The Western Conference will provide some electric first round series and a couple opportunities for upsets. (more)

Eric Gordon notched 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter as the Los Angeles Clippers managed to harness the Utah Jazz 108-104 yesterday at the Staples Center. LA seemed as though they were cruising to victory, holding a 17 point advantage with just 6:30 to go. Utah kept fighting and eventually found themselves two points back in the final minute. Deron Williams netted a desperation three with just 3 seconds left before fouling Baron Davis to the charity stripe to conclude the hard fought battle. “It got a little careless toward the end of the fourth quarter, and we made a lot of turnovers that they converted at the other end,” said Gordon. “They’re a real dangerous team, and they’re really hard to guard. That’s why it’s possible for them to beat anybody down the stretch.” Davis contributed all around for the Clips with 19 points, five rebounds and 12 assists. Carlos Boozer led Utah with 20 points and six rebounds. “We had a good comeback,” said Boozer. “That’s a good team with the new additions they’ve had, and they played very well tonight. We did not have control of this game, and we knew that from the beginning.” The Clippers are scheduled to matchup with the Phoenix Suns tomorrow night before The Jazz challenge Nash and Co. the following day.

New additions Drew Gooden and Travis Outlaw contributed 10 points apiece to lift the Los Angeles Clippers past the Charlotte Bobcats 98-94 last night at the Staples Center. Rasual Butler and Chris Kaman led in scoring with 20 and 18, giving the refreshed roster their second straight victory. The 27-28 Bobcats have been successful against some of the league’s top organizations despite losing 11 games to a number of sub-par teams. “I’m not worrying about that. Those games are over,” said head coach Larry Brown. “I mean, who would have suspected us to beat Cleveland three straight? And last year, we beat the Lakers twice and still had a lot of bad losses. We have 27 games where we’ll decide whether we deserve to be in the playoffs or not. So if we don’t make it, it will be on us.” The Clippers are now 22-33 with hopes to find their rhythm for the last few months of the season. They’re next scheduled to face the Detroit Pistons tomorrow night as the Bobcats head to Utah to meet up with the Jazz.

The Cleveland Cavaliers just added forward Antawn Jamison to their roster after pulling off a three-team deal with the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers. The Cavs will also gain Sebastian Telfair from LA to further strengthen their back court. In return Cleveland was forced to send Zydrunas Ilgauskas to Washington along with a pair of future draft picks. The Clippers and Wizards have also agreed to swap Al Thornton and Drew Gooden. Cleveland originally pushed for Suns forward Amare Stoudemire to give LeBron the necessary sidekick for their next title run. General Manager Danny Ferry believes this will be an easy transition for Jamison heading into the home stretch of the regular season. “Antawn is a great pro. We are very excited to have an experienced all-star player of Antawn’s caliber and character join us,” said Ferry. “He has the ability to add a special, unique dimension to our team with a strong inside presence and the ability to stretch teams defensively, while impacting the entire court.” The Cavaliers are scheduled to host the Denver Nuggets at the Quicken Loans Arena tonight at 8:00 PM.

Boston’s Big 3 came together for 44 points combined to lead their Celtics past the Los Angeles Clippers 95-89 yesterday at the TD Garden. Kevin Garnett hit 17 in his second game back in the lineup. The contest was almost delayed due to last night’s unusual slippery surface. The parquet floor was constantly checked and wiped because of the heavy condensation. Both teams shot just under 37% in the opening 12 minutes while adjusting but eventually settled in from there. Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy was certainly disappointed to lose in such conditions. “Our guys complained about it before we even played the game, guys were at risk and you hate for that to be the case,” he said. “We kept having to go out and wipe it. There were three kids on each end trying to wipe it… We had four guys in the first quarter slip.” Los Angeles will continue their travels around the east coast for a game against the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday, January 27th. The Celtics will travel to Orlando on the 28th to square up with the Magic before playing the Atlanta Hawks the following day. Boston Celtics tickets are now available!

Veteran guard Baron Davis came up huge for the LA Clippers with a fade away buzzer shot, lifting his squad over the Boston Celtics 92-90 last night at the STAPLES Center. The younger Rajon Rondo was certainly challenging the 30-year old through the majority of the game. Rondo in total racked up 20 points and six assists, but failed to hit his free throws with 1.5 seconds left to set the stage for Davis in the end. Celtics coach Doc Rivers after the contest addressed his teams unusual lack of control down the stretch. “The free throws didn’t bother me, honestly,” he said. “I would love for Rondo to make the free throws, but I thought, for a veteran team, we played with absolutely zero composure…We just didn’t play like a veteran basketball team, and I thought it was more composure than anything else.” Boston won the first three quarters despite being outscored in the fourth by six. The C’s will try to start up a new streak tonight against the Golden State Warriors. They are scheduled to travel to Phoenix to matchup with the Suns this Wednesday before making their way back to the TD Garden to host the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Boston Celtics tickets are available right here at Ace!

