LA Clippers vs Memphis Grizzlies (-6.5)

For the second consecutive year, Caron Butler is out for the post-season with a fractured hand. In game 1, Memphis looked like they had full control going into the 4th quarter with a 21 point lead. The Clippers kept their heads up and outscored Memphis 35-13 in the 4th quarter to make a comeback and beat Memphis on the road 99-98. Memphis has a lot of talent on their squad with Mike Conley at the guard, a real good defender in Tony Allen, Rudy Gay at the 3, Z-Bo's back from injury and the big yeti Marc Gasol. Then off the bench they have Dante Cunningham, Gilbert Arenas and of course O.J. Mayo to lift the Grizz up. The Clippers have the size to compete in the paint, and have the guards to keep the tempo controlled. This series comes down to who wants it the most. Both these teams are extremely talented and have potential to go far against this competitive western conference. Tonight the spread is -6.5 for the Grizz. I think this might be a little bit high for the Grizz especially after game 1. On one hand, the Grizz just lost a huge game 1 and now face the pressure of coming back after a loss like game 1. The Grizz are in a fight or flight position right now where they've been hit and they could either come back real strong, or still be on their heels and a little shaky. The Clippers now know what they have to do to stay in a game and what it takes to win, so they have the Grizz measured out. I see this one coming down to the wire to the last minute, and the Clips cover a +6.5 spread. 

New York Knicks vs Miami Heat (-9.5)

I might be the only basketball fan (that isn't from New York) that thinks the Knicks can actually upset the Miami Heat and the striped shirts that they signed as free agents at the start of the post-season. One of me and my brother's friends is a huge Miami Heat fan or bandwagon jumper (whatever you want to call it) and actually had the cojones to tell me that Miami is going to sweep the Knicks simply because they won by 33 the first game. Now let's take a look at game 1 from a real basketball fan's perspective. In game 1 Tyson Chandler had the flu and scored 0 points, Carmelo Anthony had 11 points going 3/15 from the field and Amare Stoudemire had 9 points going 2/7 from the field. Along with that, the Knicks had 24 turnovers and also had 26 personal fouls and also shot a horrible 35% from the field and 33% from distance. LeBron dropped 32 points (and showed the whole world that John Lucas is more of a man,) to go with Dwyane Wade's 19, and the Heat as a team shot 49% from the field as well as 38% from distance. Now, here is where there's a huge discrepancy in the statistics because a team can deal with turnovers (such as the OKC Thunder who average about 17 turnovers a game) and a team can still keep a game close or even win by defense when shooting a low percentage. The Miami Heat shot 24/33 from the charity stripe on what appeared to be horrible refereeing, at least to me anyways. With Iman Shumpert out, the Knicks lose their best on-ball defender. For the Knicks to compensate, Landry Fields is going to have to play a solid all-around game and the help-defense for the Knicks has to be flawless. I think Carmelo comes out today and makes up for his poor performance last Saturday. He is the center of this team, and Amare's performance as well as the whole team is dependent on how Carmelo plays. I think the Knicks cover a +9.5 spread tonight. The Knicks have to keep the paint locked down, and also have to rotate on the three point shooting where Mike Miller and Shane Battier can shoot lights out. Carmelo HAS to step up today, and I think he does. 


Result: Well, there goes the exciting upset that I thought could have potentially happened. Already missing Jeremy Lin, Iman Shumpert and now Amare Stoudemire for getting into a fight with a fire extinguisher, the Knicks' chances at an upset are now slim to none. Carmelo now has full responsibility to operate this team and offensively he could lift the Knicks to get W's, but it's on the defensive end where the Knicks don't really have a chance. This game I said that Miami's three point shooting has to be kept under control and the rotations have to be there for the Knicks. Miami shot 43% going 9/21 from the three point line. Mike Miller took all of his shots from distance and went 3/5 as well as Shane Battier who went 3/5 from distance. The Knicks shot 49% from the field, 33% from three, and actually out-rebounded the Heat 40-33. Dwyane Wade lead the scoring for the Heat with 25, Chris Bosh dropped 21 and LeBron James scored 19, had 7 boards and 9 assists. Melo lead the scoring for the Knicks scoring 30 and grabbing 9 boards. Miami's the favorite this year so if the Knicks lose it's not that big of a disappointment, especially after getting hit with all the injuries. 


