NBA Game 1’s

The NBA playoffs are set in stone and we have some very good match-ups. Each series in an NBA playoff series is always a best of seven. This means which ever team wins four games first will move on to the next round. In order to make it to the NBA championship you have to get through three teams, then you finally play for a chance at the tremendous trophy. The playoffs kicked off two nights ago Saturday afternoon with some very entertaining games for game 1. Some were closer than expected and some were just straight blow outs. The eastern conference played pretty well, so for the first game I want to talk about is my favorite team the Cleveland Cavaliers playing against the Indiana Pacers. The Cavaliers came out on top Saturday 109-108. My man Lebron James scored 32 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 13 assist. Kyrie Irving helped out with 23 points. Next, The Boston Celtics took a loos to the Chicago Bulls 106-102. This was a big surprise because the Celtics are supposed to be the top seed and the Bulls are the 8th. An 8th seed has not beat a number one team if a very long time. The next game we witnessed was the Raptors vs. Bucks. The bucks won and completed the upset 97-83 while being the 6th seed. That’s a pretty good accomplishment but lets see them take the series! There young star Antetokounmpo played amazing and he will have to keep playing in that level if they want to move forward. The final game for the eastern conference was the Wizards vs. The Hawks. The Wizards got a good win, 114-107, thanks to John Walls outstanding play. He ended the game with 32 points and 14 assists. The western conference also had some good games on there side. First, the Warriors no question beat the trailblazers, 109-121. the trailblazers played well through 3 quarters but lost it in the 4th. Next, the Spurs crushed the Grizzlies 111-82 in an easy played game. Leonard played great as always and ended with 32 points and was 100% from the free through line. The Jazz played a close one with the Clippers and came out on top, 97-95. The final game of round 1 game 1 was a much anticipated match up between the Thunder and the Rockets.. Everyone wanted to watch the match up between Westbrook and Harden because they are the top two candidates for MVP. When it was all said and done Harden and the Rockets came out on top 118-87.

Here’s a recap from the Thunder vs. Rockets game:

NBA Playoffs

This week on my blog I will be talking about the playoffs. Not just the playoffs but match-ups, potential winners, etc. The regular season is quickly coming to an end and for those of the teams in the playoffs, most of there players are resting. For example in the Cavaliers game last night Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, And Kevin love all sat that game resulting in a loss. For those teams who are not making the playoffs are either playing hard to end the season on a good note, or like the Lakers should be doing, teams are loosing to get a better draft pick. I don’t like that side of it but it happens around the league. Of course the warriors and the cavaliers are the favorite to go all the way through the playoffs and meet again in the championship for the second year in a row. Just because they are the favorite does not mean they will get there. Since the all star break Cleveland has lost 12-14 game and no team has won a championship with a loosing record since around 1960-70. With that being said, I don’t think that record since the all star break really explains the cavaliers. They will be ready come Saturday when the playoffs kick off. That reminds me. Cleveland will probably not be the number one seed but the number two behind the Boston Celtics. People around the league are making a big deal about this but any body that matches up with Cleveland is obviously in for a hard series. The eastern conference as everyone know does not really have a fire power the western conference has. Hopefully the eastern conference will still be as interesting to watch as the west. The Western conference has some very interesting and exciting match-ups. Like the Houston Rockets going up against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a match up of the top two candidates for MVP, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

In the eastern conference everyone hopes to see the Washington Wizards match-up with the Cleveland Cavaliers at some point. A Lot of people are thinking the Wizards could beat the Cavaliers and I believe they have a very good chance. With that being said, at the end of the day when the playoffs are all said and done I believe the Cleveland Cavaliers will come out on top as the 2016-2017 National Basketball Association Champions!

