NBA TITLE CONTENDERS

The abbreviated NBA season has been somewhat of a surprise in certain cases, and I have a short list of true title contenders for June.

It breaks down quite easily between a two tiers - true contenders and pretenders.

True contenders:

Chicago: There really isn't anyone in the league that is in the class of the Bulls. With Derrick Rose injured, the Bulls still managed to keep pace and have the best record in the NBA. Look for them to be in the Finals this year.

Oklahoma City: A huge step forward from last year, the Thunder are playing extremely well on the road. As always Kevin Durant is a go to guy and they are sitting where everyone myself included expected them to be after last year's breakout. If they keep pace they should win the west.

Miami: There are some holes in this roster after the big three, which are relied upon by this team almost solely. I believe they will reach the conference finals but their true character will be tested in the clutch, and particularly LeBron James.

Los Angeles Lakers: I don't believe this needs an explanation. Despite LA's struggles this year they are still in a contending position, and still trump the Thunder in experience, and have a motivated Kobe Bryant on their side. If the role players step up, they could make some noise. Coach Brown is a great playoff coach.

Elite:

Orlando: I don't believe Orlando is a true title contender this year, however there isn't anyone else in the Eastern Conference that can stop Dwight Howard. Ryan Anderson is dangerous from the outside. If Hedo Turkoglu can find his 2009 form they will make some noise as he is a very difficult player to defend. The Magic live and die by the three-pointer and if they don't go down, I see an early exit.

Boston: The Celtics continue to prove me wrong and modestly sit in the top half of the Eastern Conference yet again. If this team is healthy they will make some noise as their experience will trump any of Philadelphia, Atlanta, or Indiana.

San Antonio: I can't remember a time where the Spurs weren't competitive. Third in the NBA in point differential, 9-1 in their last 10, and the second best home record in the league. The Spurs will be a tough matchup for anyone in the west.

On the cusp:

Los Angeles Clippers: Beware the Clippers. As of now they are seeded against the champs and they will certainly have their hands full with the young talent on this team.

Dallas Mavericks: Don't count out the Mavericks, but I simply don't think they are going anywhere. I really dislike Lamar Odom's lack of drive on this team, and Dirk Nowitzki needs help if they are going to pull out another trophy.

Honourable mentions: Philadelphia. Playing inspired and loose basketball. Likely a first round exit, but an excellent bounce back season from the 76ers.

Should be another great June.

Source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/fanfuel/2012/04/03/nba_finals_title_contenders/

NBA: Nowitzki drains jumper to edge Mavs past Magic

Dirk Nowitzki banked in a jumper with 5.9 seconds left and scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks past the Orlando Magic 100-98 on Friday night.

Jameer Nelson scored 24 points to lead the Magic. Ryan Anderson added 21, while Dwight Howard finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds.

The Mavericks trailed by 15 points in the third quarter before rallying in the final period, aided by a plethora of turnovers by the Magic. Jason Terry had 10 points in the quarter and 17 in the game. Delonte West and Shawn Marion each added 15.

Orlando had 16 turnovers, which led to 20 points for the Mavericks. The Magic lost to Dallas for the sixth straight time at home.

HEAT 113, RAPTORS 101 
In Toronto, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh scored 30 points each as the Miami Heat beat Toronto, marking their seventh straight win over the Raptors.

Wade scored a game high 30 points, but said he played with a "heavy heart" after learning his adult nephew had been one of six men shot during a shooting spree in Chicago’s South side on Thursday.

LeBron James had 26 points and nine assists, while Mario Chalmers added 14 points as the Heat won for the second time in two nights after beating Dallas at home on Thursday.

DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points and Andrea Bargnani had 27 for Toronto. Amir Johnson had 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Jose Calderon had 16 assists, one shy of his season high, but the Raptors lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Miami came in having lost six of eight away from home, but improved to 16-11 away from American Airlines Arena.

