April 21, 2011; All squared up

The San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers have taken revenge over their counterparts.

Both teams won their Game 2's in front of their homecourt to even their series at one game a piece.

The Spurs won a close one against the young Memphis Grizzlies, 93-87, behind the comeback of shooting guard Manu Ginobili, who is still nursing a bad arm.

He finished the game with 17 points, leading all scorers, along with 7 rebounds. The triumverate of Tim Duncan, Richard Jefferson and George Hill pulled in 16 points each, while Tony Parker added 12.

Practically the bench scoring was the key for this game as the Spurs' reserves outscored the Grizzlies' reserves, 27-19.

The young guns were led by Sam Young with 17 points and 4 rebounds.

Game 3 of this series will be played on Sunday, April 24th at 7:30 AM Manila time from the FedExForum in Memphis.

Now let's shift gears to OKC as the Thunder disposes the Denver Nuggets via 106-89 blowout, who now leads the series 2-0.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 23 points along with 5 boards and 5 dimes. Russell Westbrook had 21 points, four rebounds and seven assists.

James Harden had a great night off the bench with 18 markers in 28 minutes of play.

The Nuggets were led by Ty Lawson who had 20 points along with four rebounds and 3 assists. Maybyner "Nene" Hilario and Raymond Felton had 16 points each while Al Harrington had 15.

Game 3 will be played on Sunday, April 24th at 10:00 AM Manila time from the mile-high city, Denver, Colorado.

And now, let's head west to Hollywood, where the Los Angeles Lakers took care of the New Orleans Hornets via score of 87-78.

Crucial shots by Lamar Odom in the last salvo was the story of this game when at one point, his jumper created a fifteen-point bubble in their favor (76-61).

Another thing is the bench. The Laker bench are +14 against the Hornet bench in Game 2.

The Lakers were led by the double-double performance from Andrew Bynum with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Odom had 16 points off the bench, while Ron Artest had 15.

Kobe Bryant had his lowest playoff scoring output since the 2004 Finals series, scoring just 11 points, on 3 out of 10 shooting, along with 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

The Hornets meanwhile, are led by ex-Laker Trevor Ariza with 22 markers with 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Chris Paul contributed with 20 points, three rebounds and nine assists.

Game 3 of this series will be played on Saturday, April 23rd at 9:30 AM from New Orleans.

So there you have it! You guys have just been fed!

God bless you guys! Stay safe! Peace out! The Wizard was here...:)

Comments, questions and suggestions are highly appreciated! :)

April 18, 2011; A day of upsets

It has been a while (27 years) since a number one and two seeded team lost their first game of the series. Today was its reckoning, as the number one seeded team in the West, the San Antonio Spurs, and the number two seeded team, the Los Angeles Lakers, lost both their playoff home opener.

The 8th seeded Memphis Grizzlies stunned the Spurs with a 101-98 debacle at the AT&T Center. It marked their first post-season victory in their sixteenth year in the league. The Grizzlies started in Vancouver as an expansion franchise in 1995. In their six years of stay in the said city, never did they enter the postseason. The franchise transferred to Memphis in an effort to revamp their lapses. They waited for 2 more seasons until they reached their first postseason appearance. They advanced to the playoffs for the next three seasons but to no avail, with all of them ending in a sweep in the first round.

Shane Battier, a member of their 2006 squad, made the biggest shot of the game, a three-pointer to win the day for the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies were led by Zach Randolph with 25 points, along with 14 rebounds and 3 assists. Spanish big man Marc Gasol added 24 markers and 9 boards. Note that the Grizzlies are without their star forward Rudy Gay who is out with an injury.

The Spurs on the other hand had six players scoring in double figures, led by Tony Parker with 20 points, Tim Duncan with 16, George Hill with 15, Richard Jefferson with 13, Matt Bonner with 12 and Gary Neal with 10.

Game 2 of the series will be on Thursday, April 21 at 8:30 AM Manila time.

Let's now head to Hollywood as the Los Angeles Lakers found themselves on the opposite end of where they should've been, as they lost to the seventh seeded New Orleans Hornets to the tune of 109-100.

