From the Highlight Factory » Heat

Playoff Picture Is Getting Clearer

Jon Newberry — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:39:50 +0000

Not much is going to be decided before the last day of the season on Wednesday (especially in the West) but at least now the “if we win” scenarios are clearer. Without going through every possible scenario, here is a breakdown of how things could shake out.

First, here is an excerpt from ProBasketballTalk on NBCsports.com:

Also out East, Boston and Atlanta will finish as the three and four seeds, in some order, and will face Miami or Milwaukee, in some order. The Bucks may have the most say in how this finishes up — they face the Hawks and the Celtics.

Atlanta has a one game lead on Boston for the three-seed, and plays the Bucks then the Cavaliers (who likely will rest a lot of players). Boston faces the very desperate Bulls followed by the Bucks. The smart money would say Atlanta remains the three seed. But again the Bucks get a big say.

And those Bucks need their wins, Miami’s two remaining games are against the Sixers and Nets, two games the hot Heat should win. Milwaukee will have a tough time getting two wins. Again, look for the Heat to be the five seed (against Boston) and the Hawks to get the Bucks.

As mentioned before, there are too many possible scenarios of how things could shake out to go through them all. The simplest scenario is if we win our last two games against Milwaukee and against Cleveland and Miami wins their last two games. In that case the matchups would be ATL (3) vs. MIL (6) and BOS (4) vs. MIA (5).

Elsewhere in the East, the Cavs have locked up the top seed, the Magic are 2nd, the Bobcats are almost guaranteed to be the 7th seed and the Bulls and Raptors are battling for the last spot.

Is the Southeast Division the best in the NBA?

Jon Newberry — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:05:32 +0000

The Denver Nuggets are learning very quickly that the Southeast Division is tough this year. When the final buzzer sounded on Saturday night at the Highlight Factory the scoreboard read Hawks 125-Nuggets 100, and the Southeast Division’s record improved to 20-10 on the season.

Everyone knew the defending Eastern Conference Champion Magic were going to be tough. Everyone who paid attention to the Hawks 31-10 home record last season knew that the Highlight Factory produces mainly home team footage. The Heat have been playing as well as anyone the first two weeks of the season, and the Wizards are much improved with a healthy Gilbert Arenas.

Maybe it’s time the analysts show some love to the Southeast Division.

Ten Games To Watch – #5

micah hart — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:47:23 +0000

Training camp begins next week! We continue to build towards the beginning of the season by counting down the “Ten Games To Watch” for 2009-10. Single game tickets are on sale now!

#5 vs Miami Heat, Wed. Nov. 18, 2009

The Heat are perhaps Atlanta’s most bitter rival in the Southeast Division thanks to last year’s 7-game playoff series and fun times like the infamous re-do game. The intensity between these two squads always seems to ratchet up a level when they face off (though the closeness of the results may not reflect it), and I don’t anticipate that being any different this season. And with improvements in Washington and Charlotte, division wins will be of optimum importance. Miami doesn’t look altogether different now than they did at the end of last season, but if an oft-rumored deal for Utah’s Carlos Boozer ever goes through it could change things for them immensely.

Match-ups to watch: Joe Johnson vs Dwyane Wade. Was there any doubt?

What do you think?