2012 NBA Playoffs First Round

With one game left in the first round of this year’s playoffs, there has been one upset. This was the 76ers. The 8^th seed in the East beating the 1^st seed Chicago Bulls. They won the series 4-2 after former MVP and Bulls talisman Derrick Rose tore the ACL in his left knee.

Kenneth Faried and Pau Gasol go up for a rebound

I predicted that the Nuggets would overcome the Lakers, as of last night I still thought that they would but a 96-87 victory for LA made sure they would go on to face Oklahoma City who have had the longest rest of all in the West Semis.

Miami got through their series against the New York Knicks in 5 games after the Knicks won their first playoff game in 11 years. An average of 28 points a game from LeBron James and 21 from Dwyane Wade was enough to see of the Knicks who will be looking to win at least 4 playoff games next year.

Indiana won their first round series against a very jaded discombobulated Orlando Magic team with ease. 4 games to 1 it ended up, Indiana looked very strong and they will prove more than a match for the Big Three starting tonight in Florida.

Boston took a 1 nil lead last night against Phillie after Rajon Rondo continued his incredible season by recording another triple-double. San Antonio are still awaiting their second round opponents, but they will find out tonight as the LA Clippers go to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies and Marc Gasol in what promises to be a brilliant Game 7.

Aside from the Playoffs the 2012 MVP was given to LeBron James for the third time in four seasons. LeBron reminded everybody that he is the best player in the league through the 66 regular season games where he averaged 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists and leading Miami to the 2^nd seed in the East with 46 wins. The only thing he needs now to really prove the masses wrong and write his name into the Hall of Fame is a championship ring come June 26^th.

Can he and Dwyane Wade overcome three more squads to get what they were brought together to do?

2012 NBA Playoffs

Here we are then, after a shortened season due to the Lockout, the 2012 NBA Playoffs are upon us. The top seeds in each Conference remain the same as last year, with Chicago and San Antonio topping the rest and setting up matchups with Phillie and Utah respectively. Meanwhile outside the playoffs the Toronto Raptors finished with a record of 23-43 which is an improvement on last year.

Kevin Durant took the scoring title for the third season in a row after passing Kobe Bryant near the end of the season. He led his Oklahoma City team to 2^nd in the West and a match up with the defending champs the Dallas Mavericks. With another year of experience behind them it the Thunder should advance to the finals and stop the Mavs at the first hurdle.

Jeremy Lin and LeBron James

Last year’s losing finalist and most people’s tip for this year the Heat have first round series against the New York Knicks. The Knicks were languishing outside the playoff spots until Stanford graduate Jeremy Lin exploded on to the NBA scene and won the heart of the world. Game 1 tips off tonight in Miami. LeBron James, the front runner for this year’s MVP will be looking to add a ring to his multiple MVP trophies and this year seems as likely as any.

LA was the place of revolution this year. The Clippers and Lakers both made the playoffs and the Clipper were leading the Lakers until Kobe Bryant decided that he was having none of it gave his Lakers the 3^rd seed and a series against the Denver, with the Clippers picking up the 5^th albeit only 1 game behind their rivals.

Memphis a team who surprised many this time last year finished the season string over taking the Clippers and drawing level with the Lakers with 41 wins. Rudy Gay was their catalyst putting in 19 PPG; he did however have a deep supporting cast in Marc Gasol, OJ Mayo, Z-Bo and floor general Mike Conley. The Grizz will be looking to cause major problems in the West play-offs stating Sunday night against the Clippers.

After months of upset in Orlando with Dwight Howard and Stan Van Gundy the Pacers will be looking to knock off a jaded Magic team as quickly as possible. The Pacers picked up the 3^rd seed, very quietly going about their business, while the 4^th and 5^th seeds Boston and Atlanta may be looking at the prospect of a 7 game series because I can see very little difference between them, Rajon Rondo will decide whether the C’s advance or go out in the first round this year.

My prediction for the 1^st round will bring progression for the; Bulls, Heat, Pacers and Celtics. While over in the West, The Spurs, Thunder and Clippers will advance and I fancy the Nuggets to beat the Lakers in 6.