Top 4 Likely To Win

All 16 teams have the same goal in mind all season, to win the championship. Teams want to play well every single game but when it comes down to it they just want to make the playoffs. After that they not only want to make it to the championship but win the whole thing. There is know greater feeling than winning a championship know matter the level but just imagine winning a ship at the NBA level. Any professional sport at that. Anyone has the same chance of winning but some teams are obviously better then the other. There are four top teams that have the best chance to win it all. The Golden State Warriors, The Cleveland Cavaliers, The Los Angeles Clippers, and last but not least The San Antonio Spurs. The addition of Kevin Durant to The Gold State Warriors that won a record 73 regular-season games last season makes Golden State the obvious favorites. There won’t be an attempt to break records this time around, while the club uses the season to form chemistry and fine-tune its schemes in advance of what should be another deep run through the postseason. The Spurs have a great chance to win as well. Kawhi Leonard is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and is a former Finals MVP. LaMarcus Aldridge remains one of the most consistent scorers around, and Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are trying to squeeze one last championship run out of their legendary careers. Gregg Popovich remains the league’s best coach, so if anyone can creep into the title discussion with the Warriors and Cavaliers, the Spurs are the safest bet. For the Cleveland Cavaliers, unlike the Warriors, who have the problem of figuring out how to make Kevin Durant fit in with the existing core, the Cavaliers know who they are. Cleveland will cruise through the East once again, making sure everyone is healthy and rested when the time to defend its title comes. The Los Angeles Clippers are the last team on the list with any real shot at this year’s title, and thanks to a veteran roster loaded with talent, this might be the best Clippers team we’ve seen yet. Since all these teams have a great chance to win this years championship its set to be a great playoffs. And who knows, maybe someone who wasn’t up here today will sneak by and take the ship.

Will The Triple Doubles Ever Stop

A Triple-Double is the accumulation of a double-digit number total in three of the five categories in a game. The most simple and easiest way to achieve a triple-double is through points, rebounds, and assists. Oscar Robertson leads the all-time NBA list with 181 and is the only player ever to average a triple-double for a season. He was a beast when it came to stuffing the stat sheet. During his 14-year NBA career with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks, Robertson became the top-scoring guard of all time, amassing 26,710 points. Among all players, only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar  Karl Malone, Wilt-Chamberlin, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes, and Hakeem Olajuwon have scored more.

Everyone knows trying to get a triple double is a very hard task. People like Oscar can make it look simple with numbers they put up night in and night out but it truly is very challenging. This crazy feat occurs roughly 35 times a season or 1 in every 36 games which is not a lot. Oscar Robinson is not the only one who puts up crazy triple double numbers. People all around the league have been throwing up triple doubles this year. The top 3 people as you could expect are Russell Westbrook who has an astonishing 38 triple doubles. Next up is James Harden with 20 and then we have Lebron James with 10. Those are the only players to have had more than ten triple doubles this season but that doesn’t mean there are not other people to consider getting these stats. This season Nikola Jokic has 5, Draymond Green has 4, Elfrid Payton has 4 and Julius Randle has 3. Throughout the league this year alone there has been 102 recorded triple doubles. Here is a list of everyone who has achieved getting a triple double this season.

It is clear that Russel Westbrook is the clear standout when it comes to recording triple doubles. 18 more than James harden who is some that is capable to come out and get one any night just like Westbrook. Last night Russell Westbrook did something unbelievable. Westbrook scored 57 points and added 13 rebounds and 11 assists in the Oklahoma City Thunders win again the Orlando Magic. They were down late but of course Russell came through down the stretch to send it to over time. That triple double of his topped James Harden and Wilt Chamberlin, who each scored 53 points in a triple-double. There are only 8 games left for the Thunder this season and he only needs 3 more to pass Oscar Robinson’s record of 41. Keep an eye out because he can do it.

