Don't count out the Denver Nuggets just yet tomorrow night on ESPN at 9:00pm.

The Denver Nuggets and L.A. Lakers Western Conference Finals series has been, to say the least, solid entertainment compared to recent Western Conference Finals. What’s even more is that this series has great potential to go to seven games if the Nuggets can win their final home game of the matchup tomorrow night in Denver. However, are the Nuggets just teasing us with their inconsistent finishes to an inevitable convincing elimination game by the L.A. Lakers or can they really win or get damn close to beating the Lakers?

In all honestly, these Nuggets somewhat remind me of this year’s Orlando Magic. Whereas the Magic seemed to learn how to deal with adversity and the importance of playing hard every minute in their second round series when they played the Boston Celtics, the Nuggets could be finding that out in this series versus the Lakers. I don’t think that the games of this series and the seven of Orlando’s when they beat the Celtics have been identical in order, but out of order, yes.

The Nuggets blew games one and three against L.A. where they had manageable leads in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. This same thing happened to Orlando in games one and five against Boston. The only difference was, the Magic held on to win game one after giving up a 20+ point lead. In game two of the Nuggets’ series, they seemed to get it right as they made up for their follies in game one and picked up a huge road win. The Magic seemed to do the same as they blew out the Celtics in game three at home. However, those were teasers because both teams eventually brought their series to a 2-3 hole. Also, in game two, Orlando was blown out by Boston after they had been blowing out the Celtics in game one for the better part of four quarters. Like this scenario, the Nuggets blew out the Lakers in the fourth quarter of game four, only to get blown out last night in game five.

Now, judging by these similar shares of ups and downs, the Nuggets look like they could be going through their “take the next step” occurrence. They just need to play a tight game in Denver for game six, and take in all the situations they’ve dealt with in this matchup thus far into L.A. for game seven, and they could definitely move onto the finals.

Let’s not forget one more similarity that I see in the Nuggets and Magic, and that is the fact that they are more or less the same teams; loaded with talent and yet inexperience for the most part, but definitely having legitimate chances to become champions.

Hopefully being back at Quicken Loans Arena will do something to lift the spirits of LeBron and the rest of his teammates.

The Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves on the back end of four playoff contests in which three have gone down to the wire and could have been anyone’s game. However, the bad news is that the Orlando Magic have capitalized on two of those situations; game one on a Rashard Lewis three with under ten seconds to go, and most recently in game four in overtime off a LeBron James missed long three. The Cavs, who were the favorites for many to win this series, and perhaps the so-called “darlings” of the league, now need to become ferocious. If anything, there is one fact that they can lean on to fuel one notion they can believe in.

The Fact:

Cleveland this year was 39-2 during the regular season; one loss to the Lakers who they don’t have to worry about yet unless they both get to the finals, and the other to the Philadelphia 76ers in Cleveland’s final home game where they rested LeBron James and Mo Williams.

The Notion:

Although they lost one home game already in the post season (and no less to Orlando in game one of this series) they can still say “All we have to do is win one road game to get this series.”

The Conclusion:

It’s quite simple, but also a very realistic mentality to keep, and with that being said, if Cleveland wins game five in Cleveland, and then Orlando fails to close it out in Florida, well then my friends, I don’t think there will be too many people picking against the Cavaliers in a game seven at the Q.

Vince McMahon certainly "flexed" his muscle last night on Monday Night RAW (and was probably one of the only times the concensus wanted him to).

As you all should know, there was a recent scheduling conflict between the WWE and Denver Nuggets. Monday Night RAW’s May 25th edition was supposed to be held in the Denver Nuggets Pepsi Center until the Denver Nuggets managed to make it to the NBA’s Western Conference Finals. Here are my thoughts on the WWE’s response.

The first part of the response was in the opening when Vince McMahon stepped in the ring with another gentleman dressed as Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke. This included McMahon letting off some steam in the form of some live air time where he made fun of Kroenke’s middle name, Enos, and rhymed it with words like “Venus “ and “Genius.” He of course eluded the obvious “penis” but made sure to reference to it in other words. He also criticized the Denver Nuggets’ staff (probably for not having the balls to step up to Kroenke and tell him “You’re wrong.).

Finally, McMahon said something about the NBA or Nuggets “pushing” the WWE and its fans and McMahon said “We push back!” and snuffed the hell out of that would-be Stan “Enos” Kroenke. I have to say, that push was thunderous and I think McMahon really wanted to Let Kroenke know what would happen if the two weren’t separated by the professional fine line and the restrictions of potential tort law penalties.

Finally, the main event featured five superstars in Lakers jerseys, John Cena, Batista, MVP, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and surprise return superstar Ken Kennedy versus five men in Nuggets jerseys (all bad guys) Randy Orton, Ted Dibiase Jr., Cody Rhodes, The Miz, and Big Show. This was no more than the standard tag team match that Monday Night Raw loves to have seemingly every week, but with the stars wearing NBA jerseys.

So, all in all, the first part was decent while the second was lacking any punch.