LeBron James will be looking to finally get himself a ring, His quest is laid out in front of him and it all begins tonight in South Beach.

NBA End of Season Awards

So... The end to another 82 game schedule for 14 teams, whilst the other 16 travelled onto the Playoffs.

The Toronto Raptors finished at a poor 22-60 but promising ends to the season from DeMar DeRozan, Amir Johnson and new boy James Johnson have given me hope for next season. The top draft pick is in our sights after finishing with the 3rd worst record in the league. The honour of the worst however went to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who ended the season losing 15 straight...

Enough ranting about bad teams and onto the Title of this post, the NBA End of Season Awards. Although the All NBA teams have not been released yet, all of the individual awards have.

MVP: Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls)
Becomes the first Bull to win it since a well known player called Michael Jordan. At 22 he becomes the youngest ever winner. Dwight 'Superman' Howard came in second as he carried a very lackluster Orlando Magic team through to the Playoffs yet again. 2 time reigning MVP LeBron James could only score enough points to finish third and what would an MVP race be without the presence of the ever-green Mr. Kobe Bryant. In my opinion D Rose is more than worthy of this honour. He managed to keep the Bulls on track whilst his supporting cast was getting injured, most notably Carlos Boozer and Joakhim Noah. By keeping them on track he guided them to the best record in the league, this nobody would have predicted at the start of the season.

Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin (LA Clippers)
Slam Dunk Champion, All-Star, numerous records broken. Blake Griffin's rookie year has not been quiet. He was unanimously visited ROY behind John Wall (Washington Wizards), only the 3rd person to do this in the history of the NBA. He had people talking about his scoring, his rebounding, his Clippers reaching the Playoffs and these two monster dunks on the Knicks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2VLEGtRuz4. I am 100% that Flight 32 or Quake Griffin as he has been called will be even better next season and the LA Clippers will make the Playoffs within the next 2 seasons.

Most Improved Player: Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves)
To put it simply, he was unbelievable this season. Posting MVP calibre numbers most nights, he has not helped by the fact that he was on the worst team. 53 straight Double-Doubles.Only 3 other players managed 53 across the whole season. He is the first player for 29 years to average at least 20 points and 15 rebounds a game. When he posted 31 points and 31 rebounds he came the first player to do so in 29 years. To prove he was the 'most improved' he was the only player to rank in the top 10 in biggest jumps from the previous season. PPG went up 6.2, RPG was +4.4 and 3p% was up .089%. An easy decision to make, now all he and Michael Beasley need are other decent players on their roster.

Coach of the Year: Tom Thibodeau (Chicago Bulls (again))
Thibodeau tied the record for most wins in as a rookie head coach with 62 and led the Bulls to their first Divisional Title since the Jordan era. He is only the 7th coach to win the award in his first season. The Bulls defense was what made for their success, Thibodeau drove them to top 3 defensive stats and they were second in points allowed at 91.3

Sixth Man of the Year: Lamar Odom (LA Lakers)
Odom was a catalyst for the Lakers to achieve another playoff season. Starting Centre Andrew Bynum was out for most of the season and Odom could come of the bench more often than not and provide a spark that would win the Lakers many games. He averaged 14.4 PPG, 8.7 RPG and ranked 19th in Double-Doubles. All of this came after coming of the bench more than he started. Jason Terry (Dallas Mavericks) could have won the award for a 3rd time in a row, but that would have been too monotonous.

As for the Playoffs now, Bulls and Hawks are tied at 1-1, I predic the Bulls to go on and win that 4-1 maybe 4-2. OKC and Memphis are also tied at 1-1, OKC will win that in 6. LA Lakers are seemingly in trouble at 0-2 vs the Mavericks, this series will go the full 7 and the Mavericks will win 4-3. Miami Heat and Boston Celtics. The Heat are up 2-0 and Boston isnt showing any sign on resistance, maybe a sweep is on the cards but 4-1 seems the most reasonable result. Although I have just tried it is too hard to predict the Winner, but I think it may go to Dallas, if they overcome the Lakers, if they do not, the Trophy will be heading to South Beach, Miami.