FrontRowSportsReport.com: Sports Blog

myMockDrafts.com has posted the full 2008 NBA Draft results for rounds 1 and 2.

Nike’s latest attempt at viral video marketing has Lakers star Kobe Bryant jumping over a car with his brand new Nike shoe…yeah so he really didn’t do it but still a cool video. How many Lakers haters wishes the Aston Martin took him out?

The NBA Western Conference playoff race is getting tight and it wont be getting much easier for the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks not only lost to the San Antonio Spurs today but their star forward Dirk Nowitzki went down with a leg injury.

In the 3rd quarter of today’s game the reigning NBA MVP took a nasty tumble and hobbled off the court. “I fell awkwardly and my left leg got caught underneath of me,” Nowitzki said in a statement after the game. “I am going to get re-evaluated in the morning and I hope to have more information then.” Even though the official word has yet to be given it appears as though Nowitzki will miss at least 2 weeks.

This would usually be bad news for any team when their star player goes down, but this is even worse news for the Mavericks who are fighting to keep their playoff spot - which currently stands at 7th in the Western Conference. The Mavericks are usually a playoff shoe-in but not this year as they could easily drop out of playoff contention with some losses. The Golden State Warriors (who are in 8th place) are only 1 game behind the Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets (who are in 9th place and currently out of the playoffs) are only 2 games behind.

Oh, and one other interesting note about the Mavericks. Since that blockbuster trade to bring in Jason Kidd, the Mavericks have yet to beat a team with a winning record. That is not a good sign of things to come, especially with Dirk out.

The Spurs on the other hand have seen their fortune reverse after going on a 1-6 run. This win over the Mavericks not only  put some distance between the two teams but also might give the Spurs a kick in the butt they needed to make a run.

So the NBA season is slowly winding down and the playoff picture is getting a bit more clear as we have only a few more weeks left to play. Even though the seedings will probably change a bit 2 things are very clear - the Eastern Conference has only two teams with a real shot at winning the NBA Championship and the Western Conference will have the best playoff basketball by far. With that being said lets take a closer took at each Conference and where they stand.

NBA Eastern Conference

No offense to any team in the Eastern Conference but outside of the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and maybe the Orlando Magic does any team really have a shot against a Western Conference team? The Eastern Conference will have at least 1, maybe 2 teams make the playoffs with a losing record and its not like they are playing in the hyper-competitive Western Conference. Having a losing record when you play teams like the Miami Heat and New York Knicks does not say a lot about your team. Could one of the lower seeded teams make a run? Sure, anyone can but in the NBA’s Eastern Conference there are the Celtics and Pistons and then everyone else. In fact, the team I feel has the best chance of winning the NBA Championship is the Celtics, the Pistons are over-rated in a bad conference.

NBA Western Conference

The NBA should do away with the Eastern and Western titles and call these two conferences Division 1 and Division 2. The talent from top to bottom in the Western Conference is insane. Every single team that will make the NBA Playoffs will have at least 45 wins - the Eastern Conference will be lucky to have 3. In fact I would say that any Western Conference playoff team, from seed 1 through 8, have a shot at winning the NBA Championship if they make it that far. Right now the 7th seed is the Dallas Mavericks. The Dallas Mavericks! That means as of today the Los Angeles Lakers would play the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. That is just a bit different then the Detroit Pistons playing the Philadelphia 76ers don’t you think?

NBA Playoff Predictions

So here is how I see it going down this year in the NBA Playoffs. In the Eastern Conference it will be the Celtics vs. the Pistons in the Conference Finals with the Celtics winning in a series that goes the full 7 games. In the Western Conference I actually see Phoenix winning out, even though I am torn between them and the Lakers. With the NBA Finals being the Suns versus the Celtics I see the Suns winning.

So there you have it, I am predicting the Phoenix Suns as the 2007 - 2008 NBA Champions.

168 points. I didn’t believe it when I first saw it or I thought that it was a 4 overtime game. Nope, the Denver Nuggets scored 168 points last night, in regulation, in beating the Seattle Supersonics 168-116.

The 168 points in regulation is not a NBA record but it is a franchise record. The Nuggets had 8 players who scored in double digits, Carmelo Anthony lead the way with 26 points,  Allen Iverson had 24, Kenyon Martin had 23 and Marcus Camby put in a triple-double  with 13 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.

After the game the Nuggets were still in shock at how many points they scored. “I’ve never been a part of a game like this where we won by so many points and scored so many points,” Marcus Camby said. “This is definitely a game I’m going to keep in my archives.”  Kenyon Martin added. “A lot of people are going to think it’s a misprint, a lot of people will think there’s no way they scored that many points. It’s unbelievable. There are no words for it.”

