- WEEK 14 PREDICTIONS -
WRITTEN BY: STEPHEN A. KELLERMAN
Okay folks, I went 7-2 in week 13 and now I am 61-33 for the season. Last week of the regular season on tap. It was a long season but we are here now. We do have one forfeit on Sunday (Bucks) and thus the Pistons will get an automatic 25 - 0 victory. So we will leave that game out and discuss the rest!
9:00PM JAZZ vs SUNS
JAZZ + 6 – GM Brett has done a wonderful job this entire season keeping the Jazz in the playoff picture and flying under the radar. The contributions of Tristan, Jovan and the rest of their starting unit have been remarkable. The brand of basketball they play is unique and they have a chance to make some noise in the playoffs but first, they will need to get past the Suns. The Suns players will need to step up and make this competitive which they certainly can. They are without an official GM but the team has done a wonderful job stepping up and making the Suns a playoff team. They will not be an easy out but a team is only as good as the organizational structure and so I give the nod to the Jazz.
9:00PM BLAZERS vs ROCKETS
ROCKETS + 25 – Blazers will not show up like last week. Rockets win by default, or Blazers show up and get blown out by 25. So either way same result lol. But seriously have some pride and finish off the season strong Blazers.
9:00PM HEAT vs HORNETS
HEAT + 25 – The Heat are going to put the Hornets out of their misery. If the Hornets do not show up with their full team, Heat win by +25. However if the Hornets do show up it will be Heat + 24. Hornets should play all out and see how they measure up to a contender and that way they can make the necessary changes in the offseason.
9:00PM KNICKS vs THUNDER
THUNDER + 5 – The Thunder led by their captain, Janath, have been cruising/crushing the league after dropping their first 3 games. The Knicks are no joke and are seeking their respect from the league. The Thunder have done it all...from making themselves look like a huge laughing stock after losing their first three games (with all the preseason hype), to adding a marquee free agent (Hashi), to playing undermanned, to playing double headers (last week)...and are now on a major winning streak. The Knicks to their credit will look to make a statement and this has the potential to be the game of the night. The Knicks as a team will need to play as a unit to stop the Thunder.
10:00PM WARRIORS vs WOLVES
WOLVES + 7 – This will be a great contest between a team that is fighting to make the playoffs and the other looking move up in the standings. The Warriors will need to win this game to avoid being fed to the some of the elite teams which some argue they have been protected from all season long. Well they won't be protected for much longer as they will be fed to the wolves of ETBL soon enough (ya'll see what I did there?) For the Wolves, it is simple. They must win or their playoff hopes are crushed. Michael Mines better get his rest before this game as he will have to be busy as hell on Sunday. The Warriors don't have a great answer for him and that means he should go to work.
10:00PM KINGS vs ROCKETS
KINGS +7 – This will come down to King Duzan vs Roshane Tha Prince. Will Roshan take down the Season 5 League MVP or will the King impose his will. The Rockets are a team that will be fresh off a double header and it will be interesting to see if they will be able to play at 100%. I think the Blazers will actually be the perfect warm up and the Rockets will be in rhythm for the game. Let the bench guys play more minutes maybe in the Blazers game and let the starters do their thing in the Kings game.
10:00PM BOBCATS vs BULLS
BOBCATS + 45 – Listen, here me out. The Bulls have not played with an entire roster since Jordan played. Who is to say the Bulls will have an entire roster this Sunday. My sources are telling me the Bobcats are going to make this final regular season game a monstrous blowout. I have an anonymous source from the Bobcats organizations. I quote, "the league is going to see what happens when we go at 100%”. I expect this game to be a +45 to pay homage to Jordan's #45 jersey. I guess we coulda paid homage to #23 but we all know this Bulls team is gonna get slapped worse than Chris Rock.