Point guard Mike James played three games for the Erie BayHawks before the Chicago Bulls signed him last month. The Bulls needed a point guard because Derrick Rose was out with a toe injury.

James returned to the BayHawks and has played two games with the latter being Monday night when the Los Angeles Clippers lost Chauncey Billups to a season-ending injury as he tore his Achilles tendon against the Orlando Magic.

So now the Clippers need a backup point guard.

Wouldn’t be surprised if James, a 10-year NBA veteran, got the call as NBA teams could begin to sign players to 10-day contracts Monday. James averaging 24 points and 6.5 assists in his last two games with Erie, which both ended in blowout losses to the Los Angeles D-Fenders in El Segundo, Calif.

When the Los Angeles Clippers did their pregame intros for their home opener, they had to know Mo Williams was in uniform and Chauncey Billups wasn’t.

They had to know Williams wears a headband and Billups doesn’t.

They had to know Williams has hair and Billups shaves his.

So how in the world did they get the two mixed up?

Even though the NBA is in a lockout mode that shows no signs of ending, there is still news out there about the Erie BayHawks’ sole NBA affiliate, the New York Knicks.

1. Phil Jackson transitions into retirement as New York Knicks questions persist (Sporting News)

2. NBA or bust: John Starks was determined to make it (NewsOK.com)

3. Josh Harrellson stops drunk driver (ESPN)

4. Magic’s Howard, Knicks legend Monroe take in action at West 4th (New York Post)

5. NY Knicks Captain Turns Children’s Author (Publishers Weekly)

6. Time Running Out for Chauncey Billups (SLAM)

7. Brewer wanted to stay with Knicks (ESPN New York)

8. Former Knicks president Walsh regrets not hiring Mullin (Yahoo! Sports)

Can NBA veteran Chauncey Billups hit big shots in the Big Apple? The New York Knicks sure hope so. /AP Photo

The New York Knicks are getting more than just NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony in this three-team, multi-player trade that went down today.

They’re getting Mr. Big Shot – NBA vet point guard Chauncey Billups – from the Denver Nuggets.

The Knicks gave up some good players, but everyone on their team other than Amare Stoudemire was fair game.

What the Knicks are besides one of the game’s best in Anthony is a guy who can hit big shots in Billups. In the playoffs, the game slows down to execution in the half court and that’s more up Billups’ alley. He’s not the complete pick-and-roll player for Stoudemire like Steve Nash was, but Billups can play off the pick-and-roll, catch a pass on the wing and nail the deep jump shot.

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The Denver Nuggets will only go as far as Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony take them.

(4) Denver Nuggets (53-29) vs. (5) Utah Jazz (53-29)

Series schedule: Game 1 – Today at Denver 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN); Game 2 – Monday 4/19 at Denver 10:30 p.m. ET (TNT); Game 3 – Friday 4/23  at Utah 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2); Game 4 – Sunday 4/25 at Utah 9:30 p.m. ET (TNT); Game 5 – Wednesday 4/28 * at Denver TBD; Game 6 – Friday 4/30 * at Utah TBD; Game 7 – Sunday 5/2 *  at Denver TBD. – *If necessary.

Series keys: For Denver: 1. Rediscover its swag (Nuggets have lost it since their head coach, George Karl, left team for cancer treatments). 2. Nene can’t settle (Denver big man must score big to keep Carlos Boozer honest). 3. Play a little defense (Nuggets allowed 102.3 points this season. For Utah: 1. Keep Denver off the line (Nuggets have made 1,924 free throws and attempted 2,487). 2. Bench must produce (With Boozer’s strained oblique and Andrei Kirilenko’s strained left calf, Jazz bench must step up). 3. Attack Denver’s heart (Carmelo Anthony is their star, but Chauncey Billups makes the Nuggets go. Deron Williams must get him in foul trouble).

Series outcome: Nuggets will win the series in six games, but somebody other than Billups – hint to Carmelo – must take over the leadership role.

Series stories:

1. Carlos Boozer to be a game-time decision for Utah playoff opener at Denver – The Canadian Press
2. Nuggets championship clock ticking – Denver Post
3. Doctor: Karl could be back for second round – ESPN

Oh yeah.