13-6-1 (loss)

Denver Nuggets vs LA Lakers (-4.5)

Here it is. My first pick of the post season. I really wanted to make a pick on OKC yesterday but the defending champs aren't exactly soft anymore; and actually did hold their own against the Thunder last night. I'm not going to take statistics into account because playing in the playoffs is not the same as the regular season. Although the averages of each team and player does give a picture or an idea of how they are going to do during post-season, it still doesn't dictate who's going to win. Some players choke, some players excel under pressure, some players get injured the very first game so it's very hard to use the numbers to predict a winner. The three guys in the picture above (Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum) I believe are the players that are going to make the Lakers levels above average teams like the Nuggets. I might have an old school mentality when it comes to basketball. I would personally rather have two all star big men than one elite scorer. But what happens when you have both? Well shit, you get a team that's going to be hard to beat in the playoffs despite missing Ron Artest for the next 6 games due to the elbow to James Harden's dome. I think the Lakers are going to be in sync tonight. Kobe and I (in my mind at least) believe that if there's such thing as a best shot to win a 6th ring, this is the year to do it. Kobe's going to come out with a good performance tonight, backed up by his two big men in Andrew Bynum, who has been playing exceptional basketball lately and is also the best center in the league and Pau Gasol who is one of the smoothest power forwards to play the game. The big men are going to give the Nuggets problem in the paint as I don't think Javale McGee can contain Bynum. As the playoffs get deeper into the series, I will go more in depth in analyzing the games. I see the Lakers getting the W and covering a -4.5 spread. 


Result: Laker basketball has got to be one of the funnest to watch. Andrew Bynum is a powerful center who can rebound very well and can score around the basket. Along to go with his board and scoring skill set, today he also got 10 blocks to complete the first triple double in Lakers playoff history since Magic Johnson. Bynum had 10 points, 13 rebounds and 10 blocks. Gasol messed around and almost got a triple double ending with 13 points, 8 boards and 8 assists. The poetry in Gasol's game, especially to his partner big-man is such a beautiful thing to watch. Kobe Bryant ended with 31, 5 boards and 4 assists. Steve Blake also came off the bench scoring 3 from long distance and Jordan Hill came off the bench scoring 10. As a team the Lakers shot 50% from the field, 35% from 3, grabbing 52 rebounds and 15 blocks to Denver Nuggets' 36% from the field, 29% from distance, and 46 rebounds. Ty Lawson went 3/11 from the field, the same as Afflalo and Gallinari lead the scoring with 19. The Lakers were a force in the paint, and it's hard for Denver to get in the lane for easy baskets. Kobe Bryant was on the same page as my prediction today dropping 31, and the big men proved to be dominant against the undersized or not as skilled big men. 


Win (13-5-1)

For those who care enough to read my articles and write ups, I've been absent because the last month and a half for me has been extremely busy due to school. I'm currently a full-time student at Douglas College in the sport science program and I'm trying to pursue a career in physiotherapy. I still plan to continue writing write ups on basketball games especially in time for the playoffs. I also follow the major leagues (baseball for those who don't have the patience to watch 9 innings), but I only really started following last season. I'm going to continue baseball and hopefully I'll reach a level of comfort around June to make picks. Tomorrow I have my last exam in bio-mechanics and unfortunately I'm procrastinating. So, after tomorrow I will be posting more picks. If you're looking for a good read, or something to stimulate your mind check out my friend Darren Jones' blog. He's an awesome writer, and we've been talking about working together to give you readers our analysis on sports. Get familiar! 