Kobe Bryant's 34 point performance wasn't enough as the Hornets were the more poised team down the stretch, thanks to the brilliant leadership skills of Chris Paul, who had 33 points of his own, along with 14 assists and seven rebounds. Carl Landry added 17 while Jarrett Jack had 15 markers for the Hornets, who are without the services of their leading scorer David West who had a season-ending injury.

Ron Artest was the Lakers' second leading contributor with 16 points. Big man Andrew Bynum had 13 points while Lamar Odom added 10 off the bench. The big question about this game was Pau Gasol, who just had eight points and six boards in 38 minutes of play. After the game, Bryant challenged Gasol not to be "soft" and show up in Game 2 on Thursday at 10:30 AM Manila time, for them not to be in a 0-2 bubble.

Now let's head on to the East as the third-seeded Boston Celtics escaped with a 89-87 victory against division rival sixth-seeded New York Knicks, via a three-pointer by the ever-so-cool Ray Allen with 11.7 seconds left in regulation.

The Knicks are appearing in the postseason for the first time in seven seasons, their last postseason win was on April 29, 2001.

And their chances of staying alive in the series suffered a major blow as newly acquired guard Chauncey Billups, left the game with 51 seconds remaining, who strained his left knee or thigh muscle. He is on a day-to-day status right now, and if he can't make it to Game 2 on Wednesday, Toney Douglas will start on his behalf.

The reigning Eastern Conference champs were led by Allen who had 24 points along with 6 rebounds on 9/15 shooting. The rest of the starters scored in double digits, led by Paul Pierce with 18 points, Kevin Garnett with 15, Jermaine O'Neal with 12 and Rajon Rondo with 10. The C's fielded just 9 players as they only used 4 players off the bench (Glen Davis, Delonte West, Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic).

The Knicks on the other hand, were led by All-Star center Amar'e Stoudemire with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony added 15 while Billups pulls in 10.

And now to the last game of the day, where the fourth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder went on to win a close one against battle tested fifth-seeded Denver Nuggets, 107-103. The tandem of scoring champ Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 72 points (41 for Durant, 31 for Westbrook), as they survived a overall team effort from the Nuggets.

A putback by Kendrick Perkins on the other hand, was questionable since he tipped it in with the ball still carreening on the cylinder. Nevertheless, a win's a win for the Thunder.

The Nuggets were led by Nene with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while Italian forward Danilo Gallinari chipped in 18 for the losing team.

Game 2 of the series will be played on Thursday, April 21 at 8:00 AM Manila time.

So there you have it! You have just been fed!

God bless you guys! Stay safe! Peace out! The Wizard was here...:)

Comments, questions and suggestions are highly appreciated ;)

April 8, 2011; If the Playoffs started today...

Here's what to look forward to come the 17th of April.

If the NBA PlayOffs have started today, this would be the picture.

In the East, the eighth seeded Indiana Pacers will face the first seeded Chicago Bulls. The seventh seeded Philadelphia 76ers will face the second seeded Boston Celtics. The sixth seeded New York Knicks will face the third seeded Miami Heat. And the fifth seeded Atlanta Hawks will face the fourth seeded Orlando Magic.

On the other side of things out West, the eighth seeded Memphis Grizzlies will face the first seeded San Antonio Spurs. The seventh seeded New Orleans Hornets will face the second seeded Los Angeles Lakers. The sixth seeded Portland Trail Blazers will face the third seeded Dallas Mavericks. And the fifth seeded Denver Nuggets will face the fourth seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

The top four teams from each conference will have homecourt advantage, meaning Game's 1, 2, 5 and 7 will be played on their homecourt, while Game's 3, 4 and 6 will be played on their opponent's homefloor.

And now, the results from today's games!

Boston 81 (54-24)

Chicago 97 (58-20)

United Center, Chicago, Illinois

BOS: Paul Pierce- 15 pts, 4 rebs, 1 asst.

CHI: Derrick Rose- 30 pts, 5 rebs, 8 assts, 2 stls.

Portland 98 (46-33)

Utah 87 (37-42)

EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah

POR: Gerald Wallace- 29 pts, 8 rebs, 2 assts, 1 stl.

UTAH: Devin Harris- 26 pts, 2 rebs, 5 assts.

So there you have it! You guys have just been fed!

God bless you guys! Stay safe! Peace out! The Wizard was here...:)

Comments, questions and suggestions are highly appreciated! :)

Graduation day tomorrow! :)