CLIPPERS 98, TRAIL BLAZERS 97 
In Los Angeles, Chris Paul made a driving layup with 5 seconds to go, lifting Los Angeles past Portland for their season high-tying fourth straight victory.

The Clippers trailed by two when Paul got the ball to Randy Foye, who hit a three-pointer with 47 seconds left to put the Clippers ahead 96-95. Jamal Crawford responded with a 22-footer and Portland led by one with 13 seconds left.

Paul dribbled around before driving to the basket for the winner. Wesley Matthews missed a jumper in the waning seconds for the visitors.

Paul, Blake Griffin and Randy Foye led six Clippers in double figures with 20 points each.

J.J. Hickson led the Blazers with a season-high 29 points and 13 rebounds.

WIZARDS 97, 76ERS 76 
In Washington, Cartier Martin tied a career-high with 20 points in his second game under a 10-day contract, as Washington built a big lead and held on to it for a change, breaking a five-game losing streak.

The loss knocked Philadelphia out of first place in the Atlantic Division, putting them one game behind Boston. The 76ers began the day tied with the Celtics, who beat Minnesota.

The Wizards had blown double-digit leads in their past three home games, but this time they did not let up.

Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young scored 14 apiece for the 76ers, who have lost six of nine.

CELTICS 100, TIMBERWOLVES 79
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kevin Garnett had 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in his return to Target Center as Boston outmuscled Kevin Love and Minnesota.

Paul Pierce had 21 points and nine rebounds, while Rajon Rondo had 17 assists for the Celtics, who have won four in a row and six of their past seven.

Love had 22 points and 11 rebounds, but succumbed to Garnett’s physical defense in a battle between the face of the Timberwolves past and present.

Luke Ridnour had 15 points and eight assists, but the Wolves turned the ball over 21 times to see their playoff hopes take a hit. They entered two-and-a-half games out of the eighth spot in the West.

In other games, it was:

‧ Bucks 121, Cavaliers 84

‧ Nuggets 99, Bobcats 88

‧ Rockets 98, Grizzlies 89

‧ Bulls 83, Pistons 71

‧ Kings 104, Jazz 103

‧ Nets 102, Warriors 100

Source: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2012/04/01/2003529221/1

NBA Game Summary - Dallas at Miami

Final Score: Miami 106, Dallas 85 

Miami, FL (Sports Network) - LeBron James and Chris Bosh both scored 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Heat blew past the Mavericks, 106-85, in a rematch of last year's NBA Finals. Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem contributed 16 points apiece while James, playing despite dislocating a finger on Monday against Indiana, handed out five assists and recorded two steals.

Miami snapped a two-game skid in its return home from a three-game road swing.

"You always want to defend your home court. Hopefully this will give us a bit of momentum," said Bosh. "As long as we keep elevating our play day by day, we will be in the right spot come April."

Dirk Nowitzki paced all scorers with 25 points, Lamar Odom finished with 12 and Vince Carter and Brandan Wright supplied 11 apiece for Dallas, which saw a two-game winning streak end in its first trip to Miami since hoisting the championship trophy in the city last June.

The Mavericks made 5-of-11 three-point attempts in the first quarter to take a 29-24 lead after one, but the Miami put on a veritable shooting clinic in the second quarter to take control.

Haslem made all four tries from the field, Norris Cole hit 4-of-5, Wade knocked down 3-of-4 and James converted his lone attempt. In all, the Heat shot an astonishing 75 percent (15-of-20) from the floor in the frame.

By the time the horn sounded on the fist half, the hosts had their largest lead of the game to that point at 60-53.

They went cold in the third, shooting just 21.7 percent, but still managed to win the quarter 20-19 behind a 9-of-10 mark from the charity stripe.

"It was disappointing because our start to the third quarter was strong and then they answered back," said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. "When we started, we had some real momentum. It was a tough loss."

Dallas never seriously threatened in the final stanza, trailing by at least seven throughout as Nowitzki missed all five of his shots -- part of an abysmal 15.8 percent clip by the Mavericks -- and the Heat rolled to victory.

Game Notes Mavericks guard Delonte West played for the first time since breaking a finger on Feb. 15. He finished with seven points in just over eight minutes...Cole scored 10 points while Mario Chalmers had 12 for Miami...The Heat held a 44-29 rebounding advantage and a 46-24 scoring advantage in the paint.

Source: http://scoreboards.canoe.ca/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=canoe&page=nba/scores/final/W16226.htm

Mavericks vs. Heat: Bold Predictions for NBA Finals Rematch

In the final regular season meeting of last year’s NBA Finals teams, the Dallas Mavericks will revisit the site where they won the franchise’s only championship.

The team enters the contest against the Miami Heat as winners in six of their past eight—with losses coming at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.

The Mavericks close the season with nine games against playoff teams, so a win against last year’s Eastern Conference champions could go a long way in regard to their title defense.

After starting the week off with consecutive losses, the Heat find themselves four games behind the Chicago Bulls for the top seed out east.

The Heat managed to lose both contests by a combined 31 points—marking the first time in the Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh era where they have suffered back-to-back defeats of double-digits.

To make matters worse, James—the team’s leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals—suffered from a dislocated left ring finger in the first quarter of their most recent loss to the Indiana Pacers.

Although he won’t miss any time, you can certainly count on the injury to affect his play.

With all the preliminaries spelled out, it almost seems as if this match-up is tailor-made for a Dallas victory.

Wrong.

Not only do the Mavericks have one of the worst road records of all playoff-caliber teams at 10-14, but Miami also boasts the best home record in the entire league.

It’s true that Dirk Nowitzki was able to use South Beach as a platform in last year’s NBA Finals to cement his status as one of the greatest power forwards of all time. However, this year has been drastically different.

Aside from an in-season benching to improve his conditioning, Nowitzki and his teammates have looked completely out of synch on the road and just plain bad on offense.

The Mavericks are heavily reliant upon perimeter-based scoring and struggle to find interior points that don’t come off dribble-penetration.

Don’t expect this trend to change against a Miami defense that ranks ninth in points allowed and features the NBA’s best trio of outside defenders.

Mario Chalmers has looked bad against athletic point guards like Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook, but should have no problem staying in front of the aging Jason Kidd.

Regardless of Chalmers’ performance, I fully expect head coach Erik Spoelstra to tamper with his defensive assignments if this contest remains competitive until the fourth quarter. By switching LeBron onto the opponent’s primary ball-handler, Miami should be able to disrupt an offense that averages 92.7 points away from home.

If Dallas hopes to stand any chance, it will require newly acquired Lamar Odom to break out of his season-long funk that has him putting up the worst numbers of his 12-year career.

It will be up to Odom to exploit Miami’s glaring weakness on defense. If he can advance the ball from the perimeter into the paint whether it be by catching the ball in the post or driving off the dribble is irrelevant. All that matters is that he creates opportunities against a Miami defense that is susceptible to "scramble mode".

If this ballgame becomes a track meet early, look for the “Heatles” to run away in a blowout.

As the athletically superior team, Miami should look to push the tempo whenever they can and score easy baskets in transition.

Without a shot-blocking presence, Dallas will be exposed inside.

Once the Mavs become overwhelmed in their defensive one-on-one match-ups, expect Rick Carlisle to change the pace of the game by switching to the zone—which will test Miami’s patience and discipline on offense.

Due to an ankle injury, the Heat will be without Mike Miller, the league’s top three-point shooter and designated “zone-buster”. This will thrust Chalmers into Miller’s glorified role.

How he responds just might determine the entire outcome of the game.

While this NBA Finals match-up is full of unpredictable factors such as player performances, the only thing it can guarantee is that the outcome of the game won’t determine this year’s champion.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1124370-mavericks-vs-heat-bold-predictions-for-nba-finals-rematch