Source: Associated Press

Led by their superstar Carmelo Anthony (36 points, 6 rebounds), the New York Knicks outlasted the Boston Celtics 85-78 in a hard-fought contest at Madison Square Garden. As expected, the Knicks takeaway 1-0 series lead over the Celtics.

Carmelo Anthony started the game red hot, going 4-4 (10 points) in the early minutes. Points came free and often in the first period, as very little defense was being played. Jeff Green went on to score 20 points in the first half.

Melo soon went cold as the defense and physicality began to pick up. Brandon Bass played some outstanding individual defense on Anthony, forcing him to catch the ball deep, and got good help defense when Melo drove. Carmelo went on to miss 8 for his next 10. Similarly, J.R. Smith was hounded by Avery Bradley, and nothing was coming easily.

The C’s seemed to have picked up Rondo’s slack offensively, with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett both effectively passing out of the post and double teams. However, early in the second half, it became glaringly obvious how Rondo’s passing and playmaking was sorely missed by the Celtics. Several occasions, Avery Bradley attempted wild entry passes, which were easily picked off.

The Celtics went scoreless for a five minute stretch late in the third quarter and early in the fourth. Mainly due to Kenyon Martin’s huge impact off the bench with five offensive rebounds (4 in that 5 minute period). Boston’s offence never really recovered as they went on to score just eight points in the final period.

Ultimately it was New York’s defense, combined with the Celtics’ lack of ball control (20 turnovers) that saw the Knicks come out on top. Whether or not Boston’s ageing roster can keep up with the physicality in this series will be the determining factor ultimately. For now, the Knicks hold a 1-0 lead and play the next game at home on Tuesday.

eShati CL0026089
Havana Dress
Rhonda Melo

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Later

Rhonda Melo

Ok, so I know I need to provide you with a comprehensive set of picks, but first we need a column on the Knicks-Celtics match-up. There’s just so many sub-stories and all eyes are on Boston to see how it comes out of their recent crisis. And let’s be honest, sport is a great way to do that, and the Celtics are sure as hell coming out swinging. I cant believe I’m F***ing missing games 1 and 3 because of parties. Game 3 is probably going to be the greatest sporting atmosphere Boston has seen since Larry Legend. God damn it. So here’s my breakdown:

New York Knicks – Boston Celtics

Obviously, this is a series marred by all the tragedies and media attention centered around Boston this week. I really can’t express into words how much of a horror story this has all been, so I’m not going to even try. But this is a resilient city; this is a city of hard-working, hard-nosed, people who are going to rise out of this stronger than ever. You can bet your ass on that. Boston isn’t just a city, it’s a community. These events have clearly devastated people, and these are people who rally behind their sports, so I can see the Celtics giving them everything they can.

In terms of the series, I’ve liked the look of it for a while. It’s not just the fierce rivalry, but this year it just feels different. The Knicks are the team in the ascendancy for once, they’re the ones calling the shots in the division now. Well, until Kevin Garnett told Carmelo “his wife tasted like honey-nut cheerios”, which is frankly the best trash-talk I’m ever going to hear in my lifetime. Needless to say, blood will be spilt, tears will be shed, and only one of these guys is coming out the other end. What is it with the clichés today? Jesus Christ. Anyway, I’m just trying to highlight that this is a series where there are so many motivations for everyone to win: Boston for the city, the Knicks to lay an FU on the Celts, Melo to shut up Garnett… the list goes on.

So can the Knicks really win this? I think that’s the question we need to ask, and the answer’s fairly simple; of course they can. They are second best team in the East, no question. Thanks to Carmelo Anthony. Melo stole Durant’s scoring title, sorted out his attitude, and adopted the fourth spot in an explosive season for this franchise. I don’t doubt that Melo is the best player in this series and he’s going to come out of it with however many 20+ point games. I just worry about how everything fits around him. They can’t play Amar’e because he makes this team worse, which is just f***ing weird. He’s probably an all-star in his own right, yet you cant play him alongside the other guys? This team’s attitude just stinks. But saying that, I think they’ve added some quality this year and it could be telling. J R Smith is probably 6th man of the year, he’s really come on shooting-wise recently, which is a huge bonus for the Knicks. And let’s not forget Tyson Chandler is a quality guy at the 5 spot. He was defensive player of the year last season, and a great weapon in stopping guys getting to the rim. I do believe this is a very strong team and without Amar’e, they’d have gone far. But Boston is the team these guys just don’t want to be playing right now.