Kobe Bryant after receiving his fourth NBA Championship ring went back to work with 33 points as the Los Angeles Lakers went on to defeat their in-town rival LA Clippers 99-92 at the Staples Center. Every Laker on the team earned a ring from their 2008-2009 title except for Ron Artest, who joined the squad after trading places with now Houston Rockets small forward Trevor Ariza earlier this year. Andrew Bynum on his 22nd birthday contributed with 26 points and 13 rebounds. While the Lakers were somewhat distracted by the banners, crowd and general memories of the summers events, the Clippers actually hung around. Eric Gordon, Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman netted 21, 18, and 14 in their efforts to stay with the defending champs.  All it took was a Kobe/Odom take over early in the fourth for the Lakers to pull away. “It’s always tough to play games after those kind of ceremonies,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson (Has won ten NBA titles as head coach with Chicago/LA). “Some of the energy is always difficult to maintain because there is a lot of energy that’s kind of dissipated when you go out and have that kind of ceremony. You’re not ready to step up and march to the tune of this season right yet.”  The Lakers will next welcome the Dallas Mavericks to LA this Friday at 10:30 PM ET. Los Angeles Lakers tickets are available now!

The Memphis Grizzlies have officially extended an offer to free agent veteran guard Allen Iverson.  The press first caught wind of the news through Iverson’s twitter page, and it was later confirmed by GM Chris Wallace.  “We’re heading into the home stretch before the season, and we have had interest in Allen all summer,” Wallace said. “We’ve been in touch on a fairly consistent basis and had dialogue with his agent, Leon Rose, since the beginning of free agency.” Although the Grizzlies have already formulated a set deal for the 10-time All-Star, there are still other teams in the picture.  Charlotte Bobcats head coach Larry Brown has been speaking with Iverson about teaming up again.  The Miami Heat and LA Clippers have also had conversations with him but have a more difficult route in signing the free agent with the luxury tax in place.  The deal from Memphis will likely be the biggest contract Iverson will see, knowing the franchise is around $3.5 million under the salary cap going into this season. The former Piston was also a member of the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers earlier in his career.  Last season between Denver and Detroit he only played 57 games, averaging a career-low 17.5 points per game. All NBA regular season tickets are available here at Aceticket.com!

6-foot-6 swingman Quentin Richardson has just been traded to the Miami Heat, marking the fourth time an NBA team has dealt him away.  Despite the fact that he hasn’t been able to really unpack anywhere, he manages to keep a positive attitude about the situation.  “The funny part about it was I didn’t even get any of the jerseys,” said Richardson. “I have a Knicks jersey and obviously I have a Clippers jersey because I played there before. I don’t have a Minnesota jersey and what was the other team?”  “The other team” was the Memphis Grizzlies; where he stopped after New York before arriving to LA.  From there he went to Minnesota, and after filling out the necessary paper work for the T-wolves, he wound up in Miami.  Best of luck to Q-Rich, who at this point is on pace to be acquired by every single NBA team by the end of the 2010 season. Knowing the amount of times Richardson has changed locations, some teams have certainly made their fair share of deals this off-season.  The Los Angeles Clippers recently traded for Rasual Butler to fill their outside shooting weakness.  The 6-7 small forward averaged 11.2 points per game last year, shooting 39% from behind the arc during the regular season and 53% in the playoffs. The Orlando Magic just signed free agent guard Jason Williams to add more depth and experience to their backcourt.  Williams hasn’t laced up since September of 2008, when he retired after a season with the Miami Heat.  He averaged 8.8 points a game in that season. One of the most interesting developments this offseason has been talk of where veteran guard Allen Iverson will end up. Iverson is currently waiting for offers and has stated: “my people just informed me that we are getting close to a deal. I asked them to call me when it’s done. I am so ready to know!”  The eight-time All-Star is expecting calls from Charlotte, Miami, and New York.  After coming off the worst season of his career with the Detroit Pistons, AI feels as though he should address his new found work ethic through his twitter page. “When you see me again you will think that I am fresh out of Georgetown,” said Iverson. “Getting in shape, running, lifting and thinking about which team that I will help compete for a championship! Whoever gets me will be happy.”  Look for more NBA updates to come! All NBA regular season tickets can be found here at Aceticket.com!

With the NBA Finals over, the last big event before free agency is just 12 days away. The 2009 NBA Draft is almost here! Expect the Clippers to use their first pick to find Baron Davis a suitable sidekick. The Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Sacramento Kings picks after. With a much-hyped draft class, speculation and mock drafts are flying around. The only definite is that the following players are on the draft board: Blake Griffin – Oklahoma: Athletic PF that draws comparisons to Carlos Boozer and Amare Stoudamire. Currently projected as the likely #1 pick. Ricky Rubio – Spain: Rubio dazzled in the gold medal game at the 2008 Olympics. While some don’t feel the PG utilizes his size well, a number of teams are working to draft the young phenom. Hasheem Thabeet – Connecticut:  Thabeet helped lead UCONN to the NCAA title game, but fell shortof a championship. The 7-3 center puts up solid defense, but poses some questions on offense. Stephen Curry – Davidson: Led last year’s Cinderella Davidson squad.  Proficient scorer with speed. Some of the hype fell to the wayside this year, but still a solid option at PG. Sign up to be notified as soon as your favorite team’s 2009-2010 NBA Basketball tickets are available!