NBA Suck Squad: Day 23 of the 2k9 NBA Playoffs

I was talking to FJ about the 2009 NBA Playoffs vs. the 2008 NBA Playoffs the other day. My opinion was that the 2k9 edition so far was better than the 2k8 one, but now that 2 of these semifinals series have a good chance of being sweeps and the other 2 look like 5 and outs I think I'm going to have to reconsider. One thing's for sure though. The real AMAZING HAPPENS HERE [Joint Contrast].

Use your hops for some rewind and preview madness.

REWIND

Denver Nuggets 106, Dallas Mavericks 105 (Nuggets lead 3-0)

Mavs Moneyball: Over in Dallas they hate basketball. After reading over this league-issued statement about the intentional foul non-call (very, very odd sequence of events), can you really blame them? Seriously do they expect Antoine Wright to "Derek Fisher him, just take him out, and then get a flagrant foul late in the game?" Do they expect him to "blatantly run through the guy"?

Pickaxe and Roll: In Denver they're saying Mr. Clutch is Born. What an awkward way to be introduced to the world. Still that's much more amazing than this bizarre Dirk airball. I mean even Adonal Foyle hits the top of the backboard.

It's probably time for Denver to break out the brooms. What a devastating and unfair ending to an impressive post-season run for the Mavs.

Cleveland Cavalier 97, Atlanta Hawks 83 (Cavs lead 3-0)

Peachtree Hoops: Loser Dots is unfortunately becoming a regular column over in Hot-lanta. Need we say more?

Fear the Sword: This is all you need to know: LeBron James had 47 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block, 1 steal. They call him The Giant Peach?! (Seriously LeBron- you need to get out of the midwest as soon as you can. See what living in a non-flyover state is like. I guarantee you it's much better than the armpit of America known as the midwest.)

PREVIEW

LA Lakers @ Houston Rockets (Lakers lead 2-1): 12:30pm PST on ABC

The Dream Shake: The good news is that Ron Artest's flagrant foul from Game 3 was appropriately downgraded. The bad news, well makes you want to cry. Still it's got to be better than Game 3 right? Let's hope Houston's got something.

Silver Screen and Roll: You can tell they're already bored in LA when they're asking whether it's too soon to give up on a bench player like Jordan Farmar in the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs. Give them credit though, they broke down the good, the bad, and the ugly AND then did it tempo-free. If you're a Laker fan, then the view from Houston is looking mighty fine even though this might not be how you hoped to win this series.

Let me make this simple for everyone. Lakers win series 4-1.

Boston Celtics @ Orlando Magic (Magic lead 2-1): 5pm PST on TNT

Celtics Blog: Over in Beantown they found out that momentum is overrated. Ray Allen's slumping and they're calling it a disgusting defensive display (great alliteration to describe the 2008-2009 Golden State Warriors!).

Third Quarter Collapse: Magic fans are enjoying that disgusting defensive display, even the morning after. Personally? I'm still enjoying that double-block by Dwight. You can try to predict the impact player on Orlando, or even wonder who Stan Van Gundy will start in the Magic backcourt, but it really doesn't matter that much. The Magic will be playing the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland LeBrons shortly.

Post your PLAYOFF picks and ongoing PLAYOFF game thoughts in the comments.

Happy Mother's Day to all the golden moms out there!