Orlando Magic vs Chicago Bulls -5.5

Tonight the Orlando Magic go into the United Center to face the driven Chicago Bulls in a contrasting match up. The Orlando Magic are not the most defensively sound team, nor do they have the offensive capability to take full control of games. The Orlando Magic I feel are fully dependent on their 3 point shooting, and their effort from Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard's effort is inevitable, he's most likely going to get a double double every night and that's alright for teams to face. The problems where most teams have against Orlando is with Ryan Anderson drifting along the 3 point line bringing their 4's outside to defend his 3 point shot. Chicago has won it's last 9 games out of 10. Last night Derrick Rose hit a game winner on Brandon Jennings, and I believe the Bulls are going to take their momentum from last night to contain the Magic. The Magic in their last 10 are 6-4 which isn't too bad, although they do tend to lose focus. On March 6, the Magic played in Charlotte against the Bobcats where the Bobcats won by 16 points. Is this enough for the Magic to come out tonight and play strong to find the motivation to try to get through the post season? Or is it foreshadowing the speculation that Dwight Howard is going to be traded by the deadline and it's time to start building the franchise over? The Magic as a team shoot 38.7% from distance, grab 43.3 rebounds, and average 15.2 turnovers per game. In order to keep this game close, or even win the game outright the Magic are going to have to shoot the 3 ball at a high percentage and prevent Chicago from getting out into the open court. The Bulls have a good enough center in Joakim Noah to try to defend Dwight in the paint, and also have Luol Deng, Ronnie Brewer and Taj Gibson on defense to guard Ryan Anderson and Hedo Turkoglu at the 3 point line. Derrick Rose is self explanatory because we know that he's going to come out and perform at the best of his ability every night and after that game winner from last night, I expect him to have humble arrogance and be on his high horse ready to play tonight. Tonight the Bulls are going to have to swarm the 3 point line, have all men going for loose balls and rebounds, and let Joakim Noah play Dwight straight up and initiate help defense when necessary in order to get the win. The Orlando Magic are going through their ups and downs, and tonight could be one of those nights where Orlando shows up. But I also took into account that the Bulls are playing like a championship caliber team with their mission on mind, and they aren't going to let other teams get wins easily on their home court. I think the Bulls win the game outright, and cover the spread.


Result: I'm not the biggest Dwight Howard fan, and I personally I still think Andrew Bynum is the better center but today, Dwight had an impressive show out against the Bulls on the road. Dwight went 11/19 from the field to score 29 points and got 18 rebounds for a double double. The Magic as a team went 11/26 from the 3 point line shooting at 42.3%, 4% better than their average which we said would most likely be the statistic that could keep the Bulls at bay. Ryan Anderson went 3/8 from the 3, and Jason Richardson went 4/6 from distance. The Magic at half were only up 5 due to a Bulls comeback in the last 3 minutes of the game led by Derrick Rose after being down by as much as 15 points. Carlos Boozer had a good night with 26 points and 7 rebounds, and Derrick Rose struggled with 17 points going 6/22 from the field although he did have 9 assists finding his team mates. The Bulls bench played a solid game with a good effort from Taj Gibson and Kyle Korver, but the starters looked uninterested and fatigued during the game. The Bulls have the best record in the east and they've won and done more than enough in a tight season to lose a game without criticism. The Magic let go of a lead, but it was enough to win against the Bulls on the road 99-94. The next time these two meet, I'm expecting a completely different game than the one that happened this past Thursday. It's not often the Bulls lose at home and Derrick Rose is always going to give his best effort despite things not going his way. Chicago goes to Orlando on March 19, and the Bulls being the best revenge team in the league and Joakim Noah probably being the funniest trash talker in the league.. I expect this game to have playoff vibes. 


12-5-1

Indiana Pacers vs Chicago Bulls -7

This rivalry between the Indiana Pacers and the Chicago Bulls has resulted in some entertaining games between the two. Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose both haven't forgot about the loss to the pacers at home on January 25th earlier this year after over hearing the Pacers celebrate in their locker room. As close as this game could potentially be, the Bulls are probably the best revenge team in the league. As far as statistics go, these teams are evenly matched. The Pacers shoot the 3 ball at 37% and the Bulls at 38%, Pacers turn the ball over at an average of 14.7 per game to the Bulls' 14.0 per game. The Pacers also average 8.3 steals a game to the Bulls' 7.3, and the Pacers rebound 44.5 a game to the Bulls' 45.6. When the Pacers beat the Bulls at the United Center, part of that was due to the injury of Luol Deng. Luol Deng defends the perimeter and is a good defender guarding slashers and cutters. Luol Deng is also another threat on offense to take some focus off of Derrick Rose, and he's also been playing at a high level since the all star break. The biggest factor here is the revenge factor. Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose are motivated for this game, and I see Chicago winning the game outright and also covering the spread. 