Kobe Bryant scored 40 points in leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a Game 1 win against Denver.

The Denver Nuggets came to play tonight. So did the Los Angeles Lakers.

In the end, the Lakers pulled out a 105-103 victory against the Nuggets in Game 1 of their best-of-7 Western Conference finals series.

Carmelo Anthony (39 points) was butter. Kobe Bryant (40 points) did his thing, but Trevor Ariza made the play.

With Los Angeles up, 101-99, with 30.5 ticks left, Ariza stole an inbound pass intended for Chauncey Billups. Give Lamar Odom props for forcing Anthony Carter to throw a bad pass.

Denver didn’t help itself by making mistakes. Kenyon Martin unnecessarily fouled Bryant and the Carter turnover was huge.

You’ve got to love the way the Nuggets responded to being down late, though. Billups hit a step-back 3 from the dead corner over Ariza to pull the Nuggets within one, 103-102.

That’s how he earned the nickname, ‘Mr. Big Shot.’

However, Bryant sealed the deal by making free throws for the Lakers. He was 12-of-13 from the line for the entire game.

Can it get any better in Game 2 Thursday night?

Oh yeah.

The league MVP is set to get it started against the Orlando Magic

4-for-4

That’s how I fared in predicting the Eastern Conference and Western Conference semifinal series.

Piece of cake.

I mean, Cleveland should have disposed of Atlanta, right. The Cavaliers could have broke out the brooms from the opening tip in Game 1.

The Los Angeles Lakers have a better team than Houston even with star center Yao Ming so without him, the Rockets had no chance even though they showed tremendous zeal in extending the series to seven games.

As for the Dallas Mavericks, the way they fold on a regular, anyone who thought they’d beat Denver must either be related to Dallas owner Mark Cuban or owe Cuban money.

Orlando needed a Game 7 to finally put away the Kevin Garnett-less Boston Celtics, but they did win the series.

So now, who’s going to wind up in the NBA Finals.

Did someone say Kobe and LeBron?

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Dahntay Jones and the Denver Nuggets are flying high after winning their semifinal series Wednesday night against Dallas.

The Denver Nuggets are feeling good.

Check out their swagger. I can feel it from here.

The high-flying Nuggets have gone from being just a playoff team to a world championship contender. They just put Dallas out of its misery Wednesday night, 124-110, to win their Western Conference semifinal series against the Mavericks in five games.

They will await the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets series. The Lakers will likely close that out Thursday night in Houston.

If in fact the Nuggets and Lakers meet in the conference finals, that will be a great match up. Before the playoffs began, I would have said Denver has no chance to take out Lakers.

Not that I think the Nuggets are formidable enough to oust Los Anegles today, but they would push the Lakers to the limit. I love how Carmelo Anthony is rolling, the supporting cast is strong and can’t say enough about what Chauncey Billups has meant to this team.

After days of rest, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers get back at it Monday against Houston.

So far, so good.

In looking at my first-round predictions in the Western Conference of this year’s NBA playoffs, I went 3-for-4, losing only the New Orleans-Denver best-of-7 series.

I picked the Hornets mainly because I predicted they would win the NBA title before the 2008-09 season began. After a season of dealing with injuries, the Hornets were no match for the Nuggets, who has finally figured out how to play defense.

Again, some prediction, but I can at least take a bow for picking the Dallas Mavericks to upset the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets to derail the Portland Trail Blazers.

Anyway, let’s look at the Western Conference semifinal match ups. Not to give anything away, but the top two seeds should make it out the conference semifinals.

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Anything less than a world championship is what LeBron James has been saying since Cleveland lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals. Is this year James and the Cavaliers win it all?

Get your popcorn ready.

The NBA Playoffs are here.

I’ll be in Cleveland checking out the top-seeded Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The eighth-seeded Detroit Pistons don’t seem to have much of a chance in this best-of-7 first-round series, but then again, this is the playoffs.

So let’s go through each first-round series and see how they should shake out.

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