The Celtics just have the Knick’s number. I came into the season so hopeful with what this team could achieve given the depth and range of players available to them. The Ray Allen – Jason Terry replacement looked sound in my eyes, Jeff Green was coming back, and I just bought into their whole rotation of guys. Yeah, ok, it hasn’t exactly worked out that way. Terry stinks, Green stank until the All-Star break, Rondo’s gone; the team just looks a shell of what they had coming into the year. They had a back-court of Rondo, Avery Bradley, Terry, and Courtney Lee supported by a front-court primarily of Pierce, Green, Bass, and Garnett. So that’s a starting 5 of Rondo-Bradley-Pierce-Bass(?)-Garnett with capable replacements in all positions. Does that not sound like a championship team to you? I’m still on the bandwagon. Just.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t just because I love the Celtics, even I recognize that this team relies heavily on temperament. I have absolute faith in Avery Bradley, the guy’s a defensive machine, WHEN he’s on form. And the same goes for Green; he’s recently been offering up an offensive clinic… BUT he’s only been that go-to guy for half a season. If this team wants to prevail, they NEED everyone to have big nights, every night. But I think with the recent events going on in the city, the players’ sense of pride, and the fact it’s the Knicks; I think they got this. I know Carmelo is going to crush them in probably every game but I think, as a team, they’ll rise up and give the fans everything they desire. Oh and watch out for Paul Pierce’s 40 point game in game 3 at the TD Garden. It’s happening.

Boston in 7. 

Ok, I know a lot of Heat “fans” would string me up for saying anyone without the last name James should be the MVP, but I’m sorry, there’s no way Carmelo Anthony doesn’t take home that title this year. And no, I’m not just saying that because he was the leagues leading scorer (but that definitely doesn’t hurt his case).

As a life long Raptors fan, I don’t like the Knicks, but I will give credit where credit is due. Without Carmelo Anthony in their lineup the Knicks wouldn’t even has sniffed the Atlantic Division Title and isn’t that what being the “MVP” is all about? Being the MOST VALUABLE to your team? Granted, someone like…say…LeBron James is important to his team, but they probably would have competed for a division title even without him the lineup (remember they still have Wade, Bosh, Allen and some other good guys). This season, Carmelo missed 15 games, in those 15 games, the Knicks went 7-8 (.467 W%) and had a 47-20 (.783 W%) in the 67 games he did play. Pretty simple to figure out, with Melo in the lineup, the Knicks are a playoff team and contender, without him, they’re not. Comparing those numbers to LeBron (again), the Heat went 5-1 (.833 W%) without James in their lineup and were 61-15 (.802 W%) with him in the lineup. I know, still a ridiculous number but you can argue that Miami played the same, if not better when LeBron wasn’t on the floor. Not to mention the 8 games Melo put the Knicks on his back and netted 40 or more points (one of those games hitting the 50 point plateau). Sticking with Carmelo vs. LeBron, in three games against each other, Melo averaged over 37 PPG versus Miami while James recorded 27 PPG versus New York. So head to head, Melo wins that debate.

I know I’ve picked on LeBron James a lot but if you listen to just about every analyst, LeBron should be making room on his shelf for the MVP trophy and it’s simply not the case. Carmelo Anthony has shown just as much hustle and probably more heart than LeBron this season and deserves his recognition. Anthony has played his way into the hearts of New York basketball fans and seems to have lost the “heartless” tag that’s been put on him the past few seasons. Granted, Anthony might just get the trophy since he was the leading scorer with 28.7 PPG and the NBA doesn’t really know what criteria to base an “MVP” on, so they’ll probably just give it to the best scorer like they normally do. So in that case, congratulations Melo!

I’m probably not alone by saying the NBA is probably one of the most controversial and possibly fixed leagues so I don’t have to go into too much detail about the higher powers that might influence the MVP decision. For now, I’ll just hope Anthony gets his due and Knicks fans can have one more thing to talk about on twitter with #knickstape at the end.

