Chris Paul and Lebron James battle, their two teams will play in the first round.
We can all agree that no one could have predicted the state of the Western Conference before this season.
This year has been full of surprises, and injuries. This year is the first time in a long time where we have a toss-up on who is coming out of the West. There isn't a team like the Warriors who we all know is winning, or the Lakers from last year who dominated everyone. The first-round matchups are set with the Jazz vs Warriors/Grizzlies, Suns vs Lakers, Nuggets vs Blazers, and the Clippers vs Mavs.
Jazz vs Grizzlies
The Jazz has been consistently great all year. With the best record in the league at 52-20 and only 5 losses at home. This team has no weaknesses with superb defense, field goal percentage, and overall team chemistry. We don't know the status of Donnavan Mitchell, who has had another superstar season, so guys like Joe Ingles, Rudy Gobert, and Bojan Bogdanovic will have to step up. Gobert is most likely going to be Defense of Player of the Year, leading the league with 2.7 blocks a game. The Memphis Grizzlies are a hot young team, who most people did not see beating the Warriors in the play-ins. The backcourt of Dillon Brooks and Ja Morant is an excellent balance of offensive scoring, and defensive excellence. The defense of Dillon Brooks will definitely give Donnavan Mitchell problems scoring.
Suns vs Lakers
The Lakers are probably the best seventh seed to ever exist, which is news Suns fans don't want to hear. But the Suns are a very deep team with Chris Paul turning this team around through his leadership and his ability to keep everyone involved. Devin Booker is finally getting his respect with another 25ppg+ season. Deandre Ayton has been a great force for this Suns team on both sides of the ball. The Lakers are finally healthy just in time. Lebron was quiet during the play-in game but proved his clutch gene once again with a game-winning three. Anthony Davis is also finally healthy and led the Lakeshow to a five-game winning streak to close the season. The Lakers are still looking for a third option who they could trust down the stretch, Dennis Schroder has been a huge disappointment, and he blames it partly on post-Covid-19 exhaustion. Kyle Kuzma has been wildly inconsistent this year, and Talen Horton-Tucker doesn't have the experience to be a reliable option for Lebron. As a result, This series can definitely go to seven games, and Phoenix is definitely isn't afraid of the defending champs.Nuggets vs Blazers
When Jamal Murray went down with a torn ACL, everyone assumed that the Nuggets season was over, but Nikola Jokic had other plans. The MVP candidate has averaged 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. The trade deadline was good to the Nuggets who acquired weapons like Aaron Gordon, and Austin Rivers. These two have provided the Nuggets with good scoring, and more importantly depth. Portland has had another great season with their core from last year being relatively the same. The backcourt of Lillard and McCollum continues to be lethal. But a problem for Portland for the past couple of years has been injuries. If they find a way to go through this series without any injuries, the Blazers have a great chance to beat this Nuggets team.
A center with REMARKABLE passing ability... #KiaMVP Finalist Nikola Jokic! #ThatsGame Joker and the @nuggets host… https://t.co/alglAU5veM— NBA (@NBA) 1621700100.0
Clippers vs Mavs
A rematch of the heated first-round matchup last year, the Mavericks look for revenge against this Clippers team. Luka has taken another leap this year with 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Kristaps Porzingis is finally looking healthy again, providing 20 points a game. The acquisition of JJ Redick has provided Dallas with great shooting off the bench, and he won't be available for game 1, so the injury problems continue with Dallas. The Clippers acquired many veterans like playoff Rajon Rondo, Demarcus Cousins, and Nic Batum have years of playoff experience who will be the X-factors for this series.
J. Cole came back with a new album like Jordan wearing the 4-5
J. Cole has had himself a week.
The Grammy Award-winning rapper not only released his sixth studio album, The Off-Season, but he also made his debut in the Basketball Africa League with the Rwanda Patriots. The Patriots are one of 12 teams from all over Africa that are competing in the inaugural season of the league.
The league itself is a product of the NBA and the International Basketball Federation in an attempt to bring a platform for players across the country to showcase their talents in hopes of making it to higher levels of competition across the globe including the NBA. Beginning in the late 1990s we began to see a slow trickle of international players making their way into the NBA, but not until players such as Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker started making all star teams and winning championships did the flood gates open.
NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, has been a longtime proponent of bringing in the best talent from all over the world, and this is yet another step for the progressive league to provide as many avenues for the best to find their way to the league. With much of Europe having established professional basketball leagues, there was a huge void in the country of Africa in regard to opportunity.
Africa is still a very poor and under-industrialized country, so the resources and money simply aren't there to support such an endeavor. But with the support of the NBA, the league has a great chance to be successful and to produce NBA players.
But what's up with J. Cole?
Cole played some college ball with St. John's as a walk-on, and we've seen his ability on display at NBA All-Star weekend in the celebrity games and on his social media accounts. So we know that Cole can hoop, and we know he's always willing to put in the work. He's talked at length about his creative process while making his art, and one can only assume that he's taking that work ethic into this new realm of professional basketball.
J. Cole’s first professional basket for the Rwanda Patriots Basketball Club 🏀 https://t.co/ZiazRDN0Cf— SAINT (@SAINT) 1621179481.0
Cole is expected to play in a handful of games for the Patriots over the course of the UEFA Champion's League style schedule of play. The BAL (Basketball Africa League) breaks the teams into a group phase, which is comprised of 18 games, and then the top eight teams from the group phase qualify for playoffs. The remaining teams will compete in a single elimination playoff season that will last three rounds. The BAL Final will be held on May 30.
Cole isn't expected to play every game; the team only anticipates he'll play in six games at most. In his debut with the Patriots he managed 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in 17 minutes of play. Not exactly the start he was hoping for, but if he manages to catch up to the speed and start putting down shots, we could see him extend that limit a little.
.@JColeNC in his pro debut 👏 https://t.co/RwHLvuKxAH— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) 1621182943.0
The timing of Cole's debut, his album release, and the cross-over appeal he brings is a perfect cocktail for the BAL as they are attempting to get eyes on their product. Cole has always said he wanted to make it to the NBA, but at his age (36) it's unlikely he'll have the chance. So he instead gets to live out his pro basketball fantasy in the BAL while helping players in that country get looks.
Cole's desire to lift others up has long been part of who he is which can be seen in his non-profit organization Dreamville Foundation and their efforts to support underprivileged and under funded communities largely in his home state of North Carolina.
While you might not make money betting on J.Cole playing basketball. The Off-Season is primed to be a front-runner for Rap Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 2022. Much like the Academy Awards, the Grammy's have a history of awarding artists a few projects too late. Cole's new album sees him attempting to position himself at the top of the rap game as the best lyricist alive.
J Cole riding his bike home from the studio after recording The Off Season https://t.co/mExIBg6TsE— Orange Juice🍊 (@Orange Juice🍊) 1620966704.0
Cole has been revered as one of today's purest rappers since debuting in 2014 with 2014 Forest Hills Drive and putting an exclamation on that take with 2018's KOD, which wasn't even nominated for Best Rap album that year.
Cole's newest album features intricate beats produced by Timbaland and even sees the rapper work on the other side of the sound booth producing songs on the album himself. It appears that one of rap's poets is seeking even further control over the art he is putting out into the world. It's something that the Grammy voters will take into consideration.
While the album isn't a clear improvement over any of his previous releases, there is certainly no signs of regression. The album is representative of what we've seen from Cole throughout his illustrious career. His delivery is smooth, his messages are strong, and the album leaves you wanting more.
LeBron and the Lakers will be watching the scores today as their playoff spot will be determined by games they aren't playing in.
After an exciting season for the NBA and its fans, the playoffs are finally around the corner.
This season has been unique with Covid-19 restrictions, schedule changes, and a record setting number of injuries. Today (May 16) is the last day of the regular season, and the outcome of today's games have serious playoff implications.
After a trial run in last year's bubble, the play-in tournament will be sticking around. The play-in tournament is a new system in place for the NBA this year, it comes with controversy, but it definitely adds a lot more excitement for the end of the regular season. The teams involved in this tournament are the seventh through tenth seeds in each conference.
In the tournament's first two games, the seventh seed will be playing the eighth seed, and the ninth seed will be playing the tenth seed. The winner of the seven-eight game secures the seven seed. The eighth/final seed will be played for by the loser of the seven-eight game, and the winner of the ninth-tenth seed.
