THE PLAYOFF PUNCH-WEEK 6

Last week we had four teams still alive in the Playoff picture. Still the window was closing on half of the teams at the brink and then this week there where two as the this years playoffs gave way to the 2011 NBA Finals. So for your basketball Jones, how about one last sip from the 'Playoff Punch'? We know your thirsty for more.

...so what did Dallas get up to this week? Well not much apart from beating the hottest young team in the game, advancing to their long-awaited NBA Finals and exorcising their demons of 2006 all in one game...Game 5 to be exact. Westbrook's stellar 31 points and 23 from Durant and Harden were not enough points poured from the Thunder as Dallas edged them 100-96. Marion and Nowitzki had 26 apiece, while the best closer this year had plenty of help off the bench as Terry (12 points) and Barea (14) heated up and cooled off Oklahoma's thunder. Despite the loss however, this before it's time OKC team will be back and even better in the future as Durant said, "The only way to get better is to keep pushing.'' "I was already thinking about the finals,'' Dirk told press also. "This is nice for a day, but we set our goals in October to win it all. We haven't done it yet.'' Another player who notched 26 points; Shawn Marion added, "Lots of guys never go, so I'm going to make the best of it." It's evident that even in their new success the Mavs haven't lost sight of that Rick Carlisle dubbed, "laser-like focus". Time to take aim and fire at their next opponent...

...they'll need it against a hot-like-fire Heat team with their focused big three. Last week Miami took a 2-1 lead in the series with only two more in a row needed to go to the show that is the NBA Finals. Still if Chicago could have roped things up, they would have avoided being one game away from elimination, tieing the games up and making it a series. In the pivotal game four it was Miami's wish that was granted with a 101-93 win. LeBron had a huge 35, while the big three rounded out with 22 from Bosh and 14 from Wade. Deng and Boozer where beasts for the Bulls with 20 apiece, while MVP Derrick Rose had 23, but that was off 8 for 27 shooting to go along with 7 turnovers...

...in the go hard or stay home crucial Game 5 in Chicago, Miami did not want to take advantage of a three game cushion, they wanted to seal their trip to the finals. With a 83-80 win they did that too putting the lid on the 'Windy Cities' basketball season. Despite Deng's 18, Rose's 25 and a hard-fought battle from the Bulls the final box-score read 'James 28, Bosh 20, Wade 21' and a 'W' for Miami. This prompted Heat president Pat Riley to say "You can see that we have two, three players that have no fear.'' The fearless, face of the franchise King James however told press, "There's no sense of relief right now. We've still got work to do." LeBron, Miami nor the Bulls "took nothing for granted" as Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau lamented, "Hopefully, we learn from that, move on. I think you use this experience to drive you so you can improve for next year.'' Still this year it's Miami's first experience of the Finals since '06 as they take on a team that has a monkey clawing at their back from that year...

...so as 'The Finals Countdown' (http://basketball244882.blogspot.com/2011/05/finals-countdown.html), who's name will be engraved in history after this 'Final Chapter'(http://basketball244882.blogspot.com/2011/05/final-chapter.html)? The maverick Dallas team? Or the heating up Miami? Keep it 24/48/82 as we take our last hit from 'The Playoff Punch' and get ready for 'The Finals Fix'. It's going to be an amazing June. Stay tuned. TIM DAVID HARVEY.