Friday night's action

The numbers for Friday nights action:

Cleveland +3 @ New Jersey 181

Phoenix +3 @ San Antonio 200

Since the Cleveland game already started no point in giving any predictions there. But the lock of locks this weekend is PHOENIX over the Spurs. This series is destined to go 7. Take Phoenix, waive the spred. If you have any equity left in your house and can find someone

to give you cash at 830 on Friday night, DO IT.

This is the Led Pipe LOCK of the playoffs.

About Last Night....

I'll be perfectly honest - I'm on the verge of dis-owning the eastern conference altogether. My disinterest level is inching dangerously close to "Floyd Landis" and "Barbaro" territory. Now THAT'S something I never thought would even cross my mind. Between teams blantantly taking games off (IN THE SECOND ROUND!!!) and an overall poor quality of play - I'd almost rather not watch.

Think about the action out west - suspensions, ejections, near brawls, a half dozen outrageous fouls that come to mind without even thinking about it, and even some post-game tears after the FIRST round (cheer up, T-mac). Has anything even REMOTELY similar happened in the east? Baron Davis, Boozer, Nash, and several others have been playing like their lives depended on the outcome. Lebron, Vince, and Sheed seem like their playing in a Hoop-It-Up tournament.

The numbers for both teams last night were almost identical. Both teams took/made nearly the same amount of field goals and both shot 5-18 from the 3. Basically, the Pistons shot better from the line - and (big surprise) they turned it up in the 3rd quarter and never looked back.

It's just amazing that they did this exact same routine last year, and they LOST doing it. And to take it a step further - they should've lost to the Cavs had Cleveland been able to get a defensive rebound in the final minute of game 6.

Thursday's Action

The numbers for Thursday's only game:

Detroit +1.5 @ Chicago 184

I want to tell you that the Bulls are going to win tonight. The Bulls beat the Pistons 3 times in the regular season and on the verge of being eliminated in game 4 seemed to figure out how to beat the Pistons again. Unfortunately, the DETROIT is the pick.

Underdog is 6-2 ATS in the last 8 meetings. Couple that with the fact that the Pistons have been great ATS on the road this year, 30-15, and anyone watching Game 4 and 5 could tell you the Pistons had no interest in either game. I would like to see the Bulls force a game 7 but sadly its not in the cards. We are heading straight to the scenario I saw playing out a few weeks ago, with the Pistons awaiting the winner of a Spurs/Utah series in the finals, and setting the NBA back 10 years. Far and away the most exciting event left in the NBA season is the lottery.

Because having just one bet in a night is clearly not enough, UNDER 184 is a virtual lock. The Pistons are going to play some lock down defense tonight after being run off the Court the last two games. Richard Hamilton over 23 points and assists (-130) is another good way to pass the time.

That Just Happened! : Wed. May 16, 2007

These playoffs are starting to remind me of one of those college all-day drinking affairs. Right out of the gate, every one's so excited that it can't help but be awesome. Funnels, games of Quarters, someone's getting laid by 11am. Then comes the pre-dinner crash, 70% of the people pass out, a good number of public indecency arrests, and two of your friends have one of those Mom and Dad fights that makes everyone at the party uncomfortable. That's where we are in the playoffs.

New Jersey Nets 82, Cleveland Cavaliers 72

I'm starting to have a hard time believing that this is going to be the series that proves anything about Lebron James, and I'm kind of getting tired of waiting for him to prove me wrong. A 35 year-old point guard is taking over games down the stretch when the 22 year-old phenom is supposed to be making his name. All that being said, I would rather be Yinka Dare than have my name be associated with the 4th quarter of this game. The Nets managed six (!$!@$#$!@$#!@$!!@#@!#!) points on one field goal (!#@(#$@(%!*$@(*$!@#) and still got the win in a 4th quarter that probably actually put more people to sleep than any in recent playoff history. There's little else of note in this game other than another solid J-Kidd performance and a Lebron knee injury that sets the stage for a "miraculous" performance whenever he decides to turn it on and end this series. UGH.

San Antonio Spurs 88, Phoenix Suns 85

Perhaps in a tribute to the fallen Warriors, the Suns went small, smaller, smallest last night against the Spurs. Using essentially a six-man rotation, not counting Pat Burke's three minutes, the Suns did almost everything they could to get the win that was rightfully theirs last night. The missing link was a no-show by Sixth Man of the Year Leandro Barbosa. I often refuse to buy into the idea of a Sixth Man being uncomfortable in any other position, but with the numbers Barbosa put up last night it's hard not to feel like he was off his game. Six fouls, four turnovers, and 3-12 shooting. Add to that a mildly unproductive (by his standards) game by Steve Nash and the Suns couldn't do the impossible in this one. Close-out game for the Spurs in San Antonio on Friday. Stoudemire and Nash no-show and the party's over; if they're feeling heroic, I break out my game 7 beer helmet.

