Are the Nuggets really ready to overtake the L.A. Lakers?

The Denver Nuggets and L.A. Lakers Western Conference Finals series has been, to say the least, solid entertainment compared to recent Western Conference Finals. What’s even more is that this series has great potential to go to seven games if the Nuggets can win their final home game of the matchup tomorrow night in Denver. However, are the Nuggets just teasing us with their inconsistent finishes to an inevitable convincing elimination game by the L.A. Lakers or can they really win or get damn close to beating the Lakers?

In all honestly, these Nuggets somewhat remind me of this year’s Orlando Magic. Whereas the Magic seemed to learn how to deal with adversity and the importance of playing hard every minute in their second round series when they played the Boston Celtics, the Nuggets could be finding that out in this series versus the Lakers. I don’t think that the games of this series and the seven of Orlando’s when they beat the Celtics have been identical in order, but out of order, yes.

The Nuggets blew games one and three against L.A. where they had manageable leads in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. This same thing happened to Orlando in games one and five against Boston. The only difference was, the Magic held on to win game one after giving up a 20+ point lead. In game two of the Nuggets’ series, they seemed to get it right as they made up for their follies in game one and picked up a huge road win. The Magic seemed to do the same as they blew out the Celtics in game three at home. However, those were teasers because both teams eventually brought their series to a 2-3 hole. Also, in game two, Orlando was blown out by Boston after they had been blowing out the Celtics in game one for the better part of four quarters. Like this scenario, the Nuggets blew out the Lakers in the fourth quarter of game four, only to get blown out last night in game five.

Now, judging by these similar shares of ups and downs, the Nuggets look like they could be going through their “take the next step” occurrence. They just need to play a tight game in Denver for game six, and take in all the situations they’ve dealt with in this matchup thus far into L.A. for game seven, and they could definitely move onto the finals.

Let’s not forget one more similarity that I see in the Nuggets and Magic, and that is the fact that they are more or less the same teams; loaded with talent and yet inexperience for the most part, but definitely having legitimate chances to become champions.

The Magical Bums

The Orlando Magic are a team that has just downright gotten under my skin. It has hardly anything to do with a biased opinion. This literary lashing that is about to ensue is derived from their lack of effort but mainly their incompetence.

A lot of people probably thought the Magic would beat the Celtics fairly handily without Kevin Garnett, with the series going no more than six games, especially since they were 3-1 against Cleveland, 3-1 against Boston, and 2-0 against the Lakers in the regular season. You know why they had such great records against those teams in the regular season but don’t look like it in the post season (like the way they let the Philadelphia 76ers start out to a 2-1 lead in their first round series)? Because they keep playing like the team that looked so good in the regular season, as opposed to the type of team that it takes to get through the postseason… one with heart, and guts, and that wants to live up to the hype, rather than expecting to.

An example of this is Dwight Howard. How many times has he missed on his short hooks in this series? More than someone who is considered in some circles “the next Shaq.” He has the same expression and drive in playoff games as he does in the regular season games, and I would not be surprised if he never worked on that might-as-well-be eyes closed hook shot of his. And who is to say that he should try to live up to Shaq, but he sometimes seem to have an heir as if all the hype is true and that’s that…. no need to work on it or prove it.

Then you have guys like Hedo Turkoglu and Mikael Pietrus looking like all they can do is shoot three pointers. They need to play smarter than that. They are the three seed in the Eastern conference and sport the fourth best record in the entire league, not the three-balling 29-53 Golden State Warriors. Turkoglu and Pietrus need to trust their inside game more and try to force fouls on that Boston interior defense. They have no excuse. Like they say… “You live by the three and you die by the three.”

In game four, they were down by 10 or so with six minutes to go, and only had a little over 80 points total, and needed the help of a six plus minute Celtic scoring drought in order to catch up for the one point lead they blew on Davis’ jumper. Then, in game five, when they seemed to get it right as they had a ten or so point lead on Boston with about four minutes to go, they blew that, and lost by three! You know what that smells like? Pure, plain, and simple incompetence.

Until they change, I will be an advocate of what Charles Barkley said a few nights ago… “If they can’t beat the Celtics without Kevin Garnet, then how in the world do they expect to beat them with him?” It’s not a pity to say the following either, because they’ve only brought it on themselves… The Magic are the second round version of those loaded teams who can never get out of the first round. Except in this case they just can’t get out of the second.” – Alex V

 

 

Game 1 Road Victories Huge – Who has the Edge? Orlando or Houston?

