The veteran Lakers guard also pays homage to New Orleans as an up-and-coming club that must be taken seriously.

Fisher is well-schooled in diplomacy.

But the Lakers, who await their opponent in the Western Conference finals that begin Wednesday night at Staples Center, could very well be the team to beat. They are at the halfway point of a potential journey to their first title since the Shaq and Kobe days of 2002.

Boston seemed the team to be most wary of entering the playoffs, having gone 66-16 while ruling the weaker Eastern Conference. But the Celtics have looked anything but dominant in the postseason, losing all six of their road games. And they’re no cinch to beat Cleveland in the conference semifinals or Detroit in the conference finals, should they get there.

Bryant scored 34 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles held off a furious rally by the Utah Jazz for a 108-105 victory Friday night in Game 6, putting the Lakers in the Western Conference finals for the first time in four years.

It was the only win by the visiting team in the series and kept the Lakers from having to host a Game 7 on Monday.

“It’s a big step for us,” said Bryant, who also had eight rebounds and six assists. “It shows a lot of character on our part to come in here and come out of here with a victory.”

Utah trailed by 19 points at halftime and 16 after three quarters, but got within two in the final minute.

“We ran out of gas a little bit in the second half as they played with a frenzy and intensity,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “I had confidence that we’d make the right plays at the end of the game.”

They handled the Atlanta Hawks.

LeBron James may not be as easy.

James scored 32 points—19 in the second half—and the Cavaliers forced a decisive and fitting finale to this home-sweet-home playoff series with a 74-69 victory Friday night over the Celtics, who have gone from regular-season road kings to postseason road kill.

“It was either win or go home,” James said. “I’m not ready to go home.”

The Cavs packed for a weekend stay in Beantown—not a few weeks relaxing on Cape Cod. They’ve got at least one more game left, and in the NBA, it’s as big as they ever get.

Game 7. On Sunday. In Boston.

James, whose jump shot has mysteriously been missing in this series, made two key baskets midway through the fourth quarter to slow a Boston comeback, Wally Szczerbiak hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 remaining and Joe Smith dropped two free throws with 14 seconds left as the Cavs moved the series back to the East Coast.

Next up?

It could be Avery Johnson. Or broadcaster Mark Jackson, or a hot assistant such as Boston’s Tom Thibodeau or Detroit’s Michael Curry. Or it could be somebody else.

Whoever gets hired will have to reconnect a fractured team that expected to contend in the Eastern Conference but fell into the lottery.

Johnson, Thibodeau and Curry are known to preach defense, which is favored by Bulls general manager John Paxson.

Johnson went 194-70 and led Dallas to the NBA finals in three-plus seasons before getting fired two weeks ago after players tuned him out. He’s owed $12 million over the next three seasons unless another team hires him, and he’s reportedly considering sitting out a year.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers has said he won’t grant teams permission to speak to Thibodeau because he doesn’t want the distraction during the playoffs. The Pistons might not let teams talk to Curry, a possible heir apparent to Flip Saunders.

And Jackson, who has no coaching experience, was thought to be the front-runner for the New York Knicks job that went to D’Antoni. He has interviewed with Chicago.

He had 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists Wednesday night, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 120-110 to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals and remain the NBA’s only unbeaten team in the postseason.

Bryant received his Most Valuable Player trophy from NBA commissioner David Stern in a brief ceremony before the game.

“I’m at a loss for words, I don’t know what to say,” Bryant said as the Staples Center crowd of 18,997 roared its approval and chanted M-V-P. “I love you guys so much. We’re going to play until June. Let’s get this party started.”

The 29-year-old Bryant was a runaway winner, receiving 82 first-place votes and 1,100 points to far outdistance New Orleans’ Chris Paul in the voting of 126 media members. The results were announced Tuesday.

Following the presentation, Bryant’s wife and two young daughters gave him with a bouquet of flowers at center court.

The award, which is voted on by the Professional Basketball Writers Association, is given to a player or coach who shows “outstanding service and dedication to the community.”

Billups has hosted a charity golf tournament in Detroit in each of the last three summers, and also is involved in work in Minneapolis and his hometown of Denver.

“It’s a great award,” Billups said in a statement. “The thing about doing stuff like that, doing charity work and having a big heart, you never do it for the accolades. You do it for the kids. You try and teach kids a better way than the alternative, which is being in a neighborhood doing bad things, and getting bad results. It’s good to be recognized for it, but at the same time, that’s not why you do it.”

