Around the NBA: Playoffs

Well, with the playoffs coming fast, it is time to seperate the contenders from the pretenders. I'll start with the West and the Phoenix Suns. The Suns went from being a contender to a pretender in my mind. The Shaq trade is really hurting them as they are not able to spread the defense like they used to be able to do. Now, the Dallas Mavericks, I'm not entirely convinced they have what it takes to be a contender right now either, right now they are on the bubble of being a pretender. The Houston Rockets went from being pretenders to contenders very quickly, winning a franchise high 16 games in a row. The top teams in the West right now are the Spurs, Lakers, Hornets, and Jazz, all of which have championship caliber teams. Although I think the Hornets will need a little more experience before they make it to the big one.

Now on to the East, the very weak East. The only teams that are contenders in my mind are the Celtics and the Pistons. I know what you're thinking, "What about the Cavaliers?", right? Well as they really only have one good scorer in LeBron James, they don't have what it takes to be serious contenders at this point in time. But the Pistons and Celtics on the other hand, for the Pistons, Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, all proven players. And for the Celtics, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell, and James Posey have the experience to lead this team to the big dance.

The East seems like it will be a two team showing between the Pistons and the Celtics. In my opinion, the Celtics have the better team and will go on to win the Eastern Conference and go on to the NBA Finals.

There is one team that could shake up the East a bit that not alot of people are giving credit to, and that is the Orlando Magic. They hold two wins over the Celtics the season already. Another team that could be trouble to the top teams in the East is the Toronto Raptors, they are very young and are stacked with talent.

Back to the West for a quick minute, there is one team that has the power to stir up the Western Conference quite a bit too, and that being the Denver Nuggets. Currently holding on to the 9th spot in the West, they are rapidly gaining ground on the Warriors and may even replace the Suns in the play-off picture if the Suns don't turn the heat up.

As the play-off race begins to heat up, this looks like to be the most exciting road to the play-offs in recent memory, and the play-offs themselves look like they are shaping up to be really good themselves.

My predictions for the NBA Finals is going to be a classic match up between the Lakers and the Celtics, with the Celtics taking #17.

Celtics Reign Supreme

Celtics pulled out a very impressive 90-78. The C's had control pretty much from the beginning. Althought the Pistons did tie it at 69 at one point in the 4th qtr.

Garnett started off very strong scoring 19 pts. in the first half alone. Garnett finished the game with 31 pts. and and 6 rebs. Pierce had a fairly strong showing and put up 15 pts. and 5 asts. Rondo also played very well tonight putting up 16 pts. and 5 asts. On the Detroit side of the ball, Both Billups and Wallace put up 23 pts.

With this win the C's win the season series 2-1 and now have a 4 game lead in the East over the Pistons. The C's now look like they are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics in my opinion played a very good, up tempo game and seemed to play as if it was a play-off game. The crowd was into it and the energy in the arena felt like a championship game. If the C's continue to play like this, the Chase For 17 will be very successful.

With this big game behind them, they look ahead to their next opponents, the slowly fading Chicago Bulls. With the Bulls not in play-off contention, hopefully the C's don't slack off and take this game seriously. With the talent the Bulls have, they are no pushover team.

Tonights Celtics Player of the Game would have to be Kevin Garnett.

Pistons-Celtics Preview (Wednesday)

Round 3 between the Celtics and Pistons will take place tomorrow night as the Celtics host the 2nd place Pistons. With both teams losing at home, we have a great game to look forward to tomorrow.

As the battle for home court advantage heats up, the C's will come in with the best record in the NBA and go up against a very good Detroit team. Celtics coach Doc Rivers is hoping his players will play like it is a playoff game as these are two very good teams. With the excitement of Sam Cassell coming to town, the Boston media asked if it would be a distraction to the team having him coming in. Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett all believe it will not be a problem, and are all very excited to see how Sam will perform.

Another thing that C's fan can look forward to is the possibility of P.J. Brown making his Celtics debut against the Pistons. Doc Rivers has said that there is no hurry to bring in Cassell, but may see Brown playing a few minutes in this game.

With all the attention on the Celtics and their acquisitions, they are ready to go against the Pistons and are ready to take absolute supremacy in the Eastern Conference.

Prediction:
Celtics win a thriller in OT 124-120.
Allen has a big game and puts up 30 pts.
Pierce is Pierce and puts up 26.
And Garnett helps with 18 pts. and 14 rebs.