Last night presented us with a pair of game ones on TNT that just about went down to the wire, but most importantly, had the road teams winning. The first game featured the three seeded Magic and two seeded Celtics in Boston with Orlando getting the W. The second game was the five seeded Houston Rockets at the one seeded Lakers in Los Angeles. with the road team pulling out a crucially upsetting victory. This is a great position for any team to be in, and especially a considerable underdog like the Houston Rockets. With that being said, who has the greatest advantage?

 

One advantage both teams earned with their victories is home court. Aside from that there are other mental factors that can provide advantages as well as some disadvantages.

 

The Orlando Magic looked solid and efficient as they worked their way building a huge lead which at one point was as high as 28 points midway through the third quarter. Their big four scorers of Dwight Howard, Raefer Alston, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rashard Lewis all posted 10+ points and they also received a boost from Mickael Pietrus who stepped it up adding 10+ points of his own. All in all it definitely looked like the fatigue from Boston’s seven game, multiple overtime series with Chicago was beginning to show.

 

That was until they began a spurt which saw them outscore the Magic 54-41 in the second half, and even close the gap to four points when there were less than two minutes left in the game. Now it’s one thing to win on the road and pull off a game one victory. But when you cannot keep the clamps down after building a 28 point lead in the third quarter against a team who is supposed to be tired and is playing without Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe, that should do more good for they psyche of the Celtics than it does for the Magic.

 

As for the Rockets, they managed to stay within their game the entire contest versus the Lakers. Even when L.A. converted a nine point deficit in the second half into a one point lead, Houston never waivered and stuck with their game plan a got back to holding onto comfortable leads of five to nine points. Much of that had to do with the careful and mistake-free ball handling of point guard Aaron Brooks.

 

On top of that, they received en emotional lift when Yao Ming was hurt after Kobe Bryant’s right knee banged into his own right knee. Yao was favoring the knee very heavily and he even walked off the court before pleading with his team trainer that he was fine and able to go back. All he did in his return was hit a big jumper and sink six free throws to keep LA at bay in the waning moments of the game. Now if that isn’t good for a fifth seeded team’s confidence faced with task of taking down the daunting L.A. Lakers then I don’t know what is.

 

Because of the Rockets consistent game play in their victory coupled by the determination of Yao Ming, I would give them the edge on the advantage end over Orlando. As for the Magic, it is great that they won on the road, but they were basically hanging by a thread as the game was expiring, and perhaps they have yet to face a fully alert and enthused Celtics team.

The State of Detroit

The Pistons have been on a downhill slide ever since Allen Iverson got injured two months or so ago. Without Iverson they have gone 9-18 and dropped down to a below .500 record, which is something they haven’t been this late in the season for over five years. On top of being Iversonless, they’ve had stretches without Rasheed Wallace, and even Richard Hamilton. Even right now starting point guard Rodney Stuckey is out for some time!

 

Right now, they are 36-39 and a looking at a seventh seed in the eastern conference playoffs. And with about seven games to go they better watch out, because they are only half a game ahead of the eighth seeded Chicago Bulls, and just two and a half in front of the ninth seeded Charlotte Bobcats. So they are in danger of not even making the playoffs if they really don’t get off their schneid.

 

On top of that, even if they do get in, things aren’t looking up. They will face Cleveland or the Celtics as a seven or eight seed right now, and with the Pistons not having home court advantage in any round, that does not bode well.

Are the Boston Celtics Really Going to be a Three Seed?

As the season winds down and everyone has ten or so games left, many teams are inching their way each night jockeying for playoff positioning. In the West you have just about every team up from the two seed and all the way down to the eight seed at no more than three games apart. However, one intriguing race to the playoffs has to be between the currently three seeded Orlando Magic, and second seeded Boston Celtics. I wonder… Is the most looming question whether the Orlando Magic can grab the two seed in the Eastern Conference, or is it are the Boston Celtics really going to be a three seed?

 

The Celtics had been on a roll all season long, and were as comfortably ahead in the Eastern Conference standings that they were rivaling the Lakers current 9.5 games lead in the Western Conference standings. Now the defending champs have had to deal with injuries to stars like Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and even to their key players and role players like Rajon Rondo and Tony Allen. If the Celtics, who are only a game ahead of the Magic, get bumped down to a three seed in the playoffs then that means they’ll have a chance to play Orlando and Cleveland on the road. That’s no easy task.

