In the West, where West Side Sorries exist.

Dallas and Phoenix, that is. These well known rivals tried to shake up their line-up in their hopes of getting a ring this season. Both gambled a lot: Dallas lost its future by giving away Devin Harris and future first round picks for veteran Jason Kidd, while Phoenix gave up their philosophy by trading speedy Marion for a slow and aged O'Neal. Both of them got knocked out in the first round. And now, they're looking for some major changes to mend their losing ways. They may have been the best teams in the NBA at some point, but they just can't bring it to the playoffs. Hard luck. But things happen.

And maybe hard luck has fallen on the Spurs' heads too.

Paul, West, and Stojakovic fuel New Orleans to 2-0 lead over defending champs.

The Hornets are this season's biggest surprises. They made no major change in their line-up. They just avoided injuries, and worked on executing plays with Paul leading the way. In a tightly-contested Western Conference, they were able to snatch second place. Almost the first place, actually.

And now, they have the defending champions San Antonio Spurs in a big hole, winning two games at home, both by large margins. If they win in Texas , it's practically a series unless some miracle happens. Most likely not, though. This hungry young Hornets team is poised to knock out the defending champs, with MVP runner-up Chris Paul performing like Magic, David West and unshaven Peja Stojakovic bringing their A-game, and with the Coach of the Year Byron Scott, the Spurs' experience might not be able to save them this time.

From the look of this series, and with the way the Hornets are doing, they are in pace for a championship. If they succeed, it'll be a modern day phenomenon.

On the other side of the bracket, the Lakers are off to a great start, especially Bryant.

Lakers draw first blood against Jazz, Kobe awarded "M-V-P".

Do I have to say anything here? The Lakers are on a roll. They have yet to lose in the playoffs, and in these five solid wins Kobe Bryant was on the top of his game, proving the skeptics wrong, and maybe this notion(though it's a little outdated) right.


News Flesh.

LeBron's near quadruple-double leads the Cavs to a loss in Boston. 12 points on 2-of-18 shooting, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, and 10 huge turnovers. Boston is now up 1-0. So much for a well rested LeBron. Three superstars are better than one this time. But LeBron is LeBron, maybe he'll bounce back, maybe he won't. Watch out.

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