Daily Highlight: Celtics Win Another Close One

The Knicks failed to hold on against the Celtics again.  With Amare and Billups both injured, Carmelo was unable to hold them off by himself.  Although he did everything he could scoring over 40 points.

Daily Highlight: Celtics v Knicks

There were some big games in the first round of the conference playoffs last night, including some big upsets.  Both the Lakers and the Spurs went down.  The Celtics would have gone down too if not for yet another big shot from Ray Allen.

NBA Playoffs: Eastern Conference

The 82 game season is over and the playoffs are getting started today.  It's time to get serious in the NBA.  Can Kobe and the Lakers make it another 3-peat?  Or will the aging Spurs make another run to the finals?  Can the Bulls really win the East, or will the Heat live up to early expectations?  Some good story lines to keep up with?  Let's take a look the Eastern Conference.  Here's the rankings:

1. Chicago Bulls
2. Miami Heat
3. Boston Celtics
4. Orlando Magic
5. Atlanta Hawks
6. New York Knicks
7. Philadelphia 76ers
8. Indiana Pacers

Predictions:

Just for the sake of the length of this post, I'm just going to say that the Bulls v Pacers series doesn't need a break down.  Bulls will win in 5 games.

Essentially the same deal for the Heat and the 76ers.  However, this is going to be a bit more interesting. The 76ers are young and athletic, and in that respect they can match up well with the Heat.  But their is just such a huge talent difference that the Heat will handle it no problem.  5 game series and Miami wins.

The 3-6 matchup: Celtics v Knicks.  This is where it starts to get good.  The Knicks put together a big three of their own (which is getting to be a way over-used cliche) to matchup with the Celtics' original big three.  Rondo is having some trouble recently without his good friend Kendrick Perkins around.  But with Pierce, Garnett, and Allen around, they can make up the difference.  The problem for the Knicks is that they haven't had time to gel.  Yeah they have a lot of talent, but they haven't really shown any improvement.  There are going to be some great games, but expect some blowouts too.  Both teams have shown they are capable of getting blown out and blowing out another team.  The speed offense of the Knicks under Dantonio vs the gritty defense of the Celtics is going to be fun to watch.  I pick the Celtics in 6.

And the final matchup is the Magic v the Hawks.  This is going to be an ugly series.  It will be an even one, but ugly.  The Hawks have a terrible tendency to quit games in which they find themselves in a big hole.  But at the same time, the Magic are mentally weak.  Too many bad fouls and technicals.  Dwight Howard, while a tremendous player, can be a liability.  And Gilbert Arenas...who knows what he's going to do in any given game.  So, both teams have a lot of talent, and a lot of athletic ability, but neither has the mental aspect of the game in their favor.  I hate to say it, but I'm picking the higher seed again. Orlando in 6, and expect some blowouts.

I really don't like picking the top seeds all the way through, but this isn't college.  The higher seeds almost always win out in the NBA.  And I don't think this season will be any different in the East.

Daily Highlight: Knicks get Win in OT

The Knicks finally got a win, and a win against a good team.  After a few questionable calls, the Knicks battled through overtime to beat the Magic.

Daily Highlight: Knicks Struggling

I really wish I could bring in some highlights from March Madness, but it seems that youtube blocks all of those highlights.  So here we have to Knicks continuing to struggle a little after the Carmelo trade.

The Knicks' Progress with Carmelo

So, just to review, 53% of you thought the Knicks would finish below 4th place in the East, 38% thought they'd finish in 4th place, and 7% in 3rd.  Let's take a look at how they're doing 2 weeks after the blockbuster trade on February 21st.

 

At the moment the Knicks sit in 6th place in the East at 33-29.  they are 3 games behind Atlanta for 5th and 6 games behind Orlando for 4th.  Fortunately they still have 20 games to make up the difference; unfortunately that means they have to win 6 more games than the 2 teams ahead of them in those 20 games to reach my prediction of 4th place.  That's a tall order considering how good the teams are ahead of them.  I do still believe they have a good chance to nab 5th beacuse I don't think Atlanta is very good, but 4th is probably too much to ask for.

Daily Highlight: Magic v Knicks

This game was back and forth a lot.  Both teams had big leads throughout the game, but in the end it was the Magic's Jameer Nelson that made the difference in the 4th quarter to win it for the Magic.

New York Kicks: Does Billups make a "Big 3?"

When I first posted about the trade of Carmelo to the Knicks being official, a friend of mine made a really good point about it.  He said that no one was really talking about Chauncey Billups.  He's a former All Star, a former Finals MVP, and he's known as Mr. Big Shot for his ability to knock down clutch shots at the end of the game.  So here is New York's "Big 3"

Just to add to the argument of Chauncey's impact on the New York Knicks, let's take a look at what he did against the Eastern Conference's top team (the Heat) last night.  His actual stats aren't all that impressive: 16 points, 2 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals.  But his impact and leadership late in the game were crucial.  In the first half, the Knicks had already dug themselves a 15 point hole.  And against a team as good defensively and offensively as the Heat, that was going to be nearly impossible to climb out of.  But Chauncey hit the go-ahead three pointer with just 1:01 to go in the game.  In the next possession, he read the Heat's play perfectly, and stole the ball on the pass to the corner, ran the ball down the floor and laid it off for a layup, which led to 2 points from the line and effectively sealed the game.

I feel safe saying that without Billups, the Knicks would not have won that game.  He is a smart, experienced player, and he has a lot to offer the Knicks.  And this game could be huge for them as they head down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Daily Highlight: Knicks v Heat

This was a big time statement win for the Knicks to come into Miami and knock of the heat after being down by as many as 15 points.  And in the end, they did it with defense.  This will continue to raise questions for the Heat as to their inability to finish off games, and who is their closer?

Daily HIghlight: Not what the Knicks Anticpated

The Knicks, now with their quasi "Big 3" lost to the Cavs...the Cavs!  How embarrassing.  Mike Dantonio's teams continue to prove that they don't know how to play defense.

Daily Highlight: Carmelo's Debut

The Knicks got the win, and Carmelo scored a lot of points, but he didn't shoot particularly well.  The fans didn't care; they were chanting "Melo" all night.