You're Moving Us To Toronto?!!

[zike_42]

2020 NBA Playoffs

Eastern Conference:
#1 Cleveland vs. #5 Philadelphia
#2 Orlando vs. #3 Detroit

Western Conference:
#1 Los Angeles vs. #4 Portland
#2 Dallas vs. # Sacramento

We split the series 2-2 against the 76ers and they always give us good games so this matchup will not be a push over.

Eastern Conference Semi Finals: Philadelphia vs. Cleveland

Point Guard
Corey Hines vs. Sam Baron
6.1 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists vs. 20.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 12.0 assists

In a demoralising incident, Chris Paul broke his finger in their last game so will only see emergency minutes. That opens the door for Baron who was electric last series to have an even bigger series. Good luck Corey.

Winner - Cleveland

Shooting Guard
Luol Deng vs. Steph Curry
22.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists vs. 23.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists

The other half of the Cavs’ dynamic backcourt, Curry won’t have it all his way as Deng was unstoppable against New York. He is tall, long and a stellar defender so Curry will need to lift his game to get past Deng.

Winner - Draw

Small Forward
Wesley Johnson vs. Danilo Gallinari
18.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists vs. 16.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists

Johnson has been on that second level of star players for a while now as his natural scoring instinct and irresistible defensive presence has not gone unnoticed. Cleveland will try and take him out of his comfort zone with Gallinari as the big Italian can drain threes with the best of them.

Winner - Philadelphia

Power Forward
Boroda Beketov vs. Darrell Holtz
16.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists vs. 14.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists

Don’t let Holtz’s numbers fool you, he is a fantastic player. He likes to defer to his teammates and do the dirty work in tandem with Dwight Howard. He will need to be a stone wall this time because Beketov is a premiere low post player.

Winner - Draw

Centre
Kenny Leith vs. Dwight Howard
8.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists vs. 18.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists

He may not have the title of best centre any more (that goes to Los Angeles’ Matt Bailey) but Howard is still a force to be reckoned with. This series should be a big one for him as Leith is a subpar defender and at only 6’9 gives up lots of size.

Winner - Cleveland

Bench
Nick Wise, Terrence Williams, Michael Howard vs. Josh Smith, Rajon Rondo, Danny Granger

Wise was a wise trade pick up (groan) but the rest of the Philly bench is left wanting. Look for the Cavs’ bench to eat them alive.

Winner – Cleveland

Prediction – Cleveland in five.

I can see that with Chris Paul out but if he was healthy this matchup would have been very dangerous.

Chris Paul plays all of four minutes in the first game and it showed as we were too strong, winning 123-85 in a statement game. Danilo Gallinari was named player of the game with 26 points while Dwight Howard and Darrell Holtz doubled up. Our starting backcourt played 39 minutes total between them as we got out early and the benches were emptied quickly. Danny Granger made the most of that with 20 points in only 24 minutes. Wesley Johnson was the leading light with 24 points for the Sixers but they were just outmuscled from the get-go.

Cleveland leads 1-0

Another game where Wesley Johnson was the best for the 76ers with 21 points and 11 rebounds and another game where we come out on top, winning game two 108-97. Dwight Howard was a monster with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks, backed up by Sam Baron’s 29 points and 9 assists. Boroda Beketov fouled out in only 13 minutes while Luol Deng had the best of Steph Curry with 26 points and 9 rebounds.

Cleveland leads 2-0

The city of Philadelphia is not happy and believes that they are better than the two defeats that have been handed to them. And the team respond as Luol Deng has 23 points as the Sixers have six players in double figures. Unfortunately for them, Sam Baron has 29 points and 14 assists and Danny Granger goes 6/9 for 18 points off the bench as we sneak out a 107-102 win to go three games up. Dwight Howard has 17 points and 10 rebounds but shoots only 5/12 from the free throw line.

Cleveland leads 3-0

So again we sit three games to nil up against a team going into their home court. And again we get up huge, this time by 18 points before half time. However, unlike last time the home team roared back into contention. Behind six players in double figures, Philadelphia clawed their way back to force overtime, but then ran out of puff. We outscore them 14-2 in the extra period to win the game 96-84 and the series 4-0. Dwight Howard had one of the best playoff games I have ever seen with 30 points and 20 rebounds while Steph Curry backed him up with 20 points of his own as we break into the Eastern Conference Finals.

Cleveland wins series 4-0

Matt Bailey is injured AGAIN and the Lakers fall apart, getting swept by Portland in a very lopsided contest. The next night the Pistons hold up their end of the bargain and win in five games against Orlando to create a mouth-watering matchup between my current team and my previous team. The last series goes to seven games as Dallas squeak past Sacramento to win the game 99-85 to go through to the next round.