NBA Playoff Preview

Its getting to the time of the season where everyone is looking forward to the playoffs. Coaches are feeling it. Players are feeling it. We are even feeling it. We all want our teams to secure a spot in the playoffs, particularly a higher seed. Its not an easy task to make the playoffs know matter what team it is, but everyone wants to make it. That’s the goal, right? There are a few teams we know will be in the playoffs like the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. On the other hand, there are still a lot of teams that are still on the bubble of making one of the 8 spots in each conference. In this weeks post I will be talking a little preview of what we might expect to see in this years post season. Starting off with the eastern conference the number one seed is the Cleveland Cavaliers and there pictured to be playing the eighth seed the Detroit Pistons. Who knows how long the Pistons will remain at the eighth seed though. Cleveland should stay number one but they are not to far ahead. Next, we have the surprising two seed the Boston Celtics who as of now will be seeing the Milwaukee Bucks who are the seventh seed right now. In the regular season the Celtics lead the series 1-0. They play again March 29th. The third seed the Washington Wizards are most likely to be playing the Indiana Pacers at the 6th seed. The Wizards are dominating the regular season series three games to one. Finally, in the last spot of the eastern conference its the fourth seed Toronto Raptors against the Atlanta Hawks. This would be a nice match up to seed first round. On the other side we have the Western conference, also known as the wild wild west. We all know the Golden state Warriors will end up being the one seed and will be playing the eighth seed who as of know is the Denver nuggets. Next, we have the third seed, the Houston rockets who i hope end up facing the Thunder in the first round. Then we have the second see the Spurs who will probably end up playing Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are always pretty tough when it comes playoff time. Finally we have the Utah Jazz playing the fifth seed the LA Clippers. We will see if any of these projections change as we get closer to the end of the season.

Top 10 NBA Coaches of All Time

Every teams goal in sports should be too be the best and win a championship. To do this you need an all-around team. The coach of the team is one of the most important aspects of that mix. Without the coach your team will not know what there doing out there on the court. You can put the all the best players on the same team, but without a coach out there giving commands and running things. It will most likely never end in a championship. So today I come at you with non only the best coaches around right now but the top ten coaches of all time! To start of the list, we have Billy Cunningham. Billy was the coach of the 76ers and ended his career with a record of 454-196. On top of this brilliant record he never had a losing season in his career. At number nine we have Red Holzman, best know for coaching the Knicks. Red is the most successful coach in New York’s history winning two NBA championships. Larry brown takes the eighth spot. Larry’s teams made the playoffs 18 of 27 seasons. His best coaching season came in 2003 when the Detroit Pistons won the NBA Championship. he also coached Indiana, Philadelphia, and Detroit and was successful with all. At number seven is Jack Ramsey. Jacks teams made the playoffs 17 out of his 21 season career. He was a great coach but on the other hand his coaching career came to a sad end when he resigned in Indiana following a 0-7 start in the 1988-89 season. Chuck daily takes the sixth spot since he had to coach the “bad boys” of the NBA. Even know they were the bad boys they were tremendous as was Chuck. Daily’s best coaching seasons came in 1988-89 and 1989-90 when the Detroit Pistons won back to back NBA championships. At number five we have Jerry Sloan who coached the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz. Despite his great coaching he was of the only coaches to be on this list who did not win a championship. At four we have the widely known Pat Riley. Pats record was 1,210-694 in  his career. He led both the Lakers and Heat to NBA championships and brought the Knicks to the finals in 1994. Number three is the great Greg Popovich. He is still in the league today and is still coaching as strong as ever. He currently is coaching the spurs and to this date their record is 998-461 with the Spurs. The Spurs have made the playoffs 18 times out of 19 seasons with Popovich as the coach. He also won Coach of the Year in the 13-14 season.

Red Auerbach is an old school coach who took the second spot on the list. He is know for his success with the Boston Celtics. His teams made the playoffs every single season. He won an incredible nine NBA championships with the Boston Celtics. Finally, ending the list with number one is Phil Jackson. Phils teams, the Lakers and the Bulls, made the playoffs every single season with him, every single season as the head coach. He has won the most championships ever by a coach with 11, 11!

Injuries Around The League

Every team in the NBA deals with injuries throughout the long regular season and in some cases the playoffs. Just this year there has been a tremendous amount of injuries all throughout the season and we just passed the all-star break. Just last night the Warriors played a tight game with the Washington Wizards and ended up losing. Not only did they loose the game but they lost there newest and one of there most valuable players in Kevin Durant. He just joined the team this season in order to try and win a Championship with the already elite warriors. In last nights game Kevin Durant went out with a knee injury (sprained MCL) that puts him out indefinitely. They are going to reevaluate him in four weeks and they hope he can be back on the court a few games before the playoffs begin. They might need that extra time to start jelling again since they only started playing together this season.

