NBA Update
This year, the NBA has still been dominated by the LA Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. But a race to play the Cavaliers in the playoffs has fans on their heels; big time.
The Lakers have first place in the West, and the Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks lead a tight race between 5 teams for second. Dallas (Dirk Nowitzki) and Denver (Carmelo Anthony) are led by stars that have them tied for second. Utah is a half game behind the two, and Phoenix is a half game behind Utah. Oklahoma City is in 6th with a 49-30 record, and Portland and San Antonio are 48-31 each.
Cleveland clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, and the 56-23 Orlando Magic clinched second. Atlanta is third at 50-29, and Boston is fourth at 49-30. John Salmons has led the Bucks to fifth place at 45-34 and a 4 game win streak, and Miami is 44-35 and in sixth. The Charlotte Bobcats made the playoffs for the first time ever at 42-37, and then there is another 8th place race.
The Toronto Raptors had looked sharp all year and had held the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth spot all year. But they slowly fell apart and lost close games, causing them to drop into an eighth place tie with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls held the eighth place spot all year then they dropped out, and they have had to battle back.
Derrick Rose leads the Bulls in his second year with 20.4 points per game and 6 assists per game, and he scored 24 to lead the Bulls to a key victory over Cleveland. Joakim Noah had 17 points and 15 rebounds in the 109-108 win.
Chris Bosh led the Raptors to this stage with an average of 24 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game, but he went down with a facial injury in Tuesday night's 113-101 loss and he could miss weeks. Jose Calderon averages 6 assists per game for the Raptors and Rasho Nestrovic is O.K down low, but this injury could be too much to fill.
Tomorrow night at 6:00 PM ET the Raptors host the Bulls for the lead for the 8th spot and a chance to try to take down the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. I predict that Derrick Rose will master the inside drive and the kick-out with the absence of Bosh, and Chicago will take it 108-101. I think Toronto fails to win down the stretch and falls to 39-43, while Chicago finishes at 40-42 and takes the eighth spot. Cleveland has struggled against Chicago all year.
Here is what the playoff picture looks like
1 Cleveland
8 Toronto
2 Orlando
7 Charlotte
3 Atlanta
6 Miami
4 Boston
5 Milwaukee
West
1 LA Lakers
8 Portland
2 Denver
7 Portland
3 Dallas
6 Oklahoma City
4 Utah
5 Phoenix
Prediction Cleveland over Chicago, Milwaukee over Boston, Atlanta over Miami, Orlando over Charlotte. Atlanta over Orlando, Cleveland over Milwaukee. Cleveland over Atlanta
West
LA Lakers over San Antonio, Denver over Portland, Oklahoma City over Dallas, Phoenix over Utah. LA Lakers over Phoenix, Denver over Oklahoma City. Denver over LA Lakers.
Finals: Cleveland 4, Denver 3 Finals MVP: LeBron James, 26.4 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 7.8 APG in Finals.
MLB Update: RBI Singles by Ichiro Suzuki, Franklin Guiterriz, and Ken Griffey Jr. help Mariners rally from 3-1 top 9th deficit to beat the Rangers 4-3.
Masters Update: 2 eagles has Phil Mickelson at -11, trailing Lee Westwood by 1. K.J Choi is in 3rd at -8, and a great outing by Fred Couples has him tied for fourth with Tiger Woods. Woods is -1 for the day and -7 throughout the tournament.
The Lakers have first place in the West, and the Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks lead a tight race between 5 teams for second. Dallas (Dirk Nowitzki) and Denver (Carmelo Anthony) are led by stars that have them tied for second. Utah is a half game behind the two, and Phoenix is a half game behind Utah. Oklahoma City is in 6th with a 49-30 record, and Portland and San Antonio are 48-31 each.
Cleveland clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, and the 56-23 Orlando Magic clinched second. Atlanta is third at 50-29, and Boston is fourth at 49-30. John Salmons has led the Bucks to fifth place at 45-34 and a 4 game win streak, and Miami is 44-35 and in sixth. The Charlotte Bobcats made the playoffs for the first time ever at 42-37, and then there is another 8th place race.
The Toronto Raptors had looked sharp all year and had held the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth spot all year. But they slowly fell apart and lost close games, causing them to drop into an eighth place tie with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls held the eighth place spot all year then they dropped out, and they have had to battle back.
Derrick Rose leads the Bulls in his second year with 20.4 points per game and 6 assists per game, and he scored 24 to lead the Bulls to a key victory over Cleveland. Joakim Noah had 17 points and 15 rebounds in the 109-108 win.
Chris Bosh led the Raptors to this stage with an average of 24 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game, but he went down with a facial injury in Tuesday night's 113-101 loss and he could miss weeks. Jose Calderon averages 6 assists per game for the Raptors and Rasho Nestrovic is O.K down low, but this injury could be too much to fill.
Tomorrow night at 6:00 PM ET the Raptors host the Bulls for the lead for the 8th spot and a chance to try to take down the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. I predict that Derrick Rose will master the inside drive and the kick-out with the absence of Bosh, and Chicago will take it 108-101. I think Toronto fails to win down the stretch and falls to 39-43, while Chicago finishes at 40-42 and takes the eighth spot. Cleveland has struggled against Chicago all year.
Here is what the playoff picture looks like
1 Cleveland
8 Toronto
2 Orlando
7 Charlotte
3 Atlanta
6 Miami
4 Boston
5 Milwaukee
West
1 LA Lakers
8 Portland
2 Denver
7 Portland
3 Dallas
6 Oklahoma City
4 Utah
5 Phoenix
Prediction Cleveland over Chicago, Milwaukee over Boston, Atlanta over Miami, Orlando over Charlotte. Atlanta over Orlando, Cleveland over Milwaukee. Cleveland over Atlanta
West
LA Lakers over San Antonio, Denver over Portland, Oklahoma City over Dallas, Phoenix over Utah. LA Lakers over Phoenix, Denver over Oklahoma City. Denver over LA Lakers.
Finals: Cleveland 4, Denver 3 Finals MVP: LeBron James, 26.4 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 7.8 APG in Finals.
MLB Update: RBI Singles by Ichiro Suzuki, Franklin Guiterriz, and Ken Griffey Jr. help Mariners rally from 3-1 top 9th deficit to beat the Rangers 4-3.
Masters Update: 2 eagles has Phil Mickelson at -11, trailing Lee Westwood by 1. K.J Choi is in 3rd at -8, and a great outing by Fred Couples has him tied for fourth with Tiger Woods. Woods is -1 for the day and -7 throughout the tournament.
Comments