[zike_42]

2020 NBA Playoffs

Eastern Conference:
#1 Cleveland vs. # Detroit

Western Conference:
#2 Dallas vs. #4 Portland

Here it is the marketers dream. The team I took from 19-63 to 59-23 on my way to winning the championship last season battling my current team which has won 26 more games than last season. I’m glad we have home court advantage because I don’t want to face the Detroit crowd being on level terms. We need to win the first two games or it will be bedlam in Michigan come game three.

Eastern Conference Finals: Detroit vs. Cleveland

Point Guard
Nick Babul vs. Sam Baron
16.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 7.6 assists vs. 20.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 10.8 assists

The battle of the young guard, as both Babul and Baron lead the way for the next generation of point guards. Baron especially who has been otherworldly which will spell trouble for 24 year old Piston.

Winner - Cleveland

Shooting Guard
Tyreke Evans vs. Steph Curry
16.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists vs. 18.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists

Two players who have played point guard before but have moved to their natural position, this match up will be a cracker. Curry has shown that he can be troubled by bigger guards which can cause him to lose focus while Evans can sometimes seem lost on the court when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands.

Winner - Draw

Small Forward
Kevin King vs. Danilo Gallinari
23.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists vs. 14.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists

There is only one thing that Gallinari needs to do this series, and that is to slow down King. There is no way that Gallinari will stop King but if he can keep him from scoring in bunches then he has done his job. Look for King to be the main focus of this Detroit team.

Winner - Detroit

Power Forward
David Lee vs. Darrell Holtz
11.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists vs. 13.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists

Holtz is a lock down defender while Lee has a silky jump shot. The biggest advantage Lee has over Holtz is that he is 30lbs heavier than the Cavalier, giving him more push in the rebounding battles. He needs it because Holtz is just flat out a better player than Lee and thrives on doing the one percenters to help the team.

Winner - Cleveland

Centre
Tiago Splitter vs. Dwight Howard
13.0 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists vs. 20.4 points, 13.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists

Howard averaged 22.0 points, 15.3 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game in the Philadelphia series and is looking to continue that fine form. He should do it as well because Detroit has made the baffling move of not playing Chris Reese who has been in the D-League all season long. What are they thinking? Reese is their best big man BY FAR.

Winner - Cleveland

Bench
Samuel Dalembert, Donte Hampton, Dwyane Wade vs. Josh Smith, Rajon Rondo, Danny Granger

The good thing about the Pistons bench is that although they are all good players, they are also very good defenders. Hmm, there seems to be a trend going on at Felix Elwood’s team – good defenders and personalities.

Winner – Draw

Prediction – Cleveland in seven.

I can see that because I built both teams. I am a very surprised to see that Reese isn’t playing which should give the green light for Dwight Howard to go crazy. We shall see.

I’m pumped, are you pumped? Actually I am super nervous and I don’t really want to watch this game because I love both these teams. But I guess I have to choose sides and of course I go with my current team. That is good because we get up by 18 points in the third quarter behind Steph Curry’s 25 points and Sam Baron’s 15 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds. However, Kevin King had other ideas and single handedly brought his team back to within five points. However, Danny Granger had other OTHER ideas by putting up 10 points in the last 11 minutes of the game for us to win 108-101 to draw first blood. About Dwight Howard dominating? He had 8 points and 5 rebounds compared to Tiago Splitter’s 16 points and 15 rebounds. So yeah, not quite the domination I thought. Kevin King ended up with 20 points and 10 rebounds, helped out by Tyreke Evans with 22 points (on 23 shots and 6 turnovers) and Nick Babul who scored 20 points before fouling out.

Cleveland leads 1-0

Game two was just as loud as the first but with a bit more tenacity because Cleveland could feel the momentum in their favour and wanted to capitilise on that it. So lucky for them we got out to a quick start and were never challenged, winning game two 111-98. Sam Baron and Nick Babul had a fantastic duel with Baron totalling 27 points and 9 assists while Babul countered with 12 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds before fouling out again. Dwight Howard helped out Baron with 25 points and 4 blocks while on the other side David Lee stepped up with 22 points of his own. Now onto Detroit...

Cleveland leads 2-0

The Palace was packed. Like peak hour trains in Tokyo packed. The funny thing was that nearly everyone I talked to going into the stadium didn’t have any anger or bitterness towards me for leaving. They realise that they have a fantastic team now that took the city all the way a championship. Great people here in Detroit (from what I have seen). But I have been assured that when the game comes around they will show no mercy, just the way I like it.

