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About a 1/4 of the way through the season a "beginning of the season" prediction thread was brought back from the dead to chastise people for outrageous pre-season claims. Think you may have been wrong in what you said? Of course you were. Now that the regular season is half way done, lets go on and try to predict the second half - and the playoffs.

41 Games in we've seen some surprising stories in the NBA.

1. Boston Celtics - have lived up to the hype. The bench answered the questions and it looks very strong. Garnett is running away with Defensive POY and Rondo has answered a lot of questions if he was capable of playing with 3 superstars demanding the ball. However questions still remain about who can play back up PG and the inconsistent play of Ray Allen.

2. East vs. West - Usually the San Antonio spurs cruise through the regular season to dominate in the playoffs. Seem to be a bit more on cruise control that usual. Are they getting old? Or is there parity out west? Looks it - New Orleans, Phoenix, Dallas, LA even Denver and Portland are trying to establish themselves as legit Western powers.

3. Portland - Which brings us probably the biggest surprise of the season. Getting Greg Oden in the draft seemed like a new era was dawning in Portland. The Jailblazers no more, Portland finds itself leading the Northwest division. All this without the old man stepping one foot on the basketball court. The team of the future? They need to start winning on the road before being taken all too seriously.

Anyway, onto the prediction. Feel free to post yours.

East
1. Boston 65-17
2. Detroit 56-26
3. Cleveland 50-32
4. Washington 48-34
5. Toronto 48-34
6. Orlando 48-34
7. Chicago 44-38
8. Philadelphia 40-42

West
1. Phoenix 62-20
2. Dallas 59-23
3. San Antonio 55-27
4. New Orleans 53-29
5. LA Lakers 51-31
6. Utah 50-32
7. Golden State 50-32
8. Denver 48-34

Portland misses playoffs by a hair. Philadelphia makes the playoffs in the East because looks like no one wants the last 2 spots, plus I think they are a bit better than peopel give them credit.

ECSF
Boston over Toronto in 5
Cleveland Over Detroit in 7

ECF
Boston over Cleveland in 6

WCSF
Phoenix over NO in 5
San Antonio over GS in 7

WCF
Phoenix over San Antonio in 7

NBA Finals
Boston over Phoenix in 7

By the way, however bad (or apparently bad) someone else's predictions seem to be, DON'T MOCK THEM. Post your own before you bash others. No one knows the future.

The Bucks will win at least 20 games.

On to my predictions:

East
1 Boston-65-17
2 Detroit 54-28
3. Washington-46-36
4. Orlando-45-37
5. Toronto-44-38
6. Cleveland-44-38
7. Atlanta-40-42
8.New Jersey-39-43
__________________
9. Indiana-38-44

1st round:
Boston over New Jersey in 5
Detroit over Atlanta in 4
Cleveland over Washington in 7
Orlando over Toronto in 6

2nd round:
Boston over Orlando in 6
Detroit over Cleveland in 6

3rd round:
Boston over Detroit in 7

West:
1. Phoenix-60-22
2. San Antonio- 58-34
3. Dallas-54-38
4. Utah-46-36
5. New Orleans-52-30
6. L.A Lakers-48-34
7. Golden State- 46-36
8. Houston-45-37
____________________
9. Portland 44-38

1st round:
Phoenix over Houston in 6
Spurs over Warriors in 5
Mavericks over Lakers in 7
Hornets over Jazz in 7

2nd round::
Suns over Hornets in 6
Spurs over Mavericks in 7

3rd round:
Suns over Spurs in 7

NBA FINALS:
Phoenix over Boston in 7.

Eastern Conference

1. Boston: 66-16
2. Detroit: 58-24
3. Orlando: 49-33
4. Toronto: 47-35
5. Washington: 46-36
6. Cleveland: 46-36
7. New Jersey: 42-40
8. Chicago: 41-41
9. Atlanta: 38-44
10. Indiana: 38-44

Western Conference

1. Phoenix: 59-23
2. San Antonio: 57-25
3. New Orleans: 54-28
4. Utah: 49-33
5. Dallas: 52-30
6. LA Lakers: 49-33
7. Golden State: 47-35
8. Portland: 45-37
9. Denver: 45-37
10. Houston: 44-38

First round:

EC- Boston over Chicago in 4, Detroit over New Jersey in 6, Orlando over Cleveland in 7, Toronto over Washington in 7.

WC- Phoenix over Portland in 5, San Antonio over Golden State in 5, Lakers over Hornets in 7, Dallas over Utah in 6.

Second round:

Boston over Toronto in 4, Detroit over Orlando in 6, Phoenix over the Lakers in 7, San Antonio over Dallas in 6.

Conference Finals:

San Antonio over Phoenix in 6, Detroit over Boston in 7.

Finals:

Detroit over San Antonio in 6.

No one wants to admit Portland is a playoff team

If you think that my lakers will be in the bottom 3 then your wrong.


1.Suns
2.Lakers
3.Spurs
4.TrailBlazers
5.Mavericks
6.Nuggets
7.Hornets
8.Warriors

East
1. Boston 64-18
2. Detroit 56-26
3. Washington 46-36
4. Orlando 45-37
5. Toronto 43-39
6. Cleveland 41-41
7. Atlanta 40-42
8. New Jersey 38-44
_
9. Indiana 37-45

1st round:
Boston over New Jersey in 4
Detroit over Atlanta in 4
Washington over Cleveland in 6
Orlando over Toronto in 6

2nd round:
Boston over Orlando in 6
Detroit over Cleveland in 5

ECF:
Detroit over Boston in 7

West:
1. Phoenix 59-23
2. Dallas 57-25
3. San Antonio 56-26
4. Denver 50-32
5. Los Angeles 52-30
6. New Orleans 51-31
7. Portland 50-32
8. Golden State 49-33
_
9. Utah 44-38
10. Houston 44-38

1st round:
1. Phoenix over 8. Golden State in 7
2. Dallas over 7. Portland in 5
3. San Antonio over 6. New Orleans in 6
5. Los Angeles over 4. Denver in 6

2nd round::
Suns over Lakers in 7 - Eh
Spurs over Mavs in 6

WCF:
Spurs over Suns in 7 - Can't really pick the Suns until I see it.

