Cinderella run by Ginebra ain't stopping after wallopping TNT

An unexpected scoreline drew upon 14,627 fans inside the Big Dome as crowd-darling Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel used an early 10-0 run to catapult itself to victory over Talk 'N Text, 104-81, to lead their best-of-five semifinal in the Cebuana Lhuillier-PBA Commissioner's Cup.

After trailing 2-0 on the Ranidel De Ocampo stab, it seems that Ginebra didn't have the word "miss" in their vocabulary, as three-pointers and easy shots were piling up in their favor.

Import Vernon Macklin had a great game, scoring 25 points and grabbing nine boards, far from his forgettable performance when these two teams last met in the regular season, which was the end of their 6-game winning streak.

Kerby Raymundo has been consistent for the Kings ever since coach Alfrancis Chua gave his sign of confidence to "The Kid". He finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, enough for him to bag the Best Player of the Game honors.

All players who are suited up for their team played in today's game, and interestingly, one for each team went scoreless (Elmer Espiritu and Jared Dillinger).

Josh Urbiztondo had his greatest performance in a Ginebra uniform, scoring 12 points on 4/8 shooting from distance. Chris Ellis and Mac Baracael combined for 25 points for the Kings, who are now on a 3-game winning streak since beating Rain or Shine twice in the quarterfinal round.

Jerome Jordan led the Texters with 21 points in 43 minutes, most of which came from the charity stripe. Jayson Castro led the locals with 18 points.

This is the greatest defeat that Talk 'N Text ever tasted since the 113-85 beatdown at the hands of the Alaska Aces back in the 2007 Fiesta Conference, on which Derrick Pumaren was still their head coach.

Ginebra reigned supreme from beyond the arc, with an impressive 42% mark, while TNT made just one (from Jimmy Alapag) out of 18 attempts, to the tune of just 5%.

Game 2 will be played on Sunday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. 

Grizz makes it a series after grinding out Clips

The Grind House is a very fitting nickname to the FedEx Forum as the Memphis Grizzlies outhustled and outplayed the LA Clippers, 94-82, to go back to the series.

In the process, Memphis snapped the Clippers' nine-game winning streak, starting from late in the regular season.

Marc Gasol, who accepted his Defensive Player of the Year award before tipoff, tallied 16 points and 8 rebounds. Z-Bo had a monster game, scoring 27 points and adding 11 boards to his name. 

The Clippers last led at 10-8, and after that, pop goes the weasel as the Grizzlies used all their grinding to carve the W infront of a ruckus crowd.

Last season's Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin led the way for the Clippers with 16 points on 5/12 from the field, along with just 2 rebounds.

Game 4 will be on Sunday at 4:00 AM Manila time, simulcast on NBA Premium TV.

Bulls survive late Nets run to lead series

The Chicago Bulls did not have a field goal, only relying on two foul shots in the final 5:46 of the ballgame, yet they still manage to hang on and defeat the Brooklyn Nets, 79-76, to grab the 2-1 series lead.

They have broken the trend in this year's playoffs as the only lower seeded team to lead their series at this stage.

Carlos Boozer bulldozed his way to a double-double, scoring in as many ways as possible with 22 points and grabbing 16 rebounds for the Bulls. Luol Deng is still in his consistent self, having a double-double of his own with 21 and 10.

The Nets just made 35% of their field goal attempt, an abyssmal value for a team who has great scorers like Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace, who along with Bulls center Joakim Noah nursed a plantar fasciitis but still played the game.

Both of whom however, struggled in the field. Wallace finished with just 5 points on 2/8 from the field, while Noah only had a solitary point after a made free throw attempt in the final salvo.

The highlight of the game went to Taj Gibson, who at one point posterized Kris Humphries via a huge slam. He finished with 4 points on 12 minutes of play.

Game 4 of this series will be on Sunday, 2:00 AM Manila time, simulcast on NBA Premium TV.

Heat one game away from sweep

The Miami Heat relied on the shooting of Ray Allen to rally past the Milwaukee Bucks, 104-91, to take the 3-0 lead in their series.

It is a known fact that no NBA team has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit in a best-of-seven series.

But give credit to the Bucks though. They practically controlled the ballgame in the first half, leading 30-21 after one and 50-48 at halftime.

But according to an old adage in basketball, it became a case of a game of two halves for the Bucks, much to the shagrin of the 18,165 fans inside the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

LeBron James led the run for the Heat, scoring seven of his 22 points in the 3rd quarter alone, on which they outscored the Bucks, 30-18.

Chris Bosh had a solid double-double performance, scoring 16 points, mostly from open jumpers and grabbing 14 rebounds. Dwyane Wade only scored four points, but he still had 11 assists, 9 rebounds and 5 steals, not bad for an off night.

But the hero of the game for the Heat was Allen, who now holds the NBA Postseason record for most 3-point shots made at 322 for his entire career. He led his team with 23 points on 5/8 from downtown.