Source: ESPN

New York and Boston – a dream matchup for fans and supporters alike. The series is shaping up to be one of the most hard-fought playoff contests in recent memory.
New York has been a powerhouse in the East this season. Led by their superstar Carmelo Anthony, and well drilled by head coach Mike Woodson. The Knicks haven’t won a playoff series since 2000, but we can expect that drought to break this year.

Boston, on the other hand, cruises into the playoffs well rested. Despite being without their superstar point guard, Rajon Rondo (ACL), their stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett come into the post-season having only averaged 33.4 and 29.7 minutes per game this season. Doc Rivers has managed their minutes extremely well, and Boston only needed to crack the top 8 to be a title threat.

Carmelo Anthony is playing with a chip on his shoulder – one of the greatest players of all time to never have won a ring. Combine that with immense contributions from J.R. Smith, and no Rondo or Sullinger for Boston and it should be too much for the C’s to handle.

A huge key for Boston can be Avery Bradley’s defense on J.R. Smith – if he can even slightly reduce his impact, it will greatly increase Boston’s chances for success.

However, expect New York to get it done at home, and steal a game on the road to ultimately close it out in six games.

Prediction: Knicks win 4-2

With the regular season wrapped up, it’s time to turn to the playoffs and predictions for the prestigious awards handed out by the NBA! The contributors to this website decided to compile a list of the top 3 players for each award. The award winners are as follows:

Most Improved Player

- “Went from a perceived draft bust due to his nagging ankle injuries to the best pure shooter in the NBA. Really proved what he can do when healthy, dropping 270 threes this season, breaking Ray Allen’s NBA record. Dropped 54 and 47 against the Knicks and Lakers. Need I say more?” – Tom

Coach of the Year

- “The Nuggets were expected to be a decent team this year, but Karl has been responsible for pushing them to a higher level. The Nuggets have a variety of different players who can score, with 6 players averaging more than 10 points per game. Karl has done a great job thus far running this team and leading them to the playoffs.” – Tim

Defensive Player of the Year

- “Mr. Fundamental is surprising everyone again this year, averaging more than 2.5 blocks per game and close to double digit rebounds per game. He has successfully turned back time and led the Spurs to yet another Southwest Division title.” – Tom

Rookie of the Year

- “Lillard has the most minutes played in the NBA this season. Of any player. This marks the third time in NBA history that a rookie has led the league in minutes. Lillard averaged 19.0 points, 6.5 assists, and 3.1 rebounds. He also shot 43% from the field and 37% from deep.” – Tim

Sixth Man of the Year

- “Smith has had stretches of supreme efficiency and high scoring. He is Incredibly athletic and when playing well, he is the definition of a spark plug. He averaged 18.1 points, 2.7 assists, and 5.3 rebounds per game.” – AJ

Most Valuable Player

- “LeBron James is going to win the award by a landslide. James led his team to the best record in the NBA, notching a 27-game win streak along the way. His stats are as followed: 26.9 ppg, 7.2 apg, and 8.1 rpg. His rebounding average is the highest of his career. James’ assist ratio (the percentage of his possessions that end with an assist) is the second best of his career at 23.1. Lastly, LeBron leads the league with a PER (player efficiency rating) of 31.69. LeBron James is too dominant for anyone to stop him. He easily should win this award.” – Tim

Melo clinches scoring crown. Check out the story of his season.
credit CGD for the Pic

The Knicks checked off one last regular season goal this afternoon by defeating the Indiana Pacers to not only lock up the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference, but also have the luxury of resting key players over the season’s remaining two games. The Pacers weren’t a squad to make it easy though, and they gave the Knicks, specifically Carmelo Anthony, a taste of the rough and physical defense they’ll have to overcome for a deep playoff run.

FIRST QUARTER UP AND DOWNS: Melo came out firing hitting his first three shots and scoring the first 11 points for the Knicks. The problem was none of the other Knicks could find their shots and the Pacers remained close until Chris Copeland came in. Along with Felton, Cope sparked an 8-0 run to finish the first 12 minutes with an 23-15 lead.