The message? This is what the San Antonio Spurs have, and you want.

He certainly got through to All-Stars David West and Chris Paul.

West scored a career playoff-high 30 points to lead New Orleans to a 101-82 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Saturday night.

Paul added 17 points, 13 assists and four steals for New Orleans, which trailed by as much as 11 in the first half but stormed into the lead for good in the third quarter.

“It sort of gives you goose bumps,” Paul said of seeing Scott’s rings, won in the 1980s with the Los Angeles Lakers. “We understand right now we’re on that same journey and we feel like we can get there.”

The Pistons powered into the second round of the playoffs by crushing Philadelphia 100-77 on Thursday night, winning the series 4-2 and again demonstrating how good they are when they feel they need to be.

Detroit convincingly won the last two games of a series that wasn’t expected to last this long. The Pistons will host the Orlando Magic, who eliminated Toronto in five games, on Saturday in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The teams split four meetings this season.

“Philadelphia probably woke us up,” Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. “Over the last 10 quarters we’ve executed as well as we can.”

Richard Hamilton hit his first five shots during Detroit’s overpowering start and finished with 24 points, 13 in the decisive first quarter when he outscored the 76ers by himself. Chauncey Billups added 20 points and Tayshaun Prince had 12 for the Pistons, who reached the second round for the seventh straight season.

1.) Having a high vertical leap is a born advantage

A lot of people think that players like Michael Jordan or Vince Carter had the genetic advantage and they just had their way of jumping higher than anyone else. A lot of times people tend to watch someone like Dr. J and say: Ooh gosh, he is so lucky with that talent. And what people don’t realize is that Dr. J went through hours and hours of training and sweat and dedication to reach that level. He said that himself.

2.) You should stop playing basketball when you’re doing a “vertical jump program”

That’s far from the truth. I mean, why would you? A lot of players often feel bad because they see that after practice their vertical has actually decreased. Well, that’s totally normal. You’re attacking a certain group of muscles and they get separated in this weird way. They get developed and as a result, temporarily can’t “serve you as well. In fact, if you notice that your jump has decreased that means that you’re doing it right.

3.) Get the hardest program out there

In basketball, as in everything else in life, you have to lay the foundation. You have to start small and build your way up. You have to start, for example with 20 calf raises, 20 seconds with a jump rope and so on. Build the foundation. Don’t go after these crazy programs that are just so exhausting that might get you injured. They’re for more advanced athletes and a lot of times, that’s not the case with you.

Trajko Dangov has a passionate basketball website, jam-packed with tips, ideas and advices on becoming a better basketball player at http://www.best-basketball-tips.com
It’s all free so feel free to check it out. Also feel free to use this article on your website, newsletter, ezine, blog, article directory as long as it’s not modified in any way.

The question at hand, though, is whether or not the 2008 Rockets can reach or even surpass the Lakers’ record of 33 wins without defeat. In my opinion, that is a pretty tall order. But, hypothetically it is possible. Here are the next 15 teams the Rockets must play in order to do so:

1. Hawks 2. Bobcats 3. Lakers 4. Celtics 5. Hornets 6. Warriors 7. Suns 8. Kings 9. Timberwolves 10. Spurs 11. Kings 12. Trail Blazers 13. Sonics 14. Clippers 15. Sonics

This schedule poses a whole slew of threats to the Rockets’ winning streak. 7 of the 15 teams are above .500 and potential playoff teams. Four of them have better records and arguably more talent. Moreover, as the old adage goes, on any given day any team can win. Even the below .500 teams.

So, is it possible for the Rockets to continue their winning streak and hit the 34 mark? Yes. Is it probable? No. In fact, the Rockets will be lucky if can win 10 of their next 15 games. The Rockets are a very good team riding a lot of momentum right now. But facing a stretch where you have to play five teams any one of which could win the NBA title this year is a tough road for even the best of teams. What will happen? The Rockets will beat the Hawks and Bobcats taking their record to 21-0 since January 27th, but then will lose in quick succession to the Lakers and Celtics. Both Boston and LA have too much fire power to lose to the Yao-less Rockets.

Nishan Wilde is VP of Robbins Sports and Athletics, an online provider of Basketball Uniforms, Baseball Uniforms and Portable Scoreboards