REF CRAWFORFD GAVE LAKERS GAME 4 WIN

The "grudge part 2"? NBA ref Joey Crawford ruined what could had been a beautiful and exciting playoff game between the defending champs San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers escaped with a 93-91 win and a 3-1 advantage with the series going back to tinseltown for game 5. Actually the series should have been tied at 2-all if not for the outrageous no-call of Crawford on a very obvious foul of the Lakers' Derek Fisher on a 3-point attempting Brent Barry of the Spurs. The Spurs had magnificently came back from a seven point deficit with 51 ticks to go to trim the lead of the Lakers down to a basket when Barry faked Fisher with the latter falling hard on the former at the 3-point area in front of Crawford and alas no whistle was blown!

It can be recalled that this is the same ref who ejected Tim Duncan last year in a regular season game for no apparent reason at all thus resulting into his suspension by NBA commish David Stern. Now Crawford had unleashed all his anger on the Spurs and what a time to do his revenge! This ref should had not been allowed to officiate in the playoffs in the first place, the league's image can be tarnished with this kind of cheap retaliation.

Joey Crawford has no place in the NBA! period!

CONGRATS TO SOLAR SPORTS

With Solar Sports' bagging of the rights for the coverage of the PBA games starting next season, the giant sports network now had locked up exclusively the TV rights of almost all of basketball's prestigious leagues such as the NBA, PBA, US NCAA final four, Euroleague and PBL.

I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to the said network for bringing the NBA conference finals playoffs and as well as the coming championship series live on local TV behind C/S Sports. It gave the non-Destiny cable subscribers the chance of a lifetime to watch the NBA games as it happens.

My hats off to the Tieng brothers and Jude Turcuato! Mabuhay kayo!

ITS NOW 2-2 IN THE EAST

Shades of 2004? The Detroit Pistons played their best defesive game of the series so far and whipped the Boston Celtics, 94-75 at the Palace of Auburn Hills to even up the Eastern Conference finals at 2 games apiece.

Jason Maxiell typified the kind of defense the Pistons played all night, highlighted by a breathtaking block of a breakway slam of Kevin Garnett in the second period. So stifling were the Pistons in their air-tight press as they limited the beantown boys to only 32% FG! The Celtics did not scored more than 19 points in each quarter of the second half.

Antonio McDyess topscored for the Pistons with 21 points and hauled down a game-high 16 caroms. Four other Pistons tallied double figures in scoring with Richard Hamilton contributing 20, Rasheed Wallace and Maxiell hitting 14 apiece and Chauncy Billups finishing up with 10 points. The celebrated trio of the Celtics (Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen) were limited to a total of only 43 points.

With the momentum now on the side of the motown squad, expect the Pistons to ride on their game 4 victory and score a crucial win in Boston that will set-up for the clincher at the Palace. Whew! It looks like there's no stopping the Pistons from now on!

WILL BELINELLI BE GIVEN A CHANCE?

The Golden State Warriors surprised a lot of NBA pundits when they drafted Italian hotshot Marco Belinelli with the 18th pick in the 2007 draft.

A many-time national player, Belinelli was expected to offset the loss of erstwhile Warrior pointmaker Jason Richardson, who was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats during a draft day deal which sent Belinelli's co-rookie Brandan Wright to the bay area. The sweet-shooting Belinelli, whose perimeter sniping and 3-point bombing can be compared to Warrior great and now team official Chris Mullin, then took the NBA summer league in Las Vegas by storm, by posting big numbers for the Golden State entry.

But the Warriors top honcho Don Nelson had a change of heart as the 2007-08 season began. Belinelli played in only 33 games (out of a possible 82 outings), seeing action in only 7.3 minutes per game and contributing a measly 2.9 points an outing. As a shooting guard, he played behind swingmen Baron Davis, Monta Ellis and Mickael Pietrus. Poor boy Marco did not had his chance to show his prowess.

With Davis sending feelers to other team and thinking seriously of leaving the Warriors, Belinelli may finally get his chance to shine.

Come on Marco, show the Warriors why you had become one of the deadliest shooters in Italian cage history! The time indeed has come!

SPURS IN GAME 3 MASSACRE!

The San Antonio Spurs showed the basketball world that nobody can never, ever underestimate the heart of a champion as they bounced back from a 30-point loss in game 2 to destroy Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, 103-84 earlier today.

The win brought back the Spurs into the Western Conference finals series, 2-1 after losing 2 contrasting defeats at Staples Center. Game 1 saw the Spurs faltering in the final period to succumb, 89-85 but not after blowing a 20-point advantage in the 3rd quarter. A lackadaisical performance by the Spurs in game 2 saw the Lakers running away with a 30-point win, 101-71.

Game 4 is set on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning Manila time) also at the AT&T Center in the kingdom of the Spurs, with the defending champs eyeing the equalizer and sending back the series to square one. Manu Ginobili starred for the Spurs in game 3 and made up for his so-so performance in the first two games.

To those who had given up on the Spurs, "NEVER EVER UNDERESTIMATE THE HEART OF A CHAMPION!"

THE FINAL FOUR!

So its the NBA's 2 most-storied teams, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers which drew first blood in the conference finals. The Celtics took advantage of Detroit's long respite from active play, winning 88-79 at home while the Lakers dramatically came back from 20 points down in the 3rd canto to take the opener, 89-85 at Staples Center.

