NBA Finals are Here!!!

Game One Tipping off on Tuesday night

The 2010-2011 NBA season has reached the Finals Series and Game 1 kicks off in Miami on Tuesday night ( Wednesday morning Aussie time). 

Well, waaayyyy back in October, I predicted a Lakers/Heat final with the Heat winning it: http://cdstarrbblog.blogspot.com/2010_10_24_archive.html

At the start of the playoffs, I correctly predicted a Bulls/Heat Eastern Conference final with the Heat meeting San Antonio in the Finals that pick went slightly awry!! http://cdstarrbblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/nba-playoff-preview.html

Now we have reached the finals series. The Dallas crew are a seasoned outfit and will look to continue their regular season success against Miami. A missing link from that success is Caron Butler who proved to be Kryptonite on two legs for LeBron James in their two meetings. Although Shawn Marion has shown his value in the playoffs, the Mavs can not afford any lapses or let downs in this series. 

On the other side of the coin, the Heat will have Dirk to deal with!! Dirk Nowitzki has stamped his authority on each series for Dallas so far. Miami will look to Chris Bosh, LeBron James and a few others in their effort to slow the German Gunner down. Dallas will have to be at their best to deal with Dwayne Wade, LeBron and the rejuvenated Bosh.

Prediction wise: 

I see Dallas having their moments but in the end, look for Miami to take it in six.

Tip Off time in OKC!!!

Nearly Tip Off time in OKC

Game Three of the Western Conference Finals will be starting soon with Dallas looking to grab at least one win on the road in the series that is currently tied at 1-1.

There are several undertones to the game, among them:

Ø  Can the Mavs survive on Dirk alone?

Ø  Will the Mavs get better bench contributions from Barea and Terry?

Ø  How will Russell Westbrook play after his Game Two benching?

Ø  Can the Mavs take the OKC crowd out of the game?

Ø  Will the Mavs be able to control James Harden?

Those are some of the factors as tip off time nears.

I feel that the Mavs will get a win in OKC, maybe not tonight but they will pull out one of the three. The key will be actually slowing down the pace and making it a walk it up the floor/half court affair. That is where Jason Kidd may step to the fore in controlling the pace.

I will stick with my Mavs in six prediction.

In the East, Chicago travels to South Beach tomorrow night to face the Heat. Look for Miami to pull out a close one at home.

Dirk's Day!!

Dirk gets Down in Game one

(NBA Review)

Dirk Nowitzki scored on/over all comers (defenders) in the opening game of the Western Conference finals Tuesday night (Wednesday morning Aussie time). The big man finished the night with 48 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 assists in the 121-112 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Nowitzki set an NBA playoff record with a perfect 24-24 night at the foul line to go with a 12-15 night from the field.

Oklahoma City, led by Kevin Durant who had 40 points himself, fought valiantly but could not get past the sizzling Mavericks who had adequate support for Nowitzki from Jason Terry (24 points) and J.J. Barea (21 points). Mavericks’ leader Jason Kidd dished out 11 assists while controlling the tempo.

The Thunder will look to reverse their fortunes in Game 2 on Thursday in Dallas.  I am on record at a few places in predicting Dallas to take this series 4-2…I’ll stick with that as I feel OKC will pull out a couple of victories.

In the Eastern Conference Chicago walloped Miami in game one. Game Two tips off Wednesday night in Chicago, I am looking for the Heat to rebound in this one but it will be close.

Draft Lottery

The Cleveland Cavaliers own the Number 1 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft after winning the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night. Through the Baron Davis trade Cleveland has two early picks…1 and 4 in the first round as they look to rebuild after a disastrous season.

The complete draft order can be found on nba.com.


Back in a day or so with more....

NBA Look....

NBA Look…

Now that Blogger has resolved their issues, I can get my update out. Since I blogged last:

The Lakers have been eliminated!! In a bow that was not graceful, LA left the playoffs in a huff. I think we were all hoping for a different or at least graceful exit from the game for a coach of Phil Jackson’s stature. Even without a championship, the man deserved to leave after a hard fought series where his team was all on the same page without the antics of the last game in Dallas.

In contrast, kudos to the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics for showing that there can be a hard fought series without the aforementioned antics by the losing team. Pure class was shown by both organisations.

Congrats to Chicago for wrapping up their series against Atlanta yesterday. The Chicago-Miami affair will be well worth watching.

The last conference semi-final is about to kick off. Can Oklahoma City clinch the series and move on or will Memphis put up some resistance on their home court. I think the Grizzlies will put up a fight but bow out in a close one. This prediction could easily be reversed if Memphis gets their inside game going and the Westbrook-Durant dynamic is not in synch.

Sunday sees game one of the Bulls-Heat series. I will pick Miami to sneak into Chicago and get a first up win in a close one by 5-8 points.

Back for a check in later in the week….

Are the Lakers done?? NBA Update....

NBA Playoff Update…

As the second round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs progress, there are definitely surprises to talk about. Since I last blogged, Orlando has fallen by the wayside in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference top seed San Antonio has been eliminated by the surprising Memphis Grizzlies.

The surprised do not stop there…defending champions, the Los Angeles Lakers are down 3-0 to Dallas and are on the verge of being swept out of the second round. Atlanta has given the Bulls a scare. Ditto for Memphis against Oklahoma City.

Here is an up to the minute look at where it all stands at the moment:

Eastern Conference

Chicago (1) vs. Atlanta (5)

After Atlanta jumped the Bulls 103-95 in Game 1 of the series, the Bull have ridden the coat tails of Derrick Rose to two consecutive wins including a monster 44 point effort in Game three. Rose was named the league’s MVP this week and has proven to be deserving of the award.

The board work of Joakim Noah (15 rebounds) and Taj Gibson (11 rebounds) complimented Rose nicely in Game Three. The fourth game of the series is set for Sunday night US time in Atlanta.

The Hawks are not totally done yet and they may well pull of game four to even the series going back to Chicago pending on which Hawks team you get. Chicago will eventually need more out of Carlos Boozer to continue advancing.

Miami (2) vs. Boston (3)

The “Beast of South Beach” may have been awakened!! The Heat has jumped out to a 2-0 series lead over the Celtics. The series heads to Boston for game three on overnight. Boston has started to look their age and is having trouble with the penetration and quickness of Dwayne Wade.

The Celtics may win one; possibly two of the remaining games but the Heat seems to be on a mission of late.

Western Conference

Los Angeles (2) vs. Dallas (3)

The Lakers are finding the quest for a three peat difficult. After showing signs of mortality against New Orleans, they have oozed vulnerability against the seasoned Mavericks outfit.

Rather than go into the “I told you so” to friends or any perceived “Kobe Bashing” I will defer to this article from the LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-plaschke-lakers-20110507,0,4601320.column

A good thing for the LA future may be the stepping forward and voicing of opinion by young future leader Andrew Bynum. Hopefully the young man will stay healthy and assert himself more in the locker room as he lives up to his potential.

Other articles out of LA:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-mavericks-20110507,0,2836458.story

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-simers-20110507,0,3399927.column

The Mavericks seem to be remaining calm and focused without doing anything to arouse the beast. Owner Mark Cuban has been reserved over the course of the series for a change.

Views from the Dallas media:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-mavericks/headlines/20110506-three-riffic-mavs-topple-lakers-grab-commanding-3-0-series-lead.ece

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-mavericks/headlines/20110506-mavericks-dirk-nowitzki-we-didn_t-panic-but-we-can_t-coast-now.ece

Oklahoma City (4) vs. Memphis (8)

This one could well be the most entertaining of the conference semi-finals. So far the teams are level at 1-1 with game three set overnight in Oklahoma City. The Grizzlies actually won the regular season series and pose problems for the Thunder for the remainder of the series especially in the form of Zach Randolph.

While I think the Thunder can still pull this one out, don’t be surprised if Memphis advances.

I will be back in a few days with updates.

My original playoff picks are at:

http://cdstarrbblog.blogspot.com/2011_04_10_archive.html

NBL Final up soon on OneHD

NBL Finale hours away….

The 2010/2011 NBL basketball season will conclude this afternoon/evening when Cairns faces off against the New Zealand 

Breakers in game three of the Championship series.

The Breakers blew Cairns off the floor in game one before a double overtime thriller went the way of the Snakes to send the championship into today’s decider.

The Breakers were strong all season with three regular season wins over cairns and an easy win in Game One of the finals before the epic that was Game Two.

Ultimately though look for New Zealand to be too strong for Cairns in Auckland. Expect C.J. Bruton, Kirk Penney and crew to defend the home court with vigour.

I think earlier in the week I picked the Breakers by 10 or 12 points….I’ll stick with that.

Catch the action in Australia on OneHD from 1730 AEST.

Around the courts.....

Quick Catch up

Back to regular life and the sports world after a break for Bluesfest.

On the local scene, the Australian National Basketball League finals are underway. The New Zealand Breakers and Cairns Taipans are deadlocked at one game each in the best of three series with the decider set for Friday night in Auckland. The top seeded Breakers took game one easily 85-67. Game two in Cairns turned out to be as the Snakes forced a decider with an 85-81 double overtime win. Friday night’s action kicks off at 1930 at the North Shore Events Centre. I will go with CJ Bruton to lead a Breakers victory by 12.

NBA Playoffs

Some of my picks for the first round of the NBA Finals have fallen flat….there will be no NY Knicks upset of Boston in the first round!! The rest of my initial picks are here: http://cdstarrbblog.blogspot.com/2011_04_10_archive.html

Eastern Conference:

Chicago vs. Indiana

The Bulls hold a 3-1 edge and should easily clinch this series and move on.

Orlando vs. Atlanta

The Hawks are poised to reverse last year’s result against Orlando and lead the series 3-1.

Miami vs. Philadelphia

The Heat hit a road block in their quest to match Boston’s first round sweep but should clinch the series 4-1 after in the next game.

Western Conference:

San Antonio vs. Memphis

The top seeded Spurs are on the verge of elimination trialling 3-1. They may win another game or two but will find it tough to win three in a row…Memphis moves on.

Oklahoma City vs. Denver

The Thunder is on the verge of clinching with a 3-1 lead in this one.

Dallas vs. Portland

Dallas is up 3-2 but Portland has proven to be difficult for the Mavs. Can the Mavs survive the age test?

Los Angeles vs. New Orleans

The epic of Round 1, this one is delicately poised at 2-2. The Lakers are struggling and the Hornets are without David West….interesting few games coming up!! What’s your pick???

Ok, back in a few days with updates…..