Entering the final week of the season, the Bulls are tied with the Spurs for the league’s best record and it appears that the Cavaliers will not end up with the worst record in the league. That distinction will probably go to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Heat will end up with the second best record in the Eastern Conference and have home court advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs, which may turn out to be the deciding factor when they face the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. As for the Celtics, Rondo has to get his act together. His play has really suffered since the team traded his best friend Kendrick Perkins, but unless he gets his act together, the Celtics will not be a serious threat in the playoffs. The Lakers are sporting a 5-game losing streak, but I strongly believe they will be ready in the playoffs. The Lakers Lamar Odom will win the NBA’s 6-Man Award and his talents will be on full display in the playoffs. Derrick Rose will win the NBA MVP Award and his rookie coach Tom Thibodeau will win the NBA’s Coach of the Year Award. The Magic Dwight Howard will win his third straight Defensive Player of the year Award.
The Rockets, Suns and Jazz will all miss the playoffs in the Western Conference, but between the three teams, only the Rockets seem to have a direction. The Bobcats and Bucks will miss the playoffs in the East and both teams don’t seem to have a direction. The Bucks may be further along the curve and should be much better next season with a healthy Andrew Bogut, their starting center and forme. As far as the Bobcats, I really don’t know what Michael Jordan plans are for his team. The Pistons have will have new owners next season and that stability will make Joe Dumars more confident to make decisions next season.
The Clippers, Warriors, Kings, Wizards and Cavaliers are all in position to make major strides next year, but at this point it is simply too early to make predictions. I think with two lottery picks and the $15 expiring contract of Antawn Jamison, the Cavaliers are in the position to make the biggest leap of any team next season, but that will depend on their luck in the lottery.
Later this week, I will have a detail list of my Award winners as well as my predictions for the NBA playoffs.
RK (LW) TEAM REC
1 (1) BULLS 60-20
2 (3) SPURS 60-20
3 (4) HEAT 56-24
4 (6) MAVERICKS 55-25
5 (7) THUNDER 54-26
6 (5) CELTICS 55-25
7 (2) LAKERS 55-25
8 (8) MAGIC 50-30
9 (9) NUGGETS 49-31
10 (10) TRAIL BLAZERS 47-33
11 (11) GRIZZLIES 46-34
12 (12) HORNETS 46-34
13 (16) KNICKS 42-38
14 (13) HAWKS 44-36
15 (15) 76ERS 41-39
16 (14) ROCKETS 42-38
17 (18) PACERS 37-44
18 (17) SUNS 38-42
19 (20) JAZZ 37-43
20 (19) WARRIORS 35-45
21 (22) BUCKS 33-47
22 (21) BOBCATS 33-48
23 (23) CLIPPERS 31-50
24 (25) PISTONS 29-51
25 (24) KINGS 24-56
26 (28) WIZARDS 22-58
27 (25) NETS 24-56
28 (26) RAPTORS 22-58
29 (30) CAVALIERS 17-63
30 (29) TIMBERWOLVES 17-63
No comments:
Post a Comment