He wears the same number as Willis Reed and even though he probably won’t have a Hall of Fame career, the Phoenix Suns’ Raja Bell inspired his teammates to raise their level of play against the Dallas Mavericks last night.  Expected to sit out Game Four of the Western Conference final, Bell made a surprising start and despite not scoring as much per normal, added fire on the defensive side of the ball and in the huddle.  The Suns beat the Mavs 106-86.  Leandro Barbosa came off the bench, his usual role, to lead the Suns in scoring with 24 points, including four three-pointers.  Josh Howard led the Mavs with 16 points, while Dirk Nowitzki was shut down as more defensive attention was spent on him.  He finished with 11 points, vastly below his 27.3 scoring average in the series.  The series heads back to Dallas for a showdown on Thursday.

*The Miami Heat look to close out the Eastern Conference series tonight against the Detroit Pistons in Game Five.  However, the task will be a hard one since the game will be played in Detroit and the Pistons have too much talent and pride to just fold.  In fact, you can’t count them out from winning three in a row to take the series.  However, if Shaquille O’Neal continues to play like he did in Orlando, Dwyane Wade continues to do what he wants with the ball in his hands, role players like Udonis Haslem continue to contribute in a significant way, and most important, the Pistons continue to play out of synch, the series will be done soon.  The game tips off tonight at 8:00pm.

Is he or isn’t he?  It seemed like a done deal that Roger Clemens was going to take the mound again for the Houston Astros, as posted on End Score last night.  However, the Astros and Clemens’ agent, Randy Hendricks are both backing off of that claim.  Yet, it now seems like it’s going to happen.  What is definite is that Clemens will decide very soon whether or not he plays again or hangs up the cleats.  Bet on the Rocket to play again.

*Arizona Diamondbacks’ Brandon Webb tries to go 9-0 tonight against the New York Mets.  The Mets pitcher will be Pedro Martinez, so if this turns out to be a pitcher’s duel like it theoretically looks like it will be, a win will be hard to come by for Webb.
*Rookie pitcher, Francisco Liriano of the Minnesota Twins, takes the hill to begin a game for the third straight time tonight against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  Liriano, starting out in the bullpen this season has shown the reason why he was so highly-touted and looks to be the future number two in the rotation after Johan Santana.
*Two strong pitchers take the hill tonight in Florida as the San Francisco Giants’ Jason Scmidt will matchup against rookie Josh Johnson.  Both are 4-2 with ERAs in the two’s and will be dealing in a pitcher’s park.  Also, Barry Bonds is expected to sit out again tonight to rest his back, which helps Johnson’s cause.

Last night’s Game Six of the Eastern Conference finals was a good one to say the least.  Facing elimination, the Buffalo Sabres scored an overtime goal by Daniel Briere to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 and force a Game Seven.  Hurricanes rookie, Cam Ward, did an impressive job, but it wasn’t enough in the extra period.  The decisive game will be played on Thursday back on Carolina’s home ice.

*No NHL games tonight as the Edmonton Oilers are relaxing waiting to see whom they play in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Enjoy the games!