It’s NBA Playoffs time! I love me some playoffs, and in honor of the second season, I thought I’d do a quick awards recap of the regular season and then lay down my bound-to-be-right picks (Ha, not really, remember my NCAA ones?). Let’s do this, 2010 NBA Playoffs style. (Denver Nuggets tattoos sold separately.)
Most Valuable Player:
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Duh. I will be shocked if this isn’t unanimous. Actually, no I won’t, some jackass media member will vote for Dwight Howard or Kevin Durant, just to be different.)
Rookie of the Year:
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors. (Yes, Tyreke Evans was more consistent and joined the elite 20-5-5 Rookie club, but Curry was the best rookie the last 4 months of the season, in a much harder situation – having to share the ball with Monta Ellis is the least desirable situation for a rookie point guard. Plus, Curry gets points for having the most beautiful stroke in the league, at least in my opinion. His percentages were also ridiculous: 46.2 FG%, 43.7 3PT%, and 88.8 FT%. Finally, this play. (Yeah. That happened.)
Defensive Player of the Year:
Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic. (Yawn, this one is too easy. As much as I like Josh Smith’s versatility on defense, Superman became the first player ever to lead the league in blocks and rebounds two years in a row. He’s going to win a lot of these before he’s done. Now, if he could only stop blocking everything into the upper deck…)
Coach of the Year:
Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers. (This was by far the hardest choice, as there were three great candidates, with Scott Brooks of the Thunder and Scott Skiles of the Bucks both deserving praise. However, McMillan took an injury-ravaged team and got them to 50 wins in the tough-as-hell Western Conference and the #6 seed. Definitely the most impressive feat.)
Sixth Man of the Year:
Jamal Crawford, Atlanta Hawks. (Another easy one, especially since Carl Landry got traded and became a starter. Let’s move on, this one is a guarantee. Instead of dwelling on it, I’ll leave you with this amazing crossover he had a few years ago.)
Most Improved Player:
Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder. (The hardest category to understand. I feel like good players are hampered by virtue of being good to start with. However, that’s bullshit, and Durantula definitely improved more than anyone in the league, rising into top 5 status, and winning the scoring title at 21. TWENTY-ONE. It’s scary to think about how good he could still become.)
Playoff Predictions
(Disclaimer: I made all of these picks last week, so they do not take into account the first game of each series, except where noted.)
1st Round
#1 Cleveland Cavaliers over #8 Chicago Bulls, 4-0.
#2 Orlando Magic over Charlotte Bobcats, 4-2.
#3 Atlanta Hawks over #6 Milwaukee Bucks, 4-1.
#5 Miami Heat over #4 Boston Celtics, 4-3.
#1 Los Angeles Lakers over #8 Oklahoma City Thunder, 4-3.
#7 San Antonio Spurs over #2 Dallas Mavericks, 4-3.
#3 Phoenix Suns over #6 Portland Trail Blazers, 4-1.
#4 Denver Nuggets over #5 Utah Jazz, 4-1. (I picked Utah originally in 6, but then Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur were both injured and lost for the series, so now I feel that Denver will advance, easily)
2nd Round
#1 Cleveland Cavaliers over #5 Miami Heat, 4-1.
#2 Orlando Magic over #3 Atlanta Hawks, 4-1.
#4 Denver Nuggets over #1 Los Angeles Lakers, 4-3.
#3 Phoenix Suns over #7 San Antonio Spurs, 4-3.
Conference Finals
#1 Cleveland Cavaliers over #2 Orlando Magic, 4-2.
#3 Phoenix Suns over #4 Denver Nuggets, 4-3.
NBA Finals
So, there you have it. Cleveland will finally shake off the city-wide stink and win the first NBA championship in Cavaliers history. LeBron will win his first title and elevate to a new level of amazing. And then…I think he’ll stay a Cavalier. Just a feeling. Enjoy the ride, kids. These playoffs are going to be excellent.
(Image via)
The title is a hypothetical question, right?
CAVS!!!! Honestly, it’s about time. And LeBron will never leave!!
WE ARE ALL WITNESS
Sruti, that reminds me of an unofficial award.
Best Shaq Nickname Ever: The Big Witness Protection
I’m not quite sure why the Lakers get little-to-no-love on posts like these (and on national broadcasts, from crazies like Jeff van Gundy). I don’t know what more the Lakers need to do to prove themselves. With Bynum’s return, the underrated skill of Pau Gasol, and the leadership of seasoned vets Kobe and Fisher, the Lakers could very well win this year. The way they did last year. And Lebron and his Cavs could crash and burn in the semis. The way they did last year.
Also – I’m glad the Lakers had Shaq before his era of weird and mildly creepy facial hair.
The real question is can anyone beat the New York LeBrons in 2012?
tyreke has been better all year. btw, he made the same play curry did. and he did it first sgainst phoenix : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Vm_qwun6k just go to the :19 mark
There’s a big difference in doing it on Frye and doing it on Birdman. Advantage: Curry.
Also, if Curry was the undisputed leader of the Warriors, and looked for his own shot instead of passing more (so if he was Tyreke), he would probably have scored 23 a game. Even while deferring to Monta, he still averaged a respectable 17.5 ppg. Put it this way, Tyreke had more shots in 8 less games.
@Carey Sorry I didn’t see your posts, my bad.
The reason I don’t see the Lakers winning it all is simple: Kobe is playing some horrific (for his standards) basketball right now. Bynum and Gasol will get them through this first round (OKC has no low post D as evidenced by yesterday’s game), but Denver (if Kenyon Martin heals up a bit more) can put bodies on them and slow them down. Kobe will need to shoot better for them to get to the Finals. I don’t see it. They’re also not a deep team at all, something Dallas will exploit if they play the Lakeshow.
[...] NYU Local • NBA Playoffs Preview: Can Anyone Beat the Cleveland … [...]
@Carey Luis is right; Kobe is failing majorly this year. Plus, I think the reason the Lakers get no love is because no one wants to see the Lakers win yet another title. I’m definitely a biased Clevelander, but who doesn’t love an underdog???
@Natan It’ll never happen. NEVER!!!!
*deep breath*
@Carey Are you from LA too? I am and even I admit that the Lakers aren’t playing to their full potential (don’t get me wrong, I’m a die-hard Celtics fan). While I do think that they will barely make it to the Finals, I wouldn’t be surprised if they exited in round 2. They’re just getting beat up, that’s really it.
@Luis We’ve discussed this in length in person but I’m giving Ronald cred. Stephen’s averages are a bit misleading because he would go for near triple-doubles on some games then be shut down the next. If you want to say Stephen had a better second half of the season, then why shouldn’t we give Yung Buck more credit for having a better first half? Through the entire season, ‘Reke put up 20-5-5 pretty regularly. I love Steph more, but Evans deserves it.
@Sruti It’s going to happen. If it doesn’t, I’m leaving this country.
@Kenny Enjoy your world traveling while LeBron wins Cleveland more titles!!!
All I’m going to say is that you guys better get ready for the D-Wade/LBJ/Bosh triumvirate in Miami.
Badass of the Year: Joakim Noah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4lFo37nErY