Seeking revenge for his rusty loss the past year against this Orlando Magic team, MJ sought redemption in this series. With a monster Shaq entering his prime and a monster, young Penny having his finest year, MJ didn’t just want to beat this duo – he wanted to annihilate them. Nothing short of a sweep was acceptable and that’s precisely what happened. In this game, MJ procured the sweep with yet another astonishing performance. Opening by hitting his first 7 shots, he finished with one of his ‘super-zone’ perfomances with 16-23 shooting for 70%. Again, on call, he produced a brilliant, efficient game to neutralize the combined 56 points scored by Shaq and Penny. Perhaps Shaq went to LA the next year because he had enough of MJ in the east.

Ending Credits of TNTonNBA 2009 and preview for the 2009-2010 season

Conference Finals: San Antonio Spurs vs. LA Lakers Philadelphia 76ers vs. Milwaukee Bucks

2000 Western Conference Finals, Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trailblazers at the Staples Center. Series Tied 3-3

This was the Heat’s first time in playoffs. Unfortunately, they met MJ in his early championship prime. MJ averaged 39.5 pts, 12 rebs and 7.5 assists going into this game. He started off slow with just 2 points in the first quarter. But then, he got serious with 54 in quarters 2-4 to get 56 pts while shooting 20-30. It was a chilling performance.

Conference Finals: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. LA Lakers

My top 25 all time playoff moments. I no this is all opinionated so go ahead and debate on it, but note any offensive, vulgar, etc comments will be deleted

capped by revgen BOSTON(AP) Ray Allen landed the final blow in a memorable duel with Ben Gordon on Monday night, shooting the Boston Celtics back into their first-round series. Allen made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2 seconds left and finished with 30 points, leading the Celtics a 118-115 win over the Chicago Bulls. Gordon nearly carried Chicago to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. He scored with 12.3 seconds left to tie it, the final hoop of his playoff career-high 42 points. Then Boston set up a play for Allen, who took a pass from Rajon Rondo and connected from the right side. Allen scored 28 points after getting some advice from coach Doc Rivers at halftime. “Doc said going into the half, ‘Be aggressive, but let it come to you,”’ Allen said. “I never think I’m not in my rhythm. It can be a grind as a shooter. As a scorer you’re always trying to find something.” Allen and Gordon each had several clutch baskets in the second half as the former University of Connecticut guards battled for control of the game. After Tyrus Thomas missed a shot from midcourt as time expired, Allen headed for his bench where injured Kevin Garnett delivered a couple of congratulatory slaps – to his head and chest. Allen said he doesn’t like “being made a fuss over.” But that was unavoidable after he broke out of his shooting slump. He scored just four points on 1-for-12 shooting and missed the final shot in Chicago’s 105-103 overtime win Saturday. “It felt like we were at UConn in …

t highlights KB24′s big plays from this year’s playoffs. Sometimes through this drama even I forget how much fun it is watching this guy play basketball. Relive the sunshine that was bright in this year’s dark, dismal post-season LD2k style.

They shackled Shaquille O’Neal, stifled Anfernee Hardaway and completely discombobulated the only dimension of Dennis Scott’s game. The Chicago Bulls have come to be known as a great offensive machine in the open court, but they get their hands dirty, too. As a result, Shaq, Anfernee and their bandaged teammates looked like mud today. Because they made the Magic chip paint off the rim in the fourth quarter of an ugly 86-67 victory, the Bulls are one game from returning to the NBA finals for the first time in three years. The Magic’s point total was the second lowest in league playoff history, 3 more than Portland’s 64-point debacle 20 days ago in Game 5 of its series with Utah. Orlando entered the final period down by 63-57. In the final 12 minutes, the Magic proceeded to shoot 3-for-18 and crumble horribly under the weight of Chicago’s defense. “Guys are kind of upset, kind of embarrassed,” O’Neal said. They should be. How Orlando went from a budding Eastern Conference dynasty to another doormat for Michael Jordan and his Bulls could take a crack research team months to unearth. What is clear from Game 3 of the conference finals is that Hardaway (8-of-24 from the floor) and O’Neal (1-of-9 from the free-throw line, 5 turnovers) have a long way to go to become prime-time players along the lines of Scottie Pippen (27 points, 11-of-14 from the field, 6 rebounds, 7 assists) and Jordan (17 points on 5-for-14 shooting, 7 rebounds, 4 assists). Pippen picked up the slack today …