NBA FINALS:
Detroit over San Antonio in 6.

eastern conference standings:
1.Boston Celtics 64-18
2.Detroit Pistons 57-25
3.Cleveland Cavaliers 51-31
4.Orlando Magic 47-35
5.Toronto Raptors 46-36
6.Washington Wizards 44-38
7.Atlanta Hawks 40-42
8.New Jersey Nets 40-42

the celtics and pistonsn run away with the conference, cleveland will be better during the second half of the season, but the drop from the top 4 of the east is huge. the east is again weak except at the top.

ECSF:
Boston over Toronto 4-2, KG is too much for bosh, done!
Cleveland over Detroit 4-3, rematch from last year and again lebron gets the better of the pistons

ECF:
Cleveland over Boston 4-3, one of the best playoff series u will ever see, lebron vs. KG and lebrons ability to be unhuman wins them the series.

Western Conference Standings:
1.Dallas Mavericks 60-22
2.Phoenix Suns 59-23
3.San Antonio Spurs 58-24
4.Portland Trail Blazers 50-32
5.New Orleans Hornets 57-25
6.Los Angeles Lakers 55-27
7.Denver Nuggets 49-33
8.Golden State Warriors 48-34

the blazers and jazz and nuggets will have a great battle at the end of the year to see who wins the division, but the blazers will come out with the div. title. and jazz will miss out on the playoffs. the lakers will drop off slightly due to the bynum injury. dallas and san antonio will get back to form fighting or position and new orleans will surprise everyone even more and finish strong.

First Round:
Dallas over Golden State 4-3, thrilling rematch from last year
PHX over Denver 4-3, highest scoring series in playoff history
San Antonio over Los Angeles 4-3, lakers only take it to 7 if bynum is healthy
Portland over New Orleans 4-3, homecourt helps blazermaniacs and team advance to second round

WCSF:
Portland over Dallas 4-3, roy comes up with an mvp performance and portland pulls a stunning upset

WCSF:
San Antonio over Phoenix 4-3, duncan and company show that they still know how to win, SAS bench outplays PHX bench which ends up being key difference.

WCF:
San Antonio over Portland 4-2, portland is over powered by the spurs veteran leadership and tells the spurs to wait till next year when they can finally dethrone the champs.

NBA FINALS:
Cleveland over San Antonio 4-3, lebron adds to his legacy and gets his first ring while being named finals MVP, one of the most memorable finals performances we will ever witness.

Biggie, I like you, but A. Portland isn't getting past the 2nd round, and B. the Cavs WON'T beat the spurs in a 7 game series.

farzi wrote:Biggie, I like you, but A. Portland isn't getting past the 2nd round, and B. the Cavs WON'T beat the spurs in a 7 game series.

Ghost of the Garden wrote: By the way, however bad (or apparently bad) someone else's predictions seem to be, DON'T MOCK THEM. Post your own before you bash others. No one knows the future.

joe.linnen wrote:If you think that my lakers will be in the bottom 3 then your wrong.


1.Suns
2.Lakers
3.Spurs
4.TrailBlazers
5.Mavericks
6.Nuggets
7.Hornets
8.Warriors

lakers will win it all

Suns will win their first NBA championship and shush all the fans up.

Alot of you are forgetting the way seeding works. In the West Portland/Denver/Utah will be at least the 4 seed.

Suns_Fever wrote:Suns will win their first NBDL championship and shush all the fans up.

Fixed.

Eastern Conference:
1. Boston Celtics
2. Detroit Pistons
3. Washington Wizards
4. Orlando Magic
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
6. Toronto Raptors
7. New Jersey Nets
8. Chicago Bulls

Western Conference:
1. Phoenix Suns
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. New Orleans Hornets
4. Utah Jazz
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. L.A. Lakers
7. Golden State Warriors
8. Denver Nuggets

I'll edit the post & predict the Playoff outcomes later.

Nuggetsfanduh98 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

You're really bad at quotes.

ReddBogutCharlieV wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



You're really bad at quotes.

I was doing that on purpose. I could crack on you but I got more important things to do i got a life. Alot of us posters do and are not worried about how good they are with quotes.

farzi wrote:No one wants to admit Portland is a playoff team

That whole division has trouble playing on the road. They should be, it'll be down to the wire. They could prove me wrong, but they will definitely be legit next year.

-G- wrote:Alot of you are forgetting the way seeding works. In the West Portland/Denver/Utah will be at least the 4 seed.

Yeah I know, I just did the top 8 teams in the conferences then predicted the semi-final match ups. They way they do the playoff seedings in the NBA is archaic anyway.

Ghost of the Garden wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Yeah I know, I just did the top 8 teams in the conferences then predicted the semi-final match ups. They way they do the playoff seedings in the NBA is archaic anyway.

AGREED. I don't understand why they have divisions in the NBA. I mean NBA teams play teams in their division 4 times. They also play some teams not in their division but their conference 4 times. Therefore, it's not like NBA teams records are heavily effected by the division they are in. There should be an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference. Take the top 8 teams and be done with it.