The game starts in about 12 minutes. If the Cavs win this series, don’t be surprised. The refs have done everything in their power to give this one to LeBron, and the Magic have survived (and last night, it was evident these same refs are trying their hardest to get Kobe there, as well).

LeBron has had a great series. He’s averaging 42 ppg, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Great numbers. And while I’ll never blame the guy for his team being in a 3-1 hole, I will say this: Suddenly everyone is saying that Cleveland doesn’t have a team. For the better part of this season, with the Cavs dominating the NBA both on the road and especially at home, all everyone could talk about was what LeBron was capable of doing now that he has a team around him. With the addition of Mo Williams, this team was for real, and LeBron didn’t have to carry them all the time. Delonte West plays lock down D. Ben Wallace can defend the middle. The list went on and on.

It even continued into the post-season. After mauling the Pistons in Hawks in eight total games (sweeping both), it was stamped that the Cavs were going to the Finals, and now the only question was who they’d be facing.

Now they’re down 3-1. They’re strugging. They’re being outplayed by the Magic on offense and defense. This thing should be over, but a miracle last second shot has extended the season. And all of a sudden, the only talk is that LeBron has no team around him. That nobody can step up. That he has to have someone else, because these guys don’t cut it.

Again: I’m not blaming LeBron. But I do find it funny that all season long we’re finally able to see what the Cavs are capable of now that there’s a team around him, and then when the third series of the playoffs comes around he suddenly doesn’t have anybody. If LeBron is the “Next Jordan,” as I’ve heard some of his fans say (me, personally, I think his jump shot is too hit or miss, and I don’t think his career will be nearly as long — he relies on his 260 pound frame for a lot of his points, and that will fade as his career goes on), then I think the guy needs to be able to win against mediocre teams, whether he has a team around him or not. MJ won with John Paxson, BJ Armstrong, Luc Longley, Will Perdue, Steve Kerr, and a gang of other no-name guys that he made names. He had Scottie Pippen, sure, but we all saw what Scottie Pippen was post-Jordan, both during his time with the Bulls when Jordan had his brief hiatus, and also during his time with the Rockets and Trail Blazers towards the end of his career.

Where’s this rant going? Not sure. I just thought it was funny to hear about a great “team” all year long, and now all of a sudden LeBron has to have help, because these guys stink.

It’ll be an interesting game tonight. I say the Cavs win by 15. And as much as I want the Magic, I think the refs give them a game in Orlando, and Cleveland some how manages to come back from 3-1 and win the series, to meet Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. From there, maybe the refs can call the games as they see them, and not how the TV ratings want them to be.

Tonight is Game 1 of the Nuggets and the Lakers. The Nuggets just came off of their second series that went only five games, while the Lakers scratched and clawed their way to a win against Houston in seven. Who wins the series?

Most would say the Lakers. They’re at home, they’ve got Kobe and, at the end of the day, when they need to win they find a way. That said, Denver has looked awful good — they’re going to play offense with the best of them, and with Bird Man and Kenyon Martin running around down low, they present a problem for Gasol and Odom that the Rockets were unable to do.

My prediction? Nuggets in six.

It’s well documented that after Dallas didn’t foul and Carmelo Anthony decided to win the game, that the Mavericks’ players weren’t too happy about things. So Josh Howard got in a lot of people’s faces, there was some pushing, some shoving, and eventually Mark Cuban felt it necessary to tell Kenyon Martin’s mother that her son was a thug.

And now Kenyon has vowed to take care of it.

“I don’t feel I need to call his name in the media and all that, but it’s a little personal,” Martin said after the Nuggets’ shootaround in Dallas, according to a report on The Denver Post’s Web site. “And I’m going to take care of it.”

How do you insert drama into a series that is far from over? Have your billionaire owner, Mark Cuban, tell the mother of Kenyon Martin (who, to be fair, is a thug) that her son is a thug.

Should be fun to watch tonight.

The latest Power Rankings are out, and since I’m too lazy to do one myself, I’ll just link you to theirs. A couple of notes:

• The Celtics are back to No. 1. Yay. I just love the Celtics, with overglorified players like KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Please, LA or Cleveland, please beat them in the playoffs.
• The Nuggets are No. 6. How is it that one good point guard can change a team around so much? No AI, insert Chauncey, and this team is rolling.
• At 23-19, the Heat are No. 10. I know they’ve been surging, but c’mon. No. 10?
• In the same conference and same division, and three games up on the Heat, the Hawks are No. 11. This is the power Dwyane Wade has on a team.
• Beware the 76′ers, who sit at No. 12. After their terrible start, they’ve come on strong and are looking like the playoff threat they were last year.
• At No. 30, is there really any hope for the Kings? They don’t have the worst record, at least, which belongs to No. 26, the 9-35 Thunder.

When Joe Dumars’ Detroit Pistons lost to Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals last year, he warned the team that no one was safe. And when he meant no one, I think he really meant no one.

In a move that has me scratching my head like I’ve got a bad case of lice, the Pistons have dealt Chauncey Billups, one of the best point guards in the league, to Denver in return for Allen Iverson, one of the bigger ball-hogs in the league that has pretty much proven he can’t win a championship.

“We just felt it was the right time to change our team,” Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars told The Associated Press. “Iverson gives us a dimension that we haven’t had here and we really think it’s going to help us.”

