By Tyler Krimpelbein, staff writer
We are now nearing the middle of the NBA season. This has been an eventful first half.
Before the season started the Atlanta Hawks had only a 6 percent chance of winning the east according to a poll of rankings via ESPN. Well the Hawks have won 40 games before the All-Star game and just came off of a francise record 19 game win streak, ended by the New Orleans Pelicans. The Hawks showed the NBA that if you are aggressive on the offensive boards and protect the rim better than them, you have attacked their weakness. Al Horford, now a three-time all-star has proven himself this season on the defensive side averaging 7 rebounds and 1.4 Blocks a game, but his scoring is inconsistent.
I guess what I am trying to say is that this is not going to continue, as much as we want it to. My guess is that the Hawks will go go 59-23.
My pick from the East is the Cleveland Cavaliers to go 58-24 and be the No. 2 seed and slip past Chicago at home in the playoffs and the Hawks in 7 games. They have absolutely clicked! Currently riding a 11 game win streak (at press time) and are playing defense! LeBron has been more aggressive and slid back into the MVP race yet again.
The acquisition of J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Timofey Mozgov has added a huge life off the bench for Cleveland.
Now the West, I could just go with Golden State since everyone is crowning them as the best back-court ever, but I disagree. Other than Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson who is going to play the defense? Defense wins rings, so how could you go with Golden State. You could argue that Andrew Bogut and David Lee can get the job done but neither has been healthy all year.
Houston is just teasing us with winning. There is nothing behind the W’s they are putting up. James Harden is elite, but Dwight Howard and Josh Smith aren’t. I have no cred- ibility behind them.
Portland and the Los Angeles Clippers are strong teams and they are my favorites out west to go further than Golden State and Houston.
Portland has elite talent on offense and defense.
The Clippers are just flat out talented. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are studs and the center they poses in DeAndre Jordan is an All-Star in the making. I have the Clippers going 56-26 and go to the Western Conference Finals.
But who I have actually winning the West is the Memphis Grizzlies. The most complete team in my eyes. They are currently 36-12 and have one of the best home-court advan- tages in sports besides of course the “12’’ in Seattle. Mike Conley Jr. and Marc Gasol have been having their best start since becoming teammates. Zach Randolph is the key though. He is the most consistent forward in the game and a double-double machine who can shoot free-throws. I Have Memphis going 61-21 and going up against Cleveland in the NBA Finals.
My Finals prediction :
Cleveland 4 games to Memphis’ 3.
I think there is something special about the Cavaliers and how they win games. Watch out they will surprise a lot of people. Now that LeBron has no pressure to be back in the finals will make it that much easier.
LeBron has set the goal of only one championship. Unlike in Miami where he figured “not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7 but even more.”