Tax day has come rolling around. So it’s perhaps unlikely to be thinking of Santa Claus right now. But that may be exactly what Celtics fans are doing. Boston may be thinking with no small amount of anguish about the team they had on Christmas Day, compared with the team they have today.
Continue reading “How Far Can the Celtics Go Without Garnett?”
The focus in the NBA’s first weekend of play has largely been on upsets. But it may be too soon to draw any grand conclusions from the results. That’s because playoff play is a different animal from regular season play. The difference between the two is generally underappreciated.
Because the NBA is such a showcase for amazing athleticism, it’s easy to believe that success in the sport is only a physical thing.
As the first weekend of playoff basketball showed, that’s not entirely true. There is a reason that coaches talk a great deal about the mental game. This might seem a bit surprising. After all, basketball isn’t exactly chess. A guy who is really tall and fast and can hit a jump shot should be able to succeed. Right? Not necessarily.
The first round of the NBA Western Conference playoffs features the number one seed Los Angeles Lakers (65-17) against the eighth seed Utah Jazz (48-34). In the three-game season series between the two clubs, the Lakers won two. Of all NBA clubs, Los Angeles posted the second-best record, while the Jazz had the 12th best mark in the league. Los Angeles won seven of its last 10 and two straight. Utah has gone 3-7 in its final 10 contests.
The second best team in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets (54-28), will meet the seventh seed New Orleans Hornets (49-33) in the first round of the NBA playoffs. In the four-game season series the teams split with the Nuggets, taking the last meeting, which was played on March 25, 101-88. Denver went 8-2 in their last 10 games, and the Hornets were 4-6 over their final 10.
Continue reading “Denver Nuggets Versus New Orleans Hornets”
In the East, the Atlanta Hawks (47-35), who captured the fourth seed, will play the Miami Heat (43-39), the fifth seed, in round one. The Hawks took the regular season series three games to one. In their final meeting on April 14, Atlanta beat Miami by just two points. Only four games separated these teams in the standings.
In round one of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs, the Orlando Magic (59-23) will compete against the Philadelphia 76ers. The third seed Magic swept the three-game series against the sixth seed 76ers. And although the Magic have not lost to Philadelphia in the regular season, they have not exactly been dominant. Their largest margin of victory was 10 points, while the other two games were decided by two and six points.
The third seed San Antonio Spurs (54-28) meet the sixth seed Dallas Mavericks (50-32) in the initial round of the Western Conference playoffs. This year, the Spurs and Mavs split their four-game season series with San Antonio winning a wild 133-126 overtime contest.
Continue reading “San Antonio Spurs Versus Dallas Mavericks”
In the first round of the NBA Western Conference playoffs, it will be the fourth seed Portland Trail Blazers (54-28) against the fifth seed Houston Rockets (53-29). The Rockets took the season series two games to one. Their one loss was a 101-99 OT contest. When they beat Portland, they did it by four and then by 14 points.
Continue reading “Portland Trail Blazers Versus Houston Rockets”
The first seed in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers (66- 16), meet the eighth seed Detroit Pistons (39-43) in the first-round of the NBA Playoffs. In the four-game season series, the Cavs won three of four. The Cavaliers won seven of their last ten, while the Pistons, who finished the season under .500, lost three straight and were four and six in their final 10 games.
Continue reading “Cleveland Cavaliers Versus Detroit Pistons”
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