2009 NBA Finals Predictions

Written January 22, 2009 by Jay Horne

nba-finals-predictions-020209 The NBA Basketball Season has reached the halfway point and that means it’s time to breakdown the playoff outlook and predictions for the end of the year. Last season, the Boston Celtics took down the L.A Lakers in 6 games winning every game at home. The Celtics gained home court for the Eastern Conference for the first time in 11 years in last season’s Finals and it proved to be a big asset. The Eastern Conference is again striving this year with 3 teams maintaining strong possibilities to end the season with the best record in the NBA. The Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Orlando Magic are among the best teams in the NBA and each lead their own respective division. The L.A Lakers are the only team out of the West with a very similar record to be able to challenge for home court advantage in the Finals.

Despite the idea of who may end up with home court advantage, the real question is which two teams will get to the Finals after a long hard fought season. Anyone could make legitimate arguments for any of the front runners from the Eastern Conference. The Celtics won last year’s NBA Title and got off to the best start in NBA history this season with a 27-2 start. The Magic seem to be the overall best team in the league led by Dwight Howard who is averaging 20 points and leads the league in rebounds pulling down 14.1 boards per game. The Cleveland Cavaliers are a perfect 20-0 at home this season while also sporting one of the best records around the league. The Cavs would definitely be the least likely team any opponents would want to see with the home court advantage.

The L.A Lakers will be the team from the Western Conference everybody will be gunning for. Kobe Bryant leads the highest scoring team in the league (108ppg) to a hopeful return to the NBA Finals. The most likely contenders will come from the tough Southwest division. Both San Antonio and New Orleans have the capability of coming alive at playoff time. The Spurs have won 8 of their last 10 and have really played well over the last month including a 1 point victory over the Lakers on Jan. 14th. Anytime you have Chris Paul (21.2ppg) in the line-up you have a chance to win. Paul not only can put up big scoring numbers, but he gets everyone involved in the game. David West ability to play a supporting role down the stretch will likely determine how far the Hornets make it this season.

Prediction – Although Boston and Orlando look extremely strong, I simply believe it will be Cleveland’s year to shine. Lebron James is getting a lot of help that he has not got in the past few years and I think that will be the difference for the Eastern Conference. The Cavs have some injury issues right now, but they should be good to go by playoff time. The Lakers got the best of the Spurs last season in the Conference finals and I think there could be in re-match in store with the right scenarios. The Spurs have a bit to prove after a dismal start this season and I believe this one could go 6 or 7 games either way. In the end, Lakers come out on top barely.

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