NBA Season

The NBA season is coming up at the end of this month, and what better way to start off the season than with the Celtics and the Heat, two of the NBA's more talented teams this year. That game could very well preview the Eastern Conference Finals in May, the Heat of course are getting all the headlines because of their high activity in free agency this summer. The 2 biggest free agent signings were LeBron James and Chris Bosh, combined with Dwayne Wade alone would be a huge threat in the league, but with the addition of some solid veterans like Mike Miller and Eddie House, this team is looking like the 2008 Celtics team, except younger and maybe better? Of course Miami isn't the only team in the NBA if you may have forgotten this summer, there is another team out west who happens to have won the last 2 NBA Championships, the Los Angeles Lakers. This Lakers team, at least on paper, looks even better than last years team, who fought hard to beat the Celtics in 7. Both the Heat and Lakers look to be the leaders of their respective conferences at the moment, but don't sleep on lots of other teams who feel disrespected by the media for all of the hype involving the Heat.
The Orlando Magic seem to stand out the most, they won 59 games last year, had the second best record in the league, and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before being knocked off by a red-hot Boston team. The Magic are led by their center and best player, Dwight Howard. But this is just for the regular season, and when it comes to playoff time I see the Celtics as the better team and maybe the best in the east. There will still be some teams trying to challenge the set top 3, the Hawks are still very skilled and athletic. They are led by Joe Johnson who signed a huge contract this offseason that will keep him in Atlanta for a long time to come. They still have great young talent, Josh Smith is a stat-sheet-stuffer at the power-forward position, Al Hordford is maybe ready to become one of the great centers in the league soon, and Marvin Williams is solid at the small-forward. Atlanta has Mike Bibby as their veteran point guard, and the clutch and explosive Jamaal Crawford coming off the bench, Crawford won sixth-man of the year award last year. The Bulls are the only other team that I could see challenging the top teams, they decided to use free agency as a chance to pretty much steal the Utah Jazz's players; they signed Ronnie Brewer (an athletic player who plays good defense), Kyle Korver (a sharp shooter who broke the NBA record for three-point shooting last year), and the biggest of all Carlos Boozer, the all-star forward who will miss the beginning of the season because of injury. CJ Watson should also help Derrick Rose, as he will be a nice scorer off the bench.
In the West all of the teams as always have a shot. The Gizzlies are still very young and talented but because they play in the west they might miss the playoffs yet again. The Hornets are looking to improve with the help of having Chris Paul back and healthy, and ready to try to get back to the level as his play in 2008. The teams that should be at the bottom of the playoff picture should be the Suns, Spurs, and Jazz. The Trailblazers and Mavericks will be very good once again but the Mavs just never seem to be able to get all the way, and now 2006 looks like that was their chance to win the franchise a title. The Blazers however are a team that should just keep getting better if they manage to stay healthy, which last year they could not accomplish. They had so many injuries last year, but this year they bring a young team led by all-star Brandon Roy. But the two best teams that seem most ready to take on the Lakers and snap their streak of 3 straight western conference championships, are the Thunder and the Nuggets. The Thunder gained so much from last years playoff berth, one in which they nearly knocked off the champion Los Angeles Lakers, who finished them off in a tough fought 6 game series. Westbrook, Durant, Green, and Harden are the young players who will only get better, and Durant is going into the season as the MVP favorite. The Nuggets are coming into the season quietly because of last years early exit from the playoffs, which from my observation was because of the loss of George Karl. Karl had to step away from the team last year because of health reasons, before he left they were on a roll but then his departure along with Kenyon Martins injury slowed them down the stretch of the season.
Now I will show you my regular season predictions for the playoff picture and the awards.



Eastern Conference
1. Miami Heat 67-15
2. Orlando Magic 59-23
3. Boston Celtics 55-27
4. Atlanta Hawks 48-34
5. Chicago Bulls 48-34
6. Miliwaukee Bucks 45-37
7. New York Knicks 43-39
8. Charlotte Bobcats 41-41

Note: If the Knicks manage to aquire Carmelo Anthony this year I could see them getting over the Bucks, Bulls, and Hawks.

Western Conference
1. Los Angeles Lakers 62-20
2. Denver Nuggets 58-24
3. Oklahoma City Thunder 56-26
4. Portland Trailblazers 53-29
5. Dallas Mavericks 52-30
6. Utah Jazz 52-30
7. Phoenix Suns 50-32
8. San Antonio Spurs 50-32

Coach of the Year: It will most likely be given to Eric Spoelstra no matter what but don't sleep on first year coach Tom Thibbideou of the Bulls, or Mike Danntoni for the Knicks.

Sixth Man of the Year: There will be the normal canidates of Jason Terry, Manu Ginobli, Jamaal Crawford. But James Harden on the Thunder could step up in his second year in the league, also CJ Watson of the Bulls could play very well as he is a great scorer coming off the bench for Derrick Rose.

Most Improved Player: Tony Parker could take this award because he had a tough season last year because of his injuries, and this year he will look play all-star basketball for the Spurs.

Rookie of the Year: Everyone looks to John Wall but I think Wes Johnson will win because he will have a bigger role in Minnesota, while Wall will be playing with Gilbert Arenas.

Most Valuable Player: Right now Durant is of course the front runner but I would not be surprised to see Dwyane Wade make a run and just maybe win it, he will be great with Bosh and James on his side.

Playoff Bracket:
First Round:
Western Conference
(1) Lakers 4 vs. (8) Spurs 2

(4) Trail Blazers 4 vs. (5) Mavericks 3

(2) Nuggets 4 vs. (7) Suns 2

(3) Thunder 4 vs. (6) Jazz 3

Eastern Conference
(1) Heat 4 vs. (8) Bobcats 0

(5) Bulls 4 vs. (4) Hawks 3

(2) Magic 4 vs. (7) Knicks 1

(3) Celtics 4 vs. (6) Bucks 1

Conference Semi-Finals:
Western Conference

(1) Lakers 4 vs. (4) Trail Blazers 3

(2) Nuggets 4 vs. (3) Thunder 3

Eastern Conference

(1) Heat 4 vs. (5) Bulls 2

(3) Celtics 4 vs. (2) Magic 2

Conference Finals:
Western Conference

(1) Lakers 4 vs. (2) Nuggets 3

Eastern Conference

(3) Celtics 4 vs. (1) Heat 3

I see the Lakers making it to the finals but not easily. They will have very tough battles against a team that has owned them for the past few years in the regular season, the Blazers, and against the Nuggets who after losing in 7 games may be losing Carmelo Anthony to free agency. The Celtics will come out of the east, they will beat the Bucks easily in the first round, then have a strong series against the magic because no one can guard Pierce. In the eastern conference finals they will out last the Heat because of their experience, depth, and ability to win big games on the road.

NBA Finals:

(3) Celtics 4 vs. (1) Lakers 2    Finals MVP Rajon Rondo








I honestly see the Celtics as an improved team this year, and despite the Lakers off-season moves to bring in Matt Barnes and Steve Blake, they don't look much better to me. The Celtics will get game 1 on the road and in game 5 at home they will get a little bit too excited and let the Lakers steal one. But in game 6 they will show why they are the best road team in the NBA and raise banner 18 in Boston.