MELO JR: Speaking of Cope, or “Melo Jr.” as I’ve started calling him, he did a marvelous job in being the focal point of the second unit. He hit back to back three-pointers to start the second quarter and was integral in the Knicks going on a 21-4 run with Melo on the bench to get a 41-21 lead.

With the Knicks big men still convalescing, Copeland was again relegated to having to guard the center and power forward positions. It was no easy task for him this game as he had David West and Roy Hibbert to contend with. He rose to the challenge defensively, and had one stretch where he stripped Hibbert and then drew an offensive foul on Lance Stephenson.

Cope was the most efficient Knick this afternoon in dropping 20 points on 8/12 shooting. The Knicks are in dire need of having a third option to compliment Melo and JR, and Cope has shown over the the last month he’s the most consistent Knick offensively to do it. His three-point shooting really helps to open up the paint, and he can finish at the rim. I’m hoping for a big first round playoff performance from him.

PACERS GOON TACTICS GIVE THE KNICKS AN EARLY TASTE OF THE PLAYOFFS:   Because of their defensive reputations, the refs really let the Pacers roughhouse with the Knicks down low. And to NY’s credit, they gave as good as they got (most of the time). Melo got a tech in the third for complaining too much, but he also made sure to get the ball in the basket, hammering down an angry two-handed stuff after a Hibbert hack wasn’t called.

Hibbert got a flagrant 1 for basically face-palming an Iman Shumpert’s dunk attempt, and Melo had to sit late in the third after suffering a left shoulder contusion from a David West hard foul. Nonetheless, the Knicks kept working in the paint, and two JR Smith drives help to give them some breathing room heading into the fourth with a 69-60 lead.

HOW ABOUT OUR DEFENSE?: The Pacers had 24 turnovers in this game (and we didn’t have to maul to do it). Many of them were just savvy plays from the Knicks. Jason Kidd literally snatched the ball out of Lance Stephenson’s hands on a drive to the basket. The 7’2 Roy Hibbert should have had a dominant game with Copeland and Solomon Jones guarding him, but the Knicks trapped extremely well, forcing him into five turnovers and holding the big man to just 4 points.

The problem for the Knicks this game was Lance Stephenson, who was being given way too much room to shoot threes (4/9 from downtown). He did most of his damage in the first half and finished with 22 points.

SOLOMON “RAGDOLL” JONES: Coach Woodson saw early on that Jones wasn’t going to be anything but food out there to the Pacer bigs. Hibbert and West had him falling all over the place in the first quarter. In his 13 minutes, he only had 1 rebound as he couldn’t establish any good position in the paint. We’ll see if he fares any better tomorrow, but I doubt it.

ELECTRIC RELAXATION: Melo (25 points) made it clear in the post-game that his shoulder is nothing serious. In addition, he confirmed he won’t be playing tomorrow. Now this is the only time it’s permissable to have James White in the starting lineup. Let guys like Novak and Shumpert get ample time to work on their shots, and hopefully Rasheed Wallace will be back to log a few minutes and shake off his rust.

After last night’s physical overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls, the short-handed Knicks had every reason to play lazy tonight against the Cavs. Instead, the Knicks rode a combined 62 points between Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith to easily defeat the Cavaliers 101-91. The win is significant in that the Pacers dropped one tonight against the Nets, meaning New York will need just one more game to lock up the #2 seed in the East and enjoy home court through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

SOLOMON JONES: This game was notable for being the debut of newly signed 6’10 center Solomon Jones, a former Atlanta Hawks player under Mike Woodson several years back. With the team having literally no healthy bigs, Jones at best was hoped to be a presence on defense and at worst six extra fouls. Tonight, he was understandably lost on the plays and his new teammates weren’t too trusting. In his 12 minutes, Jones got dunked on by Tristan Thompson, committed two turnovers and got a rebound. Sure, it’s nothing memorable, but all we need Jones to do is buy our squad time to heal and not overwork our depleted roster. After that, he can find a cozy spot on the bench next to James White.

