You realize it’s been a strange night when Pau Gasol–not Kobe Bryant–was your leading scorer in a pivotal Game 7, but amazingly the leading scorer in the day’s other Game 7 came from another pigmentally fair power forward–Orlando’s Hedo “The Turk” Turkoglu with 25 points (and 12 assists). Sure, we knew that the white man was good for applause from the bench and the occasional twirl of the towel, but this year the crackers seem to be making some headlines of their own.

ASYLUM POLL: Does the NBA absolutely need a Kobe-LeBron finals?

The Nuggets’ “Birdman,” Chris Andersen, has made his presence felt, and was a PTI favorite before Kenyon Martin’s mother tried to convince everyone that her thug son wasn’t really a thug. But the Cavaliers’ “Big Z” is not to be outdone. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the cagey Lithuanian with a heart of gold, is averaging double figures per game in these playoffs, and getting help on the defensive end from Brazil’s Anderson Varejao. Each is averaging over a blocked shot per game.

Perhaps the most notable contributing Caucasian in these playoffs is no longer with us: Boston’s Brian Scalabrine. The red-headed forward looks like he’s related to the other notable white guy in the Celtics organizaton–the mascot from the logo at center court. Scalabrine saw his playing time nearly double in the playoffs, playing nearly 35 minutes in the Celtics’ win against Orlando in Game Two. Any way you cut it, Whitey seems to be in the NBA to stay. There goes the neighborhood.