Wizards & Celtics Win, Avery Gets Axe

Despite losing guard Gilbert Arenas for the remainder of their postseason, the Washington Wizards pulled off a thrilling 1 point win over Cleveland Wednesday night. Caron Butler was the hero as he scored on a layup with 3.9 to go. Lebron couldn't deliver on a layup on the other end, Wizards win 88-87. Without Arenas though, it will be tough for the Wizards against the Cavs. According to Associated Press, Arenas felt a pinched nerve in his knee and consulted with team doctors about not playing the rest of the season:

Arenas missed 66 games during the regular season and an MRI taken before Game 3 revealed that his surgically repaired left knee has a bone bruise and a pinched nerve.

"This nerve pinch, it just came out of the blue," Arenas said. "The swelling and the achiness — I can play through that — but the nerve pain where each step feels like you're hitting my funny bone, eventually, that was wearing and tearing. It's not going anywhere."

Read more about Arenas' injury here.

The Celtics and Hawks resumed Game 5 of their deadlocked 2-2 series. The game held in Boston, saw the Celts jump out to a double digit lead in the 2nd quarter. The Hawks went on a brief run in the 3rd, but it was short lived. The Celtics' defense which had been lacking in the past few contests showed up this time to hold off the Hawks. Celtics win 110-85 behind 22 from KG, 20 from Pierce and 19 from Ray Allen. Game 6 is Friday at 8PM in Atlanta, and the home team has been yet to lose in this series.

In other news, as the Mavs lose, they also lose their head coach. Avery Johnson was given the axe on Wednesday after another disappointing first round playoff loss for Dallas. The coach is usually the first place most GM's go after when teams don't live up to expectations. Avery may find himself in a new job somewhere soon as AP reports Chicago and New York as potential suitors. There's also plenty of potential coaches floating around who would love to take on the challenge of Dallas, which has plenty of all-star talent on its roster.

"This is something that needed to happen," Johnson said. "There's no animosity or bitterness. We all still really care about each other, but it was time to go in a different direction. ... We didn't win the championship, but if you look at the whole body of work that we put together over the last 3 1/2 years ... we'll put it up against anybody."

(Source: Associated Press)

Goodbye Suns & Mavs!

Two teams that had been considered amongst the Western Conference elite were dismissed from the NBA Playoffs on Tuesday night. Dallas was booted from the postseason in the 1st round for the second consecutive time. Phoenix who drew the unfortunate task of facing the world champion Spurs in round 1 was also put out of their misery in a 92-87 loss.

The Dallas Mavericks lost in the first round last year in what was a definite shocker. The Golden State Warriors played spoilers as they upset the #1 seed, a team many had penciled in as NBA champs. Now this year, the Mavs had traded to acquire Jason Kidd as their point guard, but were facing a younger point guard in Chris Paul, who may be this year's Most Valuable Player. Dallas managed to pull off 1 win, but New Orleans closed it out for the 4-1 series win Tuesday night. Paul was impressive in his playoff debut, putting up a stat line superior to several other legendary guards, including Magic Johnson. In Game 5, he achieved a triple double with 24 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds, propelling his team to a win. Dirk had 22 points and 13 boards in the losing effort, and Jerry Stackhouse was ejected in the 4th.

Paul's triple-double helps Hornets oust Mavs with 99-94 win

In the other playoff ousting, it was the Spurs putting an end to Phoenix' hopes for a comeback. Despite gaining 1 victory (a rout of 105-86 on Sunday), the Suns faced the impossible 3-1 deficit against a superior ball club. In Game 5, the Spurs shot 20-37 for free throws, and had 7 turnovers in the 4th quarter. One of the biggest came on a bad pass by Steve Nash which went out of bounds. The Suns were only down 2 points with about 30 seconds left and the turnover cost them the chance to tie or win the game. The Spurs now move on to face the aforementioned New Orleans Hornets in what could be a great matchup between quick point guards, as well as the veteran PF Duncan facing the younger frontcourt of Chandler and West.

Kenny Smith of TNT made the interesting point that both the Suns and Mavs made key trades during the season to acquire top stars (Jason Kidd and Shaquille O'Neal), but lost to teams that had stayed in tact and had experience. For the Suns, they brought in a behemoth yet slowed down Shaq, when they had a specific style of play, Run N Gun, which Shaq doesn't fit into. The Mavs didn't really lose much at all and gained Jason Kidd, so they may be the bigger mystery.

See NBA.com for more on Tuesday night's action!