Result: After avenging their first loss to Philadelphia this past Sunday, the best revenge team in the league went at the Pacers today to avenge their loss at home to Indiana. This game started off back and forth, the typical Pacers-Bulls pace that we see in these exciting games. Indiana was up 1 (43-42) by the end of the 1st half. The Bulls struggled on the offensive side in the 1st half, but exploded in the 3rd led by Luol Deng. The Bulls scored 3 consecutive 3 pointers after the Pacers crawled to a deficit of 4 points. The Bulls also dominated the rebounding out rebounding the Pacers 60-32. The Bulls had 18 offensive rebounds to the Pacers 7 and held the Pacers to 3/16 (18.8%) from long range. The Bulls shot the ball well from the outside going 9/15 shooting it at 60%. Luol Deng led the way for the Bulls scoring 20 points with 6 boards and 4 assists. Rip Hamilton left the game in the 1st quarter after getting a bump on the shoulder by Paul George. Rip Hamilton is becoming more of a liability to the team, but as long as Ronnie Brewer is playing well the Bulls should be fine. Off the bench Ronnie Brewer contributed 12 points and 7 boards, John Lucas filling in for C.J. Watson who had a sprained ankle had 13 points, and Taj Gibson had 10 points and 9 boards. The only players who played well for the Pacers today was Paul George who had 21 points and George Hill who had 17 off the bench. The Bulls are now 2.5 games ahead of Miami in the east at 1st. The Bulls have two good big men in Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah who grabbed 17 boards today, two quality front court players in Luol Deng and Ronnie Brewer and Taj Gibson, C.J. Watson and John Lucas all hold their own on the court when the starters are on the bench. Chicago wins the game by 20 points 92-72 and I bet Joakim Noah is out somewhere showing the Pacers how to really celebrate. 

Joakim Noah celebrating.

12-4-1

Chicago Bulls -3.5 vs Philadelphia 76ers

Sundays are a typically good day for NBA basketball. This morning we saw an overtime game between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks with Boston coming out on top. The Miami Heat and LA Lakers rivalry continued today as the Lakers came out today with a win. Another good match up I saw that isn't as popular as the NY Knicks or the Miami Heat is the Chicago Bulls going up against the Sixers. These two teams have quality young players who know how to put on a good show with Chicago at the top of the eastern conference, and Philly sitting at 4th. Philly in it's last 3 after the break have won 2 of 3 with wins over Detroit and Golden State, and a loss to Oklahoma City. Chicago on the other hand has won 3 straight after the break, and and 5 straight including their wins before. Like most match ups, this one comes down to rebounds and turnovers. Tim Thibodeau is known to be a defensive minded coach, and the Bulls as a team average 7.4 steals per game and 5.6 blocks per game. The Sixers average 10.6 turnovers per game which is actually not bad, although with tough defensive teams such as the Thunder and the Bulls the Sixers seem to struggle either keeping a lead, or keeping up with the defense. Joakim Noah is starting to shoot that outside jump shot more consistently and Luol Deng is finding his game gaining confidence after making the all star team. The Bulls average 13.2 offensive boards a game to Philly's 9.9 offensive rebounds a game. Philly as a team averages 42.9 rebounds in total and Chicago averages 45.6. If Chicago can lock down defensively which they have the full potential to do, then Philadelphia may have to rely on 3 point shooting where they're shooting 37.1%. I think Chicago takes this game covering the 3.5 point spread, but Philly keeps it close until the end. 


Result: Last time at the Fargo Wells Center on February 1st the Bulls lost to the Sixers by 16 points. When Chicago loses a game by that margin, or loses a game at all they tend to hold resentment towards the teams that they've lost to. In a position like this, the Bulls came out ready to play in a back and forth game against the Sixers. The first half was close, going back and forth in scoring where at the end of the 1st quarter Chicago was up by 2 just to go down by 6 in the 2nd quarter being outscored 22-14. In the second half the Sixers went up by as much as 6 in the 1st quarter, but led by Derrick Rose's 3 point shooting going 4/7 from distance started to pull away in the 4th quarter. After splitting a pair at the line, Derrick Rose put the Bulls up by 8 in the 4th but the Sixers led by Thaddeus Young cut the lead down to 4. With 3 minutes left in the quarter, C.J. Watson hit a big 3 to put the Bulls up by 7 but the Sixers (more so Thaddeus Young) cut it down to 2. Derrick Rose scored 35 points and had 8 assists, and scored a pull up jumper to put the Sixers away. The Sixers took good care of the ball and only had 5 turnovers for the game, but Chicago is more than capable of playing straight up defense to defend Philly's shooters. Philly had a horrible night from distance shooting 1/11 which most likely determined the winner of this game. It was a fun game to watch and Chicago locked down defensively to get the win 96-91. 


11-4-1