Starting in the Western Conference, sitting at the 8th seed is the Golden State Warriors, who are riding the red hot hand of Stephen Curry, who will finish off the season as the league scoring leader.
Most 30-point games by a player in their 12th season or later: 44 — Michael Jordan (1996-17) 37 — Steph Curry (202… https://t.co/SEsn1cKEyf— StatMuse (@StatMuse) 1620707394.0
The 9th seed is the Memphis Grizzlies, led by Ja Morant but accompanied by great depth with young players possessing huge potential. The Grizzlies and Warriors face-off tomorrow for that eighth seed. Betting odds have the Warriors winning at 4.5 point favorites at -110, meaning that if you bet $100, you will win $90.91. Continuing in the Western Conference.
Odds to Win the West 1 Utah Jazz +300 2 Phoenix Suns +600 3 Los Angeles Clippers +250 4 Denver Nuggets +1400 5 Por… https://t.co/iloJBaJ1E3— BetOnline.ag (@BetOnline.ag) 1620856741.0
Moving on to the seventh seed, the Lakers currently sit at the seventh seed and come into the playoffs finally healthy with their key pieces. The Lakers and the Trail Blazers both have a 41-30 record.
Portland plays Denver today, and if they win they surely avoid the play-ins. But if Portland loses, paired with the Lakers win against New Orleans today, then the Lakers rise to the sixth seed, and Portland falls to the seventh seed. The Lakers are ten-point favorites(-110) to beat the Pelicans. Portland is five-point underdogs against Denver, so Portland may fall to the seven seed at the end of the day.
Because of the Portland Trailblazers, Melo is able to go out how he’s supposed to. I will never slander that franch… https://t.co/TdbZkgh9iM— La Spoelstra Nostra (@La Spoelstra Nostra) 1620774260.0
The Eastern Conference is similar with a three-way tie in the records between the eight to ten seeds. The Hornets and the Wizards face off this afternoon, and the winner secures the eighth spot. The Wizards hope to get Bradley Beal back who is dealing with hamstring tightness, if not the Wiz look for Russell Westbrook to finish off another historic season.
LaMelo Ball pleading to the ref: “On my momma. On my mother’s soul... On mother’s day” 💀💀💀 https://t.co/meueyVAfGC— CrossedSports (@CrossedSports) 1620843995.0
The Hornets have been one of the most exciting teams in the NBA this year, a fast-paced team with many high flyers. With a backcourt of LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier, they'll cause problems for the Washington defense. The Wizards are five-point favorites for the game today. The ten-seed Pacers play the Raptors today, a win will raise the Pacers to the nine-seed, which will give them homecourt in the first play-in. The loser of the Hornets-Wizards game today will fall to the tenth seed.
According to Vegas, the seventh seed Celtics have an 83% chance of making the playoffs, eight seed Hornets have a 48.6% chance, nine seed Wizards with a 35.1%, and finally the ten seed Pacers with a 33.4% chance. In the West, the seventh seed Lakers have an 86.6% chance, the eight seed Warriors at 64.4% chance, Grizzlies at 38.5%, and finally the Spurs at 17%.
Los Angeles sports teams championship banner count : Lakers:17 Sparks:3 Taylor Swift:1 Clippers: HAHAHAHAHAHA 😂😭 https://t.co/giG4xeXcUz— Mildly Depressed Lakers Fan (@Mildly Depressed Lakers Fan) 1620928362.0
Especially in the West, the play-in tournament holds serious implications for the matchups for the top seeds. The play-in tournament will host a bunch of dangerous teams, like the Warriors who have been on fire and still can have Stephen Curry drop sixty points on any night. Also the reigning NBA champions, the Lakers, get all their healthy stars back, and can likely pull off a first-round upset against the top seeds.
Look for our Eastern and Western Conference breakdowns later this week once the NBA Playoff brackets are set.
Roman Reigns enters WM Backlash as the reigning, defending, undisputed...
WrestleMania Backlash starts tonight at 7 PM EST and is available on PPV, Peacock, and if you are outside the United States, the WWE Network.
As par for the course, the show takes place inside the ThunderDome at The Yuengling Center in Tampa Florida. The show features matches such as Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro, Charlotte vs. Asuka vs Rhea Ripley, and many more.
