Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett received the most votes from the fans and will start for the Eastern Conference on February 17th in New Orleans.  Garnett garnered 2,399,148 votes to make his 9th All-Star start and 11th All-Star team of his career.

Joining KG as the Eastern Conference starters are:

• Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James
• Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard
• New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd
• Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade

Starters for the Western Conference are:

• Denver Nuggetts guard Allen Iverson
• Denver Nuggetts guard Carmelo Anthony
• Houston Rockets center Yao Ming
• Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant
• San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan

The coaches for each conference will pick the reserves and they will be announced next Thursday.

The Boston Celtics stayed undefeated in their division with yet another win, this one over the Philadelphia 76ers, 116-89 at a sold out TD BankNorth Garden.

This game was close for the first three quarters as the teams were neck and neck for most of the night. Tied at 29 after the 1st quarter, the teams went into the locker rooms with the Sixers on top at the half, 57-54. The Green came back a bit in the third and entered the fourth with a slim 78-73 lead. But when the final frame came around the Celtics turned it on and pulled away outscoring Philly 38-16.

The Celtics put 6 players in double figures led for the second game in-a-row by Ray Allen’s 23 points and 6 assists, Paul Pierce had 22, Eddie House, who started for an injured Rajon Rondo, had 15 points. Boston also got contributions from Tony Allen who had 12 points, Kevin Garnett was held to 11 points with 6 boards and 8 assists and Leon Powe chipped in with 10 points and 6 rebounds as the Celtics improved to 32-6.

The 76ers were led by Andre Iguodala with 17 points, 6 assists and 5 boards, Sam Dalembert had a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards, Andre Miller also had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists and Jason Smith had 10 points.

Former UConn star Kevin Ollie did not play tonight for Philadelphia.

New England Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour took in the game courtside. He received a standing ovation during a second-half timeout when his picture appeared on the scoreboard along with the message: “Good Luck Pats. Beat the Chargers.”

The cheers were almost as loud when the board showed a woman in a San Diego jersey being attacked with Silly String by the Celtics mascot, Lucky.

Much like the rest of the blogosphere Sox and Dawgs has decided to go with a live blog/random thoughts look at the NBA Draft. Here’s our version.

WOOF! Does Greg Oden remind anyone else of a pug with all them damn wrinkles in his forehead?

Kevin Durant had a weird look on his face when Stu Scott interviewed him. I think he was trying to figure out what Stu was looking at.

What did you think of Joakim Noah’s get up? I thought he looked like a tan Tiny Tim on stilts. I’m still looking for the ukulele and the chick with bad teeth. Joakim said he needed something “funky”.

I wish we had the feed from the WAMU during the commercials. I wanted to see if Stephen A. Smith is knocking back the Cheez Doodles again or if he changed his snack food.

I finally figured out who SAS reminds me of. He is the ghetto Howard Cosell. With the choppy speaking interspersed with his brand of ghetto-ese.

Is Ray Allen gonna be a Celtic? According to Mike Tirico there are “sizzling rumors” about such a deal. What the hell is a sizzling rumor? Does that mean Paul Pierce has Danny’s balls over a fire? ESPN is reporting Allen to Boston for Delonte West, Wally Sczerbiak and the #5 pick.

Glad to see ESPN’s Ric Bucher stole Bart Simpson’s forehead and haircut. I kept waiting for him to say “eat my shorts”.

Now the Chinese guy Yi Jianlian (pronounced E Jan-leann) doesn’t want anything to do with Milwaukee. Does he have a problem with beer and brats? Is he scared that Bud Selig will sell him a car?? I can see the promotional campaign now wherever he goes. Are you on the Yi? We got the Yi come check it out. You need any Yi? Oh the possibilities.

Wow what’s with Dickie V. and the golf shirt buttoned all the way up to his ears? He must have to pop the middle button just to eat.

SAS says the draft won’t be that deep. He needs to eat something besides the doodles. Try some veggies it will give you brain power.

Rachel Nichols says Michael Jordan had his cell phone in his ear and was still making calls. What Jordan didn’t say was those calls were to his bookies.