 

It is all just so intriguing because if anyone should seem better equipped to win on the road it’s the Boston Celtics. They are tied for the third best road record in the league at 25-12, but then again, they allowed their first two playoff rounds of last season go seven games. How did they do that you ask? By losing their first six road games.

 

Either way, it could be the champs looking like super-cool vets and pulling it off as a three seed, or it’ll look a little shocking if they aren’t in even their own conference finals.

Houston Rockets Itchin’ for Second Place!!!

The Houston Rockets have shown considerable improvement since they lost Tracy McGrady for the rest of the season earlier this year due to injury. They have found stability and solid defense and also a decent ability to win on the road where they are 17-17. Last week they even suffered a stretch without Yao Ming when they beat New Orleans in Louisiana, and they have even removed any doubt, thus far, that trading away Rafer Alston would be a problem. They are rolling over a lot of bumps on the road and are still pressing on, and a two seed in the Western Conference playoffs might not be too far out of reach.

As of right now the Rockets are 44-25, 3rd in the west, and two games behind San Antonio, 2nd in the west, and 45-22. So with roughly twelve games to go, they are definitely on the Spurs’ heels. What’s even more is they have a chance to get in the drivers seat by the end of this week!

Tonight they meet the struggling Detroit Pistons who have lost two straight and are 1-3 in their last four, and the Rockets get to face them in Houston where they are 27-8. Then this Friday, 3/20/09, the Rockets host the bottom-feeding Minnesota Timberwolves who are 20-47 which is good for 6th worst in the league. As for San Antonio, they don’t play until Friday as well, but they face the Boston Celtics. Although the Celtics have been struggling to keep up with Cleveland due to their injuries, it would not be an upset to see them win even in San Antonio.

The real kicker is what culminates if the Rockets were two win their two games and the Spurs lost their game this Friday. The two would then play each other in San Antonio for control of the 2nd seed. If the Rockets win then they would grab hold of the Spurs’ spot with ten games or so to go in the season.

The west is close from two to eight, and anything can happen. But I would doubt there were too many people who thought the Houston Rockets could be a two seed.

Steph stinks up 1st start this season

On Sunday March 8, Stephon Marbury made his debut start for the Boston Celtics, replacing the injured starter PG Rajon Rondo against Orlando. Some people are going to claim that Steph is just rusty, but I really think this is the beginning of the end for Starbury. After refusing to play for more than half a season, Marbury is no longer mentally in the game. It was pathetic experience watching the once omnipresent Point Guard struggle to try to find his once omnipotent court vision once again. Thanks Clyde! Marbury started for the Celtics and ended the game with NO ASSISTS and 4 points in 20+ minutes on the court. He was replaced by Eddie House for the majority of the game, and to be honest I think Steph has really destroyed his career because now he is not the same player he once was. At this point, Rondo is the more talented PG and Marbury has no business playing with this team, Eddy House is a better PG than him, heck bring back Sam I Am (Sam Cassell) but please don’t play Marbury. At this point I can only hope is that Steph does not destroy this squad since they are fun to watch. I don’t find it shocking that Assists, are down for the Celtics. You have to admit though, thats it is kind of funny that Boston has once again inherited a New York curse!

Are the Utah Jazz Contenders?

In the past few weeks, the Utah Jazz have the leagues’ best hot streak with four straight wins. Two of those wins have come at home where they are 24-6 against the Lakers and the Celtics. Although Garnett did not play the second half, they still held serve and beat two experienced teams and one champion.

With Deron Williams’s career highs in points per game with 19.2 and an excellent 10.2 assists per game, it means this guy is averaging a double-double per outing. Carlos Boozer has been out for a while, but the other players have been picking up the slack: Ronnie Brewer with 13.5 points per game, Paul Millsap 14.6ppg, 9.2 rebounds per game, and even C.J. Miles with 10.0ppg.

The Jazz are set to welcome back Boozer’s 20.5ppg, and 11.7rpg. With that added to the two vets of Mehmet Okur, 18.0ppg, 8.4rpg, and Andrei Kirilenko 12.6ppg, and 5.5rpg and Utah has a seven man rotation that can averaging double-digit points per game. Last season they took L.A. to six hotly contested games in the second round of the playoffs. What’s even better for the Jazz is they pose a lot of matchup problems for opposing teams with their height, size, and strength.

