BasketballThings are heating up in the NBA playoffs as we enter into the final stages of round 1 of the post season. The big name franchises had another dismal outing on Tuesday night and a season whcih started with a mega mess involving players and franchise owners, looks likely to end up being remembered for all the giant killing action instead. Thirty three championship rings between them, but both the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics found themselves beaten by the Denver Nuggets and the Atlanta Hawks respectively. The Indiana Pacers continued their domination of opponents the Orlando Magic, finally putting them out of their misery, sending them packing in their first round playoff series. But the major performance came in Chicago, where the Bulls, the best team in the regular season, rallied back to give themselves a fighting chance to move forth in the NBA playoffs.
Orlando Magic 87 - 105 Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers outperformed the Orlando Magic with relative ease thanks to a collective effort from the team which helped them advance to the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs. Darren Collison and George Hill, the two point guards, combined for a total of 34 points while Danny Granger had his 3rd successive 20+ points game and this collective effort helped them win their first playoff round in 7 years. Collison had a lot to say about his team's unity and togetherness at the end of the game, "Our relationship amongst each other has been growing every single day and I think it really started from day one of training camp. We saw how good we could become down the stretch, throughout the season, we knew we were going to make a deep run in the playoffs. I can't be any more proud of our teammates, our chemistry. That's why we're winning games, because of our chemistry on and off the court."
Sport is all about reaching pinnacles following a long, arduous journey peppered with moments of glory. Its artists are filled with innocence as they embark on their careers, with a simplistic view of enjoying their beloved game rather than collecting trophies. But then every sport is also blessed with compulsive winners (players partaking in the trophy collection business). The likes of Pele, Muhammad Ali, Jack Nicklaus, Wayne Gretzky and Pete Sampras all stand as irreplaceable pillars in their respective sport, leaving indelible marks during long illustrious careers. Basketball has its share of giants too, from Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson to Michael Jordan. Jordan was clearly the game's biggest showman, elevating the sport to unimaginable levels. But when it comes down to trophy collection, there is no one in the same strata as Bill Russell.
First Title. First NBA champion. History was created Sunday night and the Mavs and the city of Dallas can now finally feel like conquerors. Avenging what happened five years ago in perfect turnabout style, the Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA title by winning Game 6 of these finals in Miami 105-95 on Sunday night - celebrating on the Heat's home floor, just as Dwyane Wade and his team did to them in the 2006 title series. The Mavericks won four of the series' last five games, a turnabout that could not have been sweeter.