KOBE MAKES BEHIND THE BOARD SHOT!

Larry Bird first did it in a preseason game in the early 80's. It was waved off then. The NBA changed the rules soon after and allowed shots made behind the backboard to count.

Kobe, give Bird a shoutout k?

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THE NBA?

Are they not getting enough groupies on their road trips?

CHRIS PAUL HAS FUN WITH KOBE ON THE INBOUNDS PASS.

Kobe Bryant gets the uncontested dunk. CP3 gets the uncontested bounceback on the inbounds play.

Kobe must be pissed.

THIS IS WHY KOBE IS THE NEXT JORDAN AND NOT LBJ.

The name of the game is charisma. And Kobe has it.

WHEN YOU HAVE KOBE BRYANT, PAU GASOL...

...Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, Phil Jackson, Jack Nicholson, the Laker girls and a 15point lead at the end of the third quarter, what are the chances that a Pacers team, which has lost 5 of its last 6 games, including the last two at home, can come back with a tip in to win the game?

Zero? Negative one?

I guess impossible really is nothing.

CAN SHAQ OUTJUMP KOBE?

"Shaq" tries to outdo Kobe once again!

QUICK HITS IN THE NBA'S FIRST WEEK!

SURPRISES:

ATLANTA HAWKS. 2-0 already, lording it over fancied teams like the Magic (2-2) and the Heat (1-2). Josh Smith and Joe Johnson have been turning it on but for how long can they keep this up?

MARK GASOL. For four years, the younger Gasol labored in Europe with comments like "plodding", "not as skilled", "a lesser talent" when compared to big brother Pau. Mark stepped out of Pau's shadow in the Olympics and, in the Grizz's first four games, has managed to become the more talked-about Gasol. He logged in three solid games as the Grizz starting center before totally demolishing the Golden State Warriors with 27 points in 9-16 shooting, 16 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and a win over the Warriors ending a 7 game skid to them.

MIAMI HEAT. Wade was pure gold in the Olympics. Beasely is an offensive beast. Marion is a defensive stud. So why are they 1-2?

SPURS. Is Manu Ginobili this important to the Spurs basketball machine? The Spurs have now gone 0-3, their first such start since 1973. If they go 0-4, they'll tie their worst ever start which came when they were still in the ABA. 

NON-SURPRISES:

LAKERS ON TOP. They already had Kobe, Pau and Odom when they made their Finals run. Now, young Andrew Bynum has returned and seems to be well on the path to full recovery. How much better can these Lakers get?

DERRICK ROSE. Every thought that this young man would be a very special player somewhere down the road. The good news is he's a very special player, just four games into hi NBA career. This early, he has become the starter, led the team in scoring and assists and looks to have adjusted to the NBA pace.

KNICKS AT THE BOTTOM. I know a coach is important but how could anyone expect the '05 Phoenix Suns to emerge from the '08 Knicks? With practically no new players and some 08 starters banished (Curry, Marbury), D'Antoni will have to do a David Copperfield and pull out some unexpected victories over tough division rivals to avoid languishing in their familiar spot: last place.

SOME OBSERVATIONS...

After day 2 of the NBA season:

HOW DID THEY DO IT? We saw how the new and improved Dwayne Wade made the Olympics his own personal playground. We've read how Michael Beasely has about a 40% chance of winning Rookie of the Year. We know Shawn Marion is one of the most versatile defenders in the league. We also know that the Knicks are dysfunctional, over paid, overhyped and have a new coach and a new GM. Their starting center and point guard from last year aren't even in the rotation.  So how in the hell did the Knicks beat the Heat?

THERE'S A NEW BIG THREE IN TOWN and they are from the Rockets. Yes, I saw how good the troika of Yao Ming, T-Mac and Artest can be and they are going to go deep in the playoffs, maybe even reach the Conference Finals. What scares me even more is that once they get Battier back, they can lock down the best SG's and SF's in the league from minute 1.

THE LAKERS ARE FOR REAL. That's two blowout games for you. Kobe hasn't even heated up yet. Pau, Bynum, Fisher and the rest of the gang have stepped up early. Trevor Ariza looks like he's going to be a monster this year and Chris Mihm looked good, making other teams even more wary of the surprisingly deep Lakers.

KOBE, A-ROD, PHELPS AND HAWK ARE HEROES!

Guitar heroes, that is.

This is a sporting coup by Activision, putting together a band made up of NY Yankee All Star first baseman Alex Rodriguez, 8 Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and NBA MVP Kobe Bryant. 