Quick someone get KG a pimp. He’s whoring himself out to anyone who will listen so he can get out of Minnesota. Right now at 7:26 ET the rumor is Golden State.

There’s 12 guys in the draft room of the Trail Blazers all thinking the same thing. We best not fuck this up.

Who spiked David Stern’s Sprite???

Oh now SAS is ball washing the Blazers before they even have made the pick.

SURPRISE!!!!! Greg Oden was drafted #1. Didn’t you just wanna see Stern say the Blazers selected Joakim Noah and then say nah I’m joking.

Jay Bilas says Oden is a star and hey SAS concurs. “You can’t teach 7 feet”. Uh thanks for the tip Doodles.

What’s up with Stu and the ‘hand dancing” during the interviews???

Celtic have supposedly acquired Seattle’s Ray Allen for the 5^th pick and will select Jeff Green for the Sonics. The Celtics also will send West and Sczerbiak to the Sonics.

Meanwhile Seattle takes Kevin Durant #2. His mom Wanda Pratt is so proud. She’s thinking “baby I’m gonna get to drink Starbucks anytime I want”.

How long will it take now for Portland and Seattle to compete in the west with San Antonio, Phoenix and Dallas?

Quote of the night: “This third spot is the hot spot in the draft because we pretty much knew for a few days it would be Oden and Durant.” ~ Mike Tirico. All I got to say is DUH.

Atlanta takes Al Horford third.

I wonder what percentage of players in Jay Bilas’ mind have a high basketball IQ?

Horford’s dad is named Tito. He related to the Francona’s?

Who is this guy who is saying that “Al Hartford” is a bad choice for the Atlanta Hawks?

Memphis takes Mike Conley Jr., number 4.

So now his dad will be raking in the big bucks as he represents both him and Oden. It’s Mike Sr.’s first gigs as a NBA agent.

3 of the first four picks have been college freshman, only Horford is a junior.

The trade is complete between Seattle and Boston and Boston will draft Jeff Green of Georgetown for the Sonics.

Green was the Big East player of the year.

Yi Jianlian goes to Milwaukee 6^th.

He is the first foreign player chosen. As we said before he doesn’t want to be there so this will be interesting. I don’t know why he doesn’t want to go Milwaukee what with the hot chicks, the great weather and all the PBR you can drink.

Minnesota takes Corey Brewer with the 7^th pick.

Dickie V. thinks Brewer needs to improve his shooting range. And that Seattle out foxed Boston.

Now the question is with two of the three Gators gone, how far will Noah fall in the draft? Are we looking at the NBA’s version of Brady Quinn? I’ve seen Noah taken anywhere from 6-14.

Charlotte is reportedly trying to deal the 8^th pick. I think Jordan wants to pay off his gambling debts so he’ll be looking for cash. Having failed to make a deal Jordan goes to his alma mater for Brandan Wright at number 8, he joins fellow Heels Sean May and Raymond Felton.

Bilas feels it’s a steal because he had him ranked as the fourth best in the draft. SAS knows that Brandon Wright can play. I see now why they pay him dearly for his NBA commentary. He is only the second freshman to leave UNC early.

Bulls fans have a “Thanks Isiah” sign because they are the only playoff team in the lottery because of last year’s trade of Eddie Curry. And with the 9^th pick Chicago takes Joakim Noah. Here comes the freak show, watch out David. He looks like he got his hair styled by Gene Simmons. All he needs is the make up and he would like he belongs on the cover of the old “Dressed to Kill” album. His dad is former tennis player turned recording artist Yannick Noah and his mom is a former Swedish model. Glad to see he got dad’s good looks. Best part of this is they keep showing the UF co-eds.

Hey thanks for the shampoo tip Stu, I really don’t give a rats ass what Joakim runs through the birds nest he calls hair.

Spencer Hawes was taken 10^th by Sacramento

I don’t realize he was white.

Oh jeez SAS doesn’t like the pick of Noah by Chicago because he is a high-energy guy and they have a bunch of high energy guys already. He feels they needed a low post player and even though Paxson knows what he’s doing SAS doesn’t think it matches well.

