The bizarre theme of extreme mutual home court dominance continued in game six of the San Antonio-New Orleans series as the Spurs beat the Hornets 99-80 to force a game seven in New Orleans on Monday. A 3-3 series suggests that the teams are evenly matched and yet none of the games have been close; the home team has won every game this series by at least 11 points and five of the six games have been decided by 18 points or more.

Last year, David Thorpe wrote, "I've always believed Redick could become a starter for a playoff team, and he appears to be moving along that path now." I have done several posts disagreeing with Thorpe about this. He recently emailed me and during our exchange of messages I asked him point blank which starting shooting guards in the league he believes that Redick can effectively defend.

Magic Johnson recently received the the third annual USA TODAY Hollywood Hero Award in recognition of the work done by his Magic Johnson Foundation and his efforts to help underserved communities. Johnson firmly believes in opening businesses in urban areas and, as he put it in a May 2 Op-Ed piece in USA TODAY, redeveloping "underserved communities when few saw the value."

Kobe Bryant attempted just 10 field goals but scored a team-high 26 points as his Lakers beat the Utah Jazz to move within one win of the franchise's first appearance in the Western Conference Finals since 2004. Bryant shot 6-10 from the field and 13-17 from the free throw line while also dishing off for seven assists and tying for second on the team with six rebounds.

The Boston Celtics survived a 35 point performance by LeBron James to post a 96-89 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers and move within one win of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. Kevin Garnett had his best all-around game of the series (26 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots, two steals, zero turnovers and 12-19 shooting from the field).

The Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 91-86 on Tuesday to win that series four games to one and thus advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the sixth straight season. The Showtime Lakers from the 1980s are the most recent team to make it to the Conference Finals at least six years in a row (they did it from 1982-89), so this is quite an accomplishment for the Pistons.

The San Antonio Spurs have won four championships in the Tim Duncan era but they have never captured back to back titles or even won consecutive Western Conference crowns--and unless they can beat the New Orleans Hornets two games in a row they will once again follow a championship season with a year in which they did not make it back to the Finals.

After months and months of hype and overkill about "Spygate," former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh finally met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. It turns out that there is no tape of St. Louis' walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVI and, in fact, little new information about this media created "scandal."

It's halfway to deja vu all over again for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Last year, the Cavs lost their first two playoff games against number one seeded Detroit before ripping off four straight wins. This year, the Cavs lost their first two playoff games against number one seeded Boston but now they have bounced back with two home victories, including an 88-77 triumph on Monday.

Deron Williams had 29 points and 14 assists as his Utah Jazz beat the L.A. Lakers 123-115 in overtime to even their second round series at 2-2. Kobe Bryant finished with 33 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds but a back injury that he suffered early in the game got progressively worse and significantly hindered him down the stretch.

Cleveland used a balanced offensive attack to beat Boston in game three. LeBron James still struggled with his shot but he played an excellent floor game (eight assists, five rebounds, four steals, three blocked shots). Cleveland assistant coach Chris Jent says that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with James' shot from a technical standpoint.

Cleveland assistant coach Hank Egan, who served on Gregg Popovich's San Antonio staff for eight years, breaks down why Popovich likes the Hack a Shaq strategy. Egan also explains why the strategy can be risky and is best employed by a mature, veteran squad like the Spurs.

Carlos Boozer scored nine straight points for Utah in less than three minutes in the fourth quarter to help the Jazz hold off a late Lakers' rally in game three of their second round series. He finished with 27 points and tied a playoff career-high with 20 rebounds in Utah's 104-99 win.

In recent days it seems like everyone has come not to praise the San Antonio Spurs but to bury them but their 110-99 game three win over the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday suggested that such funeral plans are very premature. Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich resorted to his tried and true tactic whenever things look dire for his team: he shifted Manu Ginobili from the bench to the starting lineup, changing the matchups and rotations for both teams.

For the second game in a row, the Boston Celtics contained LeBron James but this time the Celtics also generated enough offense to put the contest out of reach well before the final buzzer, beating Cleveland 89-73. James had a game-high 21 points plus six assists and five rebounds but he shot just 6-24 from the field and committed seven turnovers.