By Guest Blogger, Kori Ellis

So they won’t go 82-0, that much we know. The Boston Celtics were defeated by the Orlando Magic on Sunday after starting the season 8-0. Their streak ended as Paul Pierce missed a potential game-winning three-point shot on the final play of the contest.

The Magic had a 17-point lead at the half and pushed it to 20 early in the third quarter. But Boston didn’t roll over and die. They chipped away and chipped away, even grabbing a 88-87 advantage with six minutes to go.

In the closing seconds, the Magic had a 103-102 lead when Rashard Lewis stepped to the line and missed one of two free throws, giving the Celtics an opportunity to win. However, Paul Pierce missed the three-pointer and Dwight Howard got the rebound to seal the victory.

Orlando was led by Howard (24 points) and Lewis (22 points) enroute to the 104-102 victory. Pierce tallied 28 points to lead the way for the Celtics. With the victory, the Magic’s record improved to 9-2, while the Celtics fell to 8-1.

Celtics-Magic Box Score

Post from: NBA Obsessed

By Guest Blogger, Kori Ellis

With San Antonio, Dallas and Houston in the Southwest Division, everyone expected the division race would be a dogfight this season.

With the reigning champs and the Mavericks back with virtually the same rosters as last season, and Houston making some nice offseason additions in Luis Scola and Mike James, it’s hard to predict who will be on top at the end of the season.

But one other team has jumped into the fray in somewhat of a surprise. After being riddled with injuries last season, the New Orleans Hornets currently sit at 8-2, tied with San Antonio for the best record in the division and second best record in the league.

Who Have They Beat?

This season, the Hornets have defeated the Trail Blazers, Nuggets, Lakers, Nets, Grizzlies and Sixers twice by an average margin of more than 12 points.

Their two losses came at Portland, a 93-90 defeat on November 7th, and a 97-85 loss to the Spurs two nights later.

Who’s Hot?

David West and Chris Paul are leading the way for the Hornets. West is averaging over 20 points and nearly eight rebounds a game. Paul has been extremely impressive, tallying 19.5 points and 10.8 assists on nearly 51% shooting.

But it’s not a two-man show in New Orleans. Stojakovic is healthy and averaging over 13 points a night, despite struggling with his shot inside the arc. And Tyson Chandler is doing big things for the Hornets. The 25-year-old is averaging 11.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 1.5 shots a night.

As a team New Orleans is averaging nearly 100 points a game. If they can remain healthy and tighten up even more defensively, they could be right in the mix at season’s end.

Some Chris Paul love …

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks have been busy. After Miami signed Charlie Bell to an offer sheet, the Bucks turned around and matched it. This was somewhat surprising, considering they had seemed to have given up on Bell when they signed Royal Ivey. Bell’s contract is reportedly worth $18.5 million over the next five years.

Milwaukee also waived guard Lynn Greer, freeing him up to go overseas. Greer immediately signed a contract in Greece for $7 million over two years. That’s quite an upgrade from the $700K salary he was scheduled to receive with the Bucks. To bolster their front line, the Bucks took a chance and added Samaki Walker. Walker was out of the league last season after playing with six NBA teams since 1996.

Cleveland Cavaliers
To the dismay of Cavs fans and management, they haven’t even been able to sign their own free agents. Restricted FA forwards Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic have yet to come to terms with the team to date. Pavlovic is pondering over offers in Europe while negotiations between his agent and the Cavs have ceased at this time. Varejao and his agent, Dan Fegan are reportedly tens of millions of dollars apart in contract talks with Cleveland. The Brazilian may also decided to go overseas if he cannot come to terms, but more than likely he will accept the Cavaliers qualifying offer for the season.

The Cavs signed swingman Devin Brown to a one-year deal on Friday and picked up young bigman Cedric Simmons from the Hornets on Saturday in a trade that sent David Wesley to New Orleans. Both of these moves are nice insurance in case Pavlovic and Varejao do not return.

In other Cavs news, LeBron James will be hosting the season premiere of Saturday Night Live this weekend.

Catch this video of LeBron in New York …

Post from: NBA Obsessed