Maybe this thing really, really works out. Maybe having AI’s scoring with Sheed’s ability to shoot from wherever and Rip’s offensive prowess… well, it sounds good on paper. Maybe they’re trying to be the Big Three much like Boston’s Big Three, only Boston’s Big Three is much, much better, and plays much, much more defense.

On the flip side of that trade, I’ve gotta believe Denver betters itself by getting a guy who can score but, more importantly, someone that can really be a setup guy for ‘Melo, something they lacked while AI was in town.

It’s probably not the new Dream Team — I mean, how can you beat Hakeem, Clyde, Charles, Scottie and MJ? — but it’s as formidable a crew as the U.S. has put together in a long, long time. The 12 man team was named today, and it lists some pretty good names.

The team is headlined by the likes of Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, but joining them will be Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, and Carmelo Anthony.

Though I’d leave a few of those off — there’s got to better player than Redd, Prince, and Kidd — it’s a solid squad. The starting five will more than likely be Paul, Kobe, D-Wade, LBJ, and D. Howard. That leaves guys like Jason Kidd, Deron Williams, and Chris Bosh coming off the bench, which is about as good a sixth, seventh and eighth man as it gets.

Oddly, not a single player from the World Champion Celtics. No one in LA’s complaining about that one.

They probably won’t shock the world, but in this weekend’s playoff viewing, the game that means the most to me is the one at 8:30 EST tonight. The Pistons are down 20-16 against the 76′ers right now; here’s the finals from earlier today.

Toronto Raptors 100, Orlando Magic 114: The Magic were blowing out the Raptors early, and then Toronto snuck its way back in, only to fall apart in the final seven or eight minutes. Anthony Parker led all Raptors in scoring with 26 points, and Chris Bosh struggled, scoring 21 but going only 4-11 from the field. Dwight Howard had a monster game, getting 25 points and grabbing 22 boards. The Magic were 13 of 29 from beyond the arch.

Denver Nuggets 114, Los Angeles Lakers 128: Denver had a ten point lead early on, but that defense that’s struggled all year long struggled again today. The Lakers shot 50 percent from the field, 45 percent from three-point land. Pau Gasol had 36 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, and Kobe Bryant did his Kobe Bryant thing, scoring 32 points and having a remarkably high one assist. ‘Melo and AI both scored 30 points and Linas Kleiza had 23 off the bench.

Carmelo Anthony was pulled over and charged with DUI just the other night, but now more details come trickling out on the story. As fate has it, ‘Melo wasn’t just drunk — he was apparently ridiculously impaired.

When he was asked to take nine steps, heel to toe, then turn around and take another nine steps, he forgot to perform the second half of the maneuver, according to police. CBS4 has also learned that when he was asked to stand on one leg, he swayed, put his foot down and “gave up,” telling an officer, “I don’t have good balance.”

Later, when police were interviewing Anthony, they asked him if he knew where he was. “No clue,” he told police.

The way I see it, he’s a basketball player. And as we all know, basketball players and other major athletes all have terrible balance. It’s a perfectly legitimate excuse.

I’ll cut straight to the point: Carmelo Anthony was charged with a DUI, shortly after one of his worst games of the season.

The Denver Nuggets forward was arrested on Interstate 25, police said. He was alone in the car and pulled over for weaving and not dimming his lights.

Detective Sharon Hahn said Anthony failed a series of sobriety tests. He was charged with DUI and then taken to police headquarters before being released to a “sober responsible party,” Hahn said. Anthony is due in court May 14.

It’s a great message to all children out there of what to do when you have a bad night — go to a bar, get bombed, then drive wrecklessly down the road.

Ironically, his driving was better than his shooting just hours earlier.

San Antonio Spurs 85, LA Lakers 106: Well, they didn’t really win the West, but they put themselves in damn good position to do so. The Lakers defense was downright nasty, holding the Spurs to 33-79 shooting from the floor, but take something into consideration: The Spurs didn’t have Manu Ginobli and, as crazy as the guy is, he completely changes that offense. The Lakers put in an all-together team effort, getting 20 from Kobe, 17 from Odom, 14 from Gasol and Fisher, and a combined 21 points from Jordan Farmar and Ronny Turiaf.

Miami Heat 76, Cleveland Cavaliers 84: The Cavs avoided being embarrased. The Heat increased their chances of getting the first pick.

Toronto Raptors 84, Detroit Pistons 91: My feeling here was that the Pistons would actually throw the game, assuring that they would play Philadelphia in the first round and not the Raptors. If you think about it as a coach, who would you rather play? A Raptors team that has some playoff experience as well as a marketable player (Chris Bosh), or the 76′ers, who don’t have any experience, and whose best player’s name you can’t spell (Iguodala)? Chris Bosh scored 30 points and grabbed 10 boards for the Raptors, and Rodney Stuckey led the way for the Pistons with 18 points off the bench.

Houston Rockets 94, Denver Nuggets 111: With this win, the Nuggets are one win away from assuring their spot in the playoffs. The Rockets came out flat, and the Nuggets scored triple digits for the 21st straight game, led by Allen Iverson’s 33 point performance. A Nuggets win or Warriors loss will clinch their bid to the playoffs.