The fix is still on

David Stern can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for another day. His dream for a Kobe-Lebron championship series is still alive.

The Orlando Magic had their chances in Game 5 but ultimately fumbled in the fourth quarter. As expected, it didn't help the Magic's cause that the refs were riding the King's jock again.

The fix was a bit more obvious in Game 5 of the Denver-LA series as all 50-50 calls in the fourth quarter went the Lakers' way. Still, Denver had their opportunities too, but they played terrible basketball in the final period. Chauncey Billups was totally out-of-sync. He looked like a rookie with all the stupid turnovers and poor decisions.

I hope the Nuggets get their act together and win Game 6 tomorrow at the Pepsi Center then hopefully squeak past the NBA fix for Game 7 in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Orlando has a real solid chance of closing Cleveland out at home on Sunday.

Count me in as one of the few who don't want to see a Mamba-King duel in the Finals. I can just imagine how much of a slurpfest that would be.