THIS IS THE CAVS WE’RE TALKING ABOUT: Cleveland had lost 8 of their last10 coming into this and pretty much played like a team in disarray. Kyrie Irving finished with 31 points and helped his team get withing about nine on a few separate occasions, but the game was decided early on in the fourth behind the man below…

JR SMITH REBOUNDS: JR took his frustration from the Bulls game and channeled it properly tonight. He was red-hot from the field (13-16, 31 points), and did his damage on jumpers and drives inside. He manned the offense so well in the fourth that Woody was able to keep Melo rested. Speaking of our leading scorer, Melo continued to put more room between himself and Kevin Durant for this year’s scoring title with another 30-plus effort (31 points, 14 rebounds).

COPE BOUNCES BACK: Our “big man” in Chris Copeland chipped in 12 points tonight and fared much better now that he wasn’t being swarmed by Chicago’s defense. Copeland remained an offensive threat throughout the game and did his best work inside.

QUICKEN LOANS ARENA NO LONGER A SCARY PLACE: The Knicks have now won back to back games in Cleveland after previously losing their last 10 there going back to the LeBron James era.

WIN AND REST: The Knicks haven’t had the luxury of resting Melo and JR due to all the injuries, so it’s highly important they lock up the #2 seed on Sunday against the Pacers. From there, Melo and JR can at least get shut down or have their minutes highly reduced over the next two games against Charlotte and Atlanta.

Years ago I got my Ph.D in player hating on the Knicks, particularly Carmelo Anthony. But I didn’t do my studies in a vacuum.

Besides the obvious — that Anthony hasn’t sniffed the NBA Finals, much less a Larry O’Brien Trophy — Thursday night was a marvelous microcosm of his career. The Knicks lost to the Bulls, largely watching Melo shoot 13-for-34.

“The Knicks didn’t have Tyson Chandler or Kenyon Martin!” you bark. “What do you want from the Knicks?”

And the Bulls were missing Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose. Whom would you rather have on your team?

Anthony scored 36 points on 34 shots. On Thursday night Kevin Durant scored 31 points on 16 shots. This stat is even more staggering: Anthony touched the ball 53 times and passed it 12 times. 12. Durant passed it 39 times.

Anthony had two assists (Durant had eight) — none after the first quarter — and he passed the ball just five times in the second half and overtime.

For the season, Durant averages more assists, rebounds, blocks and steals. He also has a higher field-goal percentage (50 percent to 45 percent) and shoots 90 percent from the foul line. But Melo is the MVP, or at least right behind LeBron James. The Melo Kool-Aid is strong these days, and millions of otherwise sane men and women are hooked on it like athletic crack.

Knicks fans are incurably duplicitous and delusional. The Heat’s 27-game winning streak was marginal, but the Knicks win half as many and it’s portentous of June parades. MSG chants “MVP!” after every Melo basket when no sane human west of the Hudson would. Beating the Heat three times this season means you can beat them in the playoffs, but losing four times to the Bulls means nothing. The Knicks are an Original Six-type NBA team, swathed in tradition, yet they haven’t won a ring in four — Four! — decades.

You clamor for Anthony to win the scoring title, when most players who do don’t win the NBA title the same year. By the way, Durant has won the last three scoring titles, is a half-point behind Melo in scoring this year and also averages more blocks and steals. But somehow Durant isn’t the runner-up in MVP voting. Durant also excels in an exponentially tougher conference. Durant is better than Anthony at everything, but his fatal flaw is that he isn’t a Knick.

James is loathed for not winning the big one, but Melo is a God despite getting dusted in the first round of the playoffs in eight out of nine tries. Durant had his team in the NBA Finals last year.

The Knicks have had a superlative season, especially by their recently wretched standards. And  Anthony is a wildly gifted player who could, and should, be more. If only he passed and played defense. Who knows how far he and the Knicks could go?

Maybe they wouldn’t meet their maker in Miami. But they will.

Assuming they get that far.