Um.....yeah.....So About Last Night....

I'm a little late with my post-game thoughts. Mainly because I've been hitting "refresh" all day on deadspin and espn.com to find out who got suspended and for how long. The verdict seems split right down the middle on this one. Even the Inside the NBA crew had a hung jury. Shaq seemed deadset in the "do the crime do the time" camp, while Chuck took a more rational approach: since the rule is to prevent players from running off the bench to throw haymakers - Stoudamire and Diaw should get a pass. Chuck- not like you would ever care, but I got your back on this.

Hopefully Stern doesn't screw the Suns like he screwed the Knicks back in '97. I'm gonna start foaming at the mouth by bringing this up, but here goes:

The Knicks were up 3-1 in the Conference Semi's against the Heat. After that dipshit Riley told that even bigger dipshit PJ Brown to shot-put Charlie Ward into the 15th row - the Knicks ended up losing Ewing, LJ, Houston, and Starks for 1 game (no biggie - just 4 of the starting 5). And Stern - being the great guy that he is - instead of destroying the Knicks for ONE game. He decided to suspend 2 guys for game 6 and the other 2 for game 7 - just to make sure the Knicks lost BOTH games instead of just the 1. I'm still not over it. And neither will Suns fans if they lose Amare and Diaw for Game 6 and end up down 3-2 heading back to San Antonio.

Still one hell of a game 4 last night, though. I'd be happy to send everyone else home and let these 2 teams slug it out for another 2 series.

The first game last night wasn't bad either. Jkidd dropped ANOTHER triple double. But the ending looked like and anti-clutch convention. First Lebron showed off his skills in "bricking game clinching free throws". That WOULD have been the big story from this game had Vince not over-shadowed him. I mean- in all seriousness - Vince would've just bricked a fade away had he gotten the shot off. But conventional thinking would've said - anyone who can do THIS:

not to mention someone being guarded by Eric motherfucking Snow - would try taking it to the basket. Think about how much money that goof probably cost Vince. There's still a chance some retarded team gives him a max contract anyways. But had he made that basket and played big in OT? - it would have been a lock. At least you still got your diploma, Vince.

Monday's Picks

The numbers for Monday night:

Cleveland +4 @ New Jersey 186

Phoenix +3.5 @ San Antonio 202

Picks: NEW JERSEY, PHOENIX, and OVER Phoenix/San Antonio

Games start in a few minutes so I wanted to get the picks up in order to make everyone alot of money. If you are looking for non ball numbers Mets/Cubs Under 8 and Phillies -125 home against the Brewers. I could give you numbers to back all of this but its easier to just trust me and know I'm always right and always make money.

That Just Happened!: Sun May 13, 2007

Sorry about the lack of posts over the weekend but 2/3 of the Rack was in Staten Island at a close friend's engagement party. I'd like to use this space to congratulate Chris and Laura on the engagement, blah, blah, blah; but most importantly for seeing to it that no one died of alcohol poisoning. Although the pictures might make it seem otherwise. Here's some stuff I noticed as I laid on the couch chewing enough Advil to re-kill Barbaro.

Chicago Bulls 102, Detroit Pistons 87

Detroit finally managed to give one away completely, even if they had to shoot .373 from the field to get it done. They were aided slightly by the Bulls offense waking up from their nap, with Leon Doing putting in 25 points in a full 48 minutes (can't call Skiles a dummy on the one). It's still hard not to feel like the Pistons are trying to lose some of these games, like they don't want to be riding a winning streak into the Conference Finals. I mean why else would they not take my advice and give someone on the bench an air horn to fire off every time Rasheed Wallace touches the ball (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, and Exhibit C). At the very least, it would be a good way to get their money's worth out of Nazr "DNP" Mohammed and Dale "The Janitor" Davis.

Utah Jazz 115, Golden State Warriors 101

One thing I've noticed in this series is every announcer's proclivity to talk about how deadly the combination of Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams is and then tack on: "of course we're not talking about Malone and Stockton just yet." Thanks for cracking that egg of knowledge you saavy basketball minds. I'm not asking Reggie Miller to throw a veritble Kitchen Book of stats my way, but at least assume I'm smart enough to know that a 22 year-old black kid isn't John Stockton just yet. And how about giving them some credit for playing OUT OF THEIR MINDS? Deron Williams may not have dished 24 assists in a game yet, but his playoff averages 17.8ppg and 9.1apg are solid to say the least. Malone averaged 24.7ppg and 10.7reb in the playoffs, and so far this year Boozer has averages 24.7ppg and 12.1reb (how deliciously convienient for me). And these stats came in two hard-fought rounds against a legitimate defensive powerhouse and the hottest team in the NBA. Maybe it's time to give the boys some credit for being the centerpieces of the best Jazz team since Malone and Stockton left.

ps- WARRIORS, HIT YOUR FREE THROWS!!!!!!!))#)!#)@$(!#(%(!#%(