The see-saw swing of the NBA is in full force right now as the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers gear up for what could be a pivotal Game 3 at the Staples Center. We don’t have to go into Lakers history, with the championships and media attention and the domination of NBA basketball on the West Coast and beyond. But we do have to consider what’s going on with LA right now, which is that they’ve been convincingly beaten at crunch time by a stubborn and physical Thunder that never seem to be put away.Fans with Thunder at Lakers tickets will see what could be a game that changes the face of the NBA as we know it.

The Los Angeles Lakers hit Oklahoma City full bore last night, holding a comfortable seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Not a blowout but an NBA team with designs on a championship should have been able to keep the other team at bay for the remaining two minutes. LA couldn’t do it. The Oklahoma City Thunder rolled up their sleeves at that point and rattled off the last nine points of the game, capping it with a Kevin Durant basket that sealed the game with 18 seconds on the clock.

What are we seeing here? The Lakers have been in many a tough series over the years but falling behind in this one could be deadly. The Thunder are big and tough on defense. they’ll be carrying some swagger into the Staples Center and a loss on their home court could spell the end of the Lakers as we know them. Realistically, LA doesn’t even own the franchise on LA basketball anymore as the Clippers have now made enough noise to begin to compete for roundball interest in the city. It’s going to take a major spark for the Lakers to regain their footing. Even a win is not enough. Los Angeles has to own this series. If they don’t, some NBA fans will have a memento in Thunder at Lakers tickets, a stub that saw the change in the NBA come in at full force.

Just got back from the defac where I watched the Boston Celtics literally crush the Philadelphia 76ers on their home court. If there was a way for the Celtics to show the world what they’re made of that was the way to do it. Boston took it to the 76ers from the very beginning and never let them get in any flow and simply denied them the possibility of staging a comeback.

Perhaps this series has taken a decisive turn with the Celtics domination. Game 1 &2 were very close affairs, each decided by a single point. But the Celtics left no doubt who was the better team in this game. Kevin Garnett covered the boards with 13 rebounds and scored 27 points, using a big second quarter performance to create space and leave Philadelphia gasping.

Now holding a 2-1 lead in the series the Boston Celtics have gotten into the heads of the 76ers. The fire left over from their series win over the Bulls has been extinguished. Philly will have to find something to rally their spirits before Game 4 or they’ll be beaten puppies by the time they head back to Boston.

In the playoffs of any sport, there is always a dark horse that no one expects to win.  Like the New York Giants in the NFL.  In the NBA playoffs though, my dark horse in the Eastern Conference is the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers handled the Orlando Magic with ease winning that series 4-1.  The Pacers are up against one of the best teams with the Miami Heat though, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Heat will win.  The Pacers actually had, if not the same record as,  then close to the same record as the Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakers.

Even though the Pacers haven’t really established the face of their franchise, they have a few players that really stand out.  One of these players is Roy Hibbert.  The 7’2″, 260 pound center is averaging 11 points per game and 4 blocks per game in the playoffs.  This guy is incredible.  To have a presence as big and disruptive as him is a gift.  The Pacers are lucky to have him.

The other stand out performer is none other than small forward Danny Granger.  Granger is averaging about 21 points per game and 7 rebounds per game.  He is a great player in the paint and beyond the three-point line.  Danny Granger is the dark horse of the playoffs, talking about players.  He has been very impressive as he scored 20+ points in the las three games against the Magic.

The Pacers are definitely a force to reckon with.  If the Heat look past them, the Pacers will take advantage and could possibly win this series.  They have the firepower to do so.  Don’t miss out the Pacers; get your Pacers’ tickets now at Frontrow.com.

The Boston Celtics held up their end of the bargain last night, dropping the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6 and setting up a showdown with the Philadelphia 76ers in Round 2. The game was kind of highlighted by the reaction of Kevin Garnett, who was called “the dirtiest guy in the league” by one of the Hawks owners. I’m quite sure the players on the Atlanta hawks would like to extend their thanks to him for providing an opponent with motivation.

