Dallas Dislocates Lakers Dynasty Rondo Sweeps Heat Off Their Feet

I choked on my beverage and nearly lost it when Rajon Rondo's arm did things I didn't know an arm could do.  Disgusting does not give the sight of Rondo's elbow dislocating justice.  It was beyond disgusting and it was excruciating to watch so I can't begin to imagine how it actually felt.  But Rondo came back, like a well scripted movie.  When he entered the arena, "Eye of the Tiger" immediately plays and the fans go nuts, atleast that's how I would have wrote the movie. 

When Rondo strolled back towards his bench after suffering that grotesque injury my jaw dropped & then I noticed everyone else on the TV screen had the same expression on their face.  Especially the Miami Heat; they looked completely shocked and then they had a look of discouragement.  Not to say that the Heat were out to hurt Rondo but they thought they delivered a direct blow to the Celtics & then to see him return in that manner left a look of defeat on Heat player's faces.  Rondo represented the "comeback" of the Celtics, the strength, the resiliency, and the experience.  And on the faces of the Celtic fans & Rondo's teammates was a look of triumph.  That's when it hit me; this series is going to go 7 games.  Just as I assumed, a great series with great players battling to get to the next round.  Chris Bosh is key for the Miami Heat tonight.  If he does not find a way to score against the great Kevin Garnett then the Heat are going to struggle to get through this series and could utimately lose.  Boston's key is for Pierce & Garnett to maintain their intensity they had in Game 3 with Garnett's defense being the catalyst.  Either way I expect for Miami to take tonight's game by a thin margin with LeBron having a big game in the paint & at the free throw line.  However, after tonight the Celtics will take the next 2 games taking it to a Game 7 in Miami.

Phil Jackson a coach of 2 similar teams built exactly the way he invisioned them.  A superstar player with a great supporting cast as teammates going on to winning multiple NBA Championships.  A formula he would use twice with a team in the Eastern Conference & in the Western with similar results.  With Jordan & the Bulls 6 championships and with Kobe & the Lakers 5, with 3 "ThreePeats", two with the Bulls & one with the Lakers.  A formula now that has been magnified with the teams going out and acquring 3 big names and hoping for a championship with Boston being the beneficiary when adding Kevin Garnett & Ray Allen with Paul Pierce.  Then Miami Heat followed suit adding LeBron & Bosh with Wade followed by the Knicks with the addition of Carmelo Anthony & Chauncey Billups with Amar'e Soudemire.  If it's good people copy it, like Burger King did McDonalds & NBA teams did what Phil Jackson did years ago.  He was a great coach if in fact he is retiring, but a HELL of a way to go out with the cockiness of Kobe Bryant getting swept under the mat with the rest of the dirt.  Finishing dirty with flagrant fouls by Lamar Kardashian and Andrew "Shirtless" Bynum showing the epitome of a "sore loser".

A clean sweep of the 2 time defending Champs for Dirk Nowitzki and his snipers.  Snipers meaning Jason Terry 32 points, Peja Stojavic looking young again, bad back and all with 21 points.  Jason Terry went 9-10 from 3-point land along with Peja's 6-6 caused the Lakers to feel like dismantling the entire team.  J.J. Barea was the little pest who got under the Lakers skin while dancing all around them scoring 22 points & Dirk only had to score 17 points to complete the series shellacking 122 - 86.  I say again the end of a dynasty & the end of Kobe Bryant's dream of being Jordan or being better than Jordan.  He must have been sick in the head.

Series tied 2-2 between Bulls & Hawks with no definite front runner has been very interesting with the league MVP playing up & down.  The Bulls go as Derrick Rose goes, with him taking 32 shots last night and only hitting 12.  And in Game 3 Rose went for 44 points in an unstoppable performance what Scottie Pippen says he's seen before a time or two in the playoffs.  But Atlanta with Joe Johnson, Jeff Teague, Josh Smith & Al Horford exchanging scoring responsiblities enough to have this series tied. 

The Grizzlies and Thunder series resembles the Bulls & Hawks series because there is no definite winner in this series.  Between, Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook and Zach Randolph & Marc Gasol this series is a boxing match.  Blow for blow back & forth this series goes 7 games with OKC winning tonight.  Expect Durant to come out firing with wreckless abandon racking up a plus 30 points tonight with Zach Randolph owning the boards but not enough to pull a win out.

My predictions only sometimes pan out but I'll definitely be watching tonight.

Miami Heat at Boston Celtics Game 4 on TNT 7pm ET followed by Oklahoma City Thunder at Memphis Grizzlies.