Of the ten ESPN prognosticators, nine of them picked the Lakers to defeat the Celtics in the NBA Finals.  I picked the Celtics at the start of the playoffs, and then changed my mind at the beginning of the finals.  Countless pundits went for L.A. over Boston.  Well, to paraphrase comedian Ron White, "we were wrooooooong!!"

Boston just shoved it down the Lakers throats, culminating with their 131-92 annhilation last night to win the NBA title in six games.  So the question that everyone should be asking is, what the heck did we miss here?  As best as I can, I'll try and go through everything I overlooked - your mileage may vary.

• Boston's defense was absolutely stifling, moreso than any team's I'd seen in a very long time.  We didn't appreciate just how much their defense could take the Lakers out of their game.  No one plays better ball-man defense, no one rotates better, no one plays better help-side defense, no one's better than Boston.  Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau put together a masterful plan to shut down L.A.'s two through five players, and dared Kobe Bryant to beat them.  Which leads to...
• 
  
• The Lakers' offense wasn't nearly as structured as we believed.  Every team they played they could beat on talent alone; Denver was hopeless, Utah was probably the 2nd best team in the West but their defense was way overrated, and San Antonio was just broken down.  So they got away with freelancing outside the triangle offense.  Once they actually had to run some plays against a talented squad who could cover the second and third option, everything broke down.  Which leads to...
  
  
• Kobe is not in MJ's league.  Never, ever, ever, EVER, make this argument again!  A 29 year-old Jordan doesn't let his team lose by 39, doesn't go 7-22, 8-21, 6-19, doesn't let his team surrender a 24-point lead, doesn't show up his teammates on court.  None of that happens to Jordan.  Funny what happens when you go up against someone your size that's physical and keeps you from getting to the hoop.  So let's let that one go right now.


• No one even considered the possiibility that Doc Rivers could outcoach Phil Jackson.  It happened.  Badly.  How could the Zen master not figure out a way to get his guys to double-team Garnett, trap Pierce, and keep a body on Allen?  And somehow, Doc found the right combination of players, finally realized that Sam Cassell needed to stay on the bench, and picked the right spots to put James Posey and Eddie House in.  He just schooled Jackson, there's no other way to say it.  (quick tangent: twice in the past five years, Phil Jackson has coached the team that was the prohibitive favorite in the finals, and both times they were soundly beaten.  I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'...)
  
  
• The emergence of Paul Pierce was almost impossible to predict.  Not only did he put together an absolutely career-defining game offensively in game 5 (one that they lost), he took over the 2nd half of the previous game, to the point that he essentially played point guard during the last five minutes.  And his defense on Bryant...no one knew he had that in him, but he took it upon himself to shut down #24, and he succeeded brilliantly.
  
  
• And finally, L.A.'s bench was horrific.  Jordan Farmar was mediocre at best, and got run around silly by Rajon Rondo.  Sasha Vujacic was out of sorts offensively, and couldn't play a lick of defense.  The rest of the crew (Luke Walton, Ronny Turiaf, Trevor Ariza) were mere afterthoughts.  The C's bench of Posey, House, P.J. Brown, and Leon Powe wiped the floor with them.

Just goes to show you, sometimes you have to go with your first instinct.  And now, I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep, as these games are ending way too late.  I can manage though.

The Boston Celtics cruised over the Los Angeles Lakers to win Game 6 of the NBA Finals, 131-92.

The Celtics, winning this series, four games to two, are now 9-2 in Finals history against their bitter rivals, the Lakers. They finished these playoffs with a 13-1 record at home and played an NBA-record 26 postseason games.

"Oh, it's a great feeling, man," said Finals MVP Paul Pierce, "just knowing that these guys, what they accomplished and those things that hang over our head every day, and for us to go out there and make history in front of those guys. It means so much more because these are the guys, the Havliceks, the Bill Russells, the Cousys. These guys started what's going on today with those banners.

"They don't hang up any other banners but championship ones, and now I'm a part of it. And just all the years talking to Bill and John, Cousy, finally I feel like we've come out of that shadow now and created our own, and now we can stand up and look them eye to eye and say, 'Hey, we accomplished it, too.' "

The All-Star trio of Pierce (17 points), Kevin Garnett (26 points, 14 rebounds), and Ray Allen (26 points) won a championship in their first season together.

Kobe Bryant finished with 22 points, but shot only 7-of-22 from the field and was quiet after a sizzling start for the second straight game.

