NBA Betting: NBA's Second Season 5/1/2012 by
Larry Ness
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– The 2011-12 NBA season saw
its start delayed until Christmas Day, because of a lockout. The
regular season was “compacted” from 82 to 66 games and concluded
Thursday night. However, one of the biggest stories from the
final day of action did not involve one of this year’s 16
playoff teams but rather it centered around MJ’s Charlotte
Bobcats. The Bobcats closed out the season by losing 23 straight
games, the third-longest in NBA history. Charlotte finished the
year 7-59 and its winning percentage of .106 marks the lowest
for a single season, ever! The previous record was set 39 years
ago, when the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers finished 9-73 (.110) in
a full regular season.
The NBA last had a strike-shortened season back in 1998-99, the
first year following MJ second retirement (he would return in
2001 and retire for a third time after the 2002-03 season). The
San Antonio Spurs won their first of four NBA titles back in
that 1998-99 season and the way the Spurs played down the
stretch this season, a fifth title just may be in the cards.
Note that the “aging” Spurs went 24-3 their last 27 games,
ending the season on a 10-game winning streak. The hot stretch
was good enough for the Spurs to earn the West’s No. 1 seed at
50-16 (Oklahoma City is No. 2 at 47-19) but the Bulls (also
50-16), earned the NBA’s overall No. 1 seed (for the second
straight year), via the tiebreaker. The Heat, as they did last
year, earned the No. 2 seed in the East.
The above top-two seeds from each conference clearly established
themselves as the league’s best teams this regular season and it
would be a surprise if they weren’t the NBA’s version of a
“Final 4,” with the Spurs and Thunder squaring off in the
Western Conference finals, while the Bulls and Heat did so in
the Eastern Conference finals. I always like to remind everyone
at this time of the year, the NBA playoffs rarely offer any real
surprises. Bird and Magic entered the NBA for the start of the
1979-80 season, rejuvenating what was a 'dying' league. Here's
what a check of the history books tell us. Of the 32
championship teams since that 1979-80 season, 15 have been teams
which finished the regular season with the best regular season
record (or tied for the best record). Nine champs have been
teams which finished with its second-best mark and four others
with its third-best record.
That leaves just FOUR champions from outside the top-three
regular season records over the last 32 seasons (or just 12.5
percent). I will note that THREE of those champs have come in
the last eight years, including the 2011 champion Mavericks, who
finished tied for the fourth-best record last year (57-25). The
2003-04 Pistons finished at 54-28 (sixth-best mark) but that
year deserves an asterisk, because after acquiring Rasheed
Wallace, the Pistons owned the NBA’s best record after the All
Star break (by year’s end, the Pistons were HARDLY just the
league’s sixth-best team). The 2005-06 Heat owned a 52-30 mark
that year, which represented the league's fifth-best record that
season, but somehow won the NBA title, as the Mavs coughed up a
2-0 Finals lead, losing FOUR straight games (Mavs made up for
that ‘choke,’ last year). The 1994-95 Houston Rockets are the
fourth team to win an an NBA title these last 32 years, without
finishing the regular season with at least, the league’s
third-best regular season record. That squad deserves a “special
mention.”
You may remember that following a third straight NBA title in
1992-93 with the Bulls and the tragic death of his father, MJ
decided to pursue a career in MLB. With MJ in the minors and not
on an NBA court, the 1993-94 Rockets (coached by Rudy T and led
by Hakeem) won the title in a seven-game series over the Knicks,
who were coached by Pat Riley and led by Patrick Ewing. The
following season, the Rockets finished with a record of 47-35,
tied for the 10th-best mark during the regular season. However,
they beat in order, the 60-22 Jazz, the 59-23 Suns and the 62-20
Spurs (owners of the league's best record that year in David
Robinson's MVP year) in the Western Conference playoffs, to
reach the NBA Finals. Waiting for them were the 57-25 Magic, led
by Shaq and Penny (remember him?), who had eliminated the Bulls
and MJ (who returned late in that season from his MLB
'sabbatical'). The Rockets swept the Magic in four games, giving
Rudy T and Hakeem back-to-back titles and giving Clyde Drexler
(who was acquired from Portland during the season in a trade),
the lone NBA title of his Hall-of-Fame career. Houston 'victims'
that postseason had gone a combined record of 238-90 (.726)
during the regular season. No championship team, before or
since, has beaten a more impressive group of challengers on its
way to an NBA title.
I’ve stated that the top-two seeds in each conference look
formidable but could we see a “longshot” emerge? Note that the
same eight teams which made last year’s postseason are back
again in 2012. However, the team which stands out is the Indiana
Pacers. The Pacers were the East’s No. 8 seed last year at 37-45
but then gave Chicago “all it wanted” in the first round. The
Pacers fell four games-to-one but covered three of the five.
This year’s team earned the East’s No. 3 seed, going 42-24 for
the NBA’s fifth-best regular season record. All five starters
average in double digits plus the team’s top-three reserves,
guards Hill (9.6) and Barbosa (11.1) plus forward Hansbrough
(9.3-4.4), give this team a real quality eight-man rotation. The
Pacers draw the dysfunctional Magic in the first round (sans
Dwight Howard) and with a series win, would almost assuredly
face the Heat and their “Big Three,” who are still waiting for
the FIRST of their promised “not FIVE, not SIX, not SEVEN....”
NBA titles. Who knows?
Over in the West, we have a terrific first round matchup between
the No. 4 seed Memphis Grizzlies and the fifth-seeded Clippers.
The Grizzlies beat the Spurs last year in the first round in six
games (as a No. 8 seed) and then took the Thunder to seven
games, before falling in the second round. Memphis lost Zach
Randolph early on to an injury but he returned in mid-March and
the Grizzlies finished on quite a roll. Memphis lost four of his
first five games back but then went 16-4 over its final 20
games. The Grizzlies’ hot finish earned them home court
advantage in a playoff series, for the first time in franchise
history. The home court has to mean something, as Memphis won 19
of its final 22 home games (two losses came in OT), ending the
regular season with 11 consecutive home wins. The Clippers
earned a playoff berth this year for the first time since 2006.
The team’s 2006 playoff appearance was the franchise’s first
since 1997 and the Clippers only own one playoff series win
(against Denver in 2006), since the franchise moved West from
Buffalo, after the 1977-78 season. Can Chris Paul and Blake
Griffin finally lead this troubled franchise to some postseason
success?
I say no, as my lone series pick is Memphis over LA, laying
about two-to-one. If I’m right, we then get a San Antonio and
Memphis rematch in the second round. This year’s playoff
'journey' begins with four games on Saturday and four more on
Sunday.
Check out Larry's next NBA WINNER
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