Both series are worth watching as the top 2 seeds in the east, one with the biggest offseason build up and the other a defensive-conscious perennial title contender and the battle in the west between the defending champs and a team, which is the current toast of the season, slug it out for a finals seat.

It is widely believe that when the smoke is cleared, the Detroit Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs will be the last 2 teams standing come the NBA finals. Both teams had the experience and the depth to go all the way to the championship round. The core of the 2007 Spurs champion team is still very much around and the same can be said of the Pistons with the vital cogs of its 2004 title-winning squad still wreaking havoc in the playoffs. The celebrated tro of Boston's big 3, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are all-star calibers but remember none of them had won a single championship ring so far. On the other hand, the Lakers, featuring season MVP Kobe Bryant had only Paul Gasol, Derek Fisher, Luke Walton and Lamar Odom to count on as able veterans of the tinseltown team. Andrew Bynum's injury was a big blow to the Lakers campaign, leaving a big vacuum in the middle. Bynum's absence will create mismatches in the center position against the Spurs, which has big bodies in Tim Duncan and argentine banger Fabricio Oberto. Add to that the inconsistent play of Odom in the current playoffs.

So my apology for those LA and Boston fans who are looking forward to a revival finale between the Celtics and the Lakers as all roads to the NBA finals are pointing to a rematch of the 2005 NBA champioship, the San Antonio Spurs vs. Detroit Pistons!

HORNETS FLY HIGH!; CAVS TO SLAY GHOST OF 2007?

So far, my NBA playoff forecast remains on target. The Detroit Pistons, which I picked to win the east, are now in the finals of the Eastern Conference awaiting the winner of the Celtics-Cavaliers series. The Pistons now had made it to the conference finals a records six straight times tying the record of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 80s.

On my other picks, those on shaky grounds are the highly-fancied Celtics and the defending champs, the San Antonio Spurs. The Beantown squad are currently locked up with the defending eastern winners Cavaliers at 2 wins apiece while the Spurs are facing elimination with a 3-2 deficit against the upstart New Orleans Hornets. The surprising Hornets blew out the Alamo outfit, 101-79 in game 5 and now had 2 chances to close out the series entering game 6, which is scheduled at the AT&T Center. In case of a game 7, that will be played in the Hornets nest in New Orleans.

LeBron James made up for his so-so performance in the first 2 games of the Boston series, leading the Cavs to back-to-back victories in games 3 and 4 in Cleveland. James and the Cavaliers are looking forward of duplicating their NBA finals stint last year, which they lost via a sweep against the Spurs. With a new-look line-up this season, Cleveland is not only gunning for a finals seat but likewise, to win it all come June.

The Utah Jazz-LA Lakers series now looks like a toss-up after the Jazz scored 2 straight wins at home to tie-up the series going to game 5 in Staples Center. I predicted the Jazz to win the series in six games and I am still on track with that one.

The playoffs is now entering the homestretch and all my predictons are still alive. So hang on to your seats as we enjoy a christmas season in June! Hohoho!

WAS CP3 ROBBED OF THE MVP PLUM?

Its now official, the 2007-08 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) is Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. It was the 1st ever MVP award for Bryant, who is now on his 12th NBA season. But now a few eyebrows were raised on Bryant's winning of pro basketball's most prestigious individual award.

Many felt that the most stellar performance (impact-wise) dished out by an NBA player this past regular season is by New Orleans 3rd year gem of a point guard, Chris Paul. Paul, a 6-0 guard out of Wake Forest, was instrumental in leading the Hornets to a 56-26 win-loss mark and the Southwest Division title. Others will easily point out to the Lakers winning of the Pacific Division and best regular season slate of 57-25 in the West as the upside in Kobe's MVP selection. But remember, the tinseltown's late season surge was not an all-Kobe show but mainly due to the trade last February which sent erstwhile Memphis star Pau Gasol to the Lakers. On the other hand, CP3 was the vital cog and catalyst of a non-star Hornets squad, which is the most surprising team in the league this year and which it also netted Byron Scott the Coach of the Year honors.

For a head-to-head match-up of individual stats between Paul and Bryant, herewith is their respective '07-08 numbers :

CHRIS PAUL KOBE BRYANT

21. 1 PPG 28.3

4.0 RPG 6.3

11.6 APG 5.4

2.7 SPG 1.8

We do hope that come the next selection of the NBA MVP awardee, it will be through merits and not merely a popularity contest. Give it to the most deserving!

THE HAWKS ALMOST SHOCK THE WORLD!

The powerhouse Boston Celtics had finally eliminated the surprising Atlanta Hawks in game 7 of their Eastern Conference first round play-offs via a whopping 99-65 rout! But coach Mike Woodson and his bunch of gritty boys had nothing to be ashamed of! Imagine extending the top-seeded Celtics to the limit, whew!

At the end of game 6 wherein the Hawks pulled even in the series, 3-3, after a heart-stopping 103-100 victory at the Philips Arena, I noticed an ATL fan holding a signboard "SHOCK THE WORLD!", well they almost did. But the experience of the title-favorite Celtics is too much for the young Hawks as evidenced by the winning margin of the deciding game. But I and the rest of the NBA world take our hats off to this up-and-coming team. A team consists of young turks in Al Horford, Josh Smith, Josh Childress, Marvin Willams and veteran snippers Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson, it is widely believe that come the next NBA season, the Atlanta Hawks shall be a team to reckon with! Mark my word on that dude!