So they've done it. They have claimed the honor of having the greatest single-season turnaround in NBA history. One year ago today, the franchise could accurately be described as forlorn. The Celtics were coming off a 24-58 season punctuated by an 18-game losing streak. They had been cruelly treated by the draft lottery, which left them with nothing better than the fifth pick.

And now they are champions. Again.

Lordy, Lordy, what hath Danny and Doc wrought?

It was a wire-to-wire championship that began with a 103-83 dismissal of the Washington Wizards back on Nov. 2 and came to fruition at the TD Banknorth Garden with perhaps their greatest combination of offensive play, defensive play, bench play, and just plain basketball in any game of the entire 116-game exhibition/regular season/playoff season.

131-92.

The Celtics started the season 8-0. They had such records as 20-2, 40-9, and, finally, 66-16. They never trailed in any playoff series. They won every playoff game they had to win. And they saved their absolute best for last, blowing away the Western Conference.

COMPLETE STORY

It was only a matter of time.  Despite his early success, Red Sox pitcher Bartolo Colon has found himself in a familiar place - the disabled list.

The culprit this time around is a sore back. Colon suffered the injury with a series of hard swings-and-misses at Cole Hamels pitches in Monday’s 8-2 loss at Citizens Bank Park. He was removed after only four innings in his second loss of the season.

"He's had a history of issues, that's why we're being cautious," manager Terry Francona told the Boston Herald. "One thing leads to another. We explained that to him, and he understood. We'll just let things cool down and get him back out there."

Colon's injury means that rookie Justin Masterson likely will maintain his spot in the rotation. Expect Colon to be out until at the least the All-Star break and maybe longer.

Francona said Daisuke Matsuzaka was set to start Saturday against St. Louis. Matsuzaka (8-0, 2.53 ERA) allowed two runs and three hits over five innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday night, his first game action since straining his rotator cuff last month.

Manager Dusty Baker said Griffey became ill on Monday, the team’s day off, and wasn’t feeling much better. The Reds honored his 600th homer before the opener of a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a pregame ceremony.

Also, fans received a poster and baseball card showing his swing on No. 600. Griffey hit his 600th homer last week in Florida, becoming the sixth to reach the mark.

“He’s looking pretty bad,” Baker said. “He’s sick — on his night. He called yesterday and said he was feeling bad.”

Griffey did pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth with a runner on first and down 3-1, but he ended up striking out. How cool would it have been had he homered to tie the game? It would have been epic. Instead, he whiffs and the Reds lose, falling to 2-5 on their current homestand.

Griffey was given a 40-second standing ovation during the pregame ceremony before addressing the crowd.

"This is my ninth year here, and the team we have assembled is probably the best team we've had (in that span)," he said. "My dad won three world championships, and with a little luck we can win one. I'd like to be a part of that." 

With the release of the first edition of the GetSportsInfo.com Cheat Sheet due in early July, it's time to start talking about what I am thinking. I already looked at QB's, now it's time to move on to tight ends:

1. Jason Witten - DAL
2. Antonio Gates - SD
3. Kellen Winslow - CLE
4. Chris Cooley - WAS
5. Tony Gonzalez - KC
6. Dallas Clark - IND
7. Vernon Davis - ARI
8. Todd Heap - BAL
9. Heath Miller - PIT
10. Jeremy Shockey - NYG
11. Owen Daniels - HOU
12. Greg Olsen - CHI
13. Benjamin Watson - NE
14. Tony Scheffler - DEN
15. Alge Crumpler - TEN
16. Ben Utecht - CIN
17. LJ Smith - PHI
18. Zach Miller - OAK
19. Donald Lee - GB
20. Leonard Pope - ARI
21. Marcedes Lewis - JCK
22. Randy McMichael - STL
23. Eric Johnson - NO
24. Desmond Clark - CHI
25. John Carlson - SEA

From ProFootballTalk.com: 

Bengals receiver Chad Johnson will undergo surgery to remove bone chips from his ankle, according to Adam Schefter of NFL Network.

Last week, agent Drew Rosenhaus pointed out that Johnson wasn’t practicing at a mandatory minicamp because of the injury.  Eventually, however, Johnson participated — possibly after being reminded that he had passed a physical and had been cleared to practice.

So the condition apparently isn’t something that prevents Johnson from playing.  Instead, it sounds like a matter of discomfort and/or pain tolerance. 

Johnson is expected to be ready for training camp.

He practiced last week and he should be ready for training camp. Still, the team has to be annoyed he didn't just get it done earlier in the offseason. It also gives Johnson an excuse if he wants to skip some practice. Johnson hasn't missed a game in seven years, so we won't be concerned unless it lingers well into August.