Let's see where the eastern conference home games will be played in this year's finals.

The Orlando Magic did what many people thought they would, although not as fast as some people thought, and that was stop the injury-riddled Boston Celtics from any chances they had of repeating as champions. It may seem to some as though the Magic are not ready to stand the test that is the efficient basketball playing Cleveland Cavaliers who are led by the, this year, super-cool LeBron James. However, the adversity they faced in the Boston Celtics series (most notably games four and five) has helped them mature into a team that can definitely beat the Cavaliers and perhaps even in convincing fashion.

What about the Cavaliers looks like they should just run through the Orlando Magic with ease? That they are efficient, every player knows their place, and they all feed off of LeBron James’ confidence? Sometimes, that’s just not enough when you can’t match up well with your opponent. And I’m talking pure plain and simple physical matchups.

Let’s start with the most obvious… the 6 foot 11 inch Dwight Howard. There are three options to guard him; Anderson Verajao, Ben Wallace, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. First off, Verajao is 6 ft 11, so not bad. Anderson is very tenacious and plays with a lot of energy, but he does not have the scoring nor the speed or power to truly offset a Dwight Howard. Ben Wallace is 6 ft 9 and is a former four-time defensive player of the year. But when you factor in his digression at 35 years of age, it may be too much to ask of him to consistently keep Howard at bay. Finally, the 7 foot 3 inch Ilgauskas has the height advantage, but he is not known for his defense, nor does he have the body strength to prevent Howard from getting to the line for some free throws, and with “hack-a-Dwight” not always being a safe option, this could pose problems.

After Dwight Howard, Verajao will have to look after Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. These are two strong and tall forwards who also exceed Verajao in his strength and speed, and most obviously, scoring. Verajao can at best, produce one, maybe two nights, where he can match one of these men scoring wise, but one of two and only one or two times is not good.

But this is not all that Verajao will have to worry about. The Magic still have two more big men scoring threats that will be coming off the bench in Mikael Pietrus and Tony Battie, and this does not bode well for the Cavs, even if they are top two in the league in defense.

Raefer Alston and Anthony Johnson together can easily offset Mo Williams, who is more of a streaky scorer, and Williams’ backup, DeLonte West, who also needs space to score, or a clear lane to the hole. Whereas he could get a few lanes, he’ll have Dwight Howard standing under the basket.

This should be no easy task for either team, but what the Magic’s advantage is that they do not have to alter their game-plan or rotations too much to deal with Cleveland’s size. Cleveland most likely will have to. So, in that regard, this should be more of a strategical challenge for the Cavaliers than it will be for the Orlando Magic.

Maybe if the basket was really that low, he could actually hit his jumpers.

The Orlando Magic are a team that has just downright gotten under my skin. It has hardly anything to do with a biased opinion. This literary lashing that is about to ensue is derived from their lack of effort but mainly their incompetence.

A lot of people probably thought the Magic would beat the Celtics fairly handily without Kevin Garnett, with the series going no more than six games, especially since they were 3-1 against Cleveland, 3-1 against Boston, and 2-0 against the Lakers in the regular season. You know why they had such great records against those teams in the regular season but don’t look like it in the post season (like the way they let the Philadelphia 76ers start out to a 2-1 lead in their first round series)? Because they keep playing like the team that looked so good in the regular season, as opposed to the type of team that it takes to get through the postseason… one with heart, and guts, and that wants to live up to the hype, rather than expecting to.

An example of this is Dwight Howard. How many times has he missed on his short hooks in this series? More than someone who is considered in some circles “the next Shaq.” He has the same expression and drive in playoff games as he does in the regular season games, and I would not be surprised if he never worked on that might-as-well-be eyes closed hook shot of his. And who is to say that he should try to live up to Shaq, but he sometimes seem to have an heir as if all the hype is true and that’s that…. no need to work on it or prove it.

Then you have guys like Hedo Turkoglu and Mikael Pietrus looking like all they can do is shoot three pointers. They need to play smarter than that. They are the three seed in the Eastern conference and sport the fourth best record in the entire league, not the three-balling 29-53 Golden State Warriors. Turkoglu and Pietrus need to trust their inside game more and try to force fouls on that Boston interior defense. They have no excuse. Like they say… “You live by the three and you die by the three.”

In game four, they were down by 10 or so with six minutes to go, and only had a little over 80 points total, and needed the help of a six plus minute Celtic scoring drought in order to catch up for the one point lead they blew on Davis’ jumper. Then, in game five, when they seemed to get it right as they had a ten or so point lead on Boston with about four minutes to go, they blew that, and lost by three! You know what that smells like? Pure, plain, and simple incompetence.

Until they change, I will be an advocate of what Charles Barkley said a few nights ago… “If they can’t beat the Celtics without Kevin Garnet, then how in the world do they expect to beat them with him?” It’s not a pity to say the following either, because they’ve only brought it on themselves… The Magic are the second round version of those loaded teams who can never get out of the first round. Except in this case they just can’t get out of the second.” – Alex V

Although the two would not face each other lest it be in the NBA Finals, both men's teams, Dwight Howard left, and Yao Ming right, face the unsettling task of taking down two of the three teams with the best records in the NBA.

