Our friends at "Karlson & McKenzie" on WZLX 100.7 did a very funny spoof of the Kevin Durant/NBA commercial. Click here for more great stuff by the boys at Karlson & McKenzie.

Katherine Underwood of ComcastSportsNet.com reports from the TD Banknorth Garden before Game 1 of the NBA Finals to check out the atmosphere and talk to some very excited Celtics fans.

Thoughts from a week that taught us not to never, ever mess with Coco Crisp…

The "Almost Most Heartbreaking Moment of the Year" Moment of the Week: Down goes the Truth

Towards the end of the pre-game intros last night, just before they called Paul Pierce’s name, I felt an overwhelming sense of happiness for the Truth. In the five quick seconds that he was standing at the base of the awkwardly placed, massive golden trophy, I thought about all that he had been through in Boston: how he’d been so close to being traded 10 different times; how he was so close to being stabbed to death in 2000; how even though he didn’t know it, he’d been a pretty huge part of my life for the last 10 years.

Anyway, at that very moment, Paul looked, prouder, happier and more satisfied than I’d ever seen him, and I imagined all that must have been going through his own head, as he prepared to take the floor in the NBA Finals after 10 years relative ups and bottomless downs..

An hour later, and I watched as Pierce was carried into the lockerroom with the a look on his face that you’d expect from a guy who’d just had his leg bitten off by a shark.

I wasn’t even assuming the worse anymore. I’d already convinced myself that he was done for the season. It was a fact.

Comcast SportsNet’s legendary team of Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn recap Game 1 of the NBA Finals live at the TD Banknorth Garden on NE Ford Celtics Postgame Live with Gary Tanguay and Donny Marshall.

Series prediction: I type this amidst a puddle of burning, pathetic and uncontrollable tears, but I’m going with Lakers in 6.

But with that being said, if the Celtics can extend this series the distance, there’s no way they lose a Game 7 at the Garden; the crowd won’t let them.

Finals MVP: Kobe Bryant is the easy choice, unless Sam Cassell continues to play at his current level and the victorious Lakers decide to give him the honorary title.

If the C’s win, it’s got to be Pierce. This is his chance to prove to the rest of the world that he’s the kind of top tier NBA star that Celtics fans already believe—and rightfully so—that he is.

Player that Steps Up: For the Celtics, Perkins needs to be the guy. He made enormous strides in earning the confidence of his teammates and Celtic Nation during the conference finals, and a strong series against LA will go a long way towards his maturation into a legit NBA center. The reason Kobe’s been so great in these playoffs is that he trusts his teammates and feels comfortable getting his shots within the offense. If Perk can get into Pao Gasol’s head, screw up his rhythm and in turn make Kobe lose some of that confidence in Kung Pao, the Mamba will start to press and that’s when he’s at his weakest.

Check out the newest podcast from Rich Levine on the eve of the NBA Finals. Rich is once again joined by Nick Altschuler from the Improper Bostonian. If you have a question for "The Dino Radja Experience", email us at dinoradjaexperience@gmail.com.

Now is the time when all the weight lifting, the defensive engulfed practices, the Muhammad Ali videos, the unexpected Duck Tour trips and the 16 championship banners hanging from the TD Banknorth Garden’s rafters all come into play. If the Celtics play this glitzy Los Angeles Lakers team physically, they will win and quite possibly win convincingly. Instead of saying, “BEAT L.A.,” the saying should be, “BEAT UP L.A.”

The physicality from the Celtics must be felt right away. Celtics coach Doc Rivers should immediately send forward Leon Powe into the paint to absolutely deck Lakers forward/center Pau Gasol and it should be done instantly. Boston also needs to bang shooting guard Kobe Bryant continually if he tries to drive to the paint. By doing so, he most likely will become tentative and resort to his deadly outside shot, which will hopefully be off due to the fatigue that’s caused by a physical and dedicated defense.

There’s no doubt that the Celtics are the better squad. Their regular-season record and roster prove that. However, there is no doubt that the Lakers have the best player in the world in Bryant.

If the Celtics’ 8-2 record in the finals against the Lakers is any indication of what is going to happen over the length of this series, I think we are all going to be very happy.

This week on the super crazy playoff edition of "Planet Pollard", I walk around town seeing if someone wants to fill my important role on the bench. Luckily, we found the perfect person to fill my seat.