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King LeBron that is. LeBron James is in the middle of building a 35,440 square foot house. By comparison, a local Best Buy in the area is 45,000 square feet. The house will include a few of the normal amenities, a recording studio, a movie theater, a casino, a bowling alley and even a barber shop. So now when your over hanging out with the LeBron’s, you can cut a demo, watch White Chicks on dvd, play some craps, try to bowl a 300 game and even have some more Soul-Glo put in your curls.

Shockingly enough, there isn’t a swimming pool or even a basketball court. A king without his court just doesn’t sound right at all. Although there is room for a swimming pool that can be done later on if he so chooses.

The above picture is what you will see when you walk in. A limestone sculpture of LeBron wearing his trademark headband. If he ever sells the house, what will the new owners think of having LeBron’s mug on the front of their house.

LeBron’s neighbors are having a tough time with all the sightseers. People are parking in the street just to get a glimpse of the house and are even parking in neighbor’s driveways with no regard for his neighbors. Tom Bader, who lives next door had this to say:

“People who come to photograph it are disrespectful. They park their car in the middle of the street — with their doors open! And you’re sitting behind them! All I wanna do is go home after a hard day’s work.”

“As far as LeBron the man goes, I think he’s an outstanding individual. He’s great for Cleveland. I’m proud to have him. I have no issues with LeBron James at all. The problem is the baggage that he unintentionally carries with him.”

“My children obviously think it’s cool,. They can hardly wait to go over and play basketball with him. I said, `Honey, I don’t think that’s going to happen. Besides that, don’t ever, ever invite LeBron over to our house to play ball because he’s going to twist his ankle and I will have my house eternally egged.’ ‘

I’d have to say if that happened, his house would probably be burned down to the ground.

The reserves for both the Eastern and Western Conferences in the NBA have been announced. The game will be played in Las Vegas on February 18th.

Here is a look at the complete rosters for both teams.

Eastern Conference Starters		Western Conference Starters
Dwayne Wade		Kobe Bryant
Gilbert Arenas		Tracy McGrady
Lebron James		Kevin Garnett
Chris Bosh		Tim Duncan
Shaquille O’Neal		Yao Ming*
Reserves		Reserves
Chauncey Billups		Steve Nash*
Jason Kidd*		Amaré Stoudemire
Caron Butler		Shawn Marion
Dwight Howard		Carlos Boozer*
Richard Hamilton		Allen Iverson*
Vince Carter		Dirk Nowitzki
Jermaine O’Neal		Tony Parker

*Yao Ming and Carlos Boozer are injured and will be replaced on the roster with players chosen by the Commissioner of the NBA, David Stern.

UPDATE 2/9: Carmelo Anthony and Josh Howard have been chosen by David Stern to replace Boozer and Yao.

Update 2/13: Ray Allen and Mehmet Okur have been chosen by David Stern to replace Iverson and Nash who are injured.

Update 2/14: Joe Johnson has been chosen to replace Jason Kidd who is injured.

Technorati: Las Vegas, NBA All-Star Game, NBA, David Stern

Former UCONN stars, Marcus Williams (New Jersey Nets) and Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies), were among the nine NBA Rookies chosen to participate in the 2007 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam on February 16th in Las Vegas.Joining Williams and Gay on the Rookie Team are Andrea Bargnani (Toronto Raptors), Jordan Farmar (LA Lakers), Randy Foye (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jorge Garbajosa (Toronto Raptors), Paul Millsap (Utah Jazz), Adam Morrison (Charlotte Bobcats), and Brandon Roy (Portland Trail Blazers).They will be taking on the Sophomore Team led by Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks). He is joined by Andrew Bynum (LA Lakers), Monta Eliss (Golden State Warriors), Raymond Felton (Charlotte Bobcats), Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers), Luther Head (Houston Rockets), David Lee (NY Knicks), Chris Paul (New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets), and Deron Wiliams (Utah Jazz).

As of January 31st, Gay is currently averaging 8.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1 assist per game. Williams is averaging 6.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 3 assists per game.

