NBA

Awesome Dunk by Wade over Okafor and a Monstrous Dunk by Howard over new posterboy Skinner! Watch

I watched the game between the Clippers and the Magic yesterday and boy what a game it was! Anyone could’ve won it! But of course at the end there was only going to be one winner and it was the Magic who prevailed.

Despite the shooting slump of the Magic’s 2nd & 3rd best player; Lewis & Turkoglu respectively, they have played an excellent defense throughout the game, anchored by who else, Howard. He made sure that the Clippers wont get victory #5. Backed up by his 23 points, 22 rebounds & 6 block shots! He carried his team all the way to victory. But it wasn’t that easy.

Yes, Orlando Magic beat the Clippers, no big deal but the highlights of this game is the battle between 2 centers. One former defensive player of the year and one future defensive player of the year, you know who I am talking about. Marcus Camby and Dwight Howard. Although in the twilight of his career at age 34, Camby was still able to produced impressive stats, 6 points, 17 rebounds and 3 block shots. That maybe half of what Howard made in that game but in my opinion Camby have somehow dominated Howard yesterday, he blocked Howard’s shot twice and played an amazing defense. A lot published news claimed that Howard sent Camby to school but I didn’t think so, Howard grabbed most of his rebounds when Camby was either in the bench or away from the basket, he scored moslty against Zach Randolph and who can forget that thunderous dunk against little Brian Skinner (latest Howard’s posterboy).

To wrap things up, Dwight Howard have still some work to do become Marcus Camby defensively (in his prime), but he is not far away…

Watch Michael Beasley and his nasty dunks! It will be tough for the Heat to pass him off, he has got a very unique skills and quickness for a PF. Beasley looks like a smaller and quicker version of Amare Stoudemire but he needs to develop his strength to battle the likes of Dwight Howard, Amare, TD and KG. I predict that the Heat will pick him second then trade him to another team with a lower pick so they can grab a nice combo guard to complement Wade.

Now enjoy and watch Michael Beasley!

If You’ve watched how Kevin Garnett reacted on his 2008 NBA Finals interview with Michelle Tafoya, I would assume that you probably thought that Garnett’s “inner child” showed itself too much.

For some people, the way he talked annoyed them. They can’t accept how this short-of-great NBA player can talk the way that he did. Even I didn’t think it fitted someone of his stature to act like that. And yet I seem to somehow felt that it was okay given the fact that all of his hardwork and years of frustrations and disappoints have already paid off. The bully that describes how he felt for the last decade of his career has long been gone. That’s how I see it. That was how overjoyed he was in that interview.

And yet even though he already had done that, I saw how he redeemed himself to me when he went and saw the Bill Russell, hugged him and talked to him. That “inner child” we heard and saw in the interview talked to his great mentor:

KG: I’ve got my own! I’ve got my own! I hope we made you proud!
BR: Yeah you did.

How many players can you still hear talk like that? How many multi-million dollar players can you hear talk with so much respect to tradition, excellence and honor?

I guess you will say a lot? But from someone who talked without any sense before and then all of a sudden talked like the way he did? I mean, that’s not just being educated… that’s being a gentleman, someone cultured. someone who knows more than being educated with words.

Behind the Kid Garnett, is someone can be more respected not just by his actions and words, but the way he really felt even at his most elated times.

Check out OJ Mayo’s moves and highlights. His moves, dunks and fancy passes. He is a combination of Steve Nash, Vince Carter and his “airness” Michael Jordan. I don’t mean to compare him to MJ, but see if for yourself!

Rumors have continued to swirl that the Heat are considering sending Dwyane Wade to the Bulls for the first pick in this week’s NBA Draft, plus Tyrus Thomas and Larry Hughes, according to The Boston Globe.

The trade would allow Miami to draft both Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley, who have long been considered the top two prospects in this year’s draft class.

If this trade rumor is indeed true, then Chicago is only a center away from NBA Final appearance!

Here are the highlights of that amazing Game 6 Finals game between the Celtics and the Lakers.

