Celtics advance to the NBA Finals by beating the Detroit Pistons 89-81 at the Palace in Auburn Hills. They will meet the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time since 1987, over 21 years ago.
The Lakers and the Celtics have met a total of 10 times in the NBA finals, with Boston winning the first eight meetings, and Los Angeles the last two. They met three times in the 80’s. The Celtics won in 7 games in 1983-84 . Lakers won in 1984-85 and 1986-87, both series by 4-2.
Of course the rivalry has lost it’s intensity since the retirements of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the early 1990s. Both teams did not win any championships in the 90’s.
Up by 5 points, the Laker’s Sasha ‘The Machine’ Vujacic launched a 3-pt shot that went in. No big deal right? Yes, it’s a big deal for many gamblers that put money on the Spurs to cover the +7.5 point spread. The Lakers covered theirs, winning by 8 points.
How did Sasha get his nickname ‘The Machine’?
Wikipedia has some answers…
It has been widely reported on television and media that Vujacic gave himself the nickname “The Machine”, which most recently has been stated on TNT’s coverage of the 2008 NBA Playoffs by commentators such as Marv Albert, Reggie Miller and Doug Collins. However, this is not the case. Members of the LA sports media, including TJ Simers of the LA Times, have tracked down the origin of the nickname to Joel Meyers and Stu Lantz.[8] In a March 2008 article in the Los Angeles Times, Simers stated:
“TRIED TO get to the bottom of who came up with the nickname Machine for the Lakers’ Sasha Vujacic. Checked with Lakers TV guy, Joel Meyers, who did a lot of hemming and hawing, well, more than usual. He said both he and his partner Stu Lantz came up with it together. Never took them for Siamese twins before. Apparently, neither did Lantz. “I came up with it,” Lantz said. “And then Joel ran with it. I used it once, and never again.” As for Vujacic, he said Machine is just fine with him, but then Ronny Turiaf interrupted to say Vujacic is also known as Alecsander. “That’s my first name,” Vujacic said, but he isn’t happy with it. But I like it, Alecsander the So-So, and before this season began, it certainly fit.”
Funny ‘The Machine’ clip produced by the guys at laker-fan.net
2 clips of Farmar cutting through the Spurs defense for the reverse lay-in. He scored 6 straight points for the Lakers when they desperately needed them most.
Rasheed Wallace meets with reporters after game 5 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Yeah, this interview didn’t go too well…
Update: Wallace was fined $25,000 Thursday by the NBA for using profanity and criticizing the officiating after a playoff game the night before. Wallace targeted officials Mike Callahan and Kenny Mauer.
“All that bull[expletive]-ass calls they had out there. With Mike [Callahan] and Kenny [Mauer] — you’ve all seen that [expletive],” Wallace said. “You saw them calls. The cats are flopping all over the floor and they’re calling that [expletive]. That [expletive] ain’t basketball out there. It’s all [expletive] entertainment. You all should know that [expletive]. It’s all [expletive] entertainment.”
The NBA said Wednesday that a foul should have been called when Lakers guard Derek Fisher bumped the Spurs’ Brent Barry on the final possession of Tuesday’s Game 4 in the West finals.
Spurs players and coach Gregg Popovich said after the game that a foul should not have been called, but the NBA disagreed with them upon review.
“With the benefit of instant replay, it appears a foul should have been called,” NBA spokesman Tim Frank said.
Los Angeles wouldn’t have minded instant replay a few seconds earlier, when a jumper by Fisher ticked the rim and the ball went out of bounds to the Lakers. The shot clock was not reset, preventing the Lakers from being able to run out the clock.
Gossip site ‘The Dirty’ claims to have uncovered some major dirt on Kobe Bryant. The site claims that Vanessa Curry, an ex-Laker Girl, had an affair with Kobe Bryant. The Dirty says they have a “source” who has pictures of the two. News of this alleged affair probably didn’t jive too well with the Lakers organization. Vanessa Curry soon resigned as a Laker Girl. Vanessa’s link on the Laker Girl website is gone. The Lakers camp claim that Vanessa resigned from the squad on her own so that she could pursue a “hosting career”.
more photos of Vanessa Curry:
If this is all true, maybe Vanessa Lane Bryant (Kobe’s wife) may get another $4 million ring out of this…
Update:
According to TMZ.com - it has obtained a cease and desist letter that Kobe Bryant’s attorney fired off to the owners of a website that accused the NBA star of having an affair with a Lakers cheerleader.
The letter demands the site remove Kobe’s "name, image, and likeness, and any information that relates in any way to him" — but thus far, it’s still there. TheDirty told tmz.com, "TheDirty.com strictly adheres to all laws when posting stories and/or images."
