Something tells me the Celtics were paying attention as the Spurs dismantled the Cavaliers in last year’s NBA Finals. Boston bodied up LeBron James, crowded the lane, and forced James to make plays on the perimeter. The results spoke for themselves on Tuesday night, as James hit 2-of-18 field goals and committed 10 turnovers, and Boston won an ugly Game 1, 76-72.

James and Boston’s Paul Pierce were assigned to guard one another, and their added defensive work showed in both of their stat lines. Pierce connected on 2-of-14 field goals in scoring four points and committing six turnovers. The only superstar to do his usual work was forward Kevin Garnett, who was a matchup nightmare for Cleveland and finished with 28 points and eight rebounds. Ray Allen was held scoreless and attempted just four shots in 37 minutes. Read more »

The thought of the league’s top two MVP candidates squaring off in the Western Conference finals is an intriguing one, and, judging by Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul’s performances over the weekend, it is looking more and more like a slam dunk.

Paul didn’t have astounding statistics in New Orleans’ 101-82 over San Antonio on Saturday night - a relative statement for Paul, who still finished with 17 points, 13 assists, just two turnovers and four steals. His quick, controlled aggression broke down the veteran Spurs’ defense and got all of his younger, more athletic teammates into the mix. Read more »

The Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns knew that adjustments had to be made if they were to make a run at an NBA championship. Neither of their longshot trade experiments - the Mavs’ with Jason Kidd and the Suns’ with Shaquille O’Neal - panned out, as the Mavs were eliminated by the New Orleans Hornets and the Suns by the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.

Forcing the action on the trade market, which the crowded Western Conference forced these two teams to do in February, is rarely a good move. It’s easy to say in retrospect that these were foolish deals to make, but they were foolish far before the two teams were bounced from the playoffs. Read more »

There are lessons to be learned from this postseason, where the Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors were the first teams sent packing on Monday night. Individual players like Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard are putting a stamp on their team’s success better than they have at any points in their careers.

Homecourt has again been a storyline, but for different reasons in each series. It has been cause for huge momentum swings in the Boston-Atlanta, Washington-Cleveland and Phoenix-San Antonio series, but been stripped away by the Lakers, Magic and Hornets. Read more »

13-34.

That was the Memphis Grizzlies’ record with Pau Gasol this season. And following a 22-60 record a year ago, it was becoming painfully obvious that the Grizzlies needed to start over. Many Memphis fans wanted management to keep the former All-Star and build around him, but the team had other plans.

On February 1, the Grizzlies pulled off a stunning trade with the Los Angeles Lakers, sending Gasol to L.A. for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton and two first-round draft picks. On paper, the trade looked incredibly lopsided, and that has proved to be the case. The Grizzlies finished the season with nine wins in their last 35 games, while the Lakers flourished and earned the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Read more »

With the NBA playoff picture now set, there is plenty of speculating to be done. In the Eastern Conference, can anyone topple the Boston Celtics? Meanwhile, out in the Western Conference, which team will survive the brutality and make it to the NBA Finals? Read more »

As the NBA season hits its most exciting point, we put another fantasy season in the books and hand out a little more hardware. It wasn’t an easy year for owners to navigate their way to a championship. Injuries, trades and ineffectiveness were rampant among the game’s best players, which put an added premium on an owner’s ability to find sleepers and pick through free agents.

Where it was inconvenient for Kevin Garnett’s production to be scaled back in Boston or for Yao Ming to suffer a season-ending foot injury, there were convenient arrivals of players like Rudy Gay, Danny Granger and Hedo Turkoglu. In 2008-09 more than ever, the middle of the player pool spurred owners’ championship runs, not necessarily their primetime draft picks. Read more »

By Andrew Bohardt

There may still be games left in the NBA’s regular season, but it’s never too early to hand out some end-of-season hardware. We take a look at the most deserving candidates for the Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and other postseason awards.

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