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For a team that lost by just a point in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last year, there are more questions than answers surrounding this group. Jimmy Butler seemingly couldn’t wait to move on. They gave huge contracts to Tobias Harris and Al Horford. And their two best players can’t seem to stay on the court …
Now we get into the crowded Western Conference race. The top seven teams are pretty much in the playoffs. The 7th seeded Dallas Mavericks are 7 games clear of 8th place Memphis so a single win would clinch that spot. The Mavericks sit a game and a half behind the Rockets and Thunder and 2.5 games behind …
The Memphis Grizzlies traded away their two most recognizable players in 2019, dealing Marc Gasol to the eventual world champion Toronto Raptors and then sending Mike Conley Jr to the Utah Jazz in the off season. They hired a 35-year old, first –time head coach in Taylor Jenkins and then selected Ja Morant second overall …
The Pelicans did a pretty good job keeping afloat this season until Zion Williamson finally debuted in February. He played 19 games for New Orleans before the season was suspended. He’s now had an additional couple of months to strengthen his knee. No workout really replicates live game play but I think this is a net positive …
The team with the shortest commute to the NBA bubble is the Orlando Magic. They’ve got a firm grip on the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference and with the Nets falling apart, they’ve got a great chance to jump up to the 7th seed to avoid facing the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the …
The San Antonio Spurs will arrive in Orlando trying to make the playoffs for the 22nd straight year. That includes every season Tim Duncan was in the league as well as the three since he left. But they have an uphill climb to get to that point, four games behind Memphis and with Sacramento, New Orleans …
No one is talking about the Sacramento Kings but going into Orlando from day one, they are exactly where they need to be to have a shot at a play-in series. They’re 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies and tied with the Blazers and Pelicans. The schedule lays out nicely for them, even though they’re …
When Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game, it was in front of a crowd of less than 5000 people in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Devin Booker scored 70 points against the Celtics in a late season game in 2017. We know he’s capable of huge offensive outputs. So, maybe the lack of a crowd plus …
A year ago, as the calendar turned to July, the Brooklyn Nets were on the verge of completely transforming their roster. They signed Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan on the first day of free agency. They knew Durant would miss all of this season but the moves brought Nets fans renewed hope. Kyrie Irving ended up playing …
The Washington Wizards come to Orlando sitting 5.5 games behind the Magic for the 8th spot. They need to climb within 3.5 games in order to force a play-in game. So, they’ll have to be at least two games better than the Magic in this eight-game sprint. They will have to do so without second-leading scorer, …