Larry Sanders and Brandon Jennings led the Bucks with 16 points each.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute did well in the first half against LeBron, but the reigning MVP still reigned over, specially in the second half.

Game 4 of the series will be played on Monday at 3:30 AM Manila time, simulcast on NBA Premium TV.

Parker sizzles as Spurs thwarts Lakers

Second seeded San Antonio Spurs relied on long-serving point guard Tony Parker to provide much of the offense as he tallied 28 points and 7 assists en route to a 102-91 win over seventh seeded LA Lakers.

The Lakers, to their credit, shot better compared to Game 1, but the thing is, so as San Antonio.

Tim Duncan, who just turned 37 years old, scored 16 points along with energy provider Kawhi Leonard. Argentinian Manu Ginobili added 13 points while big man shooter Matt Bonner contributed 10 for the Spurs,  who now leads their best-of-seven series 2 games to none.

Dwight Howard only scored 16 points, along with Steve Blake. Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace had 13 each. On my blog post last night, I noted that D12 and Pau Gasoft, este Gasol SHOULD assert themselves and trust their own abilities. If Dwight and Pau had scored 20 each, they would've won the game, in my humble opinion.

Composure is another thing. At this stage, they should know how to close out games. Yes they've stayed close in the majority of the game but come crunch time they crumble. The Spurs for me, given their familiarity with each other has this advantage over the somehow "rebuilding" Laker team with their new coach, new players and a system to embrace.

Yes I know they are playing hurt, but come on, this is the playoffs. Hindi na pwede ang excuses at this stage of the season, given the fact that your best player is out on injury. Walang mapapala ang kakacheer sa inyo ni Kobe if you don't deliver. To think that I'm not a Laker fan. I do believe in never say die, dahil fan ako ng Ginebra. No Caguioa? No Mamaril? No problem for them so far. Think about that.

Game 3 of this series will be played on Saturday at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles at 10:30AM Manila time, simulcast on NBA Premium TV and ABS-CBN.

Note: Marc Gasol, younger brother of Pau from the Memphis Grizzlies was awarded today as the Defensive Player of the Year.

M.I.P. makes an impression

Newly crowned Most Improved Player Paul George carried his troops to an impressive 113-98 beatdown of the sixth seeded Atlanta Hawks.

The aforementioned award was handed by his injured teammate, 2009 MIP Danny Granger in center court before tip-off.

They now lead their best-of-seven series 2-0, with the third game on Sunday morning Manila time, which will  be simulcast on ABS-CBN.

The Pacers dominated the ballgame, even leading as much as 24 points. They also made 72.4% of their free throws, compared to the 55% made by their opponents. 

On a personal note, I believe the Hawks are badly missing the services of Joe Johnson, their former player who was dealt to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Devin Harris. He can score in bunches if he wanted to, but tough luck for them, they would need to settle with the other players in their roster like shooter Kyle Korver, who only scored 9 points on 3/9 from the rainbow country.

Another thing is that all available players for both teams played, which only means two things. One, is that coach Larry Drew of the Hawks really dug deep into his roster to find the spark whom should have catapulted them to victory and two, coach Frank Vogel of the Pacers trusted everybody on his side to bring their A-game. Those are two different things on my book.

Thunder lean on Rus and Kev to humble Rockets

Oklahoma City's All-Star duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant scored 29 points each to ward off the pesky Houston Rocket team, 105-102, to take the commanding 2-0 lead with the series now shifting to Clutch City.

Former Thunder guard James Harden led the way for Houston with 36 points, capping off the 21-2 run made by their run towards the midway of the final salvo, a point which they took the lead, 95-91, but with their late game poise which was very evident, the Thunder protected their homecourt packed with 18,203 screaming fans and still managed to stop the bleeding ergo the victory.

The third game of the series will be on Sunday morning Manila time.

Rockets head coach Kevin McHale inserted guard Patrick Beverley in place of Harvard grad Jeremy Lin in the starting lineup. The unheralded guard responded nicely with a double-double performance, scoring 16 points and dishing off 12 assists in 41 minutes of play. Chandler Parsons added 17 points and 7 boards in consolation.

Three other Thunder players scored in double figures, led by Spanish international Serge Ibaka (12), Thabo Sefolosha (11) and Kevin Martin (10), who's part of the trade for James Harden. 

How will the Lakers win without Kobe?

With Coach Mike D'Antoni at the helm, the Lakers are foreseen as a run-and-gun team much as the Phoenix Suns before. But with Kobe Bryant as the primary option for scoring, that plan will definitely change as they will try to look for more isolation plays. 

Now that Kobe has tore his Achilles tendon and won't suit up for the purple and gold for some time, it is high time for the Lakers to use up their giant frontline of Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard as often as possible.

For sure if they pound the ball inside, 8 or 9 times out of 10, there WILL be scoring opportunities. The way I see it, nagiging V-Mack na si Dwight Howard. He's been hitting free throws whenever "Hack-a-Dwight" is being employed by the opposing teams.

