Via HoopsHype, Listin Diario reports Al Horford will play for his birth nation, the Dominican Republic, later this month in the Centrobasket tournament in Cancun. The top two finishers will be entered in the 2009 Tournament of the Americas; the top three teams not already entered in the 2010 World Championship pool get berths then.

Horford's Dominican roots were on display when he was drafted in 2007, as his father Tito waved the nation's flag as the Hawks selected Al with the #3 pick. The D.R. hasn't been relevant in international basketball ever, but Horford immediately makes the team a threat to win Centrobasket (take that, Najera!) and possibly place in the FIBA Americas '09.

Horford will be joined by Sacramento firefly Francisco Garcia, who could very well play every position but center for the team. I'd expect former Manhattan University point guard Luis Flores to show up as well. Bucks survivor Charlie Villanueva has two Dominican parents, but I've never heard rumor of him joining the team. Get these guys together though, and that headline will only be 25% farcical.

(Speaking of farce: Yeah, I'm a little obsessed with Caribbean basketball. I dream of Samuel Dalembert and Quincy Douby reconstituting the Haitian national team and destroying Carlos Arroyo and Peter John Ramos in the 11th-place game of the 2012 London Olympics.)

The NBA revealed it's All-Rookie Teams today, and by and large there weren't any huge surprises. But can you guess who the only unanimous choice to the first team was? If you guessed Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant ... you'd be wrong.

Actually, it was Al Horford, who finished with 29 first-place votes. Durant finished with 28. It's too bad the ballots aren't open -- I'd love to see which NBA coach actually thought Durant was no better than the sixth-best rookie this year. (Remember, coaches can't vote for their own players but aren't limited by position.) Luis Scola (26 first place votes), Al Thornton (20) and Jeff Green (15) rounded out the first team.

On the second team is Jamario Moon (12), Juan Carlos Navarro (5), Thaddeus Young (4), Rodney Stuckey (5) and Carl Landry (1). Other players receiving first place votes include Joakim Noah (1), Nick Young (2), Mike Conley (1) and Corey Brewer (1).

The Celtics -- 66-16 -- will not win a single road game in their first-round series ... and there's still a chance they miss out on a trip to the second round completely. Similarly, the Atlanta Hawks -- 37-45 in the regular season -- will not lose a single home game in their first-round series ... and there's still a chance they win a trip to the second round. Both of these matters are absurd on their own legs. Combined into one series of events? Holy crap.

The smaller moments in the series shouldn't be surprising -- Joe Johnson drilling a dagger as the shot clock expires late in the fourth, Al Horford being a tough mofo and goading Paul Pierce into stupid technical fouls, Marvin Williams having one good game out of six by attacking the basket at will. The smaller moments already experienced in Games 1-6 would be fine in a 4-2 Boston series win, great building blocks for the future.

But in a series that goes all the way? They take on a lot more importance (says Captain Obvious). Forget about chinks in the Boston Armor -- these are full-blown flesh wounds, and there's a possibility they could be fatal. I mean, look at how Atlanta won Friday: good defense, and they got to the line a ton. The top seven Hawks in the rotation all got at least 6 FTAs; only Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe got at least that many for Boston, and the Hawks ended up with 22 more attempts.

It's pretty indicative of how the Hawks have played in Atlanta: aggressive, fearless, tough. If they can duplicate that just once in Boston, they'll be the victors in the (new) Greatest NBA Upset Ever, and the world will implode. I can't wait.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Celtics-Hawks game tonight.

1. If The Hornets Are Thin, The Hawks Are Transparent: Game 5 Celtics bench points: 35. Game 5 Hawks bench points: 14. Yikes. Zaza Pachulia followed up the tough guy from Game 4 by scoring 2 points in ten minutes with no rebounds. Josh Childress, dunk machine? 5 points in 26 minutes on 2 of 8 shooting, and did I mention he had 4 of his shots blocked? When the team with the amazing starting lineup crushes you with their bench? That's a bad sign, kids. The only way the Hawks can keep up with this team is if they get some level of production off their bench.

2. It's Over When the Big Ticket Says It's Over: Kevin Garnett has pretty much decided he's had enough with the Hawks' fun and games. In the last two games he's scored 40 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocks. In Game 5 he was a monster, devouring the Hawks with the kind of lethal intensity we anticipated going into the postseason. The problem with Garnett is that there's really no way to match up with him. You can put Al Horford on him, but Horford's a rookie and Garnett's range is too good. You can put the headbutter on him, but it's only going to make him mad. The Hawks need to let Garnett get his and focus on auxiliary support.

Maybe it's unfair to put just Josh Smith on the front of the Celtics - Hawks Game 5 Live Blog. But then again, if the Celtics were about to eliminate the Hawks, we wouldn't be having this little shindig. It is only because the Hawks, and specifically Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, have taken us to the brink of Armageddon that we are talking about this. So in that case it's fitting.

There is a shockingly large amount of public opinion that actually believes the Hawks can pull this off. And that scares me; I want them to win in the New Garden, and I think they can win there, but when too many people start hopping on a bandwagon, I always get a little nervous. Of course, no more nervous than Kevin Garnett could possibly be, considering the number of head explosions that would occur if he didn't make it out of the first round this year. We'll be kicking here starting at 8:00 pm EST for an 8:30 tip. Drop by and leave comments.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Hawks-Celtics game tonight.