Anyway, the Boston Celtics are now going to have to line up and play a Philadelphia 76ers team emboldened by a 1st Round win over the Chicago Bulls, the team with the best record in basketball. How far that boldness will carry Philadelphia is subject to debate by you can bet they’ll be going into TD Garden with a nothing to lose attitude.

What I’m hoping is to see the Celtics and the Heat eventually meet up. The rivalry between those two has been growing and having them hook up at the end would be a fine thing for the NBA. We’ll have to wait and see what happens and in the meantime we’ll enjoy this 76ers vs Celtics series. I think it’s going to be a good one.

The LA Lakers look like they could be fading fast in this series against the Denver Nuggets. With Kobe Bryant ailing the Nuggets have now pushed the Lakers into a Game 7, an idea I would have thought impossible just a few weeks ago. Bryant put up 31 points in this game, but at the end he had some pretty harsh words for his teammates who he obviously felt failed to step up when he was down on his game.

That kind of discord can’t be good for the harmony on the LA Lakers. Unless in some weird way it can serve as a motivational tool. Basically Kobe Bryant has thrown down the gauntlet in front of Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Looking at the situation the Lakers key player was absolutely right in being upset. Gasol was a pitiful 1 for 10 and Bynum only 4 for 11. With those kinds of numbers you shouldn’t even be on the court.

So what happens now? The Denver Nuggets come to the Staples Center one game away from pulling off of a major upset. The Lakers appear to be hanging on by their fingernails. They can either rise up or end their season in shambles. Stay tuned because this is going to be interesting.

Apparently having the best record in the Eastern Conference sucks in some situations. In this case, it’s the Chicago Bulls absolutely abysmal luck that makes the whole thing so bad. Running amok through the NBA regular season did the Bulls absolutely no good. In fact it’s probably made this whole playoff scenario much more painful to watch from the point of view of a Chicago Bulls fan. When Lady Luck turns her back on you, you’re just screwed.

The Chicago Bulls were quite clearly the class of the Eastern Conference the whole season and put up 50 wins, playing at a high level for months. Just prior to the playoffs it would be hard to make a case against the Bulls winning the Eastern Conference and advancing into the NBA Finals. But disaster strikes and dreams go out the window. In this case the loss of Derrick Rose has reduced the Chicago Bulls from top contender to outside possibility. It’s not over yet, but the Bulls are facing elimination in Game 6 againts the Philadelphia 76ers.

Of course this is all going over very well in Philly. The Bulls loss is the 76ers gain as they shoot for their first playoff series victory in almost a decade. From there anything can happen as I’m fond of preaching but seriously. could it be anymore painful for Windy City roundball fans? It was all in the palm of their hands and one second later it slipped away. It hurts, and the consolation of being the best team in the Eastern Conference up until that moment, only makes it harder.

The LA Clippers have been trying to put the Memphis Grizzlies to sleep for awhile but they will have to struggle along some more as Memphis is still awake in the NFL playoffs. It took a supreme effort from the entire team but Memphis, and maybe it took this nothing to lose scenario to get the team fighting, but the Grizzlies played tough basketball, physical basketball, and it was just a little too much for the Clippers as the Grizzlies rolled ahead 92-80 last night in Memphis.

But this newfound grit will now have to find it’s way across the country and into Game 6 which will take place on the Clippers home court. No easy task as LA has been very good at home and still has the luxury of a one-game lead in the series. Of course, the Clippers would love nothing better than to give the home court a series win.

Grizzlies at Clippers tickets are already the hottest item in LA, as fans enjoy the luxury of having two teams capable of winning in the NBA. It’s going to be interesting to see how this all plays out. Chris Paul and crew have turned things around in LA and the great run is on. How far will it go?

During the regular season, the Miami Heat were fighting to win the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but they fell just short and lost it to the Chicago Bulls.  It turns out that this was a better outcome for the Heat.  The Heat have been dominating the New York Knicks and will most likely sweep the series, taking the final game tonight in Madison Square Garden.   The Heat have been on fire throughout the playoffs.

