The NBA playoffs is all about going strong into the postseason. Some of the top teams aren't looking so good with injuries an etc. And some of the lower teams that were at the bottom of the ranking earlier in the year are now close to the top of the standings. Injuries could be a real problem for teams like Orlando, Chicago, and Miami.
In the east Miami and Chicago have been at the top all year long and there is nothing unexpected with them being the top two teams. But they both are looking for all players to be healthy come play-off time. The bulls Derrick Rose has been suffering injuries all year long and now it's his ankle that has kept him from playing 16 of the last 19 games. For the Heat, Wade and Bosh are looking to rest the injuries the rest of the season to be fresh come play-offs. The Pacers have been the underdog team all season long. But they still are managing to keep one of the top seeds all year long, and looking strong winning seven of their last eight games. The Celtics are expected to either get the four or five seed either way playing the Hawks in the first round. The Celtics have had the best record in the NBA coming off the All-Star break, being under 500 for the first half of the year and now being 37-27. They also have had injury problems but the bench has stepped up especially Avery Bradley and Brandon Bass. The Celtics are trying to make one last run at the playoffs before they get to old to sustain a whole 82 game regular season in years to come. Orlando being the six seed and not looking so good. Their All-Star center Dwight Howard has surfed a season ending back injury. So far without him, the Magic have been 0-3. They will have to face a tough team in the Pacers first round and that won't be good for the Magic ending the season bad with the Pacers rolling into the play-offs. With the Knicks likely coming in as the seven seed in the east are hoping to make a run against either the Heat or the Bulls. The Knicks certainly have the talent with Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthoney to put up a good series to either of those teams.
In the west the top two teams are the old spurs and the young Thunder. These are two totally different teams. The Thunder with a pretty good bench and two stars in Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook, and also being one of the best third scorers on a team James Harden. With the Spurs they have tony Parker who is having an amazing MVP season behind Lebron and Durant, but still for his age and his success he he is having one of his best seasons in the NBA. Also the young Spurs bench has done very well unexpectedly with a lot of great young prospects. The key for the Lakers success in the play-offs is to have great performances by Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and
Andrew Bynum. But the Lakers week point is their bench which is one of the worst in the league. The Lakers may end up playing the Nuggetts who has a really deep team with a lot of key players on it that could do a lot of damage. The raining NBA champions Dallas Mavericks are expected to be the seven seed and playing the Oklahoma City Thunder, which should be another interesting match up to see if Dirk can do the same damage in the play-offs this year as he did last year.
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That's a balanced account of the playoff teams, and the post touches on some key ideas. I'd like to see a bit more depth to your analysis, because I get the sensation that you could dig a bit deeper. Perhaps you could get to the A-level--1000 words!
ReplyDeleteA few writing tips:
1. Stay away from using "etc." That's a cop out for not having anything more solid to say. Your first sentence is better if it reads, "Some of the top teams aren't looking so good because of injuries, poor run-ins, and questionable coaching decisions." See how that's better with actual evidence, instead of ETC?
2. For some reason, you have a tendency to use "being" in place of a more suitable and less awkward verb. For example, "The Celtics have had the best record in the NBA coming off the All-Star break, being under 500 for the first half of the year and now being 37-27." That should read: "The Celtics have the best record in the NBA since the All-Star break, after being under 500 for the first half of the year, and now are 37-27." Often, you can replace "being", which you've used six times in this post, with "are" and it will sound much better.