All betting odds are obtained from bovada.lv and are current as of 9:30 am EST on 5/16.
Lumberjack Match: The Miz +300 vs Damian Priest -500
Priest is favored in Vegas, and rightly so. As awesome as The Miz is, this is Damian Priest's time to shine as he is being built up for bigger and better things. He should be challenging for the World Title before the year is out, and quite frankly The Miz is going in the opposite direction.
History indicates that The Miz and Morrison are due for a break up, so don't be surprised if Morrison accidentally costs The Miz the match.
Winner: Damian Priest
Smackdown Tag Team Titles: The Dirty Dawgs (c) +210 vs Rey and Dominik Mysterio -320
I could see either team winning this one, but I am leaning more towards Los Mysterios. Ziggler and Roode have held the belts since January and they aren't exactly reinventing the wheel as champions. Usually when you throw two meandering mid-carders together in this type of situation it elevates at least one, if not both to better things. That doesn't seem to be the case this time however as I can't shake the feeling that once they drop the titles they will both fall back into lower mid-card obscurity.
On the flip side we have Los Mysterios, father and son teaming together. For Rey the tag team titles would be yet another of many championship notches in his belt, but for Dominik it would be the first title gold of his career. This is Family Wrestling Storyline 101 here. It is inevitable that Dominik is going to turn heel on his father at some point, and that point is most likely at the next PPV which just so happens to fall on Fathers Day.
So it would make perfect sense for them to win the titles at Backlash and drop them at Money In The Bank next month.
Winner: Rey and Dominik Mysterio
Smackdown Women's Title: Bianca Belair (c) -1,400 vs Bayley +650
This match is as close to a no-brainer as one can get. There is just no way that Belair is dropping the title this soon into her first reign. Furthermore, Bayley does not need the title to be relevant.
Everything is pointing towards a rematch between Bianca and Sasha Banks for the title at SummerSlam in August, so every woman who challenges for the title between now and then stands no chance unless Bianca should injure herself and they need to strip her of the title.
Winner: Bianca Belair
RAW Women's Title: Rhea Ripley (c) -175 vs Charlotte +180 vs Asuka +650
This matchup should be as cut and dry as the Smackdown Women's Title match, but sadly it is not. Having just won the title at WrestleMania and being one of the best up and coming talent in the WWE, Rhea Ripley retaining should be a no brainer. If she had been going up solely against Asuka I would stop the summary here and declare Rhea the winner, but then they went and added Charlotte to the match.
Her 12 Women's Title reigns make her a legitimate threat in any match she is in. You expect her to win each and every match. If they wanted to do things right, Rhea pins Charlotte to further cement her spot on the roster. It wouldn't harm Charlotte at all, and Asuka keeps her heat by not taking the fall.
If Charlotte does win, it will be the second time in little over a year that she will have ended a Rhea Ripley title reign. They are in danger of turning Rhea into an "also-ran" or "never-was" here if they truncate her title reign on Sunday. So this time I am going to give the WWE the benefit of the doubt and hope they do the right thing.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Universal Title: Roman Reigns (c) -1,000 vs Cesaro +550
Come next Friday, Roman Reigns will still be the reigning, defending WWE Universal Champion. His domination of the Smackdown roster is total, and unlikely to end anytime soon. While it is nice to see Cesaro get his biggest push ever in the WWE, it is just beyond the pale to buy into him as being a serious contender to Reigns.
So let us enjoy what is certain to be a great match with plenty of near falls, but in the end Cesaro must accept that his defeat is inevitable. Roman Reigns' is as constant as the Northern Star, and it'll probably take a Brock Lesnar or John Cena comeback to get the title off of him.
Winner: Roman Reigns
WWE World Title: Bobby Lashley (c) -300 vs Braun Strowman +800 vs Drew McIntyre +300
Bobby Lashley, with the help of his manager MVP, has been carrying the weight of the RAW brand on his back for the better part of a year now. He deserves a longer title reign than what he has had thus far. Braun doesn't make for a good draw as champion as has been proven in the past. It's alright for him to rise up and challenge for the title every now and then, but that is his ceiling. As for Drew, I do believe he will have more title reigns in his future but now is not the time.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
There you have it, I am predicting only one title to be changing hands tonight. It's a little too tidy for the remainder of the matches to seem to have