Shaquille O'Neal may be headed to Cleveland or may team with Amar'e Stoudemire to push the Lakers in the Pacific Division next year. Either way, it appears his beef with Kobe Bryant is officially over.
I mean, we all know they will. You could point to several moments when this NBA season ended, but Derek Fisher draining a pull-up-jumper-in-transition three was pretty much the final nail in the coffin. You can't blow leads like the Magic did. But they did. But if the Lakers and Kobe Bryant want to cement themselves as everything we've already anointed them as, they have to win four games.
So here we are, and tonight will either be a mercy-killing as the Lakers end it and begin celebrating yet another in a long line of championships, or Orlando will kickstart the ticker and pray for a miracle. Join us for the celebration/funeral, at 8PM EST.
Bloggers knee-jerking on the phone + roundtable style = RoundCast.
The Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals on Friday, by eliminating the Nuggets in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.
Matt Moore and I welcomed Josh Tucker of Silver Screen and Roll to the RoundCast, to discuss L.A.'s big win, as well as what might lie ahead for the Lakers on their road to redemption in this year's Finals.
Are the Cavs or the Magic the better matchup? Can Lamar Odom continue to play to his potential? Will Derek Fisher ever stop shooting the PUJIT?
We have no idea. But we'll discuss it all, as well as give you our Finals preview, without even knowing who the Lakers will face once the championship round begins. Yes my friends, sometimes, it's that easy.
Three-point shots often play a critical role in an NBA playoff contest. But in Denver's win over the Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, the threes that were made (and missed) by both teams came at such key moments, that they ended up defining this game.
Video: Billups Inbounds Off Kobe's Back RoundCast: Are the Lakers Now "Screwed?"
The undermanned Rockets were able to battle their way into a Game 7 with the heavily-favored Lakers, and this turn of events left much of the NBA world doubting L.A.'s championship aspirations.
On Sunday, however, there was absolutely no doubt who would be advancing to the Western Conference Finals. Behind huge games from Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum (and a not-so-great one from Kobe Bryant), the Lakers finally completed their expected elimination of the Rockets.
If it's true the two most important positions in basketball are the point guard and the center, than the L.A. Lakers are going to be in for a doozy of a Western Conference final.
OK, so technically the Lakers haven't quite advanced that far yet. But after their 118-78 Game 5 blowout win over the Rockets, is it really going out on a limb to say L.A. is going to get there? Ditto for the Denver Nuggets, who lead the Mavericks 3-1 in the conference semifinals and have two cracks at putting them away on their home floor to close out the series.
Coming into Game 4 against the Lakers, and playing without Yao Ming, the Rockets knew that they'd have to out-work, out-hustle, and out-shoot L.A. for 48 minutes if they were going to have a chance to win.
That's exactly what they did.
Houston jumped on the Lakers from the opening tip, and led by as many as 29 points on their way to evening the series at two games apiece.
HOUSTON -- The way Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals was setting up, the Los Angeles Lakers seemed vulnerable to the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
But fighting through adversity that included the one-game suspension of its starting point guard and coming into a hostile environment after the Rockets had stolen home court advantage, the Lakers reclaimed momentum in the series with an impressive 108-94 win at the Toyota Center. Los Angeles has now won two straight in the best-of-seven series to claim a 2-1 edge heading into Sunday's Game 4.
A win Sunday would all but deliver the series to the Lakers and quiet any chatter about the re-emergence of Clutch City in Houston.
Yes, this is playoff basketball, and yes, the games are getting more physical. It's what separates the postseason from the regular season, and we wouldn't want it any other way.
But what went on in Game 2 of the Houston-Lakers series, with the physicality, fouling hard and flopping was a bit over the top, don't you think? Game 3 on Friday night – a 108-94 L.A. victory – was tamer, but rest assured the dust-ups and skirmishes will return in this series.
Shaquille O'Neal may be headed to Cleveland or may team with Amar'e Stoudemire to push the Lakers in the Pacific Division next year. Either way, it appears his beef with Kobe Bryant is officially over. 
The Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals on Friday, by eliminating the Nuggets in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. 
Cherry Picking recaps yesterday's NBA playoff action.
The undermanned Rockets were able to battle their way into a Game 7 with the heavily-favored Lakers, and this turn of events left much of the NBA world doubting L.A.'s championship aspirations.
Coming into Game 4 against the Lakers, and playing without Yao Ming, the Rockets knew that they'd have to out-work, out-hustle, and out-shoot L.A. for 48 minutes if they were going to have a chance to win.
HOUSTON -- The way Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals was setting up, the Los Angeles Lakers seemed vulnerable to the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
Yes, this is playoff basketball, and yes, the games are getting more physical. It's what separates the postseason from the regular season, and we wouldn't want it any other way.
