Which teams are making noise?
With only four weeks to go in the NBA's regular season, now is the time where teams need to make their move and peak at the right time (which everyone seems to agree is right before the playoffs). The team that did that in a resounding way last week were the Thunder of Oklahoma city. OKC is currently riding a 6-game winning streak in which they went 3-0 against other title contenders (The Lakers, Bulls, and Heat) as well as another quality win over a good opponent who isn't quite as good as the other teams (The Clippers). I have to admit that I was genuinely impressed by Oklahoma's performance, especially the chemistry between Westbrook and Durant. Last season Westbrook took a lot of criticism for not deferring to KD, but as Magic said today "we hated on him last year, but now we have to give him his props", the truth is, if both of those guys can sustain this level of performance (and play with each other unselfishly) in and throughout the playoffs, we could see the birth of a very scary dynasty. However, despite their level of play this year, Oklahoma still has work to do to clinch home court advantage throughout the West thanks to the ageless Spurs.
San Antonio did not really impress me as much as the Thunder this week, but this is largely due to the fact that San Antonio's consistency over the last decade, as well as their refusal to die (figuratively of course) does not phase me anymore. I could type how under-the-radar they have been, or how they have quietly gotten younger and more athletic, and how they have the best coach in the league, but none of that stuff matters because nobody will be interested in hearing it. San Antonio will get their proper respect after the first round of the playoffs (if they get there), until then, you really wont hear as much about them as you will about some of the other contenders. One last team I will mention, before moving on to other topics, is the Boston Celtics. Following the trade deadline, in which Danny Ainge wisely decided to let this crew have one last run (and if you think anyone will knock this team out easily, you are mistaken) Pierce, Rondo, Garnett, Allen, and Rivers will have this team believing, even if no one else believes in them. They have crept up on Orlando for the 3 seed in the East and are in full out business mode. The blowout they laid on the Heat yesterday signals that these guys are locked in, and the Heat and Bulls wont be happy about it and they definitely will not be happy if they have to face a rejuvenated and motivated Celtics team in the playoffs.
How is the MVP race shaking up after last week?
Going back to the topic of OKC's brilliant week, not only did it send a message to the rest of the league that the Thunder are for real, it also boosted Kevin Durant's MVP chances. Now, I am on record as saying that Lebron is by far the MVP of this season and I stand by that. However, every single one of the ABC/ESPN analysts in Sunday's broadcast were tipping Durant as the MVP. I get that the Thunder have a shot at the best record in the league, but the MVP award is about more than that. Whatever feelings you may have about Lebron, you can not ignore the fact that he has put together an incredible season. He did this by the way, without Wade for a good portion of the games. Durant has had the benefit of no major injuries affecting his team (never a good sign, some teams look way better on paper because they managed to stay healthy in the regular season, just ask the 07' Mavs if you don't believe me) which definitely helps take some pressure off of him and furthermore, the Thunder do not have the same target on them that the Heat do. This has the potential to be a very close MVP race and we know that the media affects the voters. True story: Marcus Camby and PJ Brown once got more MVP votes than Kobe did in a season. No, I'm not joking, here is the link to prove it. That season was the year after Shaq got traded and the media pronounced Kobe the mastermind behind destroying the Lakers, the Staples crowd even booed him!The point I am trying to make is that the media will influence voters (which is why votes should be transparent, but that's a topic for another time) and it is not far-fetched that media darling Kevin Durant wont get a few extra votes because of this. It should make for a very interesting finish between these two super-stars, and yes, it is a two-man race because Kobe took him self out of it by shooting 26 for 85 in the four games prior to his gem against the Warriors.
Some things to look forward to in the upcoming week:
Memphis: They play five games this week, and the schedule could not have been less kind. They kick of a back-to-back-to-back today against OKC, then travel back to play the Warriors, then hit the road to play last year's finalists (with Dallas being the last of the three straight), and after they finish their game in south beach, they travel home to play Dallas again. It goes without saying that this week will tell us what Memphis is made of, they can not afford to pile up losses here (especially with the Clippers, Suns, and Spurs waiting right after the aforementioned week--ouch), if Memphis rips off a 5-0 or a 4-1 week, we will know they are for real. Stay tuned.
Boston: If we call Memphis' stretch an exam that is worth 60%, then Boston's is worth 30%. They play the Bulls, Spurs, and Pacers, thus giving us a chance to see if their recent run of wins was a fluke or a jump-start.
The Knicks: Much like Memphis, its put up or shut up time for New York as well. Their next five games are Indiana, Orlando, Chicago twice and Milwaukee. New York can get a strangle hold on the playoffs, or they can fade away, big time stretch coming for them.
That will do it for this week, check back on the next segment of this weekly look at the NBA next Monday where I will either be writing the Grizzlies' obituary, or pronouncing Lionel Hollins as the coach of the year. Until next time, cheers!
-We have a Twitter feed now, hit us up at @MillenniumSandE
No comments:
Post a Comment