Second-Half Season Predictions for the NBA
As the holiday season disappears into the distance behind us are a few things on the minds of basketball fans everywhere.
Naturally, the first is who will be picking up the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in June. Then there’s the endless debate about who will be the season’s MVP and who will merely come close.
So we’ve been looking deep into our crystal balls to try and predict answers to these questions and more, not to mention consulting the odds to see what help they can give us in reaching some conclusions.
Where things stand
By mid-January a picture has started to emerge as to who the top teams might be by the end of the regular season in April. With around half of the scheduled 82 games already played there are already very promising signs for last season’s finalists.
For Miami Heat, while they may not exactly have been on fire this season, they top the Southeast division of the Eastern Conference sitting in fifth place overall.
On the other hand, the Denver Nuggets find themselves firmly in third place in the Northwest division of the Western.
In the Eastern Conference it should come as no great surprise that the Boston Celtics lead the way by a considerable margin with their closest rivals being the Milwaukee Bucks. The Celtics have also achieved the not inconsiderable feat of remaining unbeaten at home right up until game 40 of the regular season, the only team across the NBA to achieve this, this has resulted in them being a the favorites to win the championship in the NBA odds.
There may still be a a lot of basketball to be played, but if they continues at this rate there’s a chance they could beat the all-time record they share with the San Antonio Spurs of 40 home wins in a season.
Meanwhile, over in the Western Conference it’s a much closer situation with the Minnesota Timberwolves just holding the top spot ahead of Oklahoma City Thunder and the Nuggets.
Play-off predictions
So let’s take a look at how the post-season will take shape, and there promise to be one or two surprises in store.
For example, there are a few teams we’d normally expect to breeze straight through to the play-offs who could well find themselves in the play-ins instead. The Warriors and the Clippers are two of these. That’s because they both rely on key players, Steph Curry for the former and Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden for the latter. If they find any of them sidelined by injury, it could spell trouble.
No-one’s going to give us any prizes for predicting teams who definitely won’t make the playoffs. The Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs are having truly dismal seasons.
But if our boldest prediction comes off, it will surprise many fans, and perhaps even the team itself. The Lakers have not been having an easy time of things with a long list of injuries. But a team that’s all but built around the seemingly ageless LeBron James, and driven by his passion, could make a surge in the second half of the season. Get into the playoffs and it’s anyone’s guess about how far they could go.
One thing’s for sure. They would dearly love to move one ahead of East Coast rivals the Celtics in the record of Championship wins. How sweet it would be if they also met them in the finals.
The players who have stood out so far
Moving on to the individuals who have either started to build a reputation or have helped to cement one, there are many to choose from.
Starting with who may well be named Rookie of the Year it promises to be a battle between Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyana. However, the 7’4” Frenchman is handicapped by the Spurs’ terrible record this season which even his individual brilliance can’t overcome, So expect Holmgren to get this particular crown.
In terms of outstanding performers among the more senior players, there are all the familiar names. Joel Embiid leads the way with very nearly 40 points on average per game and Domantis Sabonis is the rebounds king with over 12 per game. In terms of 3-pointers, Stephen Curry leads the way.
But we don’t believe any of these will earn the MVP award. Instead, we are confidently predicting that this particular honor is headed in the direction of Nikola Jokic with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as runner-up.
Jokic was unlucky to miss out last year and now he seems to be enjoying the best season of his life. Gilgeous-Alexander will be disappointed to be runner-up, but his time will surely come.
So there you have them. A few predictions for the rest of what has already been a fantastic season. Now let’s just look forward to seeing how many of them come true.
