Last year around this time, I was sitting around Houston, trying to find something fun to do. If you have ever been to Houston, then you understand the lack of “things to do” especially FUN things to do. The Rockets were entering the Playoffs without Tracy McGrady and the city was knelt in prayer that they could get out of the first round. I was attending a bachelor party at one of Houston’s finest strip clubs “Baby Dolls” and on one of the flat screens was the blowout of the Portland Trailblazers by the Rockets in Game 1. I spent that night glued to the TV unaware of all the nakedness around me, amazed at the Rockets performance. Once I got home I needed an outlet, some way to declare my appreciation for how proud I was of the Rockets. The decision to start a blog, seemed like the way to go, and a year later here we are. There are so many basketball blogs, some good, some bad, but all have something to say. On the blogroll to the right you will find some of my favorites. Heres to another year, of The Truth Sports, and thanks for reading, whoever you are.
Archive for April, 2010
NBA Playoffs: (Day 9 Recap)
Category Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, NBA, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz

(Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Heat needed a win to continue the series and to continue watching Dwayne Wade in a Heat uniform. In the previous three games Wades 2nd and 4th quarter production was down. In Game 4 Wade put the Heat on his back and single-handedly(he yelled at his right hand) and outscored the Celtics 19 to 15 in the 4th. Wade scored 46 points, 30 in the second half — both franchise records — and the Heat beat the Boston Celtics 101-92. Quentin Richardson’s 20 points were the most by a Heat not named Wade this whole series. Dwyane Wade’s 46 points Sunday are the most scored against Boston in a playoff game dating back to 1991. Wade is only the fourth player since 1991 to score at least 40 in a playoff game against Boston, and the first since LeBron James scored 45 on May 18, 2008.
Rajon Rondo led the Celtics with 23 points. Garnett had 18 points and 12 rebounds,Paul Pierce scored 16 and Ray Allen added 15 for Boston, which was bidding for its first 4-0 sweep of a series since 1986. “It’s not a big deal,” Rondo said. “We just have to close it out now in five. We’re confident.” Celtics 3-1

49FT.! (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
LeBron James nailed a 22-foot fadeaway from up top just before the halftime buzzer, then he hit a pull-up 49 foot jumper to end the 3rd quarter. That about sums up this game! James finished with 37 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. The Cavs shot 12-25 from deep, and got 12 points from Jamison, and 19 from Mo Williams.
After an impressing win in Game 3, the Bulls returned to their Game 1, and 2 form shooting 37% from the field. Bulls were 4 of 12 on 3-pointers, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah both scored 21 apiece, and Noah had 20 boards. Noah had the first 20/20 game in franchise playoff history. Noah told reporters after Game 3 that “Cleveland Sucks”.and he will be the focus of fans in the Quicken Loans Arena in Game 5! Vinny Del Negro seem to be LeBron-struck saying after the game “It came down to LeBron.” “We could not control LeBron.” Cavs 3-1
Basketball Card of the Week!
Category Basketball Card of the Week!, NBA


NBA Playoffs: (Day 8 Recap)
Category Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Bobcats, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trailblazers

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
The Bobcats are disappointing Michael Jordan and making him look bad in front of his girlfriend. The Magic on the other hand are impressing everyone.
In Game 3, the Magic once again played the majority of the game without their Defensive Player of the Year, Dwight Howard. For some reason Dwight continues to set-up in the post with his arms high, ramming them into poor Tyson Chandlers face, and drawing offensive fouls. For the third straight game and two days after Orlando was assessed $70,000 in fines for complaining about the officiating, Howard played about half the game, finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks. The Magic haven’t looked shaken by the lose of Howard and instead have gotten amazing performances from Jameer Nelson, who finished with 32 points.
The only good news for Charlotte is the crowd of 19,596 was the largest to see the Bobcats in their 5-year-old arena.Magic 3-0

(AP Photo/Don Ryan)
Big emotional boost for the Blazers from the return of Brandon Roy who had surgery eight days ago. He scored 10 points, including a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and the Portland Trail Blazers evened their playoff series with the Phoenix Suns at two games apiece with a 96-87 victory on Saturday. “I just didn’t feel right sitting in the training room knowing that I could contribute — so I just had to keep begging coach,” Roy said afterward. McMillan said it was a “long, sleepless night” in deciding to play Roy, the team’s unquestioned leader. He even brought owner Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, in on the discussion.”All kinds of things went through my head, thinking about the risk of him reinjuring himself,” McMillan said. “But our doctors didn’t feel like Brandon could hurt himself.”
LaMarcus Aldridge was key with 31 points and 11 rebounds. I wish he and Amare Stoudemire who had 26 points, could just play one-on-one for the series. Back to Phoenix for Game 5! Series Tied 2-2
NBA Playoffs: (Day 7 Recap)
Category Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, NBA, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz

(Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
I can’t help but feel bad for Dwayne Wade. If you didn’t know, Dwayne Wade likes to look cool. So far this playoffs he and the Heat are just that, only in a bad way.
Heat fans slowly made there way into American Airlines Arena, donning black t-shirts for the Heats “BlackisBack” campaign. The crowd draped in all-black looked as though they were attending a funeral, and in many ways they were. Just like in the first two games Wade was dominant, but Dwyane Wade’s numbers have fluctuated heavily in each of the Heat’s three playoff games. Wade averages 23.3 ppg, 70% fg, and 50% 3-point shooting in the first and third quarters. His numbers in the second, and fourth quarter arent very Wade-like 6.3 ppg, 36.4% fg and 11.1% 3-point shooting…ouch! This is largely due to the immense amount of work Wade has to do on the offensive end of the court. Dwayne Wade has been the only Heat to score more then 16 points in any of the three games. Jermaine O’Neal is 5-31 shooting.
Not sure many people expected the Celtics to sweep the Heat, but that has become a strong posibility. Paul Pierce went all 2008 playoffs in Game 3, scoring 32 points and hitting the game-winner from the spot he hit against the Bulls in the first round last year. Celtics 100, Heat 98.
The Heat are down 3-0 to the Boston Celtics and without an immense miracle their playoffs are over. “It hasn’t really set in yet,” Wade said. “Down 3-0 hurts. This team’s good. They’ve got a lot of veteran guys who step up to the billing.” On the bright side at least more then three Heat scored in double figures. Celtics 3-0
Russell Westbrook catches a Kardashian!
Category Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Oklahoma City Thunder
NBA Most Improved Player: Aaron Brooks
Category Houston Rockets, NBA
I remember it like it was yesterday. The Rockets trading away Rafer Alston, the bane of my existence. He had not been the quality point guard that teams need on a consistent basis. Alston was notorious for long range heaves and constant yapping at Yao Ming. But sitting on the bench with so much potential was Aaron Brooks. He is as tall as you, weighs the same, you feel like you have something in common but you don’t. As soon as Alston was gone, Aaron was given the keys to the car and told to get the Rockets out of the first round AT LEAST.
The Rockets made it out of the first round, but ran into the soon to be champions Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets put a nice fear in the Lakers taking them to seven games; Aaron led the Rockets in scoring in the last four games. He finished the season scoring 11.2 a game and dishing out 3.0 assists per game.
This season there would be no margin for error. The Rockets being without Yao Ming meant that Aaron Brooks would have to step up his scoring and all around play. Aaron improved his scoring to 19.6 points and assists to 5.3. His quickness mixed with 40% shooting from 3-point range made him difficult to defend. He led the league in 3 pointers made and was the sixth player in NBA history to make at least 200 3-pointers and have at least 400 assists in the same season. He made at least one 3-pointer in a franchise-record 39-consecutive games.
Brooks will be the first Rockets player to win one of the league’s performance awards since Steve Francis was a co-rookie of the year 10 years ago. The Truth Sports salutes you Aaron Brooks!
NBA Playoffs: (Day 4 Recap)
Category Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trailblazers
- The Milwaukee Bucks are going to need a miracle. Salmons played better in Game 2 but Brandon Jennings went from 34 points in Game 1 to 9 points in Game 2.
- Josh Smith had 21 points, 14 boards and 9 dimes. Atlanta’s last triple-double in a playoff game was by Mookie Blaylock (14 points, 10 rebounds, 13 assists) in 1994
- Look for Milwaukee to gain confidence from the Home crowd, but sadly the Bucks are nearing summer vacation
- Hawks played everyone but Jason Collins for the second game in a row, that’s funny.
- Hawks won a Game 2 for the first time since a best-of-five series against Detroit in the opening round of the 1999 playoffs. Hawks 2-0

(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
- No KG for the Celtics, no problem. Ray Allen shoots 7-9 from long range finishing with 25. The “Ticket Stub” Glen Davis fumbled to the rim for 23 points.
- Celtics have won the last three games they played against the Heat without Garnett.
- The Heat aren’t making a good case to keep Dwayne Wade in Miami. Every Heat player not named Dwayne shot 18-59! Wade finished with 29 points on 11-18 shooting.
- Boston outrebounded Miami 60-37
- In the first half the Heat had just one offensive rebound and took just four free throws while Boston tried 16. Celtics 2-0

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
- Grant Hill and Jason Richardson combined for 21-27 shooting for 49 points. They are a combined 66 in age.
- Steve Nash ad 13 points and 16 assists, 12 at the half.
- Suns have not lost two in a row since Jan. 26
- Blazers need a good dose of the Rose Garden to reclaim the magic from the first game. Marcus Camby blew easy layups and Andre Miller finished with 16 points after getting 31 in Game 1. Suns-1/Blazers-1
- Kobe seemed determine to put on a show, maybe it was the critics or his Dad sitting court side. Kobe had 39 points in a game the Lakers were trying to lose.
- Ron Artest’s defense on Kevin Durant was stellar once again, but he has to start making open jumpers, going 2-10 from the field with 5 points.
- Pau Gasol was nearly unstoppable with 25 points and 12 assists.
- Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 32 points and Russell Westbrook added 19, making all eight of his free throws.
- Thunder squandered points early on missed dunks, and layups. Heading home will be comforting but alas, the end is near for the Thunder. Lakers 2-0
Dwight Does It Again!
Category NBA, Orlando Magic

(Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Magic’s All-Star center won the award for the second straight year Tuesday after becoming the only player to lead the league in blocks and rebounds in the same season twice — let alone two years in a row. Now 24, perhaps the next step for Howard is improving his offensive game enough to sway voters that he should win the Most Valuable Player award. Cleveland’s LeBron James seems certain to take that honor again, and Howard said voters should factor in defense more.
“I think most people look at Most Valuable Player as somebody who scores a lot of points, which is great. I believe that defense wins championships, wins games,” said Howard, who averaged 18.3 points per game. “I’ve always thought about it like that, and I’ll continue to think about it like that.”
Howard averaged 13.2 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game this season, powering the Magic (59-23) to the league’s second-best record behind Cleveland. Only Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ben Wallace each led the NBA in those categories once in the same season.