There I was driving home after the Celtics had eliminated the Pistons. I’m feeling pretty good about Boston- LA . Pretty even match up but naturally I like Boston’s chances. Suddenly I’m hearing an ESPN expert say the C’s have no chance. I mean none. Lakers in 5, maybe 6. What? What happened to 66 wins? What happened to the best defensive team in the league? What happened to the 30+ pts difference in the two wins over the Lakers this season? Pau Gasol? Are you kidding me? Sasha Vujacic? Vladimir Radmonavic? Jordan Farmar? Luke ( sorry Bill) Walton? What am I missing here. I’ll give you Kobe. As big a Lebron guy as I am Kobe is the best player in the game at the moment. But after Kobe? Radmonovich is going to shut down Paul Pierce? Pau Gasol is going to swallow up KG? Derek Fisher is going to run rings around Rajon Rondo? It might take him a quarter or two to find Rondo. What are they smoking out there? And then it hit me. It’s LA baby. It’s Jack and Dyan’s brownies. It’s the other Wahlberg and anyone else with a new movie or ridiculous discretionary income. I guess we have to face it. If you are a member of the national media looking to suck up, LA tastes better. But this is way over the top. Every single ESPN "expert" picks the Lakers. Every one? Well, I guess I just have to adjust my prediction.

When your hometown team is in a position to compete for a championship, the fan base naturally grows with enthusiasm. More wins and success equals more casual fans paying attention. Many have tried to define this group of come-and-go fans. Some call them “bandwagon jumpers” or “fair-weather fans”. The contemporary term is “pink hats”.

Before trying to map out a census for the population of “Celtics Nation” right now, let me explain where I am coming from (I don’t want this to be a bitter diehard’s rant on how everyone is stepping on your buddy Sully’s back trying to climb into the bandwagon.) I have worked at Comcast SportsNet (Your home for Boston Celtics Basketball!) for the past 10 years. The first day of my internship was the 1998 NBA Draft at the Garden, when thousands watched as Paul Pierce slipped down the draft board to the C’s at #10. So obviously in that time, the amount of wins “The Truth” has carried the team to since being drafted affects my day-to-day more than most.

But even before that, I have been the die-hard amongst my fellow 30-year old friends. I remember the great days of the Original Big 3. I remember Johnnie Most. I remember watching Sunday afternoon games on CBS with Dick Stockton, Tommy Heinsohn, and Pat O’Brien (a lifetime ago for ole Pat). Watching an old game from those days on YouTube makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand-up.

