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.