Knicks survive emotional Celtics rally.

In a emotional battle between two rival cities, the second seeded New York Knicks survive a comeback push by the seventh seeded Boston Celtics who came back to won two games after trailing the series 0-3. The Knicks would take the series in six games and advance to the second round for the first time since 2000.

Photos ©NBA

The Celtics managed to come back to the playoffs despite losing their superstar point guard in Rajon Rondo to a season-ending foot injury. Led by their trusted veterans in Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the Celtics keep themselves above the win column despite getting hit by the injury bug all season long. They also got big contributions from Jason Terry, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass and Avery Bradley all season long. They were down 0-3 in the series and managed to put the Knicks on the brink of a 7th and decisive game back in New York. They trailed by 20 points in the 4th quarter and managed to bring the lead down to four. But the Knicks, made all the stops in the final three minutes of the game to seal the series. Despite bowing out in the series, the Celtics fought with a lot of heart and determination especially coming off the Boston Marathon tragedy which is well appreciated by any NBA fan.

The Knicks, led by the new scoring champion Carmelo Anthony won the Atlantic Division title for the first time since 1994. They showed their dominance in this series by going out with three straight wins on the Celtics, before the Celtics won two straight to extend the series before bowing out in Game 6. Anthony is backed up well by J.R. Smith, Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Steve Novak and the rest of the Knicks roster who have been playing great basketball in the Big Apple. The Knicks now continue their run back into contending for a championship come June.

The Knicks will face the third seeded Indiana Pacers in the second round who wrapped up the sixth seeded Atlanta Hawks in similar fashion. Setting up a rebirth of a classic Eastern Conference rivalry.

As for the Celtics, question now looms on whether Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett on whether they will cap off their careers in Boston together with the returning Rajon Rondo or move elsewhere to finish their illustrious Hall of Fame worthy careers.

Now here are the scores from all games of the series:

Game 1 @ New York: Celtics 78-85 Knicks

Celtics leaders:

Points: Green 26, Pierce 21, Bradley 15

Rebounds: Bass 10, Garnett 9, Green 7

Assists: Pierce 7, Bradley 4, Garnett 3

Knicks leaders:

Points: Anthony 36, Smith 15, Felton 13

Rebounds: Martin 9, Anthony 6, Chandler 5, Smith 5, Shumpert 5, Kidd 5

Assists: Felton 6, Kidd 3, Shumpert 3

Game 2 @ New York: Celtics 71-87 Knicks

Celtics leaders:

Points: Pierce 18, Garnett 12, Green 10, Crawford 10

Rebounds: Garnett 11, Bass 10, Pierce 6

Assists: Pierce 6, Terry 3, Bradley 2

Knicks leaders:

Points: Anthony 34, Smith 19, Felton 16

Rebounds: Martin 11, Felton 7, Kidd 6

Assists: Prigioni 5, Felton 2, Kidd 2, Martin 2

Game 3 @ Boston: Knicks 90-76 Celtics

Knicks leaders:

Points: Anthony 26, Smith 15, Felton 15

Rebounds: Chandler 8, Shumpert 8, Kidd 6

Assists: Felton 10, Kidd 6, Smith 3

Celtics leaders:

Points: Green 21, Pierce 17, Terry 14

Rebounds: Garnett 17, Green 9, Bass 7

Assists: Pierce 5, Green 4, Garnett 2, Terry 2

Game 4 @ Boston: Knicks 90-97 Celtics (OT)

Knicks leaders:
Points: Anthony 36, Felton 27, Shumpert 12

Rebounds: Shumpert 12, Chandler 11, Kidd 9

Assists: Felton 3, Anthony 2, Prigioni 2, Kidd 2

Celtics leaders:

Points: Pierce 29, Green 26, Terry 18

Rebounds: Garnett 17, Pierce 8, Green 6

Assists: Pierce 6, Garnett 6, Terry 4

Game 5 @ New York: Celtics 92-86 Knicks

Celtics leaders:

Points: Green 18, Terry 17, Bass 17, Pierce 16, Garnett 16

Rebounds: Garnett 18, Bass 5

Assists: Garnett 5, Green 4

Knicks leaders:
Points: Anthony 22, Felton 21, Smith 14

Rebounds: Chandler 11, Anthony 7, Shumpert 6, Felton 6

Assists: Felton 4, Anthony 2, Chandler 2, Smith 2

Game 6 @ Boston: Knicks 88-80 Celtics

Knicks leaders:
Points: Anthony 21, Shumpert 17, Prigioni 14

Rebounds: Chandler 12, Anthony 7, Smith 7

Assists: Felton 7, Anthony 5, Prigioni 3

Knicks win series 4-2

K-Smoove

Rajon Rondo's season is over after ACL injury. Rudy Gay sent to Toronto. Popovich to coach the West at the All-Star Game. Award winners for January.

Another point guard suffers the ACL injury, a big trade where every team involved wins, and one coach for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game has been named, here are some of the highlights from Week 14 of the 2012-13 NBA season:

Rajon Rondo's season ends with ACL injury.

