Stay Golden - NBA Playoff Preview by Ben Galli

It's a couple days late and 60 points short, but here's a preview of this year's NBA Playoffs.  The East is a bit top heavy with 4 teams finishing with identical 48-34 records and the Cavs could run into some trouble, but shouldn't have much issue getting LeBron to his 6th straight Finals appearance. Out West it's between Golden State, San Antonio, and maybe Oklahoma City.  If things play out like they did in the regular season though, Golden State should escape out of a wild, wild West.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

#4 Atlanta Hawks (48-34) vs. #5 Boston Celtics (48-34)

Gotta give credit to Danny Ainge for this surprising Celtics season.  Brad Stevens is an excellent head coach and Isaiah Thomas is a little man that can win you ballgames.  The Celtics should have a pretty high lottery pick and free agent money.  They're very close to being serious contenders in the East.  This Hawks team has more experience and talent with a head coach that may be equally as good.  Paul Millsap doesn't get enough love  and he should lead Atlanta to a win.  Hawks in 6.

#3 Miami Heat (48-34) vs. #6 Charlotte Hornets (48-34)

The Heat are probably the biggest threat to the Cavs in the East. Danny Ainge won 2 titles as a player in the 80's and has a total of 3 NBA rings. Pat Riley does it better with 4 rings as a coach in the 80's and a total of 9.  Count the rings, Danny Boy.  The Heat wrapped up the 3rd seed mainly without the services of Chris Bosh.  Bosh will miss the playoffs due to a blood clot and his presence will be missed if the Heat play the Cavs.  Heat in 5.

#2 Toronto Raptors (56-26) vs. #7 Indiana Pacers (45-37)

The Raptors haven't won a playoff series since 2001.  That ties the Bucks for longest drought without having won a playoff series. The Pacers have a better coach and a better overall player in Paul George.  But Toronto's overall talent should be enough for them to win a playoff series.  This is a battle of two places that find it hard to attract free agents.  Having Drake lobby for you might actually be a negative.  I don't see Derozan back next year.  Raptors in 5.

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers (57-25) vs. #8 Detroit Pistons (44-38)

Stan Van Gundy's attack on fashion not withstanding, the Pistons lack the firepower to hang with the Cavs.  Andre Drummond is a beast and Reggie Jackson is making it look like OKC should have done more to keep him but LeBron and the Bronnettes are looking to prove they're not as dysfunctional as LeBron's tweets make them sound.  If the Cavs are all focused, they'll walk through the East.  Cavs in 4.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

#4 L.A. Clippers (53-29) vs. #5 Portland Trail Blazers (44-38)

Portland was a revelation this year, clawing to the 5th seed after losing their best player to the Spurs.  Damian Lillard is the next little known superstar and C.J. McCollum is leading many Most Improved Player picks.  But with Blake Griffin back, the Clippers should be able to power through into the next round.  Clippers in 6.

#3 Oklahoma City Thunder (55-27) vs. #6 Dallas Mavericks (42-40)

This very well could be the last year we see KD and RussWest on the Thunder together.  I'm sure they're going to try and make the most of it.  Dallas overachieved this year and it is a nice feeling to see Dirk in the playoffs for the 15th time.  But the Thunder have 2 of the top 5 players in the game and should make quick work of the Mavs.  Some might even say lightning quick work because they can't help the thunder/lightning pun possibility.  Thunder in 5.

#2 San Antonio Spurs (67-15) vs. #7 Memphis Grizzlies (42-40)

Memphis set records this year for having the most players on a roster in one season. But their missing Marc Gasol and Mike Conley Jr and starting Jordan Farmar at point who was signed on March 21st.  This is most likely Manu Ginobili's last year and Tim Duncan shouldn't be far behind.  The Spurs are going to make every effort count and they should easily handle this grizzly Grizz squad.  Spurs in 5.

#1 Golden State Warriors (73-9) vs. #8 Houston Rockets (41-41)

It's unlikely that the previous year's Conference Finals participants meet as a #1 and #8 seed but that's how far the Rockets have fallen.  Firing Kevin McHale 11 games into the season was not the change they needed.  Dwight Howard and James Harden don't get along and Houston may be in for massive changes this off season.  And the Warriors just went 73-9, the greatest record ever.  Warriors in 4.

2nd Round

East

#2 Toronto vs. #3 Miami - Heat in 7
#1 Cleveland vs. #4 Atlanta - Cavs in 6

West

#2 San Antonio vs. #3 Oklahoma City - Spurs in 7
#1 Golden State vs. #4 Los Angeles - Warriors in 6

Conference Finals

East 

#1 Cleveland vs. #3 Miami - Cavs in 6
#1 Golden State vs. #2 San Antonio - Warriors in 7

Finals

Golden State vs. Cleveland - Warriors in 7

I give Cleveland a better chance than most with 2 likely healthy stars available this time around but it just doesn't make sense to think the Warriors won't win it all again this year.  They haven't lost back to back all year.  They give every team too many problems and when they're on, it's almost impossible.  I think the Spurs will give Golden State a run for their money but LeBron is gonna need to be Batman and Superman for Cleveland to have a shot at the title.  

P.S.  

The regular season belonged to Kobe.