I can just hear Kobe say "How does this taste, Shaq?"

USA TROUNCES AUSTRALIA!

This is why they brought Kobe Bryant to Beijing.

Against a team that wasn't intimidated by the NBA mystique, a team with a speedster faster than Chris Paul, with big men as polished and skilled as the American centers were big and powerful, Team USA needed someone to set them apart.

Kobe made sure he did it for them. After being content with being the 3rd, 4th even 5th option on offense, Black Mamba exploded for 25pts and 6 three pointers.

More importantly, he did it every time the Aussies managed to put together a decent run to bring the American lead down. Team USA owes Kobe one, no doubt about that.

FINE GAME FIVE!

Now that is championship basketball.

Killer threes, slashing drives, miraculous foul-counteds (one from Fisher, one from Cassell), in-your-face shoutdowns, no-calls on obvious fouls, dives and floor burns, missed free throws from All Stars plus a strip and a Kobe dunk to seal the game.

Whew!

Lakers win Game 5, 103-98, and earn the right to go to Boston to try and keep their title hopes alive. Heroes for this game include Fisher, Farmar, Odom and Pau Gasol, who thoroughly outplayed Kevin Garnett in the last 3 minutes.

And now, on to Boston!

HOLY KAMOTENG KAHOY!

No effing way.

This was certainly not the way I thought things were going to be.

I had the Celtics winning in a Game 7 for the ages...and now, chances are we won't even get a whiff of a Game 7.

Game 4 at the Staples Center was supposed to be the equalizer, the game that anted up the pot by turning this series into a best of three.

And when the Lakers went up by 21 in the first quarter, with Garnett riding the bench, prophecy seemed all byt fulfilled.

The Celtics fought back in the 2nd, trying to whittle down the lead into a manageable size when Jordan Farmar hits a buzzer beating shot snuff out Boston's mini-rally.

In the third, Boston mad eanother run, bringing the lead down to 11 in the first 2 minutes. The lakers responded, staking another 20point lead, seemingly indestructible.

The Jesus took the floor. Jesus Shuttlesworth, that is. Ray Allen (19pts and 9 rebs, 3 of which were offensive rebounds) hit 2 clutch 3pointers, grabbed 2 offensive rebounds and hit 2 lay ups, one of which was a miraculous left handed banker, all in a span of 5 minutes. Paul Pierce (20pts and 7 assists) hit a three of his own, and connected on 2 jumpers. Garnett (16pts and 11 rebounds) chipped in two bank shots and a dunk. Eddie House hit 2 threes.

And suddenly, the Lakers were down by 2.

Kobe (17pts and 10 assists) tried to take the game over, hitting 2 straight shots but Boston countered with a Pierce jumper and a Posey three pointer.

And then...the game ended. Boston over LA, 97-91.

And I still find myself asking...what the hell just happened?

THEY CALL HIM..."THE MACHINE"!

And, in Game 3 of the NBA 2008 Championship round, they certainly needed his machine like precision.

Sasha Vujacic scored 20points on a variety of fundamentally sound and extremely open shots as Kobe "The Black Mamba: Bryant upped his game by another notch in scoring 36 points to lead LA to a 6 point victory.

Vujacic's offensive proficiency was very timely as Gasol and Odom were off-form and old reliable Derek Fisher was not as reliable as usual.

Fortunately for them, only Ray Allen from Boston's Big Three showed up, as Garnett missed his first 6 shots (including a breakaway dunk) and Pierce went 2-14.

On a curious side comment, Leon Powe drew some defensive pressure from Odom, Turiaf and Gasol. The Game 2 hero quickly reverted back to being a rookie.

Also, Kobe guarded Rajon Rondo, a testament to the Lakers' growing respect for the yougn point guard. Of course, 16 assists do have a tendency to get an opposing team's attention.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR! (just Red Auerbach's)

This was a loss that showed just how possible it is to beat the Celtics.

The Celtics had the Big Three firing, with Pierce scoring 28 and Allen and Garnett scoring 17 each.
The Celtics had Rondo fuelling and orchestrating the offense magnificently, with a Nash-like 16 assists.

The Celtics had a 28-10 advantage in free throws (meaning calls were going their way).

And yet, they still nearly gave away a 24point lead with just 8 minutes left in the fourth, as Kobe brought the Lakers to within 2points with 30seconds left in the game.

It actually took a herculean 21pt effort in just 14minutes from unheralded Leon Powe and a blocked Vujacic three pointer to finally close the deal for Boston.

Now just imagine one of those things not happening.

