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WITH only seven games to go (as of this writing), the Boston Celtics
are poised to end the season with the best record in the NBA and
more importantly, home court advantage all throughout the playoffs.
With a 60-15 win-loss record, the Celtics have already matched the
record for the best single-season turnaround with a 36-game
improvement and can still register a new record. This is also the
first time in 22 years that the Celtics have won 60 games.
The Celtics are followed by the Detroit Pistons,
Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.
Because of the relative weakness of this conference, the next three
teams are barely above .500 while the eight and last team will make
it into the playoffs with a losing record.
Meanwhile, in the wild, wild Western Conference,
the surprising New Orleans Hornets (52-22) are barely holding on to
the top spot. Close on their heels are the San Antonio Spurs
(52-23), the Los Angeles Lakers (51-24), Phoenix Suns (50-25) and
the Utah Jazz (50-26). One win or one loss can change the make-up of
the first five playoff spots. In this tough conference where most of
the teams are evenly matched, it is essential to gain the home court
advantage.
In a seven-game playoff series, home court can
make or break a season. It is a tangible plus since the home team
plays on the court they practice in regularly. More importantly, the
home team plays in front of a boisterous but friendly crowd—the
so-called “sixth man” in every basketball game.
The last three spots are still up for grabs
since the teams are separated by a few games. The Houston Rockets
are currently in 6th place followed by the Dallas Mavericks and
Denver Nuggets. However, the Golden State Warriors are just one game
behind the Nuggets and two games behind the Mavericks.
New Orleans has a tough closing schedule ahead
since they play Golden State, Los Angeles and Dallas in their few
remaining games. Like the Hornets, the Spurs also have a rough
schedule ahead with Phoenix, Los Angeles and Utah before closing out
the season. The Lakers, meanwhile, have been boosted by the return
of versatile center Pau Gasol from an ankle injury on Wednesday
night. Without their star center, the Lakers struggled, losing to
the lowly Charlotte Hornets and Memphis Grizzlies.
The Lakers’s next game is against the
dangerous Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs just got back their star
forward reigning MVP Dirk Nowitzki. With Dirk in the line-up, the
Mavericks blew out the Golden State Warriors and secured their hold
on 7th place. Of course, Dallas can still improve their ranking with
a strong finish.
Unlike in the East, teams in the West must go
through the eye of a needle to secure their playoff spots. It will
definitely be exciting in the next two weeks as the Western teams
duke it out for a better playoff position.
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Please e-mail your comments and suggestions to raffyrledesma@yahoo.com
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SIDELINES. The Western playoff race is the
tightest in recent history. The No.1 seed and the No.8 seed are
separated by only 6 games. In the East, Boston has a 25-game lead
compared to the current eight seed Atlanta Hawks.
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