NBA Weekly Review
by Strike Point Sports - 11/27/2006
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Almost a month back we watched the Miami Heat receive their championship rings and open up the season at home against the Chicago Bulls. They then proceeded to get routed, opening up the floodgates for poor 4-8 start. I mean this is really bad. The Heat are the lowest scoring team in the league and it's not even close. They are scoring 90 points a game and the next lowest is right at 92. Miami is just 2-5 at home and are tied for the worst record against the number at 4-9. Dwayne Wade continues his dominance from last year's playoffs, averaging 27.7 points and eight assists, but with Shaq out is it clear who is the most valuable player in the league is?
The Washington Wizards are as dissimilar a team away from home as they are when playing at home. They are 4-2 at home but 0-7 on the road. Overall they are just 5-8 ATS. In their four home wins the Wiz have scored over 110 points in each game. Winless on the road, the Wizards have hit the century mark only once while their other losses have seen them score 94, 82, 91, 80, 82 and 80. Now this is something for bettors to be aware of. Currently the Wizards sit at 4-9 and fourth in the Southeast division.
When talking about the NBA's toughest division, its safe to say we're just all about the Western Conference. The Northwest holds the league's best team with the 12-2 Jazz, however as of Monday only they and the Nuggets have an above .500 record. The Southwest has the second best record in the 11-3 Spurs. They also have the league's worst team in the 3-10 Memphis Grizzles.
Right now the best division is the Pacific. Both the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers are playing well and have both spent time in first place. Don Nelson has revived the Golden State Warriors while Sacramento seems to be restored thanks to Eric Musselman. Although Phoenix is 7-6 they will be there in the end. All have winning records at home while this division is wide open. The way all five teams have been playing, any one of them could finish in first and it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.
Best and Worst of First Month of Season
The Good
Utah Jazz - 12-2 to start the season and doing it consistently in the West. Winning of eight of their last ten.
Dwight Howard - With Shaq out he is the East's premier big man, and quite possibly stays there when O'Neal returns. Already has recorded three 20-20 games.
Healthy Houston - It's amazing what McGrady and Yao can accomplish when both stay injury-free. A lock for the playoffs if that stays true the whole year.
Adam Morrison - And they said he couldn't play in this league. Well, at least they were right about his defense. 15.5 a game so far, he's dropped over 20 five times.
The Bad
Baby Bulls - Way too much talent for this kind of start, especially seeing how they opened the season. 2-8 on the road is flat out awful.
Kevin Garnett - His 21 and 11 do just fine for fantasy owners, however is it just me or has he fallen off the face of the earth? I guess playing in Minnesota does that to its superstar. Leaving town is his only chance to get back into the spotlight and possibly back into the playoffs.
Defense in Denver - When you're scoring 110 a night I guess you're allowed to give up 108. Not to mention their 140-point effort against Golden State last Friday brought up memories of the old ABA. But this will not hold up all year. The Nuggets like to run but that will take its toll over the course of a five-month schedule.
Technical Fouls - This year refs are handing these out like complimentary mints after dinner. Just stop. We all know how immature and childlike half the league is but all this is doing is giving the zebras a power trip and slowing up the game. Enough is enough.