The odds of a team coming back after trailing 0-2 in the NBA playoffs are astronomical.

But just last season, the NBA had two teams come back from such a deficit.

The Utah Jazz won four of the next five games versus the Houston Rockets to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals and the Cleveland Cavaliers came back to beat the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Facing the Boston Celtics in this year’s playoffs, LeBron James and the Cavaliers were staring at their fourth 0-2 deficit in three seasons.

In 2006, the Cavaliers lost the first two games to Detroit before ultimately losing that series in seven games.

In 2007, Cleveland won four straight games against Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals after losing the first two games of that series.

The Cavs were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals.

Boston dominated Cleveland in the Conference Semifinals’ first two games. They held Cleveland to 33% shooting and forced LeBron into 8-of-42 from the field and 0-for-10 from the 3-point line.

Despite leading the league in scoring this season, there are still glaring weaknesses in LeBron’s game. Those weaknesses are being exposed versus Boston, just as they were exposed against the San Antonio Spurs in last year’s NBA Final. [Read]

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UPDATE: this article was edited and ran by RealGM after last night's game.

The Celtics and Cavaliers split their season series 2-2.

Both LeBron James and Kevin Garnett missed one of those games to injury.

James averaged 32 points per game in the three contests he played in. The Cavaliers won two of those three games.

In Boston's lone regular season victory over the James led Cavaliers, the Cetlics held LeBron to 26 points on 7-for-26 shooting. The Celtics won that game 92-87 on February 27th.

Keys for Boston

1. Stop LeBron James

The San Antonio Spurs held LeBron to 22 points per game and 36% from the field in their NBA Finals sweep over James' Cavaliers last season.

How did they do it?

By making him a jumpshooter.

Bruce Bowen and Co. kept him out of the paint and shut down Daniel Gibson's catch-and-shoot 3-point opportunities.

The Celtics had the best defense in the league this season. Boston led the NBA in virtually every defensive category and were second in the league in points allowed. Even more impressive is the fact that they accomplished all of that without the luxury of a lock-down defender on the perimeter.

That may came back to haunt them versus LeBron.

James led the league in scoring this season by averaging 30 points per game. LeBron also led in 4th quarter scoring (9.1 pts) and the Cavs had seventeen 4th quarter comebacks.

The Celtics don't have anyone on the perimeter to defend him one-on-one.

But they do have Defensive Player of the Year Kevin Garnett.

If I was Doc Rivers, I would place KG on LeBron for key stretches in this series. Garnett doesn't have LeBron's explosiveness but he can afford to play a step off because James won't beat the Celtics with his jumpshot.

James outweighes Garnett by twenty pounds but gives up 3 inches to the 9-time All-NBA defender.

KG's long arms and great hands could disrupt many of James' forays into the paint.

Is this strategy uncoventional?

Of course.

And KG might be better suited to roam the paint and contest LeBron's penetration from the weakside. It's not as if he'll have to worry about Anderson Varejao or Ben Wallace scoring a ton of points off of LeBron's drive-and-dish skills.

But if LeBron starts to takeover like he did against Detroit in last year's playoffs, why not place the best defensive player in the game on the "chosen one?"

Stopping LeBron James is key to Boston's chances of advancing out of the second round, it's the only key.

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Will the Pistons "flip the switch" in this series or will they revert back to their nonchalant play?

Will it matter?

Will this be the year that the championship window that has seemingly been open for the past four seasons slams shut?

I think so.

Keys for Orlando

1. Force feed Dwight Howard.

Rasheed Wallace can't stop him. Neither can Jason Maxiell or Antonio McDyess.

Howard led the NBA in rebounds, double-doubles, was 5th in blocks, and 3rd in field goal percentage this season in establishing himself as the best center in the game.

Detroit doesn't have the kryptonite for 'Superman'.

2. Let Rasheed fire up all the 3-pointers his heart desires

Which shouldn't be too difficult because unfortunately, Sheed prefers to play behind the arc anyways.

With Dwight Howard down low, can you blame him?

Aside from LeBron James, Wallace is the most talented player in the NBA. As he goes, so do the Pistons.

No wonder they suffer from so many mental lapses.

3. Exploit their mismatches

Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton have difficulty defending swingmen with size (LeBron James anyone?). Orlando has two of the most versatile guard/forwards in the league in Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu.

Turkoglu has been a reliable playoff performer since his days with the Kings and I expect him to be a HUGE factor in this series.

The Magic have an advantage in three of the five starting positions (Howard, Hedo, & Lewis).

The Pistons have an advantage at point guard and a deeper bench but Big Shot Billups won't be enough to propel Detroit to a 6th straight conference finals appearance.

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It’s the triangle offense, now available in version 3.0.

