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?

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.

BLACK MAMBA IN CONFERENCE FINALS!

That was a fantastic series.

Whatever else it was, no one can deny that it was a fantastic series.

In a Game 6 that was mostly comfortable for the Lakers, the Jazz dismantled a 16point deficit with about 8 minutes left in the fourth to cut it down to 2pts with about 8seconds left.

With main man Carlos Boozer out of the game, it was the fleetfooted Deron Williams who led the charge, capped by 2 crucial 3pointers from the cool as ice Andre Kirilenko (aka AK47).

What was really surprising about this was that Kirilentko had gone 0-9 from three point land in this series, but he had no hesitation at all in launching and making those threes. Still wondering why this guy won MVP in the European Championships? That's why.

So, the Lakers move on in 6. Now I'm really excited to see who they go up against. For their sakes, they better hope its the Hornets.

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.