Kevin Durant is not the only star that is out with in injury at the moment. On February 8 Cleveland Cavaliers forward/center Kevin left went out also with a knee injury. His return as of know is day-to-day. On top of that, the Cavaliers shooting guard JR smith went out with a thumb injury on December 20th. His set day to return is sometime in mid march. With these two premier players out for a significant amount of time, the Cavaliers went out and picked up Kyle Korver to get some extra help. Today Andrew Bogut and Deron Williams are set to make there debut with the Cavaliers against the second place Celtics. Some other notable injuries come form the Minnesota Timber-wolves. As of today they have four players sidelined including Lance Stevenson, Zach LaVine, Adrien Payne, and Nikola Pekovic. All four of them are out for a significant amount out time accept for Lance Stevenson. He was set to return sometime in late February. For the Philadelphia 76ers it seems they are always dealing with injuries. There top prospect besides Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Is out this whole season as the acute Jones fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot has not fully healed. Not only is Simmons hurt but Joel Embiid Just recently went out for the season as well with a knee injury. It seems Embiid can never stop getting injured but the few times we see him healthy he is very dominate. Hopefully all of these player can over come there injuries and get back to playing to there full potential.

Blast From The Past

Throughout all the years the National Basketball associations has been around there has been tons of tremendous team. Everyone has there own opinion about what teams are the beast obviously, but lets see if you agree with these top ten. Number ten is the team Micheal Jordan won his fist ever championship with, the 1990-91 Chicago Bulls. The Bulls averaged 110 points per game  and had the top offensive rating in the NBA. They also limited there opponents to just 101 points per game and finished with the number 7 defensive rating in the league at 105.2. Here’s a video of Jordan celebrating  his first Championship.

Once again we have the Bulls at number nine but this time its the 97-98 Chicago Bulls. The Bulls finished there regular season with a 62-20 record.They completed the second three-peat in franchise history. This team was third in the NBA in opponents points per game. At number 8 we have the 91-92 Bulls. This team averaged 109.9 points per game and led the NBA with an offensive rating of 115.5. They won the championship as well. At 7 we have the 08-09 LA Lakers. This team one the ship. they also were third in the NBA in offensive efficiency  and sixth in the league in defensive efficiency. Number 6 we have the San Antonio Spurs. They did not win a championship but they finished the year with a final regular-season record of 67-15. They also finished with the best defensive rating in the NBA with 99. The 85-86 Boston Celtics take the 5th spot. the team had the third-best offensive rating in the league and the best defensive rating. They finished 67-15 and won the championship against the Houston Rockets. At Number four we have the 14-15 Golden State warriors. They may not be the best team but they were fun to watch for sure.  The 15-16 Golden State Warriors come in at the 3rd spot. This group made history by winning 73 regular season games but people still didn’t think they were the best team ever. Once they blew a 3-1 lead to my squad the Cavs in the NBA Finals People REALLY didn’t think the record mattered after that. At number to its the 96-97 Chicago Bulls. This team was great they led the NBA in points per game and offensive efficiency. they ended the regular season at 69-13 and in the postseason they went 15-4. Finally we made it to number one. Who else beside the Chicago Bulls. The 95-96 Bulls take the top spot. They had the record of most wins at 72-10 until the warriors passed that. Unlike the warriors the bulls went on to win the championship. They were the best offensive and defensive team in the league and averaged 105.2 points per game.