I am not saying the Jazz are in the Finals already, but they could turn some heads and go as far as the Western Conference Finals.

5 Contenders

At this point there are five title contenders in the NBA; in the west, the Los Angeles Lakers (31-8) and the San Antonio Spurs 26-13, and in the east, the Cleveland Cavaliers (31-7), Orlando Magic (33-8), and Boston Celtics (33-9).

Right now, I would put the Spurs over the Lakers. I know the records are five games different, but lately I’ve been seeing Kobe take a lot of shots in the fourth quarter in games against Orlando and San Antonio that just haven’t been going down. Pau Gasol is having a great season, but now the Spurs have four guys who can be counted on to hit big shots, and not in any particular order; Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, and now Roger Mason Jr.

Furthermore, the Spurs show no signs of getting older, and they even seem like they are playing “younger” than last year.

In the east, the one team with the overall best consistency has been the Cavaliers. The Celtics seem like their big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen are getting older (More-so Garnett and Pierce), and their role players have not stepped up much in their recent strings of losses. I would have to say that right now Pierce and Garnett seem to be taking a step back, but I know they can turn that around. However, until that happens, I have to keep them under Orlando and Cleveland, even if they are the defending champs.

The Orlando Magic just seem like they play within themselves every game, and that has been just enough to pull out some big road wins this season. But with their ever-growing regularity of settling on huge three pointers down the stretch to win games may not be so hot come playoff time… “You live by the three, you die by the three.”

Finally, it is the Cleveland Cavaliers who are my top pick in the east. LeBron James seems to be coming into his own, as if what he had been doing already wasn’t enough. He is really hitting his peak now, and is relying on his teammates much longer in games than Kobe Bryant.

What’s even more is that they (Cleveland) aren’t even letting any of the non-contenders come close to beating them at home. If they can hold on to the number one seed come playoff time, and have homecourt advantage in the Finals, I will pick them to win it all.

Rajon Rondo has No Business Being Considered for NBA All-Star Game

One of the most mind-numbing notions I have had to endure for the past several weeks is that Rajon Rondo deserves consideration for the All-Star Game. I think that is one of the most preposterous ideas I have ever heard.

At 11.6ppg, 5 rebounds per game, and 7.4 assists per game, Rajon Rondo should be hoping that at least five guys go down for him to even make it as a backup in that game. I mean sure, he has improved a lot this season, and shows signs of maturity, but that doesn’t mean he’s an All-Star.

In the Eastern Conference alone there are six other point guards who are easily better than Rajon Rondo (and have less around them in terms of talent), and if the Celtics had one of them instead, they could even be doing better; Jameer Nelson (17ppg, 5.4apg), Mike Bibby (15.9ppg, 5apg), Dwyane Wade (29ppg, 7apg), Devin Harris (24ppg, 6.8apg), Derrick Rose (17.5ppg, 6.1apg), and Jose Calderon (12.9ppg, 8.8apg). Somebody please tell me that Rajon Rondo is doing more for his team than one of these guys!

Now, I don’t want to take anything away from Rondo. He’s a great young talent, and I think he has benefited from learning how to win a championship so early in his career. However, that is solely because of the three stars around him; Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. Furthermore, the only aspect he truly excels at is assists and a tenacity to play hard the entire game… but I’m sorry. A lot of heart, determination, and a knack for consistently posting impressive numbers in one stat category does not make an All-Star unless you’re the old Ben Wallace blocking the crap out of everybody each year.

Maybe next year… but probably not.

NBA Quarter-Mark Outlook

So far in the NBA a few teams are back up to their old tricks, a few have been somewhat disappointing, and a good number of upstarts from last year as well as some surprising newcomers have begun to surface.

 

The newcomers that need to be involved in this discussion are as follows; in the east it’s Miami, New York, and New Jersey and in the west all of the other teams with playoff aspirations are of no surprise at this point in the season. Miami, led by top scorer in points per game, Dwyane Wade, are currently 9^th in the eastern conference standings. Last year, everyone remembers how atrocious they were. New York seems to be hitting its stride under the tutelage of former Phoenix head coach, Mike D’Antoni as they are 8-8 and 8^th in the standings. Finally, the previous season’s trade between the Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey Nets has finally begun to payoff, as the Devin Harris led Nets are 8-7, 6-4 in their last ten, and 7^th in the east.