Thoughts on a week that brought us within one win of the promise land… Look-A-Like of the Week: It feels very strange to do a look-a-like bit with Sam Cassell and have the other subject be a human, but the resemblance between Sammy and Russell Simmons (at least in these two photos) is pretty uncanny. Good for Sam. I think he needs this. In fact, if I were Cassell I’d start carrying around this picture of Simmons in my wallet. So next time someone tries to call him ugly, he can just whip it out (the picture… I’m talking about the PICTURE!) and be like, "Oh, so I guess that means you think RUSSELL SIMMONS is ugly too!" That’ll show them. Note: I saw Sam Cassell out at a bar after Game 5, and I have to admit: I was amazed at how normal he looked. He appears kind of trollish running around in a basketball uniform with a bunch of 6-9 dudes, but when he’s in public, and in human clothes, he’s a pretty big guy, and most of his typically grotesque features aren’t as pronounced. Winner of the Week: Kendrick Perkins I’ve always been hard on Perk. People would talk about how young he was, but I was already impatient. I never saw enough to be convinced he’d become a legit NBA center. Most of that was because he has too many bad habits—his knack for bringing the ball to his knees every time he touched it being the chief concern. I was OK with his skills still being unpolished, but most of his problems were mental. He wasn’t bringing the ball to the floor because he wasn’t good enough, he was doing it because he didn’t have a good head for the game. It was common sense, and on the court, Perk just didn’t have any. I wrote the last part of that paragraph in the past tense, as if all these problems have disappeared because he had one 18 and 16 game. He still has a lot of work to do, but these playoffs—and especially the Pistons series—have convinced me that there is most definitely a place for Kendrick Perkins in the Celtics’ future. If you don’t know me, you don’t realize how huge that last statement is. It’s like a break through in therapy, and it feels good. Loser of the Week: The Red Sox This isn’t only because the Sox have lost five of their last six games. That’s pretty awful in and of itself. What’s worse is that I’m having a very hard time caring. I don’t know what it is about baseball season this year, but I haven’t got the fever yet, and part of me wonders if—for the most die-hard and obsessive Boston fans—the Sox haven’t jumped the shark a little bit since winning their second World Series in four years. I know this is sacrilege, but can any of you admit to being as obsessed about the Red Sox in 2008 as you were in 2002 or even 2005? If so, maybe you’re a better fan than I am. I’m just struggling to get into it. This isn’t saying that I don’t still love the Sox, I obviously do, there’s just no way in hell I have the attention span to take three to four hours on a spring or early summer night to watch an entire game. Why? Glad you asked. For one, the games don’t really matter. OK, maybe that’s a little bit of an overstatement. If the Sox end up missing the playoffs by one game, you can always say, "Hey remember that 1-0 loss to the Mariners back in May? Remember how you said it was insignificant? Well, you’re an idiot." Fine, I am, but we all know that baseball season doesn’t mean anything until at least August. If the Sox drop 17 straight games, then that’s a story, but as long as they are in contention, I can’t get myself to worked up until September is in sight. Two, the games have been SO painfully long. This has been written about already by anyone and everyone who covers baseball—to the point where the only thing more boring than watching a long baseball game is reading a column about the fact that baseball games are too long—so I won’t rehash it here, but as of now, watching an entire Sox game is like sitting through the director’s cut of Dances With Wolves. Not that I’ve ever done that, but I assume it’s mighty tedious. Three, there’s the Celtics and Patriots. It had been so long since there was ever anything else to worry about in the spring/summer. The C’s were irrelevant—2001 and 2002 were fun but we they were never going to beat the Lakers—and even as the Patriots were becoming a dynasty they hadn’t yet reached the point when they were year round news. This year changed everything. Not only are the Celtics still playing, but they have a legit opportunity to win the whole thing, and the Patriots might get more coverage in the offseason than they do when they’re playing. It’s only natural to back of the Sox a little bit. For these reasons—as well as their recent slump—the Sox are the losers of the week. Surprise of the Week: I can’t even get started on what TNT (We Know Drama!!) and TBS (Very Funny!!) do with the ad campaigns for their various shows. I know its kind of funny to talk about how often they play commercials for the Closer, Saving Grace, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and the Bill Engvall Show, but in reality it’s the most painful and torturous TV- related cruelty since season one of Michael Rappaport’s The War at Home. It’s so unnecessary and I can’t imagine that more people are watching Tyler Perry and Bill Engvall because the shows are jammed down their throats. If anything I’d guess they are losing viewers. Driving them away with persistence. They want you to like them so badly, and as a result, fall victim to one of the sad facts of life: When you try really hard to make someone like you, they invariably end up disliking you. That’s what’s happened with me and these shows. Can they really not find anyone to buy ad space during the NBA Playoffs? Is it really worth it to waste all that air time on publicizing stupid shows that most people won’t watch anyways? Or how about the commercials where they combine Bill Engvall clips with one-liners from Family Guy? "Hey, I’ve got an idea! If we put clips of a funny show next to ones from an unfunny show, maybe people will forget what they’re laughing at and watch our crappy show!!" Not falling for it. See. I didn’t want to get started but there’s years of pent up anger going on here. But that brings me to the surprise of the week… I finally laughed at one of the awful commercials! It’s the one where Engvall and Nancy Travis are folding laundry and he makes the comment about his daughter’s thong. Not bad, Mr. Engvall. I’ll have to update my laugh tally. Times laughed: 1 Times wanting to punch myself in the face: 501 Note: I was a huge Nancy Travis fan back in the day. She was always one of my sleeper crushes. I was a little young to appreciate her in Three Men and a Baby, but once So I Married an Ax Murderer came around, I was in love… with Anthony LaPaglia… but I liked Nancy Travis too. Random Interjection of the Week: I’m watching Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals right now and even if they don’t end up wrapping it up tonight (Update: They did), I’m officially scared of the Lakers. I know it’s incredibly presumptuous to think about potential Finals opponents at this time. But I’m just saying, IF the Celtics win, I’m scared of the Lakers and here are four "definitely too early, but not jinxing anything because I’m just trying to make conversation" predictions for a potential Lakers series: Player I’ll Respect the Most: Kobe Bryant Non-Superstar Who I’ll Fear the Most: Derek Fisher Player I’ll Enjoy Watching the Most: Lamar Odom Player I’ll Hate the Most: Sasha Vujacic Link of the Week:

Listen to the latest news and injury update of Richard Hamilton in the following Podcast from shootaround this morning before Game 6 tonight in Detroit.

Wicked Good Sports blogger and columnist for The Improper Bostonian Rich Levine delivers another installment of his Celtics Podcast, "The Dino Radja Experience". This week, Rich looks ahead to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals with fellow Improper columnist Nick Altschuler.

The truest test of this illustrious season is now upon the Boston Celtics. Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in the hard-nosed city of Detroit, I mean Auburn Hills will prove to be a grudge match that street fighter Kimbo Slice couldn’t even win.

I feel that the one true emotion that motivates the Pistons and Celtics is fear, the fear of the next day, the fear of going home empty handed and the fear of the unknown. The common thread in this series thus far is that the Celtics are being way too comfortable after a win and the Pistons are carnivorous after a loss. How else would you explain Game 3 and Game 4 in Detroit?

In Game 3, the Celtics won 94-80. They shot 46 percent from the floor and pulled down a total of 44 boards compared to Detroit’s 28. All in all, the Celts dominated the car parts in what was their first road win of the playoffs, but I’m sure you knew that already.

In Game 4, Boston came out flatter than a pancake. They shot 32 percent from the floor and only sunk 21 field goals, which by all means is atrocious. Plus they lost 94-75.

Listen, I can sit here and state the facts till my fingers fall off from the repetitiveness of typing. But the bottom line is this, the Celtics have to win Game 6, they have to go into the fair-weathered atmosphere of the Palace and prove to the world that they are worthy of stepping onto the floor and good enough to win it all.