Unfortunately someone had to lose this game and it was the SuperSonics by 52 points.  The SuperSonics, who are 16-51 on the season, once again showed that their main weakness is on defense. In this years NBA Draft they will hopefully go after so big talent who can play D.

Remember when Vince Carter was the man? Remember him playing for the North Carolina Tar Heels? Remember people calling him the next Michael Jordan? Yeah…so Vince Carter will never be Jordan because he cant lead a team but man that guy can put up some highlights on the basketball court. This video shows some of his best moments from High School…high flying dunks and some serious blocks. I cant even imagine being on the opposing team and facing Carter.

Greg Oden was the first pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, unfortunately the team that drafted him, the Portland Trail Blazers, didn’t get to benefit this season from the big guy. Looks like that will all change for next season as Oden practiced with the team for 45 minutes yesterday. Oden sat out his “rookie” season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee.

Oden was not at 100% but went through drills, jumped and dunked - the Trail Blazers are surely ecstatic at this. “It’s nice to see him get to this point, and to do it during the season,” Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. “If he is at this point right now, he should be in good shape come training camp.”

Oden’s teammate Brandon Roy was also pleasantly surprised at Oden’s practice participation and is looking forward to next season. “It almost brought it back to preseason when he was in the gym working out and there was that buzz,” Roy said.? “I mean, this season wasn’t bad, but you can still tell that he’s going to be something special, and that’s exciting. You think about all the players we can have next season, and you know, it’s going to be all right. It’s going to be cool.”

The Trail Blazers might be the surprise team of the 2007 / 2008 NBA season. Not only do they have a winning record (34-31) but they put on a impressive winning streak earlier this season. With a core group of young players adding Oden into the mix is only going to mean good things are to come. My prediction is that next year they are a playoff team and might even shock someone in the first round.

We were busy over the weekend watching plenty of NBA and NCAA basketball games - and both season are slowly coming to a close. With that being said it is time for the latest Mock NBA Draft over at myMockDrafts.com - so go check out the 2008 Mock NBA Draft - Version 2 and see who moved up, who moved down and who dropped out of the first round.

Well I guess the Miami Heat are going to have a really good shot at getting the first overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Heat Coach Pat Riley announced today that Dwayne Wade is going to miss the rest of the NBA season. Wade has had lingering knee issues and will be undergoing treatment and therapy in order to bring it back to 100% in time for the 2008 / 2009 NBA season.

With the Heat having the worst record in the NBA and no chance at making the playoffs, Wade was hesitant to stop playing but feels it will be better in the long run. Just last week Wade commented on how he would finish out as much of the season as possible. Wade said -   “I don’t want to cut my minutes back If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. And whenever that day is, if it comes, I’ll just start preparing for the summer and rehabbing. But the day is not today.”

Wade will undergo a OssaTron treatment, which is non-surgical and involves a high-tech version of shock therapy.  Wade had surgery on his knee and shoulder last May.

Wade finished the NBA season averaging 24.6 points per game.

I think the entire state of Arizona breathed a collective sigh of relief last night as the Phoenix Suns beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-87. Yes it was just one game and it doesn’t mean the trade to bring in Shaquille O’Neal is now working. However, if the Suns lost it would have meant they would have lost 3 in a row for the first time all season and stopping the Spurs / Tim Duncan was the main reason they brought in the Big Cactus.

Shaq showed some bursts of energy and toughness that made most NBA experts think that the trade might work out for the Suns. Shaq did his thing as usual, he scored 14 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, but if you watch the game you will see that his biggest impact was how Duncan did not play his usual game against the Suns. All night long Duncan was hesitant to stand under the basket and stayed for most of the game outside. Also, having Shaq in the middle meant that the Suns didn’t have to double team Duncan, which freed up the other 4 Suns on the court to play their man and not worry about rolling off to guard someone else. However, this was just one game lets see how this works out if they play each other in the NBA playoffs.

The Spurs were led by Manu Ginobili who put in a game-high 22 points and Tony Parker who has 21. Tim Duncan put in 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, however Duncan was 6 of 19 shooting. Duncan was obviously not happy with his performance. “I had two turnovers and two missed layups down the stretch, we’re up five with three-something left — a situation where we usually play a lot better than that.”

The Suns were led by Steve Nash who had 19 points and a game-high 14 assists.  Oh, and did you see the Big Cactus flying into the stands?