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The wait is over as the first two days of the 2009-2010 NBA season is over and done. We saw strong teams get beaten, players coming back (Mr. Arenas!), rookies who don’t play like one and more and more exciting plays. It’s just exciting isn’t it? So here are some of our thoughts from the first two days.

• The Cleveland Cavaliers are 0-2 after losing to the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors. Lebron James has been fantastic in the first two games but we still think that their lineup isn’t that strong this year even with Shaq and new addition Anthony Parker around. The Cavs need to get things together or else…
• Gilbert Arenas is back! We know it’s just one game but if you saw how he played he had thing in control on his way to a 29 point game where he had 9 assists. He didn’t record any assists but he shot well,10-21 from the field. It looks like the 2 years did his body good as he tries to revive his career.
• We loved Andrew Bynum in his first game where he posted a line of 26 points, 13 rebounds while shooting 9-15 from the field and 8-10 from the line. We have a good feeling that he will stay healthy this year.
• The Philadelphia 76ers really had a hard time against the Orlando Magic and we don’t like what we’re seeing with Elton Brand. As for Marreese Speights, this guy really looks like he will battle Samuel Dalembert for minutes and he could end up being their starter by December.
• So much for Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy saying that Dwight Howard can hit close to 75% of his free throw attempts. He started the year going 3-6.

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With minutes left in the first game between the LA Lakers and the Denver Nuggets, it sure looked like the Nuggets could hold on and stop their ten game playoff losing streak against the Lakers. That looked possible until Kobe Bryant and Trevor Ariza took over.

Kobe, who finished with 40 points, made six free throws in the last thirty seconds to help the Lakers escape the Nuggets 105-103. Ariza also played big down the stretch as he (more…)

The Orlando Magic were beaten by Glen “Big Baby” Davis’ buzzer beater in game 4 and they wanted to make sure they didn’t have any more close finishes in this series against the Boston Celtics. Well, that didn’t happen in Game 5 as they blew a 14-point fourth quarter lead and make it close again in the final minutes of the game. The Celtics won 92-88.

The Celtics can thank Stephon Marbury (more…)

Heading into game three without Jameer Nelson or Rafer Alston, the Orlando Magic looked like a team that would lack leadership with a thin back court. No worries as 34-year old veteran Anthony Johnson did his job to help the Magic win 117-96 to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Of course, the Orlando Magic wasn’t just about the back court, they were more of their one man front court – Dwight Howard. He was everywhere on defense – rebounding and blocking shots. He finished the game with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks. (more…)

Paul Pierce only scored three points in this game but the Boston Celtics still won game 2 against the Orlando Magic, 112-94. Thanks to Eddie House’s 31 points, a triple double by Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen’s 22 points, the Celtics have tied the series.

Rajon Rondo had his third triple double of the playoff with 15 points, 18 assists and 11 rebounds. He also had two big dunks in the second half to help keep the momentum going. (more…)

After a very long seven games against the Chicago Bulls, the Boston Celtics get little rest and battle the Orlando Magic in the conference finals. The long first round could have taken its toll on the Celtics as they clearly struggled and looked slow in the first three quarters that led to the loss against the Magic, 95-90.

Dwight Howard also had a slow start after serving a one game suspension the previous game but still finished with 16 points and 22 rebounds. (more…)

Day 10 of the playoffs features another team advancing to the next round and that’s the LA Lakers who had an easy time against the Utah Jazz by beating them 107-86. Kobe Bryant was just on fire as he hit his threes, made his layups and dunks and also made his teammates look good. He finished the night with 31 points, 4 assists and 4 steals.

They almost let a 22 point lead slip away but it’s all over now as they await the winner of the Portland Trailblazers-Houston Rockets series.

We also saw the Atlanta Hawks get out of their recent slump and tie the series against the Miami Heat.
Zaza Pachulia was really big for the Hawks as he went on to score 12 points and grab 18 rebounds in their 81-71 victory. He was much needed as the Hawks, after winning the first game, has been struggling.

In this game, it was Dwayne Wade who was struggling as he finished with 22 points on 9-26 shots. There was practically no help from the other teammates except Jermain O’neal and James Jones, who has got to have the plays of the night by hitting (more…)

Apologies for the late posts the past two days since I was out of town and didn’t have any internet access. So what I will do here since most of you must have already read what happened in the games, I will just include the videos.

I feel bad that I had to miss the exciting games this weekend especially the game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic. That series is turning into one of this year’s exciting match ups as we’ve seen two game winning plays by the 76ers. While the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons match up is just plain boring. Good thing this guy named Lebron is exciting to watch but the match up itself is zzzzzzz.

Finally the New Orleans Hornets won a game but it wasn’t a convincing game that would really scare the Denver Nuggets. But a win is a win and they’ll take that and hopefully they could build momentum from that win. As for the LA Lakers, it looks like they’re back on track after losing a game to the Utah Jazz.

One of the match ups I like this year is that of the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs. I’m rooting for the Mavericks here even if they indirectly ousted my favorite team, the Phoenix Suns. Miami Heat, after losing the first game, looks to have found the solution to beat the young Atlanta Hawks. Dwayne Wade has been playing well and so is playoff veteran Jermain O’neal.

So sit back, relax, grab your favorite drink and enjoy watching the videos: (more…)

Boston Celtics, Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks prevail

Day 6 of the NBA Playoffs featured two blownout games and one exciting game that went down the wire. Derrick Rose was also awarded the Rookie of the year honors just prior tip off but like the award he got, he played like a rookie tonight unlike the other games. We also saw how the Mavericks crushed the San Antonio Spurs. As for Kobe Bryant’s back? It was really affecting him. (more…)

In Day 4 of the 2009 NBA Playoffs saw an almost 29-point comeback by the Detroit Pistons in the fourth quarter. This was after Lebron James had worn his warmups only to come back in the game to help his team finish the Pistons off 94-82. In the 2nd game, the Utah Jazz played a better game but still lost the game to Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers 119-109. As for the Portland Trailblazers, they finally found a way to win in the playoffs as they beat the Houston Rockets 107-103. (more…)