NBA Playoffs: 2nd Round Matchups

Boston vs. Wizards: Celtics will have a difficult time with Wall and Beal. Wizards can get points quickly. Boston will have to shoot well from outside to stay in this series. Wizards win this one in 6.

Cavs vs. Raptors: Lebron is too much for Toronto. Lowry has a way of not showing up for playoffs on the road. Cavs win in 5.

Warriors vs. Clippers/Jazz winner:  Warriors win in 4. It does that not matter who they play. When you combine rest and the best team, you get the broom. Durant and Curry will dominate this series.

Spurs and Rockets: This is the most intriguing match up. A case can be made for both teams. Leonard can handle Harden. Spurs in 7.

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NBA Playoffs Preview: Eastern Conference

Let's look at the Eastern Conference of the NBA Playoffs. While the teams are not as good as their western counterparts, there are 4 series that a case can be made for either team.

Cavaliers open against the Pacers. Lebron James always rises his game to another level when the spotlight gets bigger. Paul George will play well but will go down in 6. Cavs defense will improve during this first round.

Celtics vs. Bulls. Thomas against Butler. While Thomas is a top 15 player in the league, Butler has Wade with him. Rondo comes back to haunt his former team. Bulls in 6 in an upset.

Raptors and Bucks. Toronto is stronger and deeper. This series is entertaining but Raptors win in 5.

Wizards and Hawks. John Wall has improved his game and will lead his team into the next round. Hawks are a surprise because they are not as good as last year. It's the Wizards in 6.

                                        Here is the Western Conference Preview.

                                                  
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NBA Fav Five:Week Six

This post will appear every Monday. We will change the lineup this week with the addition of Rudy Gay from the Kings. He will come to the five in place of  Otto Porter.  The other starters will remain intact. Russell Westbrook, Lebron James, James Harden and Karl Anthony -Towns are the still part of our fav five. This is a group that consistently gives production every night. Who is your fav five?

Rudy Gay

Westbrook is averaging a triple double as of this post. This was reported in a article from ESPN.

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NBA Fav Five:Week Five

This feature will post every Monday during the season. We have found the perfect team. All of the players from last week performed at the levels anticipated. Lebron James, Russell Westbrook and James Harden were the key performers. Karl Anthony-Towns and Otto Porter did as expected. We will start the same team this week. This week,we will look for additional ways to evaluate players and share our findings next Monday. So compare your five to our and we will see you next week.


Here is a look at how three members of our team looked when they were drafted into the NBA.

King James

Russell Westbrook

Karl Anthony Towns

Four members of our fav five have appeared in GQ. Can you name the one that has not been in that publication?

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NBA Fav Five:Week Four

This feature will post every Monday during the season. Lebron James was a great addition to the team . He had a triple double and just missed in two other games. Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul

posted great numbers as well. But while this was happening, James Harden is doing MVP type work with the Houston Rockets. Since we are always looking to upgrade the team and both of these payers are in the elite price range, Paul is out and Harden is in.

James Harden

Note: Don't develop an emotional attachment to a player. We like Chris Paul's game more than Harden's. The decision should always be based on productivity.

TJ Warren fell short of the 30 to 35 scoring level and is off the team. So is Nikola Vucevic. He exceeded the number once , fell short slightly and failed miserable in three contrasting performances. The additions at forward and center respectively are Otto Porter and Karl Anthony-Towns. Porter comes out a good price. KAT will give 20 points in scoring with 7 rebounds and 3 assists. We expect 32 points from him. We are right at the edge of the salary cap of 45,000 with this team. If they perform as expected they are worth the investment.

Otto Porter

Karl-Anthony Towns

Starting next week, we will extend the cap to 50,000 to allow more flexibility in selecting a team. We will always stay under the designated number.

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NBA Fav Five: Week Three

This feature will post every Monday during the season. The good news is that Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul continue to put up great numbers. They flirt with triple doubles every night and score at least 24 points a game. Needless to say they are staying on the team.

Mason Plumlee did not hit the thirty to thirty-five total of points,rebounds, assists,blocks and steals in two games so he comes off. Anthony Davis did awesome in one game and average in the other. He cost too much money to get production 50% of the time. Kevin Love did good in each game but not outstanding. We shopped the league and found replacements for the 3 aforementioned players.

Lebron James

We will add Lebron James. No explanation needed. TJ Warren of the Phoenix Suns will join the team at forward. He plays at least 35 minutes a games and was puts up between 15 to 20 shots a contest. He may not outperform Love but is cheaper. He enable us to get Lebron.

Nikola Vucevic

Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic is the center this week. Nikola is consistent and should get the range we anticipate. We look for a double-double of 14 and 10 with at least 2 assists and 1 block. Those numbers would compute to approximately 30 points per game.

We take at least one player is priced lower than the elite ones to make the team fit into a salary cap. Elite players will cost between $9,000 and $12,500. Our cap is approximately $40,000 to $45,000.

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NBA and GTLivechat

The season starts on Tuesday. Are you ready?  This should be one of the best if not the most anticipated in history. Can the Warriors improve on 73-9?  Can Lebron and the Cavs repeat?
Is Russell Westbrook the leading candidate for MVP?

Can Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony make the Knicks relevant again? Who does not make
the playoffs from the group of 2015-16 teams that made it?
Who is the odds on favorite to win the scoring title? Will the Sixers win more than 26 games?
Who has the better season? The Spurs or the Clippers?
The must see on TV games are Warriors against anybody. Redemption games include D Wade and the Bulls against the Heat and Dwight Howard against the Rockets.


