Basketball News, NBA, Playoff news, watch NBA Play off games online for free

"Every team is highly qualified. Ever since I started watching basketball, I can’t remember a race this tight."

The Lakers earned the top seed in the West by winning eight of their final nine games, giving them 57 victories. Five other teams in the West had at least 54 wins, and the Nuggets earned the eighth spot by winning 50 games for the first time in 20 years.

"A team that’s won 50 games and is the eighth seed, I think that’s remarkable," Lakers star Kobe Bryant said.

Game 1 will be played Sunday at Staples Center, where the Lakers have a 15-2 record against the Nuggets since the arena opened in 1999. The second game will be played Wednesday night before the best-of-seven series shifts to Denver. [ESPN]

Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett is back at practice as his team prepares for its first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks.

The 11-time All-Star had missed the previous two practices because of the birth of his first child, The Boston Globe reported.

Several Denver Nuggets players were stranded on the highway for about a half hour Sunday when the team bus broke down on the way to Staples Center for a playoff opener against the Los Angeles Lakers.


The bus left the team's hotel about 2 1/2 hours before tipoff as scheduled, but experienced problems about 15 minutes into the trip, club spokesman Eric Sebastian said. Players and staff had to wait on the Santa Monica Freeway.

"There was a pop, black smoke, there was another pop, more black smoke," Sebastian said. "We rushed off the bus. We were standing on the side of the road."

The Nuggets' second bus, which left the team hotel about 30 minutes after the first one, stopped to pick up their teammates. The entire team made the rest of the trip to the arena, arriving about 90 minutes before game-time.

"It was a good bonding experience," Sebastian said with a smile.

Rookie guard Taurean Green was on the first bus.

"It wasn't scary; it was just a little frustrating," he said. "All we could do is stand around. You don't want to start off the first series being delayed to the arena."

Nuggets coach George Karl was on the second bus. When told what happened, his response was: "Go pick 'em up."

"It was fine," he added. "It was a little pressure relief — laugh a little bit."

ORLANDO, Fla. - Dwight Howard had 25 points and 22 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson scored 24 points, and the Orlando Magic defeated the Toronto Raptors 114-100 Sunday in the opener of their first-round series.

Howard scored six straight points in a 10-0 fourth-quarter run that sealed Orlando's first playoff win since 2003. He also blocked five shots and made 9-of-11 free throws.

Anthony Parker had 24 points and 8 rebounds for Toronto, Chris Bosh scored 21 and Rasho Nesterovic had 16 points and 8 rebounds. Jason Kapono scored 18 off the bench.

The Raptors, who trailed by 20 points after the first quarter, drew within five with 10:24 left in the fourth on two quick 3-pointers by Kapono and a Parker jumper. But Toronto went scoreless for the next 3:16 as Orlando pulled away.

The Magic held Bosh mostly in check. Smothered by Rashard Lewis inside the paint and out, the All-Star power forward started 1-of-6 from the field and scored 13 of his 21 points from the free throw line (13-of-13). Bosh picked up four fouls in the third quarter -- two of them within 20 seconds of one another during tussles with Howard -- and played limited minutes in the fourth.

All five Orlando starters scored in double figures. Hedo Turkoglu scored 21, Maurice Evans had 14 and Lewis added 13. Reserve Keyon Dooling scored 10, and Nelson had seven assists.

Orlando looked unbeatable at the start, hitting its first seven shots and making 9-of-11 3-pointers in the first quarter. Evans scored 11 in the period and Lewis had 10 as Orlando opened a 43-23 lead.

The 43 points were third highest in a first quarter for the playoffs, and Orlando's nine 3-pointers tied Boston's record for most in a playoff quarter. Howard blocked three shots in the period and altered several others.

Orlando led by as many as 24 in the first half before Toronto recovered to close the second quarter with a 14-3 run to draw to 60-47 at halftime. Nesterovic scored four in the span and Kapono had eight points -- including two 3-pointers -- as the Magic went scoreless in the quarter's last 4 minutes.

The Magic shot 53 percent in the game, including 13-of-29 from 3-point range, compared with 38 percent and 9-of-20 for Toronto.

Notes:@ Howard had an NBA-leading 69 double-doubles during the regular season, including eight games with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. ... Game two is Tuesday. ... The Magic turned the arena white and blue by giving fans T-shirts. It was the first time Orlando hosted a playoff series opener since 1999. ... Masters champion Trevor Immelman watched from courtside.

