 2020 has been shitty. A global pandemic, partisan politics and aggressive radicalization of extreme points of view, and strangely the rise of validity given to egregious conspiracy theories.
Sports are not, and have not, been immune to a great conspiracy. Perhaps my favorite, an annual tale, is the idea that the NBA rigs the draft lottery to drive high-profile future stars to certain markets or reward owners with key picks. A dubious look at the history of the draft, from the 1985 lottery with the smashed corner of the Knicks envelope, to stars winding up in perfect markets for them, might lead some to believe this is true. As an annual satire piece, I'll indulge the creative and skeptical. Instead of proving how the lottery would be rigged if it were won by a certain team, we'll show how it's rigged in favor of every team. That way, regardless of who the ping pong balls favor, you can use this as proof that the lottery is pre-determined in their favor.
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 LeBron James has made eight NBA Finals appearances in the last ten years. Such a reign of dominance has put him into the conversation for greatest player of all time.
But for the last six years of those appearances, LeBron clashed with the Golden State Warriors or the San Antonio Spurs. His Eastern Conference rivals built on the way are now opponents he'd see in the NBA Finals, much to their relief. Now is the time for James to re-write the rivalries within the conference and who will be true postseason obstacles for the King. It's hard to believe with all the elite players and franchises out West, but there's the possibility for the first ever postseason showdown between James and many greats.  A week into the seeding games down in Disney, the quality of play has been very high. Almost all of the 22 teams are competitive on a nightly basis and have brought the drama to most contests. Such high-caliber hoops only shows up when the stakes are high and there's something worth playing for. The NBA gets credit for properly incentivizing all teams in the bubble, but the bloodbath of the standings before the shutdown has led to a frenetic pace in Orlando.
No place has been more of a bloodbath than the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers clinched the top seed, but teams 2 through 7 are all jockeying for position with each other. Meanwhile, the race for 8 is wide open and could provide drama until the very last seeding games have been played. Over the next week, we'll dive one by one into the main contenders to see which teams might give them the most difficult matchups in the postseason. Whether due to matchups, style of play, star power or teams trending upward, we'll dive into a list of who each team would like to avoid most. As of this writing, the LA Clippers are 1.5 games ahead of the Denver Nuggets for the 2-seed, with only three to play. As the heavy favorites for that spot, the possibility of seeing the Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks in the first round is the most likely outcome. But what about if Denver catches them? Of all the teams who are greater threats and could fall to the six seed, is their one to challenge the Clippers most?  A week into the seeding games down in Disney, the quality of play has been very high. Almost all of the 22 teams are competitive on a nightly basis and have brought the drama to most contests. Such high-caliber hoops only shows up when the stakes are high and there's something worth playing for. The NBA gets credit for properly incentivizing all teams in the bubble, but the bloodbath of the standings before the shutdown has led to a frenetic pace in Orlando.
No place has been more of a bloodbath than the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers clinched the top seed, but teams 2 through 7 are all jockeying for position with each other. Meanwhile, the race for 8 is wide open and could provide drama until the very last seeding games have been played. Over the next week, we'll dive one by one into the main contenders to see which teams might give them the most difficult matchups in the postseason. Whether due to matchups, style of play, star power or teams trending upward, we'll dive into a list of who each team would like to avoid most. Over the last few seasons, the Utah Jazz have been a mainstay in the middle-upper tier of the Western Conference. Their ability to anchor a top-notch defense with Rudy Gobert while Donovan Mitchell emerges as an All-Star scorer has made them one of the better young teams in the league. But Utah has yet to make a postseason push, running into smaller and faster teams like the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets time and time again. Will the same type of challenge derail them again this year?  A week into the seeding games down in Disney, the quality of play has been very high. Almost all of the 22 teams are competitive on a nightly basis and have brought the drama to most contests. Such high-caliber hoops only shows up when the stakes are high and there's something worth playing for. The NBA gets credit for properly incentivizing all teams in the bubble, but the bloodbath of the standings before the shutdown has led to a frenetic pace in Orlando.
No place has been more of a bloodbath than the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers clinched the top seed, but teams 2 through 7 are all jockeying for position with each other. Meanwhile, the race for 8 is wide open and could provide drama until the very last seeding games have been played. Over the next week, we'll dive one by one into the main contenders to see which teams might give them the most difficult matchups in the postseason. Whether due to matchups, style of play, star power or teams trending upward, we'll dive into a list of who each team would like to avoid most. It's looking like the Dallas Mavericks will be locked into the 7-seed, and as long as they're in that spot, a potential matchup looms with one of the most difficult draws for their play style.  A week into the seeding games down in Disney, the quality of play has been very high. Almost all of the 22 teams are competitive on a nightly basis and have brought the drama to most contests. Such high-caliber hoops only shows up when the stakes are high and there's something worth playing for. The NBA gets credit for properly incentivizing all teams in the bubble, but the bloodbath of the standings before the shutdown has led to a frenetic pace in Orlando.