GTLivechat will return for all of the above and more. NBA Style will highlight the fashion of the players and the fans. This will be a part of the halftime feature.

We will chat prior to the primetime matchups on Wednesday and Thursday on ESPN and TNT.
When the NFL season ends we will add the Friday games from ESPN and NBA TV.
For all of you that like Daily Fantasy Basketball, we will pick a fav 5 of the week. To keep it exciting, we will change at least 3 of the players every week. This will happen thru the blog and website every Monday.
Since we are expanding what we are doing, we will involve more NBA fans from Twitter to share their opinions. We going to another level. Join us!

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NBA Finals - The Rematch

This is the one everybody wanted to see. OKC wanted to see this too! Cavs vs Warriors.

 Steph against Lebron.

Love matched up with Green.


Both teams playing well. Both teams shooting a high percentage from outside 3 point line.
Vegas has the line set at +180 for series if you take the Cavs. You lay a price of -230 if you
like the Warriors.

Cavs are rested. Warriors are coming off a hard fought series against OKC. The Dubs would not even
be in the NBA Finals without Klay Thompson. I expect him to have a good series and dominate his match up with J.R. Smith or Shumpert. Irving will have something to prove and will score consistently against whoever plays him.

Curry and Lebron will cancel each other out with both having outstanding moments. Curry is more proficient in the clutch. Iguodala will match up with James and will start if the Cavs go up a game
on them.

Tristan Thompson will dominate Bogat in the middle. Andrew looked spent in game 7. Expect to see Eziel more.

Harrison Barnes is X factor. He is due for a breakout game. Channing Frye is X factor for Cavs. They may leave both of these guys open and they have ability to make opponents pay.

Both Benches are strong. Slight edge to Warriors.

Coaching edge goes to Kerr. Lue does have the pulse of his team. I am curious about his ability to adjust on the biggest stage of professional coaching career.

Fantasy Picks.
Lebron James is averaging 24.6 points,8.6 rebounds and 7 assists.
Kevin Love has 9 double double in the playoffs so far.
Draymond Green has 6 double double and 1 triple double in the playoffs.
Curry is averaging 26 points,almost 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists.
Thompson is dropping 26.2 with less production in rebounds and assists
Irving is averaging 24 points but give minimal numbers in the other categories.

Go with solid across the board and take Lebron over Curry.

Go with the champs in 7 and grab the Warriors. Don't let the price or the Lebron got help this time
sway you. Warriors dominated the Cavs in last meeting. The homecourt advantage is the difference.
I will add the video highlight of each game so you can get the top play of  #NBA Finals.

Game 1: Curry No look pass to Iguodala. Video.
Game 2: Warriors work the ball for an open 3. Video
Game 3: Lebron catches lob pass from Irving. video



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NBA Fantasy Match Up: Kevin Love vs. Lamarcus Aldridge

This is a cross match up that may happen if both of these players reach the NBA Finals. Lamarcus
Aldridge and Kevin Love of the Spurs and Cavaliers respectively have help their teams sweep their opening round opponents. Both of them have home court advantage as they enter the second round.

Love had a double double in each of his team's victories. Aldridge had two double doubles. His team was involved in games that were blow outs and that his minutes were down since the outcome was decided by the third quarter.

 

Love has averaged over 8 post ups per game throughout the playoffs, and Cleveland has averaged 0.87 points per possession in possessions where he had a post up. Love has shot on 57.6% of his post ups, but he’s only made 21.1% of these shots.

 

Aldridge has mostly been matched up with Serge Ibaka in this season’s series between the Spurs and Thunder. He’s found great success when facing Ibaka, going 7-14 (50%) from the field and tallying 15 points in almost 20 minutes of play. Enes Kanter and Steven Adams were both more effective at stopping Aldridge, with each allowing only 1-4 (25%) shooting.

 

I expect the Cavs to dominate the Hawks and Love will continue to double double.  Aldridge will play more minutes this series because the games will be close. I anticipate more production against OKC and would pick him to outperform Love. The price for Love is $7500 while the cost of having Aldridge is approximately $7800.

 

 

 

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NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers odds about to take a turn.

The past 24 hours have not been good for the Cavs. First, Kevin Love injured his shoulder and is expected to be out 2-3 weeks. The injury did look premeditated on the part of Kelly Olynyk, the player from Boston.  See for yourself.

Then in the 2nd half , J.R. Smith hits Celtic small forward Jae Crowder with a backhand, closed fist that knocked him down and out of the game. Crowder also suffered a knee injury on the same play. This looks like a suspension to me of at least 2 games.  How many games does it look like to you?

 

 

If the Bulls take care of business against the Bucks Thursday, these teams will meet at the end of the week. Cleveland will be shorthanded two men in the rotation. Even with Irving and James that would be a difficult task against Chicago and Derrick Rose.

 

The addition of Gasol along with the emergence of Jimmy Butler make Chicago a force even if Rose is less than 100%.  The defense is solidified by Noah and will attempt to surround Lebron.

 

 I am sure the odds of Cleveland winning the title and the eastern conference have shifted. They were a 11-5 and 5-11 during the season to win the championship and conference finals. I predict they go to 13-5 and 5- 8. Bulls will shift slightly from 12-1 and 5-1 respectively for the same plays to 10-1 and 4-1.   The price of picking Lebron or Kyrie Irving in a daily fantasy league should increase due to more anticipated minutes and shots. Let's see if I'm right.

 

 

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