As a Basketball Fan since the first time I have held a basketball, I still can’t help but think about how Boston finished their glorious season against their closest Rival, The Lakers.

Words can’t really describe how they dominated, obliterated, massacred, or any word that you can possibly think will best fit, on how their opponents lost on the last game of the NBA finals. But they made sure that even if the Celtics had a comfortable lead, they imposed their will to win to the last second. And how did they do that? Because of Defense.

In the world of sports, the most underrated side of each game is the defense. And for every championship coach, the neverending subject that they always preach is defense. It’s very cliche that our earbuds get hurt a lot when we hear it. Somewhat like how it hurts how we get told off by our parents of our mistakes. But in both senses, both of them says like one thing, even though it hurts, it is the truth. And only as we accept the truth and how we learn by it makes us better. That’s how the Celtics turned last year’s doormat team into a championship team. By embracing the truth, or shall I say by embracing defense.

How do you explain 18 steals in an NBA finals? How do you make Kobe not score for more than 10 minutes in a game? How do you explain the blowout game against a Lakers team that needs a desperate redemption in a series the team’s down 3-2? To make it more interesting, how do you explain the reason behind these questions were made against a team known this year to be the best, I stress the best, offensive team in the NBA, might as well say the whole world?

All those critics even before the Finals series started all predicted that the Lakers to win. Don’t get me wrong, I have some doubts too due to the fact that they are up against a team that is captained by Kobe Bryant, that the Lakers had the best everything even though the Celtics had PP, KG, and the Jesus. The final game emphatically put a stomp on the fact that it wasn’t a question about the superstars but it was about a team that can cohesively stop the other team. A group of people that embraced how much defense meant to them and how those 5 people merged as 1 team.

In All postseason games, the celtics were not consistent with one thing, which is their offense. They said Rondo is the type of guard who can’t shoot, Paul Pierce was tentative with his shots, Garnett was always critcized on how he played lackluster basketball on the dying stretch of the game and Ray allen who was known for how a deadly marksman he is came to his low. How Eddie House was supposed to be only a shooter and how ancient Sam Cassell and PJ Brown looked on the wooden parquet. But yet again, the one thing that they had, kept, and believed in is how great a team they are, assembled last American summer, denying easy baskets, contesting every shot, sacrificing their bodies, tracking down loose balls, and at the most giving only 1 shot per possession to their opponents. They all did this willingly without no excuses, accepting their own individual shortcomings and crediting the whole team for their successes. In other words, playing scrappy, suffocating and defensive team basketball. They showed that even though they struggled they have matured and relied on that fundamental. Even though their bodies are tired, short of breath and have waited long enough to finish what has always eluded them, up to the last second they never quit giving all they’ve got to defend.

As far as I am concerned, I have no question how good a coach a Mike D’Antoni is, a Don Nelson fastbreak/offense is, or a George Karl-guided Nuggets team is. But never will it cease that a great coach emphasizes what the big D will do for a team. Even the great Michael Jordan will never concede to the idea that he won his six championship rings without Defense and how Tim Duncan and his spurs stood up against the rest of the Western Team on their way to their Championships. That Behind all the stars in Boston gathered so quickly just last year, you don’t hear about how great how they scored this season. You’ll only hear how great they gave Kobe and Lebron a question on how really great these individuals can score against their Team.

Just the resounding chants of those Garden faithful on how they drowned Doc River’s speech, and what the Celtics Players always answer on interviews how strong the sports cliche will always be: Defense will, and always, give you championships.

The Boston Celtics won the NBA championship annihilating the Los Angeles Lakers beating them by 39 points, a new record lead gap in the NBA Finals History! The final score, Celtics 131, Lakers 92. This is Boston’s 17th Championship in it’s storied franchise history. Paul Pierce was the Final’s MVP. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo played an amazing game with the help of its deep bench. This is the first championship by the “Selfless 3″ (as we call it here in ZoomDunk) Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.

We expect Boston to remain a championship contender for the next 2-3 years and who knows maybe for more years to come. Seeing the progress of its young players Rondo, Perkins and Powe. They seem to remain locked on top of the standings for the next decade.