At the end of the 2013 (calendar) year, the Eastern Conference Finals seemed destined to be a rematch of last year's matchup between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers.
Two and a half months later, the Heat (5/6) and Pacers (13/10) are clearly the favorites to represent the conference in the NBA Finals (based on odds from Sportsbook.com).
Two teams have the potential to make it more interesting than it appeared in December.
The Bulls and Joakim Noah, Mr. Triple-Double lately, have a ton of heart and could play spoiler in the second round of the playoffs. Based on standings through Sunday's games, the Bulls would be the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
While the Bulls have the fourth-best odds (25/1) to win the Eastern Conference, the team with the third-lowest odds (20/1) currently occupies the No. 6 seed, the Brooklyn Nets.
They have certainly come a long way since this moment:
Even though they are 3.5 games behind the Raptors, the Nets have been extremely good since the calendar turned to 2014. After a 10-21 start in 2013, the Nets have won 23 of 33 games since the start of 2014 without Jason Kidd spilling any more drinks on the court.
Here is this week's roundtable question for our experts: Fill in the blank: The Brooklyn Nets have a ____ percent chance of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.
Kevin Hanson: 15 percent
First off, I expect a Pacers-versus-Heat matchup just like the majority of the planet, but the Nets (and Bulls) have made it more interesting with a month to go in the regular season. Although they have turned their season around without him, the loss of Brook Lopez for the season hurts. Granted, Deron Williams is one of the better point guards in the league and Shaun Livingston has been an excellent story this season. But it's hard to get excited about guys like Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett helping this team make a deep playoff run. In fact, I think the Bulls have a greater chance of getting to the Conference Finals than the Nets.
John Trifone: 10 percent
The Nets have a 10-percent chance of reaching the Conference Finals. They are looking like they will be either the fifth or sixth seed in the East, so where they ultimately finish could play a role in their chances. If they finish as the fifth seed, they'll play at Chicago, which could be a one-and-done for them. I don't like their chances of winning two series if the first one starts in Chicago. If they finish sixth, I think they will get by Toronto, but I still only give them a puncher's chance of knocking off one of the two Titans in the East. They certainly are playing much better in the second half of the season, but there is still a pretty big gap between the top two and the rest of the East.
Sean Beazley: 0.00001 percent
Brooklyn's roster is filled with NBA veterans, but it's a three-team race in the East with the Pacers, Heat, and Bulls as the elite teams. I think the Nets will struggle to make it out of the 1st round.
Dan Yanotchko: 0 percent
The Brooklyn Nets have a zero-percent chance of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals this year. This year, it will be Miami vs. Indiana for the third straight time, as there is no one even close to those two teams in the East. The Nets started horribly this year, and have managed to right the ship at 33-31, so they are two games over .500. The problem is that the Nets are challenged offensively, as they only average 97.4 points per game, and they are ranked 29th overall in rebounds per game. The Nets will just be a warm-up for either Miami or Indiana depending on their seed.
Moving up only slightly from last week (16th), the Nets are currently the 14th team in our Week 21 NBA consensus power rankings.
- See our full 2013-14 NBA Power Rankings
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Showing posts with label Kevin Garnett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kevin Garnett. Show all posts
Monday, March 17, 2014
Monday, January 20, 2014
Zach Randolph has 23 points and 20 rebounds vs. Pelicans
Entering today's game against the Pelicans, Grizzlies power forward Zach Randolph was tied for seventh in the NBA with Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge in double-doubles (24).
Coincidentally, Aldridge was the only player with multiple 20-20 games this season, but Randolph became the eighth player to have one such game this season.
Against the Pelicans, Randolph finished with 23 points, a season-high 20 rebounds and three assists.
As noted by ESPN's Stats & Info, Randolph ranks fifth among active players in most 20-20 games (11) behind Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Kevin Love.
On the season, Randolph is averaging 17.51 points and 10.89 rebounds per game.
Coincidentally, Aldridge was the only player with multiple 20-20 games this season, but Randolph became the eighth player to have one such game this season.
Against the Pelicans, Randolph finished with 23 points, a season-high 20 rebounds and three assists.
