With a few of the big sports I watch out of season (NFL, MLB), I have to keep myself busy in preparation for their upcoming seasons. Now, Basketball and Hockey are all the rage. Luckily, I live in Michigan, where both sports are fairly big.

So, here’s what’s going on with my teams this evening.

B-Ball

At 7:30 PM ET, the Detroit Pistons take on the Milwaukee Bucks. They are playing at The Palace tonight. Should be an interesting game since the Bucks have won their last two and the Pistons have lost their last three.

Other games you might want to check out:

Charlotte Bobcats vs. Orlando Magic – 7:00 PM ET
San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks – 7:30 PM ET
Utah Jazz vs. Memphis Grizzlies – 9:00 PM ET
LA Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns – 9:00 PM ET
LA Lakers vs. Atlanta Hawks – 10:30 PM ET

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The Lakers breezed through the first round of the NBA playoffs as they swept Denver in four games. Their last game was on April 28 as they waited for other teams to win before the second round started. This gave the Lakers more than a few days to prepare for their next game, which was today against the Utah Jazz. The rest paid off because the Lakers won 109-98.

It is no big surprise that the MVP of the game was Kobe Bryant. Playing on his home turf, Bryant went 8 for 16. He scored a total of 38 points. He had 6 rebound and 7 assists. He also hit 21 of 23 of his free throws and had 1 3-pointer. The boy was on fire.

Magic Johnson had complimentary words for Bryant who he claims deserved all the credit because he’s really the one responsible for rallying the team together this season. Pau Gasol, the Lakers center, had an excellent game. He went 8 for 13 in field goals and 2 for 4 in free throws. In all, Gasol scored 18 points with 10 rebounds and 5 assists.

The Lakers, as a whole, had a successful game, but Kobe really stole the show tonight. Kobe seemed to live on the foul line and the Jazz coach, Jerry Sloan, while cordial, didn’t seem to happy about that. When asked about his success at scoring so many free throws, this is what Bryant had to say.

“You’ve got to be able to knock those free throws down. They’re open looks. It’s my responsibility to knock them down.”

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The Detroit Pistons headed back home after beating the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of playoffs. Tonight, they took on the Orlando Magic and beat them at the Palace in a 91-77 win. There seemed to be some tension between the two teams, but that didn’t seem to matter to the home crowd who are thrilled with the Pistons’ victory.

The MVP for the Pistons was once again Richard Hamilton. The Pistons top guard has done exceptionally well during the playoffs. Tonight, Hamilton went 7 for 14 scoring 17 points. He had 6 rebounds and 3 assists. He was backed up by Chauncey Billups who was 5 for 14. Billups scored 19 points. He had 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Forward Tayshaun Prince went 5 for 16 and forward Jason Maxiell went 5 for 8 while non-starter Antonio McDyess went 5 for 9. Prince and Maxiell scored 12 points a piece while McDyess scored 10. Between the three, there were 22 rebounds and 6 assists.

The Magic tried to play their best, but it is hard to argue with a Pistons team that is on fire. Frustrations flared up in the later part of the game and the Magic faced two technical fouls while the Pistons had one. Hedo Turkoglu was the MVP for the Magic. He scored 18 points and went 8 out of 16. He had 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

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The first day of May had both the Detroit Pistons and the Detroit Red Wings playing playoff games that would advance them to the next level. The Pistons played a 4-2 series in the first round of the NBA playoffs while the Red Wings swept the Avalanche in a 4-0 series in the second round of the NHL playoffs. The Wings previously beat Nashville in the first round.

The Pistons beat the 76ers 100-77. Their MVP was Chauncey Billups, who had played well the entire first round of the playoffs. Billups went 8 for 11 scoring 20 points. He had 3 rebounds and 7 assists. Choosing an MVP was a hard decision considering how well Pistons shooting guard Richard Hamilton played. In the first quarter alone, he outscored the entire 76ers team.

Hamilton hit his first five shots and scored a total of 13 points for the quarter. For the game, Hamilton went 9 for 14 scoring 24 points in total. He had 2 rebounds and 5 assists. Forward Tayshaun Prince also did his part making 5 out of 6 shots. He scored 12 points and had 7 rebounds with 4 assists.

The 76ers just couldn’t recover from the early assault by the Pistons who owned the game from the first moments of play. Their MVP of the game was Andre Iguodala. He only scored 16 points while Andre Miller scored 11. These were the top scorers for the 76ers who lost the playoffs at the Wachovia Center in Philly. This had to be a disappointing game to play at home.

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In a bit of NBA playoff news, the Detroit Pistons came back from a 14-point deficit to beat the Philadelphia 76ers and tie tie series up at 2-2. The Pistons were able to take the lead back from the 76ers in just 12 minutes. In that time, Forward, Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points to bring the final total to 93-84 clenching the win for the previously struggling Pistons. Prince was named the MVP of the game for the Pistons. He went 11 for 12 with 6 rebounds and 2 assists.

The first half was a devastating mess for the Pistons who were down by ten at the half. While the Pistons perform well under pressure, Pistons Guard, Chauncey Billups said what all of the Pistons fans were thinking. While the Pistons perform well when they have to, they shouldn’t keep putting themselves in this situation. Either way, the pressure on them worked and the team rallied together to take the win away from the 76ers with the last few seconds winding down in the Pistons favor, as the 76ers tried fervently to regain the lead.

Rasheed Wallace also helped his team out, especially in the second half. The Pistons Forward went 5 for 12 with ten rebounds and three assists. Billups was 4 for 16, but he had six rebounds and seven assists. Other Pistons players who did a decent job include Guard Richard Hamilton, who was 7 for 22 with five rebounds and seven assists and Forward Antonio McDyess who went 5 for 8 with four rebounds.

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