Photo ©The Guardian

Last season, two point guards had their seasons end with the ACL injury. First it was the Timberwolves' Ricky Rubio in which the injury derailed Minnesota's chances of making the playoffs that season, then it was the Bulls' Derrick Rose who suffered the injury on the 1st game of the NBA Playoffs, and derailed Chicago's title pursuit as they got eliminated in the 1st round by the Philadelphia 76ers. This season, another point guard's season is derailed by a torn ACL in the Boston Celtics star point guard Rajon Rondo. Rondo's ACL injury was confirmed before their battle against the Miami Heat at home as they stated Rondo played hurt during their loss against the Hawks in Atlanta. The Celtics however have won 3 straight after the loss of Rondo as well as the season-ending back injury of rookie forward Jared Sullinger. Rondo, in 38 games played this season finished with averages of 13.7 points per game, a league-leading 11.1 assists per game, 5.6 rebounds per game and 1.8 steals per game. Losing the man who will be the face of the franchise in the future is indeed a huge blow on any team, now the question is how will the Celtics respond with this adversity they are facing right now. That we will have to find out soon.

Also with Rondo's injury, he will also sit out the 2013 NBA All-Star Game in Houston this month where he was voted in as a starter for the Eastern Conference. Replacing Rondo will be Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez who will make his All-Star Game debut.

Rudy Gay sent to Toronto in three-team trade.

Photo ©NBA/Raptors.com

In a radical franchise move, the Memphis Grizzlies dealt their star swingman Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors as part of big changes the new ownership of the Grizzlies franchise has brought in town. The Grizzlies then got Ed Davis and Jose Calderon from the Raptors. They would eventually send Calderon to the Detroit Pistons for Tayshaun Prince, the last guy from the Pistons' championship team in 2004 and Austin Daye. 

Gay would make an instant impact with his new team as he led the Raptors to a 98-73 victory against the Los Angeles Clippers at home. Coming off the bench, Gay scored 20 points in his debut with the Raptors. Prince also made his presence felt in Memphis as he scored 14 points off the bench in the Grizzlies' 85-76 victory against the Washington Wizards. While Calderon was in attendance for the Pistons-Cavaliers game in Detroit, but did not play due to visa issues.

In a dubbed win-win trade for all three teams involved in the trade, there are questions on how these players will make an impact to their teams. Like how will the Grizzlies continue to contend in the West with the radical lineup change? Can Gay lead the Raptors to the playoffs? and how will the trade help the Pistons as they go along with the season. That we will find in the days to come.

Popovich named West coach in 2013 NBA All-Star Game.

Photo ©NBA/Spurs.com

For the third time in his coaching career, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich will call the shots for the Western Conference at the 2013 NBA All-Star Game in Houston thanks in part to the Spurs' league leading performance in the first half of the season as they are riding a 10 game winning streak, Popovich coached the West at the All-Star game on two separate occassions, one was in 2005 in Denver, while the other was in Los Angeles, 2 years back.  

The head coach of the Eastern Conference at the All-Star Game will be determined in the game between the Miami Heat and the Toronto Raptors in Toronto. If the Heat win, head coach Erik Spolstera will coach the East, while if the Raptors win, New York Knicks head coach Mike Woodson will call the shots.

Meanwhile, here are the award winners for the month of January:

LeBron James of the Miami Heat wins his 3rd consecutive Eastern Conference Player of the Month Award while Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs wins in the Western Conference.

Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers wins his 3rd consecutive Western Conference Rookie of the Month Award while Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards wins in the Eastern Conference for the 2nd consecutive mark.

Meanwhile for Coach of the Month we have 2 new winners with George Karl of the Denver Nuggets taking the honors in the Western Conference, while Tom Thibodeau of the Chicago Bulls took the honors in the Eastern Conference.

Also Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers took home the Eastern Conference Player of the Week Award in Week 13, while Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs took the honors in the Western Conference.

Here are the standings from across the association:

Western Conference:

1. Spurs (38-11), 2. Thunder (35-12), 3. Clippers (34-14), 4. Grizzlies (30-16), 5. Warriors (30-17), 6. Nuggets (30-18), 7. Jazz (26-22), 8. Rockets (26-23), 9. Trail Blazers (24-23), 10. Lakers (21-26), 11. Mavericks (20-27), 12. Timberwolves (18-26), 13. Kings (17-32), 14. Suns (16-32), 15. Hornets (15-33)

Eastern Conference: 

1. Heat (29-14), 2. Knicks (30-15), 3. Bulls (29-18), 4. Nets (28-19), 5. Pacers (28-19), 6. Hawks (26-20), 7. Bucks (25-21), 8. Celtics (23-23), 9. 76ers (20-26), 10. Pistons (18-29), 11. Raptors (17-30), 12. Magic (14-33), 13. Cavaliers (14-34), 14. Bobcats (11-35), 15. Wizards (11-35)

Stay tuned as another edition of the NBA weekly blog comes your way next week!

K-Smoove