These days, Kobe Bryant offers an alley-oop Pau Gasol’s way and the two can exchange roles the very next play. Luke Walton posts up, then drifts out for a three-point shot, or Lamar Odom ducks and dives his way to the rim for enough double-doubles to fill his heart’s content.

The part-mystical, part head-scratching triangle offense is functioning quite smoothly with Gasol completing the Lakers’ trifecta.

Possibly more so than . . . Michael Jordan’s championship days under Phil Jackson? [Read]

The Boston Celtics marched through the regular season with an NBA best 66 regular season wins.

After beating the Atlanta Hawks by an average of 21 points in Game’s 1 and 2, most people had them penciled in for their first NBA Finals appearance since 1987.

But the Hawks aren’t going down without a fight.

After shooting 38 percent in the first two games of the series, Atlanta has shot 47 percent in the last two games.

How have they managed to get back into the series?

By playing fast perimeter oriented basketball and getting down the floor before the Celtics can set up their defense. [Read]

(Photo by RealGM)

The Most Valuable Player is presented to the NBA player who receives the highest point total from a panel of chosen sportswriters. These sportswriters cast a vote for their first, second, and third place selections. First place votes receive five points, second place is worth three points, and third place is worth one point. The player who receives the highest point total is then awarded the distinction of Most Valuable Player.

The MVP has historically gone to the best player on one of the teams with the top record in the NBA. No player whose team has won less than 50 games has won the award in the past 25 years.

The Most Valuable Player Award is one of the greatest honors in basketball. It should be regarded with distinction. It shouldn't be a popularity contest controlled by PR much like the ridiculousness that has become the NBA All-Star Game.

The distinction of MVP should not blindly award the best player on the best team. The voting panel needs to do their job or a new committee or criteria should be developed in order to guarantee that the NBA player who is of the most value to his team receives the credit that he rightly deserves.

Team success should not be the barometer by which an individual player is considered to be of most value to his team. Rather than award the title of Most Valuable Player to the best player on the top team, it should go to the NBA player who is of most value to his particular team, with less significance placed upon that team’s win-loss record. Basketball is a team sport. No one player can win consistently without the luxury of a quality-supporting cast.

The value o####reat player encompasses a myriad of basketball intangibles that sadly, are not always guarantors of victories.

Nowhere is this more evident than the Most Valuable Player Award tallies of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. Bill Russell won the MVP award in 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, and 1965. The Celtics won the NBA championship in every one of those seasons but 1958.

Wilt Chamberlain didn’t enter the NBA until the year after Russell won his first MVP. Chamberlain was MVP in 1960, his rookie season, and again in 1966, 1967, 1968. Wilt was 1st team All-NBA every season he was MVP. [Read]

Well, it took several seasons but finally a player has emerged who is sick and tired of polishing the statue that has become LeBron James. His name is DeShawn Stevenson and tonight he not only helped the Wizards beat the Cavaliers 101-99, he then added some flame to an already hot rivalry with some choice words for the boy King.

"He's overrated," DeShawn said. "And you can say I said that."

LeBron James is far from overrated but I loved what I saw from Stevenson and the Washington Wizards the other night. Normally, players shake hands and exchange other pleasantries before the game begins. DeShawn chose to get right up in LeBron's grill and offer some choice words. His exact words are unclear, but the message that he wasn't going to back down was sent.

Stevenson talked the talk, then went out and walked the walk in holding LeBron to 9-for-22 shooting, 1-for-7 from the 3-point line. He also drew a key foul on the King with 19.4 seconds remaining. James was driving with a chance to tie — the Cavaliers trailed 96-94 — when he lowered his left shoulder into Stevenson for a foul. James' potential game-winning 27-footer, again with Stevenson guarding him, hit the front of the rim and bounced away as time expired.

LeBron is a great player. My choice as this season's MVP. That being said, I'm tired of watching opposing players and teams literally leave a red carpet for him to get to the basket. Foul him, send a message, make him earn two at the line. Brendan Haywood delivered a punishing blow that knocked LeBron to the ground late in the game. Hard foul yes, dirty play no. It was the type of play that epitomized the late 80's Detroit Pistons and early 90's New York Knicks.

I've always had a great deal of respect for those Knicks and Pistons teams. Unlike the majority of the league, they weren't intimidated by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer, Xavier McDaniel, Anthony Mason, and John Starks made MJ work for everything he got. Yet Jordan persevered through physical play time and time again. Earning more than their respect in route to wining six NBA championships and becoming the greatest player of all-time.

I hope more teams and players follow DeShawn Stevenson and the Washington Wizards lead so we can see what the King is really made of. Charles Barkley once said, "see Tony Parker's good, but we just don't know how good Tony Parker really is. He aint never been hit." LeBron James got hit the other night and DeShawn Stevenson and the Washington Wizards won the ensuing battle.