Round 1 Playoffs: Some move on and some are still stuck

It's been 11 days since the start of the playoffs on that April 19th. Lots of great games occured and many suprising victories for low-seeded teams. Let's start by taking a look in the Eastern Conference. Orlando is the only team right now that has advanced into the second round with a 4-1 series win against Toronto. The Cavaliers have a 3-1 lead against the Wizards with a game today in Cleveland. The Detriot Pistons lead their series with a suprising 3-2 lead against the Sixers who have their next game tomorrow. The Hawks are holding off a sweep by the Celtics with a suprising 2-2 tie. The Sixers and Hawks have been suprising, but by no doubt, they are maintaing their energy from the end of the regular season. The Pistons are believed to be acting "cool" and not to be trying. But the true reason is that the Sixers are just more active and are persevering to win. The Hawks are just out doing the Celtics in their own game. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith have stepped up leading to this tie. The Cavaliers and Wizards matchup is very intensive. It features constant hard fouls and the intensity between Lebron and Deshawn Stevenson. It also with some distance includes Soulja Boy who attended the game where the Cavaliers lost. Let us move on to the Western Conference. The Spurs, Hornets, and Lakers have already moved on to the next round. The Spurs were able to destroy the favored Suns in a 4-1 win. The Hornets crushed the Mavericks in also a 4-1 win. The Mavericks turned from a Finals contender with an MVP, Coach of the Year winner, to 2 straight years of losing in the first round. The Lakers completely sweeped the Nuggets with an embarassing losses. I personally think if the Warriors made the playoffs instead of the Lakers, it would have gone to 7 games. The matchup that is left is the Rockets and Jazz. Currently, Utah leads 3-2 and their next game is at home. The Jazz hope to finish it off there but T-mac and his Rockets want to bring it back home for a 7th game just like last year but it resulted in the Jazz advancing in the playoffs. Without Yao Ming, the Rockets find them in need of teammates stepping up. Rafer Alston has proven to do this and now Luis Scola is helping out. This is the current news going on the playoffs.

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Photo of the Week: Courtesy of Chris Paul

This picture still shocks me. This is tremendous effort by Hornets guard Chris Paul on a lay up.

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MVP Race: Kobe vs. Paul

The MVP race has been tight this season. There has been many players who had chances to step up and take their team to a next level. The four candidates that have impressed me the most are Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and Chris Paul. No one can forgot Lebron James' trip through the playoffs last year. His spectacular 48 point game against the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals in Game five showed the world that he is one of the best. But it ended in a full sweep loss to the Spurs in the NBA Finals. The main problem that has addressed everyone is that Lebron needs help. The Cavaliers made a major trade this year dealing away Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Donyell Marshall, and Shannon Brown but received Delonte West, Joe Smith, and four time defensive player of the year Ben Wallace, to help Lebron. This season he's been putting up many triple doubles while averaging over thirty points per game while also leading his team to the fourth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference Finals. Kevin Garnett is a different story. He was brought to the Celtics who needed help along with sharpshooter Ray Allen. While averaging a double double this season, Kevin Garnett has lead his Boston team to the best record in the league. Eyes were set on him to receive MVP honors, but this race has lead down to two competitors, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. Kobe has made a turnaround with the Lakers. After pleading to leave, he has stuck with the Lakers to lead them to the second best record in the Western Conference. After landing Pau Gasol, and a step up by Andrew Bynum, the Lakers, led by superstar Kobe, is now one of the most dangerous teams to play. In his twelfth season, Kobe has yet to acheive MVP honors, but Chris Paul could acheive it in only his third year with the New Orleans Hornets. He currently averages a double double and he also leads the league in steals ahead of Warriors guard Baron Davis. He is most known for being an astounding player despite his small size. His New Orleans Hornets are currently first in the West. With only an average of four games left for each team in the NBA, Chris Paul is by far the best and most possible to be the 2007-2008 Season MVP.

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West: Race to the 8th

This season in the Western conference, the struggle for a playoff spot is probably the most intense in all of the NBA history. Right now I'm going to focus on the race to the 8th and final playoff spot. There are mainly two teams right now. The Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets will have to fight until the last minute of the season. The Dallas Mavericks used to be in this race, but with the surprise return of Dirk Nowitzki, they have pushed themselves higher and will probably gain the seventh spot. The Golden State Warriors have come off losses to New Orleans and Dallas, but took the easy matchup with a win against Memphis. The Nuggets lost to a close one with the Supersonics in double overtime. That should not be an excuse after beating the Sonics by 52 points over 20 days ago. There are still 5 games left in the season but only one playoff spot. These games will decide the winner. Tonight, the Warriors will battle the Kings at home while the Nuggets will travel to Los Angeles to play the Clippers.

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Lebron James on Youtube

Hey basketball fans! Recently on my tour of Youtube checking out some cool dunks and plays by Lebron James, a great baller. Here's some videos that I found of him and his mad skills.

Lebron James in Game 5 of the 07 Eastern Conference Finals against Pistons

Lebron James High School highlights

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