NBA Playoff Matchups in the East
Saturday, April 17th, 2010
Cleveland has secured the top spot in the East for quite some time. As for the rest, here they are.
The matchups in the East for the 2010 NBA playoffs are finally… um… finalized and while the Cleveland Cavaliers have secured the top playoff spot in the conference a few weeks ago, the remaining few seeds were not determined until the final few days of the season.
As it turned out, the no.1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers will be taking on the no.8 seed Chicago Bulls, who secured the last playoff spot in the East after beating the playoff-pound Charlotte Bobcats, hence denying the Toronto Raptors of postseason play for the second straight year.
Kudos to coach Vinny Del Negro and the rest of the Chicago Bulls for overcoming a late-season injury to Joakim Noah and the publicized rift between coach Del Negro and team manager John Paxson. Congratulations guys, you’re in the playoffs.
Your reward? LeBron James. (I don’t know if the Bulls would still be happy about that in a few days…)
The Orlando Magic will be this year’s no.2 seed as they look to make a return to the NBA Finals when they take on no.7 seed, Charlotte Bobcats. Thanks to some key additions to the Magic roster, more specifically the addition of Vince Carter, the Magic have become an even bigger threat in the East.
And since the Magic will have the Charlotte Bobcats, a team that will be making their very first appearance in the playoffs, there should be no problem for Orlando to get past the first round. Who do the Bobcats have to guard Dwight Howard anyway?
Probably the most surprising team in the East this season is the Atlanta Hawks, who have secured the no.3 seed in the East this season. Yup, those high-flying Hawks are now one of the East’s three kings, supplanting the Celtics in the food chain to join the Cavs and the Magic.
They have the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round…
Cavaliers need big man with Shaq out
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
That’s a huge seven-foot problem if you’re a Cavs fan hoping to see your team in the NBA Finals and win one game for a change.
And in case you didn’t get that, Shaquille O’Neal will likely miss the remainder of the 2010 NBA basketball season following surgery on his right thumb after Glen Davis hacked on it in a game between the Cavaliers and the Celtics.
With Shaquille O’Neal out of commission, the Cleveland Cavaliers lose that presence inside. Of course, they can hope Antawn Jamison and blossoming forward J.J. Hickson can fill the void.
But let’s face it, nobody can attract that much attention inside the paint the way Shaq does and with him out, it’ll be awfully hard for LeBron James to find those easy baskets around the perimeter.
The last time the Cleveland Cavaliers were in the playoffs, they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Orlando Magic. The Cavs signed Shaq before the season in preparation for a possible rematch with Orlando in the postseason.
Now, they’re in trouble of getting booted out of the playoffs by the Orlando Magic again, provided Shaq doesn’t make it back in time.
Hell, they’d be lucky to even make it that deep into the playoffs without O’Neal anyway.
Cavs general manager Danny Ferry, on the other hand, can only hope his team would be able to persevere. ”Our guys have done a very good job of stepping up this season. We are confident they will do the same in this situation,” Ferry said.
”We are fortunate to have some depth in our…”
LeBron James to get help from Shaq?
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
The tipping point.
That is exactly where Shaquille O’Neal is at this point of his career. It seems it was only yesterday when he won three championship rings with Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, since then, he moved on to win another one in Miami before failing to do the same in Phoenix.
Now that he’s stay in Arizona is about to expire, rumor has it that the Cleveland Cavaliers are interested in having Shaq play alongside LeBron James. Sure, at 37 years old, Shaq won’t be able to lead ANY TEAM deep into the postseason, but with No.23? It might just work.
According to the rumors, the Cleveland Cavaliers are willing to trade Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic for Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal will be making $20 million next season in the final year of his contract while Wallace will make $14 million and Pavlovic $4.9 million with only $1.5 million guaranteed.
The salary exchange is close enough to make the trade between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns work.
Sure, the Suns are giving up a four-time NBA champion like Shaq but the fact of the matter is, the seven-footer is on the verge of retiring anyway and since they would end up saving $10 million in the deal, that will at least point them towards the right direction in rebuilding the franchise.
If Ben Wallace takes a buyout after he gets traded to Phoenix, the Suns would save even more money. Wallace has already hinted that he is contemplating on retirement after the Cavs, heavily favored to play for the NBA championship, lost to the Orlando Magic after six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
It is very unlikely for Wallace to postpone…
2009 NBA Playoffs Preview: East
Friday, April 17th, 2009
Although everybody knows the Western Conference is always better, I always found the East to be more entertaining.
Probably because I’ve always hated watching John Stockton and Karl Malone play in those stupid shorts in Utah or watch the seven-foot Vlade Divac get taken down by six-foot-three point guards in Sacramento. And while those guys’ playing days are over, I’d still keep my eyes glued on the East for the 2009 NBA Playoffs just because this side of the NBA has two of the hottest commodities in basketball today, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. Oh yeah, the East still has the Pistons too although I’m not counting on them to win anything this year.
Yup, the Detroit Pistons, after all the struggles they went through all year, still found their way to the postseason as the no.8 seed. How about that huh? Still, the festive mood in Detroit could end sooner than you think since they have the overall no.1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers waiting for them.
Unlike the Detroit Pistons, the Cavaliers have been playing tremendously that the merit the trip to the postseason. They have the best home record and would definitely not lose a home game to the struggling Pistons.
The Pistons have now lost Allen Iverson for the year and Rasheed Wallace now comes off the bench, how in the hell can their fans expect their team to overcome a hungry Cavaliers squad led by an even hungrier LeBron James?
The defending champions Boston Celtics have the Chicago Bulls in the first round and if the 2007 playoffs were to tell us anything, it’ll have to be the fact that you can’t underestimate Chicago. You see, it was two years ago when the no.5 seeded Bulls squad shocked the world when they swept the no.4 seeded Heat contingent led by Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal in the very first round.
The Miami Heat team the Chicago Bulls swept…
Miami Heat V Memphis Grizzlies
Monday, March 23rd, 2009
Homecourt.
That’s what the Miami Heat have been gunning for lately in the final stretch of the 2009 NBA basketball season. As of this writing, Miami is sitting on 5th place with only four games behind the Hawks who currently have the no.4 seed in the East.
Homecourt advantage is vital to any team’s success in the playoffs. Just ask the Boston Celtics last year. And judging by the way Dwyane Wade has been playing as of late, it certainly looks like Wade knows the job they need to accomplish is as clear as crystal.
Just ask the Detroit Pistons who, thanks to D-Wade, continued their freefall in the Eastern Conference. Yes, the Pistons lost again, losing this time to the Miami Heat, 101-96. And as always, D-Wade was a huge factor.
After initially being listed as doubtful for their tiff with the Pistons, Dwyane Wade scored a game high 39 points. However, Wade’s scoring output wasn’t the story but rather his defense. Wade blocked two shots in the final 22 seconds while Udonis Haslem scored six points in 6.3 seconds to come up with a win over the struggling Pistons.
Detroit led for almost the entire contest and appeared ready to pull within a game of fifth-place Miami. But thanks to Wade and Haslem who desperately want to get that precious homecourt advantage if ever they make it to the 2009 NBA Playoffs, they made sure it didn’t happen.
The Heat will welcome the Memphis Grizzlies next to…
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