1. In Which Joe Johnson Tries To Re-Ignite: Joe Johnson was the story in Game 4, scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Hawks to a series tie. For a team that prided itself on being the best defensive team in the league, Atlanta's ISO for Johnson shredded the Celtics time and time again. The key tonight will be to see how the Celtics respond defensively. Gambling with Rajon Rondo on Johnson might not be a bad idea, given Rondo's physical nature and the fact that Mike Bibby has slowly devolved into goo. The size differential is alarming, but Rondo's freakish athleticism could be the neutralizer and besides, it's not like Johnson was going to the post game in Game 4, anyway.

2. And Then Garnett Killed Everyone And The Villagers Rejoiced And Screamed "Go Sawx!": Kevin Garnett has had leadership, manhood, and toughness have been called into question after getting punked by ... wait for it ... Zaza Pachulia. After Garnett used a little bit of his toughness on Pachulia, Pachulia decided to headbutt the Defensive Player of the Year to show he's not afraid of him. Garnett, instead of annihilating Pachulia, for whatever reason, be it smarts or a lack of fortitude, chose to back away, scream, and accidentally shove a referee. Let this be a lesson, kids. Accidentally shoving referees and headbutting superstars is fine, but standing up and walking three feet off the bench is not. Anyway, Garnett is likely to come out roaring, and he needs to, as this team is in desperate need of leadership, and won't be finding it from its coach. I expect Garnett to get ridiculously hot tonight.

In news that should shock approximately no one, Kevin Durant will win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, the Seattle Times reported early Wednesday.

Durant averaged 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists this season with the Sonics, in what may end up being their last in Seattle. Some argued that Atlanta Hawks rookie Al Horford was more deserving, considering his better overall stat line and the fact that the Atlanta Hawks are, you know, still playing basketball and didn't suffer another completely abysmal season. Still others questioned Durant's legitimacy based on his poor shooting percentage, but a late surge helped to quell that tide.

Durant is certainly going to be a dynamic offensive staple for this team, wherever it goes, and whatever it's called. However, to see such a phenomenal talent on a team wrapped in such bitter affairs only seems to make it that much more tragic.

The award is little more than a formality, and has been since Portland Trailblazers' rookie Greg Oden went down with knee surgery before the start of the season. And while there have been other rookies that made an impact for their team, Rockets' forward Luis Scola being one, Durant was simply too much of an offensive focal point to be denied.

Durant will accept the award later today at a team function in downtown Seattle. Where I come from, we call that "rubbing it in."

As reported yesterday, Paul Pierce was fined $25,000 for making a "menacing gesture" at the end of the Sunday's Game 3 loss. It was unclear at the time what the gesture meant, but it certainly resembled some kind of gang-sign, which is probably why the NBA decided to crack down. (Decide for yourself: it's around the 30 second mark of this video.)

After hearing about the fine, though, the Celtics are upset, claiming that hand gesture is something Pierce has been doing all season long. From the Boston Herald:

"Watch what Paul does when he's introduced. He's done it for every game," said Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge. "That's not anything related to" gangs.

Before last night's game, Ainge sought out commissioner David Stern in the press room and the two engaged in an animated discussion. Ainge was clearly seen trying to demonstrate the blood, sweat and tears sign that Pierce makes when he is introduced before games.

Apparently the Celtics are also a bit miffed of the timing of the fine -- instead of happening in the morning, when it could make it's way through the news cycle and be old news come tip-off, it wasn't announced until 6pm, right when Pierce is supposed to be busy preparing for the game and getting into his game face. Also, I can't imagine Ainge is happy about Al Horford escaping Stern's attention -- after all, no matter what signs Pierce may or may not have been flashing, he was reacting to Horford's taunts in the first place.

Al Horford caught a lot of flack this weekend for taunting a fallen Paul Pierce after making a shot, but what generally went unreported was Pierce's reaction: he actually got up and followed Horford past the halfcourt line until Brian Scalabrine retrieved him.

Red's Army has the video, and if you didn't know better (and I'm not sure I do), it kind of looks like Pierce throws a gang sign at the end. Whatever he was doing, the NBA decided they didn't like it:

Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce and Washington Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson have each been fined $25,000 for making menacing gestures during games played this weekend, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.

The incident involving Pierce occurred in the fourth period of the Celtics' 102-93 Game 3 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on April 26. The incident involving Stevenson occurred in the first period of the Wizards' 100-97 Game 4 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 27.

I'm not exactly sure what menacing gesture Stevenson made, but there's a good chance it's this one, in which he makes Diamond Dallas Page's Diamond Cutter Jay-Z's Roc hand gesture followed by the always classy throat slashing motion.

(via CelticsBlog)

It is halftime in Atlanta, and it's time for a jinx or two. The Hawks lead Boston 51-48, on the backs of Mike Bibby (18 points on 6 shots), Josh Smith (5 blocks in 13 minutes), and ... Solomon Jones, whom -- I am not ashamed to admit -- I had little idea existed before the 2-minute warning.

Jones shows only a single rebound and a single block in the ledger, but the rebound should have been worth three and the block was a massive one to end the half. Meanwhile for the Celtics, Paul Pierce has decided to be the snarliest jump-shooter ever, and Ray Allen has joined him in hitting some treys. But the C's aren't finishing in the lane ... something they are typically quite good at.

The best part of the game so far? The Hawks are a-yappin'. Zaza Pachulia looking like he's going to punch out Kevin Garnett, Al Horford trying to screen Ray into oblivion, assistant coaches talking about Boston losing its composure. Wild times.

(I really don't mean to jinx this, and several folks (Matt Moore, most vocally) have tried to talk me out of writing this post alerting the non-viewing population of this highly enjoyable fight. But it is my duty as an American to document this.)