Technorati: NBA All-Star Game, NBA Rookie Game, NBA All-Star Weekend

Shaquille O’Neal, who is a sworn reserve Police Officer in Miami Beach, had to put his policing skills to use early on Sunday morning. It seems that he was a witness to a hit-and-run accident on his way home after the Miami Heat returned home from Chicago. The hit-and-run involved his Cadillac Escalade. The driver of the car hit O’Neal’s parked car while him and his bodyguard were unloading the Escalade.

The driver of the car fled the scene so O’Neal and his bodyguard pursued the vehicle for about 5 minutes before they finally stopped. O’Neal flagged down an officer and told them what happened. The driver and his friend nearly shit a brick when they saw O’Neal was the one they had hit.

Can you imagine if O’Neal had to do a foot pursuit? Would he be able to even run? He’s barely playing 15 minutes a game after coming off a knee injury. Maybe Shaq can keep Tank Johnson out of trouble while Tank is in Miami for the Super Bowl.

Miami Beach: Home of the world’s tallest police officer. To read the article, click here.

Technorati: Shaquille O’Neal, Miami Beach Police Department, NBA, Miami Heat

The final voting tallies for the 2007 NBA All-Star Game are in. The game will be played in Las Vegas on February 18th. So here are your starters as voted by you, the fan:

Eastern Conference:

Dwayne Wade
Gilbert Arenas
Lebron James
Chris Bosh
Shaquille O’Neal

Western Conference:

Kobe Bryant
Tracy McGrady
Kevin Garnett
Tim Duncan
Yao Ming*

Lebron James finished with the highest vote total getting 2,516,049 votes.

*Yao Ming is injured and will be replaced by David Stern after the Western Conference reserves are announced. Phoenix coach and Western Conference All Stars coach, Mike D’Antoni, will get to decide who takes Yao’s place in the starting lineup.

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So how do you make up for the loss of Carmelo Anthony for the next 15 games? You go out and trade for Allen Iverson. As we all know Iverson has wanted out of Philadelphia for the past few weeks.

The deal is Allen Iverson and Ivan McFarlin going from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Andre Miller, Joe Smith (he’s still around I guess), and two 2007 1st round NBA Draft picks.

We all know I am not the biggest NBA fan but to me that is an awful lot to give up. The first round picks are probably going to be in the low 20’s unless something drastic happens to Denver this season. Philadelphia could end up having the most balls in the lottery system as is.

It remains to be seen how Carmelo and AI interact on the court, as they are 1-2 in the league in scoring right now. They have been teams on the USA Basketball team but the NBA is a totally different animal. Time will tell as they won’t take the court together in Nuggets’ uniforms until Jan 20th when Melo is eligible to return from his 15 game suspension for his role in the fight on Saturday night.

I leave you with this question. Is former UCONN player Kevin Ollie now the star of the 76ers?

Technorati: Allen Iverson, The Answer, Carmelo Anthony, Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, NBA, trades

Well the NBA isn’t taking this fight too lightly at all. On Monday, the NBA handed down the suspensions and fines for all the players involved in the melee.

Carmelo Anthony was suspended 15 games for sucker punching Mardy Collins. Nate Robinson, NY Knicks, and J.R. Smith, Denver Nuggets, were suspended 10 games each for their altercation in the fracas. Also suspended from the NY Knicks was Mardy Collins for 6 games, Jared Jefferies for 4 games, and Jerome James, 1 game for leaving the bench during the fight. Also suspended from the Denver Nuggets was Nene, who received a 1 game suspension for leaving the bench as well. Both teams were also heavily fined, $500,000 dollars.

Said NBA commissioner David Stern:

“It is our obligation to take the strongest possible steps to avoid such failures in the future and to make a statement to all who follow the game of basketball that we understand our obligations and take them seriously.”

Also coming to light during this was a statement that Isiah Thomas had made to Carmelo Anthony about 20 seconds before the altercation began. Thomas had warned Anthony not to go into the lane before this had happened.

Anthony publicly apologized for his role in Saturday night’s fracas.

“Last night’s altercation with the Knicks escalated further than it should have. I take full responsibility for my actions in the matter. My actions were inexcusable, and I am sorry for making this an even more embarrassing situation.”

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
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Technorati: NBA, Denver Nuggets, NY Knicks, David Stern, Isiah Thomas, Carmelo Anthony, Mardy Collins