In 46 minutes, James scored 37 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out 12 assists. He finished 11-for-24 from the field and 15-for-19 from the free throw line.

LeBron James was King James in Game 5 (Image: Newscom)

For once, the Chosen One actually got some help. Mo Williams had 24 points and hit 7-of-14 shots from the field, including 6-of-9 three-pointers. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16 points, while Delonte West chipped in 13 points.

The Magic can’t be too disappointed in their play. Early on, they fell into a 22-point whole but they battled all the way back and even took control of the game in the third quarter. It took a heroic effort by James to extend the series to Game 6.

Dwight Howard was again a monster in the middle, totaling 24 points, ten rebounds and two assists despite fouling out in 37 minutes. Hedo Turkoglu led the Magic in scoring with 29, while Rashard Lewis scored 15.

Game 6 will be played in Orlando on Saturday. Considering that Game 7 is in Cleveland, the pressure shifts to the Magic to slam the door on King James and the Cavs.

Post from: EveryJoe

LeBron James Keeps Cavs Alive in Game 5

Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol Lead the Lakers (Image: Zuma Press)

The Lakers and Nuggets were actually tied after the first, second and third quarters, however L.A. was able to get it rolling in the fourth. Off the bench, Odom had 19 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and three assists, while Pau Gasol poured in 14 points, ten rebounds, five blocks, four assists and two steals. Although Bryant had seven turnovers and missed 5-of-6 three-pointers, he still managed to score 22 points, dish out eight assists and grab five rebounds.

For the Nuggets, they now find themselves trailing 2-3 in this best of seven series. Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points but he connected on just 9-of-23 field goals. No one else on Denver scored more than 12 points.

Game 6 will be played on Friday in Denver. The Nuggets will either win or stay home for the summer.

Post from: EveryJoe

Odom, Gasol Lead Lakers over Nuggets

The Lakers were trailing by ten points with three minutes remaining and looked capable of making a run. However, J.R. Smith nailed a pair of three-pointers soon after to pull out the win for Denver.

J.R. Smith was big for the Nuggets in Game 4 (Image: Zuma Press)

Smith and Chauncey Billups ended up leading the Nuggets in scoring on the night with 24 points apiece. Carmelo Anthony scored 15 points but struggled — hitting just 3-of-16 shots from the field. The Nuggets got double-doubles from Kenyon Martin and Nene, with Martin going for 13 points and 15 rebounds and Nene finishing with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Los Angeles was led by the dynamic duo of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. Bryant had 34 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Gasol had 21 points, ten rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

With the series now tied 2-2, Game 5 in Los Angeles will be pivotal. The contest will be played on Wednesday at 9 PM EST.

Post from: EveryJoe

Nuggets Run Past Lakers, Tie Series

Kobe Bryant led the way with 26 points in 31 minutes. Paul Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza, Jordan Farmar, Josh Powell and Lamar Odom also joined Bryant in double figures. Gasol, specifically, was helpful with his 16 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 33 minutes of action.

For the Rockets, it was a long night at the office. As a team, they shot just 32.6% from the field and hit only 5-of-29 three-point attempts. Point guard Aaron Brooks led Houston in scoring with 14 points, while Luis Scola chipped in with 12 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.

The Lakers will try to eliminate the Rockets in Game 6, which will be played on Thursday in Houston.

Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers (Image: Newscom)

Post from: EveryJoe

Lakers Hammer Rockets By 40 in Game 5

Now that we’ve had a few days to reflect on the way the L.A. Lakers blew a 24-point lead in Game 4 and gave the now 3-1 Boston Celtics a chance to clinch the title tonight, we think we know what happened to Jack Nicholson’s favorite team.

Here are the Top 5 reasons the Celtics made such a big comeback in Game 4, in no particular order:

1. That Laker Girl Whitney, who got her start as a Celtics cheerleader, is bad luck. (Move over, Jessica Simpson. There’s a new jinx in town!).

2. The overall putziness of announcer Jeff Van Gundy, who professes a crush on Alyssa Milano yet has her confused with Vanessa Minillo as the girlfriend of Nick Lachey (glad to know The Sports Diva Magazine also found this annoying), somehow infected the Lakers. We think it’s some kind of putz virus with a distinct strain that negatively affects teams Van Gundy deems the winner in the first quarter.

3. Kobe Bryant is probably still embarrassed over the purple tutu his wife Vanessa wore to his on-court MVP ceremony. Yeah, we’ve mentioned this several times already, but if we’re still not over it, Kobe probably isn’t, either.

4. Here we defer to eTrueSports, who actually offer 11 (satirical) reasons on this video clip with which we can’t disagree. Sure, we know that’s double-dipping, but eTrueSports editor Frank Coffey said it was OK.  Really!

5. This reason (1m, 24s) isn’t funny—especially if you’re the Lakers. It’s Just. Plain. Awesome. Watch Ray Allen wave off the screen and blow by Sasha Vujacic in a one-on-one clip for the archives if the Celtics win this championship:

Post from: EveryJoe

Top 5 Reasons for Celtics’ Comeback in Game 4

Why? Well, the Detroit Pistons forward ripped officials and was a pottymouth to boot following his team’s Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 loss to the Boston Celtics, 106-102. (And we’d be remiss if we didn’t toss in a “Yay Boston!” here). 

Of course, Wallace is a well-known trash-talker, ref quarreler, and, as evidenced in the following clip (20s), angry shirt-tosser. This bit is from last year but unintentional slapstick humor—keep your eye on the suit several guys behind ‘Sheed—never gets old:

Post from: EveryJoe

NBA to Wallace: “Shut Up You Mouth!”