Basketball Daily

The end of last month exhibited a monumental trade of Shaquille O’Neal from the Phoenix Suns to the Cleveland Cavaliers, with Shaq being paired up with arguably the best player of the NBA Lebron James.  The two haven’t even played a single game together and it is already being called one of the greatest duos in history.

This will either end up as a phenomenal trade or a stupid one as Shaq is 37 years old and past the prime of his glory days in LA.  The disappointing loss to Orlando in the Playoffs forced Cleveland to do something drastic for the Cavs to get back to the NBA Championship Finals.  This could be the deal that gets them over the hump, and as well as Shaq played last year it could prove to be substantial at getting “The King” a ring and “The Diesel” his fifth.

The Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets are now in the books.  Denver who surprised analysts and fans alike really gave L.A. a fight to the end.  What was most surprising is that Denver got blown out at home to send them packing, where finally the Lakers played with the dominance and determination we had come to expect from them.  The Lakers win the series on the road in 6 games.

The Eastern Conference Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic ended with the Magic’s center Dwight Howard putting on a clinic down low with 40 points.  To most this was a considered an upset because of Cleveland having the best record in the NBA, but those who follow the game had a strong feeling that Orlando was a better team and the Cavaliers could not match up with Orlando’s forwards.  The Magic win the series at home in 6 games.

The stage is set for a thrilling and exciting NBA Championship Finals with the two superstars on the opposing teams of Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard.  The series is in the 2-3-2 format with the home team Lakers having the advantage.  The series begins on Thursday, June 4th, with all games being nationally televised on ABC.

The Cleveland Cavaliers who were very disappointed with their game play the last few games came out fighting and put a beating on the visiting San Antonio Spurs.  Not surprisingly, Lebron James put the brunt of the scoring on his shoulders and carried his team to victory with the final score ending at 101-81.

The leading scorers for the Cavaliers were Lebron “The King” James with 38 points, Mo Williams with 22 points and Delonte West with 22 points.  The high man off the bench was Joe Smith with 7 points and he was actually the only player that scored from the 6 reserve players.  Cleveland remains a single game ahead of the Lakers for the best record in the NBA.  They improve their season long record to 62 wins and 15 losses.