PS Kobe is such a phenomenal player. In the fourth, I saw a Laker execute a perfect crossover on Pierce, drive to his left, then rise for a lefthanded teardrop in the lane that hit nothing but net and I thought "Damn, that Odom sure is smooth!"

Then I saw the number. Who else but Black Mamba? He is so good with his offhand that I'm not sure he has an offhand.

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.

BREAKING DOWN THE FINALS: KOBE VS THE TRUTH

This week, we'll be breaking down the key matches in the upcoming Celtics vs Lakers series. And we kick off this series with a look at each team's resident star.

KOBE "BLACK MAMBA" BRYANT VS PAUL "THE TRUTH" PIERCE

Paul Pierce is one of those rare basketball players who can, and does, everything. Shoots threes, drives hard, slams with authority, passes well, dribbles like a guard, rebounds like a power forward, guards his man, never tires, takes and makes the big shot, makes the right play...

Problem is, he's up against a player who can do everything Pierce does ...and does it better. At this stage, there is no one better than Kobe Bryant in the NBA. he doesn;t even need the MVP award to prove it.

So, no matter how high Pierce elevates his game, he's always gonna come off second best in this match up.

Kobe over the Truth, 10-8.

THE PAST AND THE PRESENT: LAKERS VS CELTICS

As a denizen of the 80's, this image is one of the most enduring memories from my childhood.

Cool Larry Bird against exuberant Magic Johnson.

Intense white and green versus flashy purple and gold.

Stoic Celtics versus trash talking Lakers.

And they are back.

This time, the Celtics are no longer stoic and are probably more intense than ever before, with the arrival of the Big Ticket, Kevin Garnett and babyfaced sharpshooter, Ray Allen. But they are still as good as any veteran Celtics team of yore with Paul "The Truth" Pierce leading the charge, as well as rising star Rajon Rondo and solid role players like James Posey and Kendrick Perkins.

The Lakers aren't as flashy as Magic's Showtime Lakers, as hardworking Pau Gasol and reliable Derek Fisher are more about solid fundamentals and high basketball IQ's than athleticism. But all you need for Showtime is Kobe Bryant around the rim and Lamar Odom running free and determined. Add to that underrated Luke Walton, solid Sasha Vujacic and better-than-ever Jordan Farmar and we have got ourselves a hell of a series.

My take? Celtics over Lakers in overtime in a Game 7 for the ages (Kobe ends up with 60+pts, Allen, Garnett and Pierce each with 25+)

But then again, I've always been a fan of the Basketball Jesus.

BLACK MAMBA RULES!

If you think Kobe Bryant has grown into the best and most marketbale basketball player in the world...



...this clip just proved you right!

MAN, OH, MANU!

A foot beyond the three point line. Hand in the face. Fading away. Defender right up there. Time winding down.

So Manu hits the three, his fourth in the first half.

And just like that, the Spurs have revitalized their flagging playoff spirits. While Tony parker and Tim Duncan struggled to get into their deadly playoff forms, Manu Ginobili, the great Argentine shot down the Lakers' dreams of winning Game 3.

And he did it against Vujavic, Radmanovic, Walton, even Kobe for a spell. Finally, the Lakers accepted the inevitable and started preparing for Game 4 with about 4 minutes left on the clock.

By this time, the Spurs were on a roll, with Udoka, Finley, Bowen and Barry joining the scoring fray. This time, the Lakers bench had no answer.

My guess is the Spurs will win game 4 as well. And then, chances are the home teams win until Game 7.

And Game 7 is anybody's ballgame.

MVP TRUMPS SPURS

There's a reason Kobe Bryant is the MVP.

And the Spurs just got reminded why.

After scoring just two measly, un-Kobe-like points in the first half, the reigning MVP scored 25 pts after halftime, including the go ahead shot with about 20 seconds left in the clock.

The Lakers trailed for most of the game, going down by as much as 20points. But Kobe simply refused to give up, leading the Lakers to a scintillating comeback for the playoff record books.

On an aside, I guess we can safely proclaim the Pau Gasol project to be a resounding success. The Spanish conquistador battled Tim Duncan gallantly, scoring 19points, grabbing 7 rebounds and logging 2 blocks against the Big Fundamental's superb game stats of 30points, 18 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

The surprise of the night? Sasha Vujavic playing good defense against Manu Ginobili.

The question now is whether the close score here is an indication of the Lakers' vulnerability or whether the Lakers were just shaking off the rust from having the weekend off.

Game 2 is in two days time. Let's find out.