And neither does the team as seven Piston players are in double figures with Tiago Splitter taking care of Dwight Howard again with 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Pistons claw one back 123-111 in a very high scoring game. Detroit shot 56% from the field with both Nick Babul (19 points, 12 assists) and Kevin King (16 points, 10 assists) doubling up with dimes while Dwyane Wade scores 18 points in only 13 minutes off the bench. On our side, Sam Baron was the best with 29 points and 15 assists but when Dwight and Danilo Gallinari only scoring 8 points apiece it is going to be very hard to win in Detroit.

Cleveland leads 2-1

The Detroit faithful can feel the tide turning, they believe that they can win here and then take the series with the momentum. Which means that we have to win this game or times will be tough. Sure we have home court advantage but this Piston team can beat anyone on any given day, home court or not. So what happens? Well Sam Baron (34 points, 11 assists) and Steph Curry (41 points) combine for 75 freaking points as we storm home 130-109 to be in the driver’s seat from now on. Dwight Howard and Darrell Holtz both had double doubles while Josh Smith had 12 points in 10 minutes. Kevin King was a lone hand for the Pistons as he put up 38 points in a gallant display that is now wasted. Back to Cleveland to rap this series up, I hope.

Cleveland leads 3-1

If you thought game two was loud here in Cleveland then think again. Game five had employees handing out ear plugs at the gate and nearby cars had their alarms go off, and people still had trouble hearing them! The crowd wants to go to the NBA Finals and they want to go TONIGHT. In the last ten years the Cavs have not made the playoffs and they have had only one winning season so to say they are impatient is a huge understatement.

It comes as a huge shock that at the end of the game Detroit had a field goal percentage of 29% while the Cleveland Cavaliers were heading to the NBA Finals behind a 102-78 shellacking. Sam Baron was named player of the game with 25 points, 13 assists and 6 rebounds while Steph Curry helped him out with 21 points of his own. Kevin King went 5/20 for 23 points while Tyreke Evans and Nick Babul combined for 9/28 shooting. It feels good to make the NBA Finals again but up to this point it has felt like a formality, like we were always going to get to this point. It is just the next series that we need to buckle down for and win before I can celebrate.

Cleveland wins series 4-1

Dallas also finishes their series against Portland off with a 110-92 win to go through to the NBA Finals behind Lebron James’ 35 points and Rashid Shiran’s 22 points and 15 rebounds. I believe that this Mavericks team will be a little easier than Detroit but they can still turn it on in an instant with their remarkable offense.

[zike_42]

2020 NBA Finals

#1 Cleveland vs. #2 Dallas

So here we go, my second NBA Finals in two seasons. Detroit was an elite team but Dallas has talent coming out of its ears. Bring it.

NBA Finals: Dallas vs. Cleveland

Point Guard
Gorazd Spaho vs. Sam Baron
9.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists vs. 22.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 11.2 assists

This year’s playoffs have been Sam Baron’s breakout party. He has led from the front on this star studded team and rookie Spaho will be crushed.

Winner - Cleveland

Shooting Guard
Joe Taylor vs. Steph Curry
12.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists vs. 20 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists

Taylor has been around the league for six years but hasn’t changed much since his rookie year so everyone knows what to expect. A tall SF playing SG that can score the ball but isn’t the best defender. That spells trouble for the Mavs as Curry is a spectacular scorer. Taylor needs to fight fire with fire and wear Curry out on the offensive end.

Winner - Cleveland

Small Forward
Lebron James vs. Danilo Gallinari
27.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists vs. 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists

What hasn’t been said about King James that hasn’t been said before? Ridiculous scorer, lockdown defender and a beast of a human specimen. The only thing Gallinari can do is hope he doesn’t score all Dallas’ points.

Winner - Dallas

Power Forward
Rashid Shiran vs. Darrell Holtz
14.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists vs. 13.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists

Two players who are fairly similar in style and talent level, this could be the key matchup. Whoever wins this battle could well designate this year’s champions.

Winner - Draw

Centre
Tim Mozgov vs. Dwight Howard
13.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists vs. 17.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists

These two have a LOOOOOONG history, playing so well together in Toronto under Felix Elwood. They know each other inside and out and will be a fantastic matchup. Cleveland wins this battle because Howard is a better player.

Winner - Cleveland

Bench
Andrew Bynum, Tahric Tahid, Tre Phillips vs. Josh Smith, Rajon Rondo, Danny Granger

Tahid has been great this post-season while Bynum is a former all star. They can hassle the Cavs’ bench with their length and talent so Cleveland won’t have it all their way like they have the rest of the playoff series.

Winner – Draw

Prediction – Cleveland in Six.

