J-SMOOTH TOMAHAWKS THE HEAT

Josh Smith has at least one of these a night. A straight drive down the lane throw down that gets the crowd at Philips Arena off their asses and cheering for the hometown Hawks. Once again the Hawks blew out the Heat to take a 3-2 series lead with game 6 going back to South Beach. Not one of the games in the series has been decided by less than double digits. If the Hawks can close it out in Miami they get to travel to Cleveland with a Lebron date on the docket. Laugh all you want but I think it would be a hell of a series at least in the entertainment department with Lebron and J-Smooth trying to one up one another with monster dunks. But of course it relies on the Hawks closing out the Heat. And if you know anything about Atlanta Hawks basketball the furthest thing they are known as is closers. Al Horford is down with a sprained ankle and might not play in game 6 or game 7 if necessary.

The Denver Nuggets clinched their first playoff series win since 1994 with another stomping of the Hornets. It's amazing to think the Nuggets haven't won a playoff series since Mutombo came down with that memorable rebound after they upset the
Sonics in '94. Chauncey Billups has been the difference as the Nuggets will face the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. They should blow out the Mavericks and eventually face the Lakers for a ticket to the NBA Finals. The way the Nuggets are playing right now I would not bet against them. Especially when you have The Birdman throwing down oops...