As noted by ESPN's Stats & Info, Randolph ranks fifth among active players in most 20-20 games (11) behind Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Kevin Love.
On the season, Randolph is averaging 17.51 points and 10.89 rebounds per game.
Monday, November 18, 2013
2013-14 NBA Power Rankings, Week 4
With roughly three weeks of the NBA season complete, there is one player that ia averaging at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and two three-pointers per game.
Timberwolves power forward Kevin Love is averaging 26.8 points per game, 13.6 rebounds and 2.3 three's per game this season.
Love ranks third in scoring behind OKC's Kevin Durant (28.7 PPG) and Miami's LeBron James (27.3 PPG) and second in rebounding behind only Houston's Dwight Howard (14.2 RPG).
In addition, Love is averaging 4.5 assists per game, which ties him for 37th in the league, although only five of the players ahead of him aren't guards. Plus, four of the five forwards are small forwards with Josh McRoberts (4.7 APG) being the only exception.
With teammate Ricky Rubio (9.6 APG) trailing only Clippers point guard Chris Paul (12.8 APG), Love's high assist total is more impressive. In other words, it's not as though the team lacks a capable distributor of the basketball at the point yet he's still getting his teammates plenty involved while ranking third in the league in scoring.
Although they are currently seventh in the Western Conference, their .636 winning percentage ranks eighth in the NBA and the T'Wolves are 10th in our latest power rankings.
Provided the duo of Love and Rubio can stay healthy, the T'Wolves should have their best season in roughly a decade. Their last winning season was in the Kevin Garnett era: 2004-05 (44-38, .537).
See our full Week 4 NBA Consensus Power Rankings.
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Timberwolves power forward Kevin Love is averaging 26.8 points per game, 13.6 rebounds and 2.3 three's per game this season.
Love ranks third in scoring behind OKC's Kevin Durant (28.7 PPG) and Miami's LeBron James (27.3 PPG) and second in rebounding behind only Houston's Dwight Howard (14.2 RPG).
In addition, Love is averaging 4.5 assists per game, which ties him for 37th in the league, although only five of the players ahead of him aren't guards. Plus, four of the five forwards are small forwards with Josh McRoberts (4.7 APG) being the only exception.
With teammate Ricky Rubio (9.6 APG) trailing only Clippers point guard Chris Paul (12.8 APG), Love's high assist total is more impressive. In other words, it's not as though the team lacks a capable distributor of the basketball at the point yet he's still getting his teammates plenty involved while ranking third in the league in scoring.
Although they are currently seventh in the Western Conference, their .636 winning percentage ranks eighth in the NBA and the T'Wolves are 10th in our latest power rankings.
Provided the duo of Love and Rubio can stay healthy, the T'Wolves should have their best season in roughly a decade. Their last winning season was in the Kevin Garnett era: 2004-05 (44-38, .537).
See our full Week 4 NBA Consensus Power Rankings.
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Friday, December 31, 2010
Kevin Garnett out for two weeks
The bad news? The Celtics will be without forward Kevin Garnett for a couple of weeks.
The good news? The Celtics will be without forward Kevin Garnett for only a couple of weeks.
The injury that looked as though it could have been to KG's knee turned out to be a strained calf.
"It's a muscle injury, a strained calf," said [team president Danny] Ainge in a radio interview with Boston's WEEI (via NBA FanHouse). "It's actually the softer side of the leg below the knee. It's not anything to do with his knee, which is great news, and it's one of those injuries that he may be out for a couple of weeks at the most. That's my guess. It's always a guess. I'll just say two weeks. I think that's on the conservative side."
Garnett is averaging nearly a double-double this season: 15.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
The good news? The Celtics will be without forward Kevin Garnett for only a couple of weeks.
The injury that looked as though it could have been to KG's knee turned out to be a strained calf.
"It's a muscle injury, a strained calf," said [team president Danny] Ainge in a radio interview with Boston's WEEI (via NBA FanHouse). "It's actually the softer side of the leg below the knee. It's not anything to do with his knee, which is great news, and it's one of those injuries that he may be out for a couple of weeks at the most. That's my guess. It's always a guess. I'll just say two weeks. I think that's on the conservative side."
Garnett is averaging nearly a double-double this season: 15.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
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