What are your thoughts on Keidel’s opinion of Melo? Sound off in the comments section below…

The Chicago Bulls have officially become the streak busters.  If you’re an opposing team coming into the UC on a winning streak then be prepared to get locked down by the Bulls.  The Bulls broke up the Miami Heat’s 27 game winning streak last month and last night they broke up the Knicks 13 game winning streak.  With this win, the Bulls sweep the season series (4-0) from the Knicks and improve to 43-35.  It’s fair to say that the Bulls own the Knicks and I love it.  I have said all year that I think the Knicks are extremely overrated, they play no defense and they are too dependent on the 3 ball.  Knicks fans and players are probably wondering why they have been dominated by the Bulls all year long, so I’ll let you in on the secret.  The Bulls are a great defensive team and very well coached, the teams we often struggle with are the ones that can run and gun or teams that can move the ball quickly and efficiently in the half court.  The Knicks do none of this; their offense is slow moving and they are so isolation heavy.  They throw the ball to JR Smith or Carmelo Anthony and then stand along the 3 point line, not real hard to figure out.  I really like Carmelo a lot but I think the Knicks are going down in the 1st round to the Celtics.

To the game last night, the Knicks were led by 2 monster games from Melo (36 points 19 rebounds) and JR Smith chipped in with 28 points and 14 rebounds.  These stats look huge but I didn’t mention that they shot a combined 61 shots and only made 24 including this monster tip dunk.

The Bulls were led by Nasty Nate Robinson who not only dropped 35, but he also gave us a new celebration video to watch.

Jimmy Butler had another great game with 22 points and 14 rebounds (7 offensive) and he played as well as anyone can against Melo.  It was great to have Lieutenant Deng back in the lineup who chipped in 16 and 8.  The Bulls proved again that they can get up for any game and can take down any team on any given night.

All good things must come to an end. After weeks of stellar play, the Knicks fell into some bad habits last night (cold shooting, bad perimeter defense) and had their 13-game win streak snapped by the Chicago Bulls, who seem to have had their number this season. Even with all our bigs out, Melo having his first off night of April, and having to start Chris Copeland at center, the Knicks were still within a jumper of winning this.

ALL IS WELL THROUGH 3 1/2 QUARTERS: The Knicks came out strong in the first quarter behind their three-point shooting and jumped out of a 23-6 lead. Copeland in particular was hot behind the arc. The Bulls went on an 10-0 run to get back in it, but the Knicks kept them around the five-point deficit mark through halftime (59-54).

In the third, Copeland heated up from three again and got a fourth foul call on Luol Deng, The Knicks went up by as much as 77-62 midway through the third and seemed to be on their way to a nice victory until two-plays started the slow downfall.

THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, PABLO!: Pablo Priginio threw two telegraphed passes that were picked off by Jimmy Butler for fast-break dunks. From there the momentum shifted completely to the Bulls. The Knicks guards of Kidd, Felton and Prigioni started losing Robinson badly on screens and gave up countless three-pointers. Next thing you know, the Bulls had gone on a 16-3 run to end the third and  the Knicks were clinging to a 82-80 lead.

MELO NEARLY SAVES THE DAY: The Knicks picked the worst time in the fourth quarter to start bricking their shots. It wasn’t like it was all due to the Bulls defense either — guys like Kidd and Felton got wide-open shots out Melo and JR double teams. On the other hand, Nate Robinson continued his hot hand from the second quarter on and hit a three to extend the Bulls lead to 97-90.  However, a 15-6 Knicks run tied it at 105 with the Knicks in possession with a little over a second left. Melo got a good look at a long jumper, but failed to convert.

The way the Knicks had been playing, this was their best shot to pull this out. The jumpers still weren’t falling in overtime and the refs swallowed their whistles (particularly Joey Crawford), who seemed to have a grudge against JR Smith for his complaining at the lack of calls inside. As a result, the Knicks were outscored 13-4 and ended up losing 118-111.

NOT WORRIED: We were due for a bad game and considering it was a nine-man rotation without our best defensive players (Martin, Chandler). And when you let Nate Robinson score 35 points off the bench, you’re giving yourself a hard time to win. This was the first time in a minute that Melo was forcing it (13-34, 36 points), but he really had no choice with the rest of the team outside of JR shooting so poorly.

Copeland had a good first half, but went 4-14 overall and couldn’t hit anything over the second half. And when Copeland isn’t scoring, you’re not getting anything but blown assignments on defense.

