CELTICS? LAKERS? WE'RE BACK IN THE OLD SCHOOL
Well, the NBA regular season is over, and it's been quite an interesting one. Some teams have come out of nowhere others have nose dived into oblivion! The latter now have to settle for a summer of licking their wounds and working out where they go from here, for others glory awaits. And in both conferences the top seeds are pretty surprising.
The biggest beasts in the East have turned out to be the Celtics and for a guy who part of me will always associate with the TWolves, his current team have wasted no time in reimagining KG as a Terminator-style "Green Machine". Who can blame them though? Not the teams beaten in a season ending four game winning streak. The Bucks were beaten at home(102-86) followed by wins in Atlanta(99-89) and New York(99-93) before returning home to beat the Nets(105-94) for a 66-16 record.
In the meantime the Pistons have collected the Central Division title and the 2nd place spot in the East with a 59-23 record and a season ending four game winning streak. In the Southeast division, the Magic seem to be another side on a resurgence, claiming the division title and the third place spot in the East with a 52-30 record and a three game winning streak to end the season.
The Eastern Conference playoffs lineup is completed by the Cavs(4th seed the last to have home court advantage, 45-37) the Wizards(5th seed, 43-39, they have a habit of making the postseason), The Raptors(6th seed, 41-41, there's enough solid players there), the Sixers(7th seed, 40-42, not bad work without AI but getting into the playoffs with a losing record doesn't say much about the East's strength in depth) and finally the Hawks(8th seed, 37-45). How the Hawks made the grade but the Nets and Bulls didn't I'm not sure.
Out West and it's the Lakers that have grabbed the number 1 seed! I always thought that trading Shaq was one of the biggest mistakes in NBA history and before this season, Kobe has never looked like leading a team to the big time. Well Pau Gasol has joined Lamar Odom as back up, Phil Jackson is still running the show, cue 57-25 record complete with season ending wins over the Clippers(106-78), Hornets(107-104), Spurs(106-85) and Kings(124-101).
In the meantime the Hornets of all sides have collected the Southwest division title and the 2nd place spot in the West. They certainly have a solid group of players but nothing that would point to a 56-26 record. The Northwest division was won by the Jazz but their 54-28 record only gets them the fourth seed in the West and even that's just the League regs gifting division winners homecourt advantage.
The Western Conference playoffs lineup is completed by the Spurs(3rd seed despite not winning their division though they do have homecourt advantage, 56-26), the Rockets(5th seed despite being on a 55-27 record, better than the 4th seeded Jazz), the Suns(6th seed, also on a 55-27 record), the Mavs(7th seed, 51-31, the West's sleeper), and finally the Nuggets(8th seed, 50-32, could also be interesting).