Kobe v LeBron: Requiem by Ben Galli

I'd never been to a NBA game.  Surprising even to me since the opportunity was always there, but I guess LeBron leaving for 4 years probably put a damper on a lot of people's intentions.  Back in November, I got an email about a potential trip to Cleveland to watch the Lakers game on February 10th.   You didn't have to remind me this would pretty much be my only chance ever to see Kobe Bryant in a Lakers uniform.  I was "all in" as the kids say nowadays.  Stupid kids.

My waning hope as I fell asleep Tuesday night was that there wouldn't be some weather forced cancellation.  My first sound as I awoke the next day was the soothing buzz of an incoming text and then instant dread.  When I finally woke up, woke up I checked my phone and sure enough, it was about the game.  The news was palatable though, informing me that one of our group of four had to bow out last minute.  After multiple nearly successful attempts to find someone to take the ticket, the three of us left downtown Columbus, 3:30pm that afternoon.  Right around the time we were slowly traversing an impromptu blizzard in Ashland, we found someone who'd take the fourth ticket.  Everything was coming up Milhouse.

We parked near the arena ($25) around 6pm, grabbed some paninis at Panini's, and headed to our seats.  We'd paid $55 a pop for our tickets a week before Kobe announced his retirement plan.  Now, tickets in our section were going for about $175 so we were happy.  We were also literally 3 rows from the very top.  But Quicken Loans Arena or the Gund if you're like me and not a shill, has a giant scoreboard.  It's the largest HD scoreboard of any arena in the country. You could actually feel the flames on your forehead when they burst out in thunderous celebration.  As far as any Kobe tribute, there was a nice video highlighting his past dominance and a heartfelt standing ovation but no jewel encrusted black mamba or honorary plaque in Comic Sans. The real joy would be to see two of the greatest players of all time go at it for the last time in Ohio. 

Photo Credit:  Joel Bishop

As soon as the game started, I became pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to follow the dance on the court.  Kobe and LeBron started off guarding each other. Give the people what they want. Kobe's 15 footer answered a Kyrie jumper early in the game.  But the Cavs went on a 16-4 run after that (despite Kevin Love missing 3 straight shots from 3 point land) mainly because the Lakers don't play defense.  Not sure if that was on orders from their Tank Commander, Byron Scott, or not.  Kobe took his difficult and sometimes ill-advised shots as has been his MO pretty much his whole career.  He didn't hit again until making a trey with three minutes left in the first.  He was replaced on the next break by Metta World Peace, the Artest formerly known as Ron.  Cavs led after one, 35-25.

The 2nd quarter saw D'Angelo Russell shine.  In a two minute span, the rookie from Ohio State drained three straight pretty 3-pointers to cut the Cavs lead to 6.  It begged the question, why won't they let him play more?  Russell did finish with 15 points on 5-11 shooting in 28 minutes.  Most impressive may have been his +11 plus/minus. The Lakers struggled after that and the Cavs took advantage, coasting to a 64-47 halftime time lead on the strength  of 54% shooting from the field versus the Lakers dismal 36%.  Kevin Love was not impressive the whole half and did not come back into the game after suffering an apparent injury to the shoulder (yes that shoulder) late in the period.  The team (and Love) says it is not serious.  What is serious is that KLove went 2-9 with 8 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes.  That's not even beating the Rockets.

The 3rd quarter was memorable because Anderson Varejao played some quality minutes and did not look too bad.  It's also always nice to see World Peace in action.  Most memorable to D'Angelo Russell (in a very bad way) was the fastball he took from LeBron in the, ahem, gonads.  Poor guy was laid out on the court in pain for a good five minutes.  The Cavs led coming into the 4th, 93-74.  Not much was expected the rest of the game but in the latter half of the 4th, amid "Kobe" chants from the considerable number of Lakers fans in attendance, the Lakers sprang to life.  A 4 point play from Bryant cut the Cavs lead down to 9 and a couple minutes later, Kobe got fouled on a 3 point attempt, sinking the trifecta of free throws.  L.A. was down 8 with 3 minutes plus left but that would be as close as they'd get.  

In an overall fantastic experience for me, Cleveland won the game 120-111 behind 35 points, on 15-24 shooting, and 7 assists from Kyrie Irving who found little resistance.  LeBron James played a great game with 29 points (on 12-22 shooting), 11 assists, and 7 rebounds in 37 minutes.  Kobe finished with 17 points (5-16 shooting) and 6 rebounds in 33 minutes.  Not what he once was, but deserving of respect nonetheless.  There will still be time for a proper Kobe send-off on these pages but there won't be many more wins for this Los Angeles squad.  Of course, this could all be part of the plan to get in position to draft Ben Simmons in June, instantly skyrocketing the future of this proud franchise, reduced to a miserable rubble these past few years.  

The Cavs were there, during LeBron's "college years" but they're in a whole new stratosphere now.  This win was expected and perhaps too close against the team with the 2nd worst record in the NBA.  From now on, every success and mishap for the Cavs will be scrutinized against the backdrop of the ferocious West where the Warriors and Spurs are both making runs at the greatest season ever.  Should they have fired the coach, was Kevin Love the right choice, is LeBron done, does J.R. Smith have Periscope?  Much has been made of LeBron's leadership or lack thereof.  This season will be strong testimony to who he really is.