I’m not sure about that, I would have picked seven games. These Mavericks have all the markings of an upset team so I’m not taking any chances.

Cleveland has never won an NBA championship and the only time they got to the NBA Finals it was when Lebron James led the team to a 4-0 sweep loss to San Antonio in 2007. So this crowd and city have been waiting for an eternity and I don’t want to keep them waiting.

And what a game! For us at least. Here are the quarter by quarter break down (we are first):

1st – 39-19
2nd – 31-14
3rd – 31-27
4th – 11-22

Which means that we got out to an astonishing 46 point lead to win the first game 112-82. Sam Baron led the way with 27 points and 15 assists while all of our starting five scoring 15 points or more, hitting 57% of our field goals. For the losers, Lebron James top scored with 22 points while Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 15 rebounds off the bench as Tim Mozgov only played 14 minutes due to foul trouble.

Cleveland leads 1-0

The Mavericks have been feeling embarrassed all day and I don’t blame them so I’m expecting a better effort by them in game two. It was a better effort, only if you claim a 28 point defeat instead of a 30 point loss as we whallop them 115-87 to totally demoralise Dallas. Dwight Howard takes out the player of the game award with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks but any of our starters could have taken it out as they all scored 17 points or more on excellent shooting. Another bench player for the Mavs was their standout, as Tahric Tahid had 17 points while Lebron James was held to only 11 points on 3/14 shooting. Their two star bigs were also absent as Rashid Shiran and Tim Mozgov combined for 23 points and 14 rebounds on 9/24 shooting.

Cleveland leads 2-0

The city of Dallas is roaring for a win and in true Texas style it’s a big deal. I heard that there were so many missed work days today that it was practically a public holiday. As I arrived there must have been 20,000 people near the car park waiting for the game, even though most of them didn’t have tickets.

This kind of pressure worked well for the Mavs as Tim Mozgov (24 points, 15 rebounds), Lebron James (21 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) and Rashid Shiran (20 points, 13 rebounds) showed that they could lead a team. Unfortunately for them Steph Curry tore apart Joe Taylor for 31 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals and Sam Baron had 19 points and 16 assists to put us in the driver’s seat of this series with a 108-98 win. Josh Smith also had 8 points and 4 blocks off the bench as the crowd was about to tear the stadium down with the loss. Only one win to go...

Cleveland leads 3-0

Whenever a team shoots a better percentage, hits 10 three pointers, grabs more rebounds, dishes out more assists and blocks more shots you would think would win the game right? Well they didn’t, with the statistically inferior team winning 104-100. For Dallas, Lebron James had 22 points and 7 rebounds, Joe Taylor had 21 points and Tahric Tahid chipped in from the bench with 15 points and 12 assists. For us, Steph Curry had a game high with 29 points while Danilo Gallinari had 20 points backed up by Sam Baron’s 19 points. Who do you think won? Dallas of course, sending the series into a game five. Damn.

Cleveland leads 3-1

The Dallas faithful believe that they won one game they can come back and win it all. We need to stop this rubbish right now. And we get out to a terrible start as Steph Curry tears his ACL after scoring 21 points while Danilo Gallinari gets neutralised by Lebron James. Until James also goes down with a torn MCL which causes the floodgates to open. We go on a 62-30 second half to win the NBA Championship 116-78. Just let me go through the stats first – Dwight Howard: 17 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks, Sam Baron: 21 points and 8 assists while Danny Granger filled in for Steph Curry excellently with 7 points off the bench. Andrew Bynum top scored with for Dallas with 14 points as they only had two players in double figures. Now that those boring stats are finished...

YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cleveland wins series 4-1

The small but vocal Cleveland contingent of the crowd are going into overdrive as the rest of the audience quietly yet angrily leave the arena. Steph Curry keeps trying to get up out of his wheelchair to celebrate with his pals but his torn ACL keeps him in his place. There were two ‘photos of the series’ –

1. Dwight Howard and Tim Mozgov shaking hands at mid court, showing that the two foes will always be friends.
2. Rajon Rondo, Kevin Martin, Gerald Wallace, Danny Granger and Josh Smith participating in a group hug. All of these players came aboard in the past off season looking for a ring and finally winning it all.

Sam Baron won Finals MVP with averages of 21.4 points and 11.0 assists as he led this team from the front all playoffs long. He had a great supporting cast but Baron was the standout and well and truly deserves that title.

I won’t sleep for a week because I have built this team so quickly, in only one season, that I feel like this is well and truly my team. Too bad I will be leaving this team but I guess it is for the best. It’s not like I’m leaving this team with nothing I think this team has all the markings of backing up next season.