 

The Upstarts from last year that are proving their worth are as follows; in the east it’s the Orlando Magic, the Atlanta Hawks, while in the west we have Portland and Denver. The Magic currently sit at 3^rd and atop the eastern conference standings at 13-4 going 9-1 in their last ten. Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu and company are really hitting their stride. The continued and improved production of guard/forward Keith Bogans and the extra lift provided by off season veteran pick up Anthony Johnson as point guard have been stalwart.

 

The Hawks slid a bit after starting off 5-0 mainly because of losing Josh Smith for the next few months, but have regained form and are now 10-6 and 5^th in the eastern conference.

 

In the west the Portland Trailblazers, continue to look like a team of the future with stars Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, and the potential of first-year NBA players like Rudy Fernandez, and Greg Oden. They are now tied with Phoenix, Denver, and Houston at 11-6 while going 7-3 in their last ten games.

 

Denver’s success can be attributed to the trade of Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson. The Nuggets are 11-6 and 7-3 in their last ten while holding 3^rd place in the west. They have had many impressive victories and performances as they beat Boston in Boston, and took the Lakers to the brink of a loss in L.A.

 

Now come the disappointments. The Detroit Pistons are hovering somewhere between average and above average. Although they are 10-5 and in 4^th place in the east, they are suffering some inexcusable losses, most recently a 10+ point loss to Minnesota, do not yet seem to have their act together with Allen Iverson skipping the thanksgiving day practice (however, I do give huge props to Michael Curry for taking charge by suspending him for one game), and are not nearly as consistent as they were when they had Chauncey Billups in the lineup. 

 

The other eastern disappointments for the eastern conference are the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Washington Wizards.

The Raptors just 8-7 and are barely holding a spot in the eastern conference as the 7^th seeded team. With capable point guard Jose Calderon, and former all-start Jermaine O’Neal, they should be doing better.

 

The Sixers were a team last year that without Elton Brand finished 6^th in the east and took Detroit to six games in the playoffs. Now with virtually the same team and Elton Brand, they are struggling to find their rhythm and are 7-9 and 5-5 in their last ten. As for the “Wiz Kids,” although without injured star Gilbert Arenas they may not have been a playoff contender anyway, they are still abysmal with their 2-12 record which is good for worst in the east. Last season they played without Arenas for the most part, but still managed to finish above .500 and make the playoffs. They have now fired their coach Eddie Jordan and are in a state of disarray.

 

The disappointments in the west are the New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, and L.A. Clippers. The Hornets finished second last year and were one game away from the western conference finals. They are now 9-6 and 7^th in the standings in the west. The Mavericks are 8-8 and look like they are ready to get their act together one game, and then go back to mediocrity the next. As for the Clippers, you would think they could be more competitive than their 3-13 record would suggest with the pickup of marquee point guard Baron Davis. Oh well.

 

As for the Spurs, I’m sure a lot of people would like to put them in as a disappointment, but they have been playing without Manu Ginobli for the entire season (who is set to return soon), and Tony Parker has just returned from his injury earlier in the season. To further their defense, they are now 9-7 and 7-3 in their last ten while being 8^th in the west.

 

Finally we come to the top dogs in the league.

 

In the east you have the Cleveland Cavaliers with their 14-3 records, 9-1 in the last ten games, and 2^nd place spot in the standings. They have put together a bevy of blowouts on their opponents this season, and the addition of a scoring point guard in Mo Williams has been absolutely huge for them.

 

The second team that has picked up right where they left off from last year is the Lakers. They are 13-1 and making mince meat out of would be superpower teams and have the best record in the NBA.

 

But the pinnacle of all teams continues to be the Boston Celtics. They’re 16-2 and are still dominating defensively and continue to get great production from their supporting cast members. And although the Lakers get much help from their bench and up and coming players, let’s face it… the Celtics are still the champs.

 

The last three teams I must mention are the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz. To me, these three teams are in a state of limbo. Houston would look to be an upstart, but they can’t seem to keep their stars, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, healthy. The Suns seem like the same team as last year, which wasn’t a contender anyway, and the Jazz keep being a team with potential that can’t seem to build on it.

 

That would about sum up the NBA season at or around its quarter mark. We’ll look to see who shifts from wherever they were in this discussion and who remains where they are in the coming weeks. As for those that I did not include in this article… you really just aren’t worth mentioning (Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Golden State, Minnesota, Sacramento, Memphis and Oklahoma City).