Least vs. West

“The NBA's Eastern Conference stinks,” proclaimed USA Today writer Jeff Zillgitt.

Nba Logo / Michael Tipton / Flickr.com

The achievement gap between the Eastern and Western Conference is huge. Since 2000 there has been nine years where a team from the West won the NBA championship. During the 2013-2014 season the top eight teams in the West had a combined 436 wins compared to the East whose top eight teams only had 375.

Does it even matter who the top 16 teams are in the regular season? It was obvious early in the season who would be in contention for a title in both conferences and who would not.

“Thirteen of the West's 15 teams have records good enough for one of the top eight spots in the East,” said Zillgitt.

During the regular season the Indiana Pacers, who were considered the best regular season team in the East, were winless against the Phoenix Suns who were the ninth seed in the West at the end of the season.

Some may argue that the East isn't really awful because they have the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers. The teams that were predicted to fight for the third seed were struggling during most of the year.

"The biggest problem is the Knicks, Nets and Bulls," TNT analyst and former Phoenix Suns general manager Steve Kerr said. "Those were teams who were supposed to be pretty good. In fact, I thought Miami was going to be challenged in every round of the playoffs coming in because of the Nets, Knicks, Pacers and Bulls.”

The notion that the two conferences are even has been inadvertently changed. Since the 1999-2000 season there has been only two seasons where the East had more overall top five seeded teams than the West. Throughout the NBA’s history there has been almost an even amount of seasons where one conference dominated the other. Historically it is suggested that the East will regain control over the West, but it is questionable whether or not this equilibrium will be returned in the near future.

By Yoni Pechter and Sadeon Martin

NBA Semifinals: Heat against Pacers

The Miami Heat after finishing off the determined New York Knicks through a five game series, are now heading to the conference semi-finals. The Heat's opponent will be the Indiana Pacers, who also left their opponent, the Orlando Magic in the dust with a 4-1 victory.

The Heat didn't need to put much effort into beating the Knicks. Throughout the five game series it was the Heat's big three, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh against Carmelo Anthony. Jeremy Lin, the Knicks' point guard was out due to a knee injury. The first three games in the series the Heat completely outwitted the Knicks. Baron Davis who played point guard position while Lin is out got injured during the Knicks' game four against the Heat, but with luck on their side they managed to survive a sweep and won game four. The Heat was still superior because they took advantage of the Knicks losing Davis and won game five.

Just like their semi-final opponent, the Pacers closed the Magic and ended the series in five games. Dwight Howard, the Magic's center, was out for the season due to an injury. Knowing this, the Pacers took advantage and was able to grab more rebounds.. Even though their starting center was out the Magic had put up a good fight and won one game of the series to avoid being swept. Unfortunately, the Pacers closed the series during game five.

The Heat and Pacers faced off in game one of their semifinal series and it ended with an unexpected turn. Through the first to third quarter in the game the Heat were trailing, but they made a comeback during the fourth quarter and took the win to lead the semifinal series with 1-0. The Heat and Pacers' Semifinals game two will be in Miami so the odds are against the Pacers. Bosh, Miami's power forward and one of the big three, was out with an injury during game one. The odds are stacked against them, but the Pacers are having a huge advantage because with Bosh out, James and Wade will have to score higher than they usually would to fill his gap.

Jeremy Lin's future with the Knicks

Jeremy Lin / MattBritt00 / Flickr

In the past few weeks Jeremy Lin’s popularity soared after he recorded 25 points, five rebounds, and seven assists on February 3rd against the New Jersey Nets. That game earned him a spot in the New York Knicks' starting line-up.

In his last game before All-Star weekend against the Miami Heat he struggled to bring the Lin-sanity to South Beach, ending the game with eight points and eight turnovers. This game left people questioning Lin’s skills.

In his first game back from All-Star weekend Lin had 19 points along with 13 assists against the Cleveland Cavaliers, proving that he is still capable of what he was doing a few weeks ago. He played consistently, with 14 points in each of the past two games and averaging four turnovers.

Throughout the season Lin was criticized on his average of 5.6 turnovers per game. Against the Cavaliers he had only one turnover, which is an improvement from his recent games. This game hints that he can maintain a low amount of turnovers and keep his average of 21 points in his past 16 games.

Game 4 expectations

The Dallas Mavericks lost a tough home game to the Miami Heat giving the Heat a 2-1 advantage in the series. The Heat's defense has been suffocating forcing the Mavs to turn the ball over numerous times throughout the games. The players in the Heat are athletic and big making it difficult to pass the ball around and once the ball is stolen, it leads to fast break points. The Mavs must focus on how they are passing the ball around to decrease the turnovers.

Besides the turnovers, the Mavs are not shooting as well as they were in the past series. Besides Dirk Nowitzki, the other players do not have nearly the confidence as him to hit open threes. There are plays where they gave up the open three to pass to the guys in the paint. They have to trust that Tyson Chandler can get the offensive rebound even if they miss. Once the Three pointers start to go in, then the paint will open up leading to scoring inside the paint.

