With all teams 31-35 games into the lockout-shortened 66 game regular season - and no more games until Tuesday - it's a good time to take another look at the current playoff seedings:
Eastern Conference W L PCT GB 1. Miami (SE) 27 7 0.794 2. Chicago (C) 27 8 0.771 ½ 3. Indiana 21 12 0.636 5½ 4. Philadelphia (A) 20 14 0.588 7 -- 5. Orlando 22 13 0.629 5½ 6. Atlanta 20 14 0.588 7 7. New York 17 18 0.486 10½ 8. Boston 15 17 0.469 11 -- Cleveland 13 18 0.419 12½ Milwaukee 13 20 0.394 13½ Detroit 11 24 0.314 16½ Toronto 10 23 0.303 16½ New Jersey 10 25 0.286 17½ Washington 7 26 0.212 19½ Charlotte 4 28 0.125 22
I can't remember the last time that the champions were a total foregone conclusion. Is there even a point to having a playoff this year? Just give the title to Miami already.
Originally posted by It's FalseI can't remember the last time that the champions were a total foregone conclusion. Is there even a point to having a playoff this year? Just give the title to Miami already.
Teams that can beat Miami:
- OKC. - The Clippers, assuming they don't revert back to the Paper Clips. - Bulls (/w Rose).
Way too early to crown the Heat, especially in a weird season like this.
Though it would be kind of funny if LeBron gets a ring but it carries the, "well, it wasn't a FULL season" asterisk on it forever.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
Even as a fan of the Heat I also agree that it is pretty early to crown the Heat, even with their ongoing disgustingly crushing 8 win streak.
El Nastio, I agree that the Thunder (who we can see here have an identical win-loss record to the Heat) and the Clippers can beat the Heat, but I think Miami proved last year that Lebron is the perfect answer to Rose so I'd put the Bulls on a lower tier; only in terms of who I think can beat Miami though.
Yesterday we actually had to fight the Knicks for that victory though and I do think if they can get their act together, between Stoudemire, Anthony, Lin, Smith and Chandler they can have an impressive team and maybe accomplish more than we think.
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Knicks or Celtics in the first round for Chicago...I like that scenario much better than having to play Indiana, Philly, or Atlanta in the first round.
Yesterday we actually had to fight the Knicks for that victory though and I do think if they can get their act together, between Stoudemire, Anthony, Lin, Smith and Chandler they can have an impressive team and maybe accomplish more than we think.
It was amazing that the Heat could stay that intense for a full 48 minutes. I kept expecting them to get gassed and allow the Knicks a good run, and it just never happened. It was like there was a Lebron cherry picking on each end of the court the way he was moving around out there.
If they played the Knicks that way a month ago the Knicks roll over and die, lose by 30 and piss me off. As it was they fought the whole game, lost by 14 and yet gave me hope that if they learn to play together and aren't so sloppy they can be a real team.
Yesterday we actually had to fight the Knicks for that victory though and I do think if they can get their act together, between Stoudemire, Anthony, Lin, Smith and Chandler they can have an impressive team and maybe accomplish more than we think.
It was amazing that the Heat could stay that intense for a full 48 minutes. I kept expecting them to get gassed and allow the Knicks a good run, and it just never happened. It was like there was a Lebron cherry picking on each end of the court the way he was moving around out there.
If they played the Knicks that way a month ago the Knicks roll over and die, lose by 30 and piss me off. As it was they fought the whole game, lost by 14 and yet gave me hope that if they learn to play together and aren't so sloppy they can be a real team.
Get Jeremy Lin to the point where he's not committing six to eight turnovers a game, and the Knicks could be really dangerous. Even while the Linsanity winning streak was happening, he was still turning the ball over at an absolutely astonishing pace, but it was overlooked because of his high point totals and the final score.
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Shaq responds. When he retires, he should really consider joining the Inside the NBA crew. Him and Chuck would be gold right there. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/10426924.