They could also use screens for shooters like Steve Blake, Jodie Meeks, Antawn Jamison and Metta World Peace. Let's not forget that 2-time MVP Steve Nash is manning the backcourt for the Lakers, the same court general of D'Antoni in Phoenix before, so familiarity won't be an issue.

Tomorrow they will the face the Spurs anew. According to some people in social networking sites, the only way that the Lakers will win is to not allow the Spurs to step on the floor. Well, kung pupwede 'yun, why not? Hahaha! But seriously speaking, Tim Duncan is like Ranidel De Ocampo out there. Yung mapapasabi ka ng "Ambagal naman ng kilos nya, bakit hindi nyo mapalpal?". He's not called the Big Fundamental for nothing. He will shoot the bank shot, he will drive and make a semi-hook, he will dunk, heck, he will even assist. Thing is, Pau Gasoft, este, Gasol, should man up and DO NOT allow Timmy to have space to maneuver, but not to tight to cause a foul.

Dwight Howard should also assert himself as one of the best shotblockers in the league.

Personally speaking, I am not a Laker fan, but I just had some things in mind that they could do to able to sneak one or two in there. Ika nga ng ilang fans, sayang naman ang pinaghirapan ni Kobe.

Before I end, let me digress. Bayern Munich PUMMELLED Barcelona in the UEFA CL Semis, 4-0, behind 2 goals from Thomas Muller and a goal each from Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben.

Barca, ANYARE?

United clinches title number 20

They are 19-time English Champions, and now, they will add another silverware to their already filled trophy case.

The Red Devils of Manchester United have clinched their 13th English (Barclays) Premier League title after defeating Aston Villa, 3-0 at Old Trafford via a hat-trick from prized pick-up Robin van Persie, much to the delight of the home fans. They have now won a total of 20 English championships, the most by any club.

They now have to win their 5 remaining fixtures to go over the 95 points this season, a feat set by Chelsea not so long ago.

Most noteworthy is that all the 13 Premier League titles by United was with Sir Alex Ferguson, who is with the team since November 6, 1986.

Congratulations to the team! Glory, glory Man United!

The Sports Wizard a.k.a. The Vice Dean is back!

As the old Filipino song goes... "Kay tagal mo man'g nawala, babalik ka rin, babalik ka rin". Indeed I am. Balik sa dating nakagawian, para ibigay ang aking "two cents" to everything about the thing I love, the world of sports.

First of, on to the world of tennis wherein World Number One Novak Djokovic has defeated the "King of Clay" Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo in straight sets (6-2, 7-6), thus ending the latter's eight-year reign as champion of the said event in the French Riviera.

Nole entered the finals after beating Italy's number two player Fabio Fognini while Rafa took care of Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Now on to the world of basketball where the first set of individual awards have been handed out. The Sixth Man of the Year was awarded to Knicks' shooter J.R. Smith, while the Most Improved Player trophy was handed to Pacers' all-star forward Paul George in a press conference held at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

*George, tallied 311 of the possible 1,080 points, and 52 out of the 120 first place votes. George’s numbers went up from 12.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists last season to 17.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists this year, possibly due to the absence of their top scorer Danny Granger due to injuries.

He (George) is the fourth player in Pacers' history to bag the honor after sweet-shooting Jalen Rose in 2000,  big man Jermaine O'Neal in 2002 and the aforementioned Granger in 2009.

Now let me hit you guys with the latest on the NBA Playoffs!

Milwaukee 86
Miami 98
American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
MIL: Ersan Ilyasova- 21 pts, 6 rebs, 1 asst.
MIA: Dwyane Wade- 21 pts, 7 rebs, 3 assts, 2 stls.
Heat leads series 2-0

Boston 71
New York 87
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
BOS: Paul Pierce- 18 pts, 6 rebs, 6 assts.
NYK: Carmelo Anthony- 34 pts, 4 rebs, 1 asst.
Knicks leads series 2-0

Golden State 131
Denver 117
Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
GSW: Stephen Curry- 30 pts, 5 rebs, 13 assts, 3 stls.
DEN: Ty Lawson- 19 pts, 1 reb, 12 assts, 1 stl.
Series tied 1-1

Tomorrow, the Playoffs continue as Game 2's will be played. The Houston-Oklahoma City game will be at 7AM Manila time. The Atlanta-Indiana game will follow shortly at 7:30 AM on BTV, while the game between the Lakers and the Spurs will cap things off at 9:30 AM, on NBA Premium TV. 

And for all you PBA fans, kakatapos lang ng Game 3 between San Mig Coffee and Meralco, with the Mixers holding off the Bolts to a 90-82 scoreline, thus advancing to the semifinal round to face the top seeded Alaska Aces. 

The other semifinal bracket will feature the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters and the league's most popular team, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings. Their series will start on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.