Last night presented us with a pair of game ones on TNT that just about went down to the wire, but most importantly, had the road teams winning. The first game featured the three seeded Magic and two seeded Celtics in Boston with Orlando getting the W. The second game was the five seeded Houston Rockets at the one seeded Lakers in Los Angeles. with the road team pulling out a crucially upsetting victory. This is a great position for any team to be in, and especially a considerable underdog like the Houston Rockets. With that being said, who has the greatest advantage?

One advantage both teams earned with their victories is home court. Aside from that there are other mental factors that can provide advantages as well as some disadvantages.

The Orlando Magic looked solid and efficient as they worked their way building a huge lead which at one point was as high as 28 points midway through the third quarter. Their big four scorers of Dwight Howard, Raefer Alston, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rashard Lewis all posted 10+ points and they also received a boost from Mickael Pietrus who stepped it up adding 10+ points of his own. All in all it definitely looked like the fatigue from Boston’s seven game, multiple overtime series with Chicago was beginning to show.

That was until they began a spurt which saw them outscore the Magic 54-41 in the second half, and even close the gap to four points when there were less than two minutes left in the game. Now it’s one thing to win on the road and pull off a game one victory. But when you cannot keep the clamps down after building a 28 point lead in the third quarter against a team who is supposed to be tired and is playing without Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe, that should do more good for they psyche of the Celtics than it does for the Magic.

As for the Rockets, they managed to stay within their game the entire contest versus the Lakers. Even when L.A. converted a nine point deficit in the second half into a one point lead, Houston never waivered and stuck with their game plan a got back to holding onto comfortable leads of five to nine points. Much of that had to do with the careful and mistake-free ball handling of point guard Aaron Brooks.

On top of that, they received en emotional lift when Yao Ming was hurt after Kobe Bryant’s right knee banged into his own right knee. Yao was favoring the knee very heavily and he even walked off the court before pleading with his team trainer that he was fine and able to go back. All he did in his return was hit a big jumper and sink six free throws to keep LA at bay in the waning moments of the game. Now if that isn’t good for a fifth seeded team’s confidence faced with task of taking down the daunting L.A. Lakers then I don’t know what is.

Because of the Rockets consistent game play in their victory coupled by the determination of Yao Ming, I would give them the edge on the advantage end over Orlando. As for the Magic, it is great that they won on the road, but they were basically hanging by a thread as the game was expiring, and perhaps they have yet to face a fully alert and enthused Celtics team.

Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, the anchors of Portland's team, aim to bring the series back to Oregon for a decisive game seven tonight in Houston at 9:30pm on TNT.

In NBA playoff history, only eight teams have ever come back from a 3-1 deficit. There have been plenty of times where the team facing elimination has forced games sixes and even games sevens, but it is just that hard to beat a team three straight times. The Portland Trail Blazers face that same dilemma and have already closed the deficit to 3-2. But what kind of motivation does this team have to win the series… it’s quite simple

The Trail Blazers seem to be a team suffering from the playoff willies. They’re young. However, they should convert that youthful inexperience into youthful enthusiasm to try and beat the Rockets tonight in Houston with the lingering thought in the back of their minds that if they can pull it off, they go back to Portland for game seven. They need to use this to remember that the pressure is on Houston as they definitely want no part of a game seven on the road.

I definitely think the Blazers can pick up the win as they were one of the hottest teams going into the playoffs, and in the final week of the regular season they beat Denver and L.A. who are the top two seeds in the west. So don’t be surprised if Portland becomes the ninth team in NBA history to win a series after being down 3-1.

Mavericks await either the two seeded Denver Nuggets or seven seeded New Orleans Hornets for the next round of the Western Conference Playoffs.

Last night on TNT the Dallas Mavericks swiftly dispersed of the Spurs as big scorers Jason Terry (19pts), Josh Howard (17pts), and of course Dirk Nowitzki (31pts) lit up the court with constant hope-crushing basket after basket. It was these same types of performances that powered the Mavericks to win all four games by an average of 12.75 points. And although the Mavericks feat is certainly props-worthy, this upset has as much to say about them as it does the Spurs.

If anyone said that before game one the Mavericks would beat the Spurs in five games you’d tell them they better not put any money on it. It is not as if it would have been a stretch to pick the Mavs to win the series, but in five games and with the purely superior display that they did it with, that is what makes this series an upset of almost monumental proportion.

The Spurs are not used to losing big, much less that many times to the same team and especially to an opponent that they have a history with. Yes, it is true they had no Manu Ginobli, but for them to lose by 12.75 points per game when they were the favorite is alarming. Next season they’re going to have to hope Ginobli is 100% and they may need to think about replacing the vets like Kurt Thomas, Bruce Bowen, and Michael Finley.

As for the Mavericks, more power to you!