Will the Miami Heat joint the elite 3-peat club? (Flickr.com photo/Keith Allison)
Check out part 1 on the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder;
Part 2, on the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Minnesota Timberwolves;
Part 3, on the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, and Brooklyn Nets;
And part 4, on the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, and Golden State Warriors.
Aaaaaannnnnnnd We’re Back!!!!!!!!! Opening night has come and gone and with it, the optimal day to post my final predictions for the NBA season. Despite that, here are my projections for the 2013-14 NBA season (quick note: these were submitted before Orlando-Indiana tipped off, so I was not influenced by the
20-point loss the Lakers are going to endure at the hands of the Clips
Lakers coming from behind to beat the Clippers):
Eastern Conference Standings
- Chicago Bulls (65-19)
- Miami Heat (64-18)
- Brooklyn Nets (53-29)
- Indiana Pacers (51-31)
- New York Knicks (49-33)
- Atlanta Hawks (48-34)
- Washington Wizards (44-38)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (43-39)
- Detroit Pistons (38-44)
- Milwaukee Bucks (34-48)
- Toronto Raptor (24-58)
- Charlotte Bobcats (23-59)
- Boston Celtics (20-62)
- Orlando Magic (16-66)
- Philadelphia 76ers (15-67)
Western Conference Standings
- San Antonio Spurs (60-22)
- Los Angeles Clippers (59-23)
- Houston Rockets (58-24)
- Golden State Warriors (57-25)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (57-25)
- Memphis Grizzlies (54-28)
- Portland Trail Blazers (46-36)
- Dallas Mavericks (44-38)
- Denver Nuggets (43-39)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (42-20)
- New Orleans Pelicans (31-51)
- Sacramento Kings (30-52)
- Los Angeles Lakers (29-53)
- Utah Jazz (20-62)
- Phoenix Suns (13-69)
Going into the season their five teams already in tank mode. That does not include the Charlotte Bobcats, Toronto Raptors, Sacramento Kings or Los Angeles Lakers. The point is, their are going to be a lot of wins up top just because their are close to ten teams the elite squads will beat up on with reckless abandon night in and night out. That is why three teams are winning 60 games and seven more teams are winning 50. If you look at history, a draft class this good — Tim Duncan sweepstakes, LeBron James sweepstakes, Patrick Ewing frozen envelope sweepstakes and the Michael Jordan–Hakeem Olajuwon draft — leads to monumental levels of tanking and by result a monumental number of wins up top. But unless somebody wins 70 games, that is more or less pointless. Let’s see how the playoffs play out:
Eastern Conference First Round
Chicago (1) over Cleveland (8) in five
Miami (2) over Washington (7) in six
Brooklyn (3) over Atlanta (6) in seven
Indiana (4) over New York (5) in six
Western Conference First Round
San Antonio (1) over Dallas (8) in six
Los Angeles Clippers (2) over Portland (7) in six
Houston (3) over Memphis (6) in seven
Golden State Warriors (4) over Oklahoma City (5) in seven
The OKC-Dubs series can go either way but the Warriors get the nod because of their home court advanctage. The couple losses the Thunder get because of the Russell Westbrook injury (one against those against the Warriors) really hurt the Thunder in the end.
Eastern Conference Semifinals
Chicago (1) over Indiana (4) in six
Miami (2) over Brooklyn (3) in six
Western Conference Semifinals
San Antonio (1) over Golden State (4) in sevenHouston (3) over Los Angeles Clippers (2) in six
Conference Finals
Miami (2) over Chicago (1) in six
San Antonio (1) over Houston (3) in seven
NBA Finals
Miami Heat over San Antonio in seven
This is the first year the logical step is to take the field over Miami, but even then I cannot pick any team to beat them. San Antonio can definitely steal that series, and a fully realized Rockets team will have a chance as well. But it is hard not to pick the champs to make it three in a row. We will see how it all plays out.