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NBA Friday: New Jersey Nets at Miami Heat
This is easily the worst losing streak the Miami Heat have had to endure since Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O’Neal have been on the same team. As of this writing, the losing streak stands at 15. It isn’t as if they’ve been completely blown out by teams, though. On January 24th, they had a substantial lead over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, before losing a one point heartbreaker. Shaq has been hurt the majority of the year, and even when he was healthy he seems to have lost a step, or two. Wade still continues to appear to be one of the best players in the NBA, averaging 25 a game, but it’s more than apparent, he can’t do it all himself. They’ve had to rely on career underachiever Udonis Haslem to take over for Shaq. Haslem has played well, but those are some big shoes to fill. It also didn’t help that back-up center, and defensive stopper, Alonzo Mourning went down with an injury that will most likely end his career. Tough year.
The Nets are doing a little better, but not much. Jason Kidd is rumored to be on the trading block, and recent reports are saying that him and coach Lawrence Frank is on the hot seat. After battling back after a slow start, the Nets have now dropped seven in a row. Someone has to win this game, and my guess will go to the Miami Heat. They’ve been really close to winning a game lately, and the suffering Nets could be just what the doctor order. Of course, one could say the same thing about the Heat regarding the Nets.
NBA Sunday: Dallas Mavericks vs. Detroit Pistons
Year after year both the Dallas Mavericks and the Detroit Pistons are right in the mix of things at the end of the year. This year appears to be no different. While the Mavericks aren’t putting up the same record as they did last year, they’ve also has to contend with the resurgence of teams that weren’t as good last year, such as the Los Angeles Lakers. The Detroit Pistons, on the other hand, are started to get the reputation that they only get up for the big games. The entire core of the team has been together for quite a few years, and after they’ve accomplished everything they could together, it’s only fair to expect that they could get a little bored during the regular season. As of this writing both teams have 13 losses, which is good enough to put both teams near the top of their divisions.
Dirk Nowitzki leads the Mavericks in points and rebounds with 22 and eight a game. Josh Howard is right behind him with 20.6 points a game. The Mavericks have won eight of ten, and overall have started to play as well as they did last year, where they finished the year with the best record in the league. They would take a worse record this year, as long as they could go farther then they did in last years playoffs, where they were upset in the first round by the Golden State Warriors. The Pistons have started to slide a little bit, going 4-6 in their last ten. Because of momentum alone I will take the Mavericks, despite the game being in Detroit.
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