As usual, the Heat are playing tough defense and making it hard for the opposing team to score. They are doing their best to guard Nowitzki while not fouling him. The Heat is relentless with making the Mavs turn the ball over and making fast break points. Even though they are making stops, not all three of the “big three” are making their shots. In game three both Chris Bosh and Lebron James did not play at their standard level. They need to drive to the paint more and force the Mavs into foul troubles.

Game 4 preview

The reason for the Miami Heat win in Game 3 was because of their tight defense. Udonis Haslem did everything he could to stop Dirk Nowitzki and it all paid off as Nowitzki missed the shot that could have tied the game. Dwyane Wade stepped up to the plate and scored 29 points with 11 rebounds. Another reason for the Mavericks' loss was their silly turnovers which led to fast break points for the Miami Heat.

If the Mavericks want to win Game 4 then other players besides Nowitzki would have to step up. DeShawn Stevenson who is the starting shooting guard took only one shot. And Tyson Chandler scored only five points which is very upsetting because the Heat lack in size. Also backup point guard Jose Juan Barea missed some crucial open three pointers. If you compare the amount of playing time for the Heat starters and the Mavericks starters, you will notice that the Mavericks starters play a significant amount longer. This could lead to exhaustion for the Mavericks in which the bench should play their role and help. All of this would have to be improved for the Mavericks to win tonight in Game 4.

Game 4 preview

After the disappointing Game 3 loss the Mavericks will have to secure a win in Game 4 to give them any reasonable shot at winning the series. After the Maverick's stuning Game 2comeback to take home court advantage in the series they gave it right back after coming up short in Game 3.

Dallas has had a couple issues through the series to this point. The largest issue seems to be keeping Dwayne Wade out of the paint. Jason Kidd has taken on the responsibility of guarding Wade but the Mavericks will have to do a better job with help defense on Wade to discourage him from using his size and speed advantage to dominate Kidd.

Dirk Nowitzki also will need more help clsoing games in the fourth quarter specifically from Jason Terry who has struggled down the stretch in this series. A significant reason for this has been the Heat's decision to have Lebron James guard Jason Terry which has made Jason Terry a non factor in crunch time. As seen at the end of game three despite Nowitzki's greatness he can not hit the game winner every game.

For the Heat the one aspect of their game they must improve on to finish off the Mavericks is keeping their energy level up for the entire 48 minutes. Games 2 and 3 both featured big Mavericks comebacks after the Heat appeared to have the game in their hands. In order to prevent this from happening in game four the Heat need to keep the ball moving on offense and fight through the Mavericks screens to prevent the open three pointers.

With the series hanging in the balance Game 4 is a make or break game for the Mavericks and it could pave the way to a championship for the Heat.

Will the Heat come out on top?

The advantages the Heat have over the Mavericks are the following:

- Miami Heat is known for their tight defense. The main reason for the Chicago Bulls’ loss in game four was because of Miami’s defense. MVP Derrick Rose could not penetrate like he did in the regular season because he would be surrounded by two or three Miami jerseys.

- The Dallas Mavericks have too many old players, but this can be an advantage since they have more experienced players than the Heat. However, the Heat have speed and stamina which the Mavericks lack. Who would be able to keep up with “The Flash” Dwyane Wade? By the end of the third quarter, the Mavericks will be out of gas, while the Heat are still ready to go.

- The Dallas Mavericks are known for their excellence in three pointers. This would definitely be an advantage for the Mavericks. However, the Miami Heat have the 2011 three point champion; James Jones. Jones was the key to the Miami Heat’s victory in Game 1 against the Boston Celtics.

What to Expect From the Dallas Mavericks

Dirk Nowitzki/ Keith Allison via Getty Images

Game 1 of the NBA Finals is finally in sight, and it is important to recognize the key players and advantages that the Dallas Mavericks are bringing to the game. One should look for :

1. The Mavericks will put foward Dirk Nowitzki to make crucial jumpshots and pick up their offensive game-play overall.
2. Defensively, the Mavs stand capable of limiting the Miami Heat's scoring ability with Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion and DeShawn Stevenson.
3. Overall, they must be able to maintain their high points per game average while stopping the "Big Three" from the Heat, which includes Wade, James and Bosh.

For the Mavericks, Caron Butler's ability to play in any of the playoffs games still remains a mystery although Coach Rick Carlisle said it was not likely. This absence probably wont impact the offensive play too much for the Mavs but they could always use his consistent shooting. Before Butler was injured, he averaged about 15 points per game and that would only add to the high scoring average held by the Mavs. In terms of defense, the Mavericks will look for the ability of Tyson Chandler in playing strong defense that will shake off Dwyane Wade and Lebron James. His ability to pickup rebounds can also aid the Mavs in setting up for good shooting plays.