Let's just take the opening round of the NBA Eastern Conference playoff between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks.
Carmelo Anthony, the reigning NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week, honored Bernard King who was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday by tying his franchise record with five consecutive 35-point performances.
The fight did not start until late Saturday because promoter Bob Arum did not want it to compete with Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat.
They lurk at the bottom of the NBA's Eastern Conference, with a record of 12-26.
Monday afternoon, Anthony was named the NBA's Eastern Conference Player of the Week and he's a contender a legitimate contender, not just one of those New York-loves-the-sound-of-its-own-voice contenders in the league MVP race.
Throw in a Falcons loss in their lone Super Bowl appearance (1999) and a pair of losses by the NBA Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals, and Atlanta rides neck-and-neck with Seattle on the disappointment meter.
Miami hosts Chicago in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night, when NBA Commissioner David Stern will present James with the trophy, largely just for the benefit of giving Heat fans a pregame reason to cheer.
Miami won the last three games in last spring's Eastern Conference semifinals on their way to winning the NBA crown.
The resolute Paul Pierce at 34, still one of the NBA's best with the game on the line was named Eastern Conference's Player of the Month for March.
Anthony stayed right on the blistering pace that won him Eastern Conference player of the week honors after averaging 41.8 points while inching ahead of Kevin Durant for the NBA scoring lead last week.
Miami's magic number for clinching home-court throughout the NBA playoffs remained at five, and the Heat already have the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference wrapped up.
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