NBA Elimination picks

BK at Miami (-7) (UNDER 188.5) (L)(L)

BJ: The Miami Heat have not lost at home in the playoffs this year, which is not very surprising as the played the Charlotte Bobcats in the first round and a shaky Nets squad this series. The Heat are on a phenomenal roll this playoffs. While everyone was grinding out 7 game series' in the first round, the Heat took care of business and rested. While we were busy watching KD accept his first MVP award and enamored with his speech, LeBron was playing less than 40 minutes a game and putting the Nets' old horses down like a seasoned veterinarian. And while we constantly remind ourselves that the Heatles have the chance to break up and go their separate ways this summer, the Biggest Three are coasting towards a 4th NBA Finals appearance.

It is for that reason that we need to stop talking about these three breaking up. Yes Dwyane Wade is an injured mess during the regular season; yes Chris Bosh is a 3 point shooting, finesse big man. Yes, LeBron has to carry this team through the regular season and when things get rough (see: this series, game 4). But since when are all of these things major issues? Go ahead and guess the last time D Wade has played 80 games....go ahead...I'll wait...How about never? He has never played 80 games. As a matter of fact, in his 11 year career, Wade has played more than 70 games only 5 times. LeBron is quite aware that D Wade is going to be around the 60-70 game mark for the rest of his career and that is OK. This year, Wade averaged what basically amounted to a career low, 19 points per game. Not bad, but not the Flash of old. Only, we're not looking at something very important. This year, Dwyane Wade shot almost 55% from the field; a career high. All that matters is getting Wade to the playoffs healthy. 

Now that we have covered the Wade Factor, let's look at this Bosh situation. Some people feel like Bosh will leave so that he can get a max contract from someone and be the number 1 guy again. Great. Can someone tell me the last time they've heard Chris Bosh complain about anything? I'm pretty sure it was in Toronto where he was the number 1 option and couldn't get any help while paying a massive amount of taxes. Well, now Bosh gets open jumpers, preserves his body by playing on the permitter and lives in a state with no income tax. Bosh is clearly happy being the third option and he may be the most efficient third option in the NBA. He averages 16 points per game on 57% shooting! Oh and the threes? He shoots almost 3 per game, so let's not act like he's running off high screens like Kyle Korver. 

In the end, these guys really have no reason to break up. With contracts coming off the books, they can reload with somewhere around $10-$12mil in cap space. Hell, if they want, they can all opt out their contracts and take $500k less to add to that space. When you have 3 very good players, champions at that, who will guarantee you a 1 or 2 seed in the East (thus rocketing to the finals) you have no reason to shake things up just for the hell of it! While we all sit back and wonder what's going to happen this summer, the Heat are no doubt headed to the Eastern Conference Finals and possibly another title.

POR (+8) at SA (OVER 209) (L) (L)

Catz: Last game Portland used the energy of their crowd and their bench to stave off elimination and force a game 5. This is what we expected in game 3, but for some reason it took them until game 4 to figure that aspect out. Well tonight is most likely the end of what has been a terrific season for the Blazers. So I bet you are asking then why are you taking the Blazers +8? Well I don't think the Spurs are going to coast to this victory quite that easily, I think Rip City has finally figured out that they are playing the most disciplined team in the league and basically the exact opposite of the Rockets. Look for Portland to keep this game close, but eventually lose the lead and the game by 3 or 4 points.