5 just beat Boston's Big 3. Which actually makes sense.

With Hamilton exploding for 25 pts and Billups scoring 19pts, McDyess had 15 pts, Prince had 14pts and Wallace had 13 pts and 10 rebounds to trump KG's 24pts and 13 rebounds, Ray Allen's 25 points and Pierce's 26pts.

Only Stuckey (with 13pts) even mattered offense wise as Perkins, Rondo, Posey and Macxiell were no shows for this game.

But the bigger question now is...what happens to the Boston Celtics? All throughout the playoffs, they lost on the road, bringing each of their previous series' to Game 7. And while they got away with it with the Hawks and the Cavs, this is the Pistons we're talking about, the same basic group who have been in the ECF for 6 straight years.

Who you gonna call?

THE BIG THREE VS THE CHOSEN ONE

Three perennial All Stars versus the Anointed One.

The Big Ticket, The Truth and the Baby Faced Assassin versus The King.

Who will win? Boston will win in 6 games. I think.

But it won't be easy, oh no. They'll have to bring their A-Game every night (unlike the Hawks series, when the decided to send stunt doubles to play the games in Atlanta)

This is going to be real hard. Ilgauskas will body up Garnett and when he's done, Wallace will harrass KG. Lebron will run Pierce ragged while dominating both sides of the court (Pierce averaged like 13pts a game vs the Cavs in the regular season while Lebron logged in around 30pts)

So Boston will win because of Rajon Rondo (Boobie Gibson, hand him your "Surprise of the Playoffs" trophy, please), Sam Cassell and PJ Brown, not to mention Tony Allen and Glen Davis. Cavs have Pavlovic, Joe Smith and...well...Donyell Marshall.

Now all the Celtics have to do is make me a soothsayer instead of a liar.

THAT'S THE WAY, A-HA A-HA!

The real Boston Celtics play only on their homecourt.

They hire stunt doubles to play in Atlanta, which is why this particular series went to 7 games.

Jeff Van Gundy said it best during halftime when he commented "This game is already over. Too bad we don't have a mercy rule."

I have to agree with JVG on this one. There is nothing more boring than 24 minutes of meaningless basketball, when the subs are playing for more playing time next year and the fringe players are showing off in the hopes of landing another 10day contract.

I mean, come on! Glen "Big Baby" Davis passed up two open teammates in the paint just so he could run to the three point line and launch one. How pathetic is that?

But thank God this one is in the books already. Now we can move on to a more intriguing match up: Boston versus Cleveland.

My pick. Lebron's gonna have a great series but would I really pick LBJ over KG, the Truth and the Baby Faced Assassin? No, I don't think so. I think it'll be Boston in 6.