Of course, Lebron James is leading the way, playing with tenacity and a burning passion to win the NBA Championship.  James is not only averaging about 28 points per game but is also dishing out 6 assists and 3 steals, all of which are team highs in the playoffs.  James is just one of those players that can entertain you even if you are cheering for the other team.  Because of his explosive playing and crazy scores, he is easily one of the top 3 best players in the NBA as of right now.

But Lebron isn’t the only Heat player who’s rising to the occasion.  Dwyane Wade, who is averaging 21 points per game, and Chris Bosh, who is averaging 1 block per game, have shown that they too have a presence in this series and most likely in the rest of the postseason.  The Big Three will probably be back in the NBA Championship this year seeing that the Bulls lost Rose for the rest of the playoffs and Joakim Noah is out for their game today.  It looks like the rest of the teams in the East are just tiny singes, but the Miami Heat are a giant fireball of awesome.

You can ignore most of the fire puns, but you can’t ignore the way that the Heat are playing.  They are playing hotter than anyone else, except for maybe the Spurs and Thunder.  Don’t miss out on the Big Three; get your tickets now at Frontrow.com.

Just like the rock band Poison said, “Every rose has its thorn,” this same quote seems to come to reality to Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose.  In Game 2 of the Bulls’ series with the Philadelphia 76ers, Rose tore his ACL, which ended his hopes to play in the NBA playoffs.  With Rose out, most analysts thought that the Bulls would at least win against the 76ers, but by the looks of how the Bulls are playing, it seems highly unlikely for that to even happen.

The Bulls were able to pull off a win in Game 1 of the series, but everything went downhill after Rose’s injury.  The Bulls lost both Game 2 and Game 3 in Philly.  Just the overall emotion and team play of the team looks bland, but strange things have happened in the NBA playoffs before.  This sports blogger is not counting out the Bulls yet.  I believe the Chicago Bulls can win this series if they go back to playing like they did without Rose during the regular season.  The Bulls went 18-9 in the regular season while Rose dealt with multiple injuries.

I think if the 76ers win though they too may make some noise in the playoffs.  The Bulls are the #1 seed regardless of how they played with or without Rose.  For the 76ers to be leading against the #1 seed is very impressive.  If the 76ers win this series, it will be a huge confidence booster for not just the players but also the fans in Philly.  Watch out Chicago because Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holliday, and Evan Turner are looking very sharp and playing at their best right now.

Don’t overlook this series as an automatic for either team.  It will be back and forth action between these two teams.  Get your tickets now at Frontrow.com.

OK, I’ve got to admit that I’ve been lax in my coverage of the LA Clippers. But I haven’t been oblivious to the Clippers rise in the NBA. How could you be? Watching the Clippers re-write the hierarchy of the NBA has been pretty rewarding for any fan of the underdog and if you’ve been a faithful fan of this franchise for the last few years, well, it’s gotta be sweet to be enjoying you Clippers tickets right now.

The thing is, from what I’m seeing of this Clippers vs Grizzlies series, your LA Clippers could easily advance past the second round, a major accomplishment for an NBA franchise dismissed for a decade. Going back over the course of the season, the LA Clippers changed the face of the Los Angeles basketball season, not to mention the NBA. Fans used to seeing a pushover were very pleasantly surprised to get a team that actually challenged for a division. And of course the hero status of Chris Paul has made it all possible.

After getting 24 points out of Paul last night, LA now holds a 2-1 advantage over the Memphis Grizzlies with the next game coming Monday night in Los Angeles. If the Clippers can build that cushion, you’ll be enjoying Clippers tickets for another series with either the San Antonio Spurs or the Utah Jazz so let’s just go ahead and say the Spurs since they’re currently blowing out the Jazz 3-0.

So enjoy the ride Clippers fans. You’ve earned it and who knows? Since the seemingly impossible has already occurred in Los Angeles it’s permissible to dream of the LA Clippers playing in an NBA Championship.