If you want to Watch NBA Play Off Games online for Free you only have to click this link in order to view the games using sopcast or mediaplayer. Have Fun

New Zealand Defeated by Cuba in Olympic pre-test
The Cuban women's basketball team beat New Zealand 75-71 on Saturday in the first match of the Good Luck Beijing CNPC 2008 Women's Basketball International Invitation Tournament.

The match was one of the test events for Beijing Olympics in August.

New Zealand took the lead in the first quarter, 21-19. The score was tied at the end of the second quarter.

Cuba had a lot of turnovers in the third quarter, giving New Zealand several advantages to move ahead to 56-51.

But Cuba closed the gap in the last quarter with four three-point shots and led New Zealand 75-71 to end the match.

"We have a young team and Cuba is a very experienced team," Mike McHugh, New Zealand's coach, said. "It was a very good game for the development of our team, and hopefully it will help us perform well in August at the Olympic Games."

"It was a very close game," Alberto Zabala, Cuba's coach said. "The New Zealand team played much better than they did last June."

"We will focus on training in free throws to improve our skills," Zabala said after the team missed several free throws in the third quarter.

While New Zealand has qualified for the Olympic Games, Cuba will take part in the Women's World Olympic Qualifying Tournament on June 9-15 in Spain.

The current tournament in Beijing runs for eight days at the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium in Haidian District. The gymnasium also will be the site for the Olympic basketball event.

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)

Iranian women basket team finished fourth in the West Asian Women’s Basketball Championship held in Aleppo, Syria.

The team was beaten by Syria B team 78-70 in the third-fourth place on Friday. Lebanon won over Syria A in the final game and claimed the championship. Syria A and B, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine participated in this five-day tournament.

Wearing a red cloak and bouncing a basketball, Chenang Doje heads to the court in the backyard of his monastery after his Buddhism studies.

With his fellow monks, they emulate the most fashionable dribbling and shooting actions they have seen among the NBA stars.

"I like Michael Jordan very much," said Chenang Doje, a member of the Tsuame Monastery basketball team. "His flying slam dunks are gorgeous. Among the NBA players in service now, I like the (Denver) Nuggets' Allen Iverson."

At an altitude of 3,400 meters, the Tsuame Monastery sits almost atop the Holy Tsuame Mountain in the Tibetan-inhabited Maerkang County, the seat of Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture (ATQAP) in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Being half-isolated from the outside world, basketball and the Olympic Games are their most favorite topics of discussion besides Buddhism.

"Our monastery has a half-court," said Cewangtar, the deputy director of the monastery's administrative committee. "We are going to build a full court this year." He said a deputy head of ATQAP had agreed to donate two basketball stands for their new court.

Cewangtar, 39, is also a basketball fan. When hearing the name Yao Ming, the Chinese NBA star with the Houston Rockets, his eyebrows raise just as if hearing the name of an old friend.

He said among the 86 monks at the monastery, half liked playing basketball. Their team often played against other teams of some government departments and enterprises at the bottom of the mountain on weekends.

Chenang Doje, 18, became a monk at the monastery two years ago. As a hoop fan, he found the monastery has a tradition of playing basketball.

"It was very pleasing and unexpected that I can continue to play basketball after I became a lama," he said.

After monks finish their Buddhism lessons they come to the court, while others sit around and watch. As most of the players often wear cloaks with the same red color, they have to distinguish their teammates by faces.

"We are so interested in sports, especially basketball. So we all hope the Olympic Games can be held in our country," Cewangtar said.

However, the monks have only three TV sets. Furthermore, according to monastery rules, they have to wait until weekends to watch sports TV programs such as the NBA. Cewangtar said during the Olympics, monks would be allowed to watch different events everyday.

"I will watch basketball and track and field," said 21-year-old Nyi'ma Doje after sinking a three-point shot while playing a pick-up game with his fellow monks. "I wish for the Chinese basketball team to put in a good performance, especially Yao Ming."

"Sports and Buddhism are connected," added Cewangtar. "Sports can make people strong and healthy. Without a healthy body, one cannot practice Buddhism effectively."

The monks held a Buddhist ceremony in February to pray for the Olympics. A banner with Chinese characters reading "the Tsuame Monastery Buddhist ceremony of praying for the Beijing Olympics" still hangs in the hall of chanting scriptures.

The monks routinely chant scriptures each morning. They pray for a prosperous and peaceful society without war, disease and disaster. Now they have another goal -- praying for a successful Olympics.

"We cannot make economic contributions to the Olympics, however, we can pray for it," Cewangtar said.