The All-Star break is now here (*now the game is over and we can analyze the season) and from my view the first half of the NBA season has surpassed it’s expectations, especially the drama and endless headlines. The Lakers are definitely putting on a ‘Show’ but it’s more of a comedy. I am still optimistic about this team making the playoffs but when they are healthy it will be interesting to see the run they put together. The Celtics haven’t lived up to the hype from the start of the season and they know it. Then there’s the Knicks. Wait, why do we keep talking about he Knicks? It’s funny how whenever there is a gap in NBA games, the media starts talking about weird made up scenarios for the next seasons. Anyways, as far as this season goes, there were a few Eastern Conference teams that made big moves during the trade deadline to help move them closer to avoiding a sweep to the Warriors in the Finals. Harden, Giannis, and Paul George are all MVP candidates at the mid way point and as long as it’s not Harden then the league will get it right. For the Jazz the first half has been a mixed bag. The record is a little underwhelming, but also promising looking at the remainder of the season schedule. The trade deadline and All-Star selection had high expectations but ended up very underwhelming for the team and especially the fans. The All-Star snub for Rudy Gobert hit national news and for good intentions, he simply wanted to be an All-Star. He and the team were not rewarded for winning. As the saying goes, “at least it will fuel the team to play harder now” (I think that original quote was from a Jazz fan). Lastly, the Jazz fans were stuck with Ricky Rubio. As always, the team didn’t make a trade at the deadline, but this time I really think they tried as opposed to say, the Andrei Kirilenko days when we wished he was traded year after year but it never happened. Jazz fans just need to learn to be accept the 5-8 seed we land year after year and be happy we aren’t the Clippers, Kings, or the Magic.
Quickly I will give you my All-Star Weekend Accolade predictions, then let’s highlight the second half teams and predictions.
**ALL-STAR Weekend Awards
**I failed to guess any winners on all the awards.
- Skills Challenge – Trae Young (This MAN got robbed from a half court bucket)
- 3-point – Seth Curry (FAIL)
- Dunk Contest – Dennis Smith JR. (Boy was this disappointing on so many fronts)
- All-Star MVP – Paul George (He was close, overall the game was better then past years)
UTAH JAZZ
I know I said the Jazz are stuck with Ricky Rubio, but more importantly we could not have lost Derrick Favors with Rubio. I have always been a Favors ‘hater’, mainly because Jazz need a stretch 4, but Favors on the second team has been a terror for opponents this year. As anyone who watches the team knows, they desperately need another real scoring threat for the Jazz to move past the second round. Donovan is going to continue to grow and dominate games at times but in the playoffs he could struggle if it is all on his shoulders. Ingles has really slowed down and needs to probably start forcing his shot and increase his scoring for them to be a real threat. Overall, I still believe this team will likely be a road team for the playoffs but can still force a six game series for any team in the West.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
This team should scare everyone in the West. Anytime you face Westbrook you should actually be a little nervous. Not just because of the triple double’s but that man is just a little intimidating. I still believe that Westbrook is not getting the credit he deserves for what he does every night. He has accepted that he needs help to win and he hasn’t exactly gave the reign’s to PG, but he has allowed him to be the guy to lean on when it counts. If you look at the comparison to Magic Johnson, who is beloved, their career numbers are almost identical (even the turnovers: Magic 3.9 vs. Westbrook 4.0 avg). Russ has figured out he doesn’t have to be the leading scorer on the team to win. That being said, this team will go as far as Paul George allows them with his shooting. George will have a good chance at the MVP race mainly because it seems like a lot of NBA guys are not respecting Harden’s style of play and it could come down to the overall record of the teams.As for OKC, I’ll tell you now I wouldn’t want a repeat with them if I was the Jazz.
Los Angeles Lakers
I’m pretty sure this is the exact state of last years Cavs team in the first half of the season. Trade rumors, no defense and Lebron looking like he wants to throw in the towel. The only difference is the age gap from Lebron and the young guys, that now trust him less after the rumors but still have to follow his lead. *Lebron for the first time that I have seen looked human and almost average against the rest of the stars in this league. I am not sure how interested he is at this point. I still can’t count them out for the playoffs, because if the refs say Bradley Beal didn’t travel, then I guarantee they won’t let Bron miss the playoffs.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
… 3-peat against the Sixers in 5.
THE OTHER CONFERENCE
Marc Gaaaaaaassssol??? C’mon man you really think he lifts the Raptors to a championship? The Raptors remind me a bit of the Celtics. Both teams are riding momentum from the last few years but they really have lost the identity or reputation they earned in previous years. They are not the gritty teams they were and when it comes down to team chemistry, they will neither ride or die for each other like they would in the past. The Bucks are greatly improved and Giannis is the opposite of James Harden, proving you don’t need a jump shot to be the MVP. Even though they have the best record in the NBA I’m still not sold. I have the Sixers coming out of the East because of what they can be. They are young and at times play sloppy but eventually Jimmy will tighten the crew up and if they just feed Embiid they’ll be playing for a ring in June.
-Playoff Predictions
WESTERN CONFERENCE (Moves from Week 15 rankings)
- Warriors (↔)
- OKC (↑ 1)
- Denver (↓ 1)
- Houston (↔)
- Utah (↔)
- Portland (↑ 1)
- San Antonio (↑ 1)
- Lakers (↓ 2)
EASTERN CONFERENCE (Moves from Week 1 rankings)
- Bucks (↑ 3)
- Toronto (↑ 1)
- 76ers (↓ 1)
- Boston (↓ 3)
- Indiana (↔)
- Brooklyn (not ranked)
- Charlotte (not ranked)
- Detroit (not ranked)
Untold NBA Stories 