The Knicks get a chance tonight to start another little streak to end the season when they face the lowly Cavaliers. NY already holds two wins over the Cavs this season.

New York Knicks

I’ve stayed relatively quiet on this team throughout the year, but they’ve pretty much wrapped up that second seed right about now. Look, it’s nothing personal, they’re a very successful team, I just don’t think the mentality is there. This is a team who plays better without Stoudemire, what’s up with that? Carmelo is really coming into his own at Power Forward, but he’s gotta be the guy to nullify LeBron. ‘Melo can certainly mix it up with the King, and Chandler can definitely out-muscle Miami at the rim, but then what? Kidd and Felton aren’t exactly fantastic and Amar’e actually makes the team weaker. I’m sorry, but if a star PF makes your team worse, trade him and come back next year. This is a progression, but well done for getting from 8th to 2nd seed in a year.

Chicago Bulls 

I promise, short and sweet. The Chicago Bulls is the best balanced team in the league; top 5 player, 2 All-stars, 2 former all-stars, productive bench. They have a guy at every position, and that’s what should scare people. But it’s not their year. There’s something wrong with Rose which isn’t just physical, this guy is struggling to get back into it. That’s not a good sign when you think about his ‘take the hits’ playing style. Then Hamilton was one of the worst trades I’ve seen. “Let’s trade for a guy to take on Wade in the playoffs” –  just sounds stupid doesn’t it? He’s missed games, he’s not effective and I would dump him in the off season. So you’ve got Noah (injured, but returning), Deng, and Boozer to go up against Brooklyn; a very physical up-and-coming side. I still see Chicago coming through with the guidance of Thibs, but it’ll be a 7 game series, and then a trip to South Beach. No, thanks. Look, this Chicago team has plenty of potential, but we’re not seeing it ’til next year.

Boston Celtics 

How could I not mention this team? They took the Heat to 7 last year without the defensive presence of Avery Bradley. This year they need to do it without the production of Rondo. Seems a very different task, right? I just don’t see it happening, and it hurts. There’s no doubt Garnett is going to dominate any other Center defensively, Pierce can mix it up (for maybe 30MPG) with any Small Forward, and Bradley is back and I absolutely love this kid’s defensive effort. Avery Bradley is a new Scottie Pippen (snap him up, Chicago!). Whilst there was a lot of talk about the difference between perceived and real effect from Rondo (Simmons’ Ewing Theory), I don’t think you can deny that a Boston team with him in the line-up would be frightening. But at least Jeff Green has found some from since the All-star break. Bring on the Knicks.

So there we have it. The Knicks… aren’t ready. The Bulls… aren’t ready. The Celtics… aren’t ready. And I’m sorry for not including Indiana; they’re a very strong team and probably favorites for getting to the Conference Finals vs Miami (I can see them taking New York), but I don’t see the cutting edge the other teams have. Melo can outplay LeBron just enough to make a difference, but New York have nobody to match Wade. Chicago (potentially) have Hamilton who’s designed to take Wade, but there’s no Rose and that’s going to cost them. Similarly, the Celtics have a strong roster, but no Rondo makes the difference. And that pretty much sums up the East; there’s just no teams ready to deal with the LeBron-Wade partnership but also to remember that there’s 3 other guys out on the floor including potentially Ray Allen and Chris Bosh. Not a hope in hell.

So bearing that in mind, let’s recap what we said of the West. Oklahoma have gone back on themselves by letting Harden go, they’re maybe a 6 game instead of 5 series this year but that’s all. San Antonio have experience and fantastic players, I just don’t see enough of a cutting edge – the Indiana factor – but they are a nightmare match up physically for Miami, so I’d happily wager on them causing an upset in the Finals. But an almighty upset it would be. Then there’s the Clippers. First Pacific title in franchise history, lost their third place so it’s now Memphis in the first round. Ouch. They’re still the deepest roster in the league, but that’s just not going to be enough for a long run. I’d also like to belatedly mention Denver; after their impressive streak I’ve no doubt this team could take any western side in a series, especially with that superior home record. But no Gallinari will cost them anything big.

The Heat are winning this title.