Top 10 NBA Legends

Tons of people come in and out of the NBA but it takes a very special someone to become a Legend. You have to make it through so much and accomplish so much to be considered one of the all time greats. People would say a legendary player will usually have a career of above average length with some significant accomplishments in the form of individual statistics or championships. Being in the Hall-of-Fame helps, but performing well over an extended period of time is usually enough to earn the legendary tag. There are a bunch of legends but here are the top ten. Starting at number 10 is Hakeem Olajuwon. Hakeem was one of the best big men to ever play the game. He was a NBA MVP, two-time NBA Finals MVP, and three-time NBA blocks champion. He holds the NBA record for blocks at 3830. Next up at number 9 is Shaquille O’Neil. Even though Shaq could not hit a free throw, he had many more accomplishments. He won one MVP and two scoring titles in his career. He got his fourth ring with Dwayne Wade in Miami, was selected to 15 All-Star teams and also rank fifth on the league’s career scoring list. Tim Duncan takes the 8th spot on the list. Everyone knows Tim Duncan is famous for his turn around bank shot, some might not know that he has two MVP’s, four titles, 13 straight seasons on both an All-NBA and All-Defensive team. You probably didn’t know that because he stays so quiet on and off the court, but when he gets in that PF position you will feel his presents. The 7th best Legend is Wilt Chamberlain. He was  7 foot 1 and nicknamed  The Stilt/Big Dipper. Wilt Chamberlain statistically was Most dominant player the league you will probably ever see. He has Seven scoring titles, 11 rebounding titles, four MVP’s.  The most remarkable stat in the history of the league I believe is his  100-point game. That is just ridiculous! Number 6 on the list is my favorite player Lebron James. I wont get into it all just know he has been to 6 straight NBA finals and counting. Coming in at number 5 is Larry Bird, One of the best sharp shooters to ever play the game. Bird is a 12-time NBA All-Star and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player three times. He won 3 NBA titles and an Olympic Gold. He also was the first member of the 50/90/40 club. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 4th on the list, he won 6 NBA Titles, 6 MVP awards and still holds the all time scoring record 38,387 points. 3rd we have Majic Johnson. He has just won in ever division possible:  5 NBA titles, 3 MVP awards, Olympic Gold, NCAA title and High School title, and was  all-NBA first team 9 times. 2nd on the list is Bill Russel. He won 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons, 5 MVP awards, and an Olympic Gold. Finally Taking the top of the list we all know is Micheal Jordan. He won 6 Championships, 5 MVP’s, and 10 scoring titles.

The Best Team In The NBA

Everyone has an opinion on who they think the best overall NBA team is throughout the season. One thing you can’t deny is that the Golden State Warriors are in fact the best overall team in the league right now. The Warriors are a team based in Oakland California. Back in 1946 the team was name the Philadelphia Warriors based in Pennsylvania. Then in 1962 the team moved to the Bay Area and was named the San Francisco Warriors. It was not until 1971 when the team finally changed its name to the Golden State Warriors and that is what it still is today. The warriors have been to 8 NBA finals winning for of those and the most recent win coming in 2015 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. In that same year the warriors made a historic run and won 73 games in the regular season to set a new record that the 95-96 Bulls previously held.

Some people, Michael Jordan, are saying since they did not win the NBA championship the same year that it does not mean anything. Even though I don’t like the Warriors I do have to give them credit on their amazing season. But shout out to the Cavs and game 7.  The warriors are having the same success this year and are even on the path to hit 73 games again but it will be very hard. The team is currently 43-8. That is a win percentage of .843, the best in the entire league. They are ranked first in their conference which is the West and people tend to say it is the harder division. They have only lost 3 games at home and 5 games on the road and are 9-2 in their conference. The warriors are a team that always puts up big numbers which is obviously why they are always winning. Currently they score an average of 118.2 points a game while holding their opponents to only 105.3. That is a 12.8 difference. A big move was made this past year on July 4, 2016, when Kevin Durant decided to announce he would leave the Oklahoma City Thunder because he wanted to sign a 2 year contract with the Golden State Warriors. On July 7, Durant signed the contract which gave the Warriors a fourth all-star on their team. The Warriors are obviously the favorite to win the 2017 NBA championship because who wouldn’t be when you have four all-stars in Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Finally Kevin Durant. I guess we will have to wait and see if this big move was worth it.

Here is a little video to show you how good they really are: