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NBA Sunday: Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers
The players from these teams will see a lot of familiar faces when they suit up against their opponents on Sunday. Ben Wallace and Larry Hughes of the Chicago Bulls just recently came from the Cavaliers, and Drew Gooden and his enormous beard just came from the Cavaliers and now playing for the Bulls. The trade has seemed to help LeBron James and the Cavs more, as they are already fighting for a playoff position and now have an inside force in Wallace. The Chicago Bulls are currently on the outside looking in to the playoffs, but oddly enough they really aren’t that far out of the race despite being a good few games under .500.
James is leading the league in scoring with just a hair over 30 points a game. Wallace has also made an immediate impact, doing the dirty work, averaging 10 rebounds a game, more than his season average with the Bulls. The knock on Big Ben is that he has slowed down this year, but a change of scenery may be just what the Doctor ordered for Wallace. The Eastern Conference is wide open, but the Cavs have been just as hot as any other team in the east, and have fans believing they can make it back to the finals.
Ben Gordon leads the Bulls in scoring with 19 points a game. The Bulls have seemed to be able to find an identity. They have good perimeter shooting, but their inside game seems to lack the toughness required to go too far. Like I said, Cleveland is on a roll, and that’s why I will favor them in this game.
NBA Sunday: Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers
The weekend closes with a game between two of the best teams in the league. What’s also fun to consider that as long as Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant stay in their respective uniforms we get to see two of the best players play each other at least four times a year in Western Conference battle. Barely anything separates the two teams in the standings, but hardly any team has played better than the Lakers, especially since the arrival of power forward Pau Gasol. Winner’s of 11 out of their last 12 leaves you considering that the Lakers aren’t even in full strength yet. When a knee injury sent emerging center Andrew Bynum down, Lakers fans thought their season was over. Well, now they have Gasol, and a fair chance that Bynum will be back in full strength before the playoffs begin. It’s a very scary thought for other teams in the conference. Bynum seems like he may be the next center in the long historic history of great centers to suit up for the Lakers.
As mentioned, the Mavericks now have true ball handler in Jason Kidd. Kidd is still one of the best point guards in the league, despite getting up their in age a little bit. On the Mavs’ he doesn’t have to be a point scorer, instead he continuing distributing the ball at a clip of 12 assists per game.
This game will probably go right down to the wire. Right now Bryant and company are finding ways to win close games, even on the road, that’s why I will favor the Lakers in this one by a slim margin.
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