Category: NBA

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Cavaliers over Hawks in 6

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Warriors over Rockets in 6

 

College basketball was probably my favorite sport of 2014-15.  I’ve always preferred college sports to the pros because in college it’s more of a team sport. In professional sports (especially the NBA)  players seem to take on an “It’s all about me” mentality and as much as I love college football, basketball took the proverbial cake for me being a Virginia fan and a sports fan in general. Whether it was things that hit close to home like Justin Anderson’s late finger injury/appendectomy or a very national issue on how college basketball was “broken” and “dead” despite ratings being the best they have been in 20+ years I always felt on the edge of my seat waiting for the next heart stopping turn. When I watch the NBA playoffs, I don’t get that feeling.

Watching games last night in one half (yes 24 minutes of play time) it took 84 minutes of real time because of the “Hack-A-_____” strategies where teams continuously foul bad free throw shooters to prevent the other team from scoring. People complain about how college basketball has a 35 second shot clock which makes the game painful to watch (Which I 100% disagree) the NBA has a 24 second shot clock.. how is that working out for them? People say “Well they’re an NBA player they should be able to make free throws.” To which I reply “If they’re an NBA player why can’t they play real defense”

I love watching good defense whether it’s SEC Football or Virginia Basketball, whether it’s watching a pitching gem or seeing a goalie shut out his opponents, defense is fun. I know there are people who love watching high scoring shootouts and I love watching those from time to time but at the end of the day the saying is true “Defense wins championships.” Which brings us back to the “Hack-A-_____” strategies, the NBA NEEDS desperately to make an effort to cut down on games where the entirety of the game is watching one player who struggles shooting free throws shooting free throws.  I don’t know how they would do it but it needs to happen. Professional basketball can be great, see Lebron’s buzzer beater last night along with the Cavs and Bulls fantastic, evenly matched games has been fantastic but watching DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard shoot free throws hasn’t been.

Most Valuable Player

Stephen Curry, Warriors

Rookie of the Year

Andrew Wiggins, Timberwolves

Defensive Player of the Year

Kawhi Leonard, Spurs

Coach of the Year

Mike Budenholzer, Hawks

Most Improved Player

Jimmy Butler, Bulls

6th Man of the Year

Isaiah Thomas, Celtics

ALL-NBA

Stephen Curry, Warriors
James Harden, Rockets
LeBron James, Cavaliers
Anthony Davs, Pelicans
DeMarcus Cousins, Kings

ALL-NBA Defensive

John Wall, Wizards
Tony Allen, Grizzlies
Kawhi Leonard, Spurs
Draymond Green, Warriors
Rudy Gobert, Jazz

ALL-Rookie

Marcus Smart, Celtics
Jordan Clarkson, Lakers
Andrew Wiggins, Timberwolves
Nikola Mirotic, Bulls
Nerlens Noel, 76ers

East

Hawks 3-4 Wizards

Cavs 4-2  Bulls

West

Warriors 4-1 Grizzlies

Rockets 3-4 Clippers

Round 1 (East)

Hawks 4-0 Nets

Cavs 4-2 Celtics

Bulls 4-1 Bucks

Raptors 4-3 Wizards

Round 1 (West)

Warriors 4-1 Pelicans

Rockets 4-1 Mavericks

Clippers 2-4 Spurs

Trail  Blazers 1-4 Grizzlies

Round 2 (East)

Hawks 4-2 Raptors

Cavs 4-3 Bulls

Round 2 (West)

Warriors 4-0 Grizzlies

Rockets 4-3 Spurs

Round 3 (East)

Hawks 3-4 Cavs

Round 3 (West)

Warriors 4-3 Rockets

Round 4

Warriors 4-2Cavs

Dwayne Wade scored 32 points and Gorgan Dragic added 20 points and 9 assists as the Cavaliers fell to the Heat 106-92. “Our guys wanted it very badly tonight,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We understand what the playoff race is right now. It felt like an old Miami Heat game with normal Miami Heat huddles. Guys were screaming at each other — lot of passion in this game — and it was much-needed.” Hassan Whiteside had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Kyrie Irving set records Thursday night: Most points scored with LeBron as a teammate, most point scored against a Greg Poppovich coached team, most points scored in 2015, first player since Kobe to have multiple 50 point games, most points in Cavs history. Irving scored 57  in what was an exciting game where  the Cavaliers won 129-125 in overtime. “The kid is special, we all know it, we all see it,” James said. “For him to go out and put on a performance like he did tonight was incredible.”

Russell Westbrook notched his 5th triple double in six games and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Eastern Conference’s Toronto Raptors , Westbrook scored 30 points, assisted on 17 made shots and pulled down 11 boards. “He’s playing unbelievable basketball right now,” said Kyle Lowry, all-star guard for the Toronto Raptors “The man is unbelievable, and he’s pretty much carrying their team right now.”

The Atlanta Hawks silenced their critics and proved the doubters wrong and also proved that they were in fact the best team in all of the Eastern Conference with a 106-97 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. DeMarre Carroll and co. kept Lebron James to only 18 points. “I wanted to be a gnat,” Carroll said. “You know, when you’re outside in the summer, and you can’t get that gnat away from you.”

E’Twaun Moore hit a game-winning 3 with 2.1 seconds left as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-105 last night. Russell Westbrook’s triple-double streak ended although he did have 43 points. Westbrook missed an opportunity to give Ibaka a potential game-winning shot. “Just trying to get a good shot. I should have passed to Serge,” Westbrook said. “That was a bad decision on my part. He was open and I should have hit him.”