Welcome back to another action-packed playoffs edition of the US Sports Wrap. We're still balls-deep in the action of the first round of both NBA and NHL playoffs series, plus we have some developments in the NFL to report on. So strap yourselves in and prepare for some surprises big enough to make a grown man hurl.
I'll have what he's having.
And now to the sports...
NBA (Basketball)
Eastern Conference
Chicago Bulls (4) vs Indiana Pacers (1)
Miami Heat (4) vs Philadelphia 76ers (1)
Boston Celtics (4) vs New York Knicks (0)
Orlando Magic (2) vs Atlanta Hawks (3)
Western Conference
San Antonio Spurs (2) vs Memphis Grizzlies (3)
LA Lakers (3) vs New Orleans Hornets (2)
Dallas Mavericks (3) vs Portland Trail Blazers (2)
Oklahoma City (4) vs Denver Nuggets (1)
* Bulls vs Pacers
Indiana proved a tough opponent for a Chicago team that was relying too heavily on Derrick Rose, but the Bulls got the job done in five games taking out the series (4-1) on Tuesday night with a 116-89 smashing. D-Rose came into the game battling an ankle injury but still managed 25 points and 6 assists, while Luol Deng added 24 and 7 of his own. The victory didn't go completely smoothly though, with big man Carlos Boozer suffering a turf toe injury in the second quarter. Post-match X-rays came back negative so Bulls fans will be hoping he can recover in time for the next round.
* Heat vs 76ers
The Heat have made light work of the 76ers despite a slight stumble in game four and are just one game away from wrapping up the series. In fact, with just 1:35 left and holding a six point lead, it looked like Miami had the series wrapped up. Up until that point, Philli had resembled Death in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, "best 2 out of 3?... best 3 out of 5?". But the NBA playoffs are a best-of-7 affair, and a couple of 3-pointers over Dwyane Wade gave the 76ers the lead and locked in another game today in Miami. (Update: Heat win 97-91 to take out the series 4-1)
* Celtics vs Knicks
New York battled hard in the first two games of their series against Boston, but missing their point guard Chauncey Billups after game one and Amare Stoudamire battling with back spasms proved to much for the Knicks as the ended up being cleanly swept aside 4-0. It meant the Knicks were swept in the first round of the playoffs in their first appearance since suffering the same result in 2004.
* Magic vs Hawks
Before Tuesday night, Atlanta had been dominating 3-1 in the series over a Magic 'team' that was shooting more bricks than these guys. In their game 4 loss, Orlando shot a horrible 39.2% from the field and an even worse 8.7% from downtown. Game 5, however, saw some shooting touch return and some much-needed performances by players not named Dwight Howard (who only contributed 8 points and 8 rebounds, well down on his 32 points and 17 rebounds averaged over the first 4 games of the series).
* Spurs vs Grizzlies
Monday night saw the Grizzlies move one step closer to proving Kinna's prophetic ramblings correct. That's right, after stating numerous times in the lead-up to the playoffs that Memphis was a danger team, they've got the West's number one seed on the ropes leading 3-1 before their game today. The Monday night win came after a monster third quarter that saw the Grizzlies outscore the Spurs 30-15 before going on to win comfortably 104-86. Point guard Mike Conley top scored for the winners with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Spurs guard Tony Parker had this to say about the loss, "Obviously, the whole team is very frustrated, I mean we go through a whole season and get that first seed, and now we're just one game away to be eliminated so it's most important for us to focus on Game 5." (Update: Spurs win in overtime and force a game six after a 3-point buzzer beater from Gary Neal leveled the scores in regulation)
* Lakers vs Hornets
After a fairly average season by his standards, Chris Paul has lifted his game and has his Hornets pushing the Los Angeles Lakers to at least a sixth game of the series. CP3 averaged just 11.4 points and 9.4 assists per game in the regular season, but those numbers have risen to 24.4 and 11.6 in their five games against the Lakers thus far - including a lovely triple double with their series leveling on Sunday. Tuesday night's game five however saw the strong performances from Kobe Bryant (on a dodgy ankle), Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol as Lakers moved to 3-2 in the series with a 106-90 win.
* Mavericks vs Trail Blazers
The Dallas Mavericks didn't make the same mistake twice. After blowing a 23 point lead with 14 minutes left in game four, the Mav's were able to hold onto their big lead late in game five to end up taking the win 93-82 over the Portland Trail Blazers. Tyson Chandler had 14 points and a whopping 20 rebounds in the win to help lift Dallas to a 3-2 lead in the series. They play game six in Portland tomorrow.
* Thunder vs Nuggets
Denver avoided a sweep on Monday with a 104-101 win over the boys from Oklahoma City. Ty Lawson continued his late-season form for the Nuggets top-scoring with 27 points (a career high in playoffs) while adding 3 assists and 3 rebounds. It most likely won't be enough for the baby-blues though as they have to travel to Oklahoma to take on Durant, Westbrook and the Thunder later today in game five. (Update: An epic 41 points from Kevin Durant helps the Thunder to a 100-97 win and seal the series)
As with last week, I'm running through some of the Top Ten Plays of the season by some of the NBA's most prolific superstars. Last week it was my boy D-Rose, today we look at Lebron!
NHL (Ice Hockey)
Eastern Conference
Washington Capitals (4) vs NY Rangers (1)
Philadelphia Flyers (4) vs Buffalo Sabres (3)
Boston Bruins (3) vs Montreal Canadiens (3)
Pittsburgh Penguins (3) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (3)
Western Conference
Vancouver Canucks (4) vs Chicago Blackhawks (3)
San Jose Sharks (4) vs LA Kings (2)
Detroit Red Wings (4) vs Phoenix Coyotes (0)
Anaheim Ducks (1) vs Nashville Predators (4)
* There's just two series left of the Conference Quarter-finals with the Capitals, Flyers, Canucks, Sharks, Red Wings and Predators having sewn up their match-ups already. That just leaves the Bruins vs Canadiens and Penguins vs Lightning to battle our their game sevens today. The Penguins have lost the last two in a row are having the chance at home to finish of Tampa Bay in game 5. They've been without superstar Sidney Crosby who hasn't played since January 5th due to a concussion injury. (Update: Lightning beat Penguins 1-0 and Bruins top Canadiens 4-3 in overtime)
NFL (Football)
* Lock-out news
On Monday a Federal judge ordered that the NFL lock-out be lifted as she believed it was causing irreparable harm to the players. The NFL owners fought back with an appeal of the verdict, and it's pretty much in no-mans land at the moment. All very confusing, but as yet nothing has really happened. Hopefully will have more info for you next week.
* Draft Preview
Despite the lock-out issues, the first round of the NFL Draft begins as scheduled tomorrow. For those not familiar with the NFL's draft, it's as long and drawn out as you probably thing the game itself is - spanning over 3 days to get through the 254 picks in seven rounds. Although the draft pool is looking decidedly strong on the defensive side of the ball, most analysts have pencilled in the Carolina Panthers picking quarterback Cam Newton with their first pick, before the Denver Broncos pick up the best defensive player they can get their hands on with pick 2. Tune in next week for a run-down of the Top 10 picks.
That's it for this week's US Sports Wrap. For more of TheVine's sports coverage check out the World Sport Report and the Aussie Sports Wrap.