No place has been more of a bloodbath than the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers clinched the top seed, but teams 2 through 7 are all jockeying for position with each other. Meanwhile, the race for 8 is wide open and could provide drama until the very last seeding games have been played. Over the next week, we'll dive one by one into the main contenders to see which teams might give them the most difficult matchups in the postseason. Whether due to matchups, style of play, star power or teams trending upward, we'll dive into a list of who each team would like to avoid most. The Oklahoma City Thunder are playing great basketball, but so are other teams in the bubble. For them, the issue isn't as much about matchups as it is with a team whose combining strong play lately with an overall style that negates the strengths of this OKC team of underdogs.  A week into the seeding games down in Disney, the quality of play has been very high. Almost all of the 22 teams are competitive on a nightly basis and have brought the drama to most contests. Such high-caliber hoops only shows up when the stakes are high and there's something worth playing for. The NBA gets credit for properly incentivizing all teams in the bubble, but the bloodbath of the standings before the shutdown has led to a frenetic pace in Orlando.
No place has been more of a bloodbath than the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers clinched the top seed, but teams 2 through 7 are all jockeying for position with each other. Meanwhile, the race for 8 is wide open and could provide drama until the very last seeding games have been played. Over the next week, we'll dive one by one into the main contenders to see which teams might give them the most difficult matchups in the postseason. Whether due to matchups, style of play, star power or teams trending upward, we'll dive into a list of who each team would like to avoid most. Perhaps no team in the West has a higher variance of first-round matchups than the Houston Rockets. Three teams–the Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz–are all within a half-game of each other in the 4 thru 6 spots. A little cushion exists between them and the 7th-placed Dallas Mavericks, but the uncertainty of who between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers jumps to the 2 means drama around the 6-seed. Of the five teams the Rockets are plausibly facing in the first round, one of them provides the most anxiety with the matchups they negate.  A week into the seeding games down in Disney, the quality of play has been very high. Almost all of the 22 teams are competitive on a nightly basis and have brought the drama to most contests. Such high-caliber hoops only shows up when the stakes are high and there's something worth playing for. The NBA gets credit for properly incentivizing all teams in the bubble, but the bloodbath of the standings before the shutdown has led to a frenetic pace in Orlando.
No place has been more of a bloodbath than the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers clinched the top seed, but teams 2 through 7 are all jockeying for position with each other. Meanwhile, the race for 8 is wide open and could provide drama until the very last seeding games have been played. Over the next week, we'll dive one by one into the main contenders to see which teams might give them the most difficult matchups in the postseason. Whether due to matchups, style of play, star power or teams trending upward, we'll dive into a list of who each team would like to avoid most. The Denver Nuggets are one of the hottest teams since entering the bubble and are neck-and-neck with the LA Clippers for the 2-seed. Regardless of who earns the 2 or the 3, Denver isn't in the clear of the 4-seed, only two games up on the Utah Jazz. But they have one of the most unique stars in Nikola Jokic, an emerging rookie in Michael Porter Jr. and a versatile backcourt led by Jamal Murray.  A week into the seeding games down in Disney, the quality of play has been very high. Almost all of the 22 teams are competitive on a nightly basis and have brought the drama to most contests. Such high-caliber hoops only shows up when the stakes are high and there's something worth playing for. The NBA gets credit for properly incentivizing all teams in the bubble, but the bloodbath of the standings before the shutdown has led to a frenetic pace in Orlando.
No place has been more of a bloodbath than the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers clinched the top seed, but teams 2 through 7 are all jockeying for position with each other. Meanwhile, the race for 8 is wide open and could provide drama until the very last seeding games have been played. Over the next week, we'll dive one by one into the main contenders to see which teams might give them the most difficult matchups in the postseason. Whether due to matchups, style of play, star power or teams trending upward, we'll dive into a list of who each team would like to avoid most. We'll start with the Lakers, who are eyeing six potential opponents all within three games of each other. |
Adam SpinellaHead Boys Basketball Coach, Boys' Latin School (MD). Archives
September 2021
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