OT again in CHI-BOS! Rondo has 24/8/10, so should maintain his triple double average for the series.

Bulls and Celtics go to OT 93 apiece.

What a series. Tied at 2 all, 3 games gone to at least one OT.

Orlando are up in the 4th.

Celtics win 106 - 104. Shit. Celtics up 3 - 2.

Back to Chi Town we go.

Magic beat Philly 91 - 78 to go up 3 - 2.

Dallas are up early in the 2nd.

Can someone help me out... One of the last plays that sent Brad Miller to the line was a hard foul on Rajon Rondo. The refs reviewed the foul over and over but in the replay you see the defender (I think its Perkins) jump up to block Millers shot and touch the rim... I thought this was goal-tending??? However the refs and commentators were too busy studying the harshness of Rondo's foul and didn't even mention Perkins. I may be wrong on this but if it was goal-tending and the points counted then the game is tied and Miller has 1 foul shot with 2 seconds left for the game... This is a lot easier then making 2 foul shots when down 2 points to tie the game which proved too difficult for Miller. Someone that recorded the game check out the replays and get back to me. Cheers

That was a crazy good game. Wonder how Danny Ainge is coping with the stress/excitement after his recent heart attack.

Carlisle has done a fantastic job with this Dallas side. First he keeps them winning while Howard played half the season, and when he did play he was still hurting. Factor in that Erry (no J) Stackhouse never played, that Diop proved once and for-all that he was a bust, that Kidd was supposed to be exposed on a nightly basis for being too old...

Yet they finished higher than the jazz and hornets and got a favourable first round against the injury riddled and talent starved spurs.

Well done to the Mavs, the forgotten play-off team.

I just keep expecting them to choke and crash to earth, 2006 Finals-style. I guess with their recent string of underwhelming finals campaigns, they've really got nothing to lose.

What a great win by Boston, to come from 11 down early in the last quarter. Paul Pierce made 3 jump shots in the last 77 seconds of ovetime! That's the Truth... sorry, had to!

Perkins had a big game, 16 points, 19 rebounds, 7 blocks.
Once again the bench did bugger all, scoring only 5 points.

6-21 shooting for Ben Gordon... yuck!

Bulls vs Celtics is an amazing series...Rondo has been amazing...injuries devastating both teams and yet they are both still standing and slugging it out!

Mavs looking good to win their series...

Apparently Miller said that he was very suprised that it was not called a flagrant foul on Rondo. The trainers had to tend to him whilst the ref's watched the replay.

I know i'm about to be shot down for this... but i would pick Paul Pierce before Kobe....

He is just that little bit tougher, that little bit stronger at taking the ball inside and absorbing contact...

Kobe is the better shooter, but it seems to me that Pierce is the guy i would rather go into battle with...

LETS. GO. MAVERICKS!

Mavs get the win, and Blazers stay alive...

Brave man to bet against the Rockets in Houston for next game...

So I got 2 out of 4 tips. Damn Bulls!
Wow, really thought the Spurs would stretch it to another game.

Hey Quagmire i'll take that bet.. Blazers in 7, were finding how to stop Yao and we got B Roy.. as long as we crash the offensive boards and execute down the stretch (we lost game 4 by dumb decisions) then we'll take the W in Houston.. oh and the refs get out of Yao's pocket

but hey I may be biased..

oh and not sure if links are ok here but found this one.. http://www.taghoops.com/ got the blazers - rockets live feed and post game interviews are on now

Posted it before, but i'm gonna say it again...

Spurs are still scoring at the same rate as when they won championships...

The problem is they have slipped so far in defence with the loss of guys like Bowen and Horry...

they scored 93 today... in the past they would of held Dallas to under that...

LOL Quagmire, the board must be slipping, with you calling out his Kobi-ness like that and not even getting flamed once for your trouble!

To the guy wondering about whether Perkins goal tended at the end of OT, I recall the commentators asking that same question, but then one pointed out that the ball never got anywhere near the rim.

That is what I recall seeing too - but was a bit more focused on Rondo's karate act! I don't know the exact rule, but I would have thought it can only be goaltending if you interfere with the rim or backboard when the ball is on or perhaps near the rim? Rondo fouled Miller pretty hard and so the shot went nowhere near the rim.

Celtics were very lucky to get away with the win today. Apart from that last play, they got absolutely killed on the 50% ers. Every loose ball ended up with the Bulls and they were getting offensive rebounds almost at will.

The only sympathy I do have was for Ray Allen, who fouled out because of a couple of terrible calls (the last one by Ray was a soft, but bone-headed play by him nonetheless).

Nice to see the Mavs perform well and put the aged Spurs out of their misery. Time to turn the page on a few careers there Pop!

Glad to see Portland stay alive, but they have got a tough road home through Houston to win the series. Doubt they will get there, but still hoping, because they caused the Lakers all kind of trouble this year and would like to see them do it again!

Hi Beantown, sorry to hear about KG, your boys will fight hard but with nothing in the middle, no way your getting past the Magic or Cavs...

I know Blazers are the popular choice for stretching the Lakers, but i really think Houston could be the team that has their measure.

Look at the match-ups..

Brooks is too quick for Fisher at this stage in his career. Doesn't mean Brooks will dominate, far from it, but it does put a hole in the full court trap style of D that LA like to use on and off.

Ming and Scola v Bynum (?) Gasol or Odom Gasol.

Scola will battle hard against Gasol, but once Pau gets around him, Ming will be waiting at the cup, so expect tough going for the Lakers big men.

Kobe has to go up against the most evil perimiter defensive rotation in the L in Artest and Battier.

Kobe will still get his, but with Houston able to throw single coverage at him, all those Odom put-backs will end. The open 3's for the other role players will also dry up.

The biggest thing in Houstons favour though... how do you defend a player who doesn't know what he is doing, even while he's doing it? Artest is chaos on a basketball court, so strong he cannot be guarded by any Laker i can think of. Odom may have a chance with his length (LOL) but he will be needed to battle Scola.

Watching Artest play reminded me of a young Anthony Mason. Not real tall, but just so wide he can dribble in traffic and shield the ball from strippers in the lane (mental image)

I'm not saying Houston will win, i am saying that it will be a close series that may come down to which team is hotter down the stretch.

Give the Blazers a couple of years and they may be better. Is Oden going to develop or what?

Little snippet from ESPN re : Ben Gordon..

"Ray Allen is a shooter. Paul Pierce is a scorer. And Ben Gordon?

He's a chucker. Bless his unconscionable soul.

No hesitation. No remorse. Nooooo ..... yes! Beyond the fantastic finishes and gasping, shorts-tugging effort from both squads, the best thing about the ongoing Boston-Chicago NBA playoff series has been Gordon's emergence as a full-blown, bona-fide chucker -- species: chuckimus maximus -- the sort of fire-and-forget player whose definition of a good shot is the one he's about to take."

lol @ chukimus maximus.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/index

DB5 whoever wrote that article is an idiot!

Paul Pierce is a scorer... Gordon averaged more during the regular season and currently in the playoffs.

Ray Allen is a shooter... Gordon actually had a better 3 point percentage during the season with similar amount of 3's shot throughout the season. Gordon has a really high shooting percentage in all shooting categories.

The article ends with a reporter wondering why Gordon took a hard shot which he made instead of passing the ball earlier. Shit, maybe he should write an article about Kobe and other stars that do this.

In the end Ben Gordon is a VERY underrated player for what people give him credit for.

The clown reporter writes this stupid article after Gordon has a bad shooting night going 6-21 from the field. Regardless of that game he is shooting at 42% whilst Pierce is shooting at 38%.

Dude. You can't seriously be defending Gordon here.

Shooting % has nothing to do with it. Bulls players work hard to get Gordon the best looks possible, while Pierce attacks and creates the offence. He gets other teams in foul trouble and creates for other shooters.

Gordon is ordinary, and that is giving him more credit than he deserves.

Dude is the diet coke of NBA players.

Yeah, Ben G does annoy me as a player. Whilst he can put up some awesome numbers, he can really stink it up, and keep shooting.
The line about the off balance shot was actually reffering to a play where even Doug Collins said while commentating "what is he doing??". IMO, he definately should have passed off, yet took a circus shot that luckily went in.

As a Bulls fan, I am always wary which Ben Gordon will show up.

I would prefer Pierce to Gordon in the Red and Black.

"No hesitation. No remorse. Nooooo ..... yes!" Describe my feelings perfectly when watching Ben play.

A lot of talk on basketball sites regarding KG's behaviour in yesterday's game. Saw a picture of him seemingly having a go at Gordon as Gordon is walking down the floor (don't know how to post pictures here) and also read a few comments stating that Garnett was screaming out to Miller while he was shooting the last 2 foul shots "mother@%$#*ng choke" over and over.

Now I know KG is passionate, but isn't this going a bit too far? Where do bench techs come into the equation?

KG is 100% nutter.

Really liked him as a player until he did that walking-like-a-dog thing defending a player. He needs to rein it in because it's just getting stupid.

"Gordon is ordinary"

Yes 25ppg in the playoffs in the first round is ordinary.

Also 43 points in one of the playoffs games... Ordinary.

Career average of 18ppg over 5 seasons.... Ordinary...

What an average player!

I agree with you KingJames in that he's certainly a great player, but I think DB5 is right - he's too inconsistent. When he's on, he's up there with the best of them; when he's off, I wouldn't even call him Diet Coke. He's like Foodland Soda Water that was on special. It must be maddening for his team and their fans to not know which BG is going to show up game-by-game.

The thin about Gordan is tht he is not a player that start the offence, he is a guy that finishes...and they are a dime a dozen...

I agree he is inconsistent. However, he is starting to become more consistent and will possibly one day be an All-Star.

The day Gordon is an all-star, i will eat my own balls.

He is a jump shooter, that is it.

Every team he plays for is immediately at a disadvantage because he is 6'2 at best and not suited to play the point.

I can't beleive people are even defending him. He creates nothing for his team, and is always a liability on defence, Kingjames- Defence is the other side of the court, you know, the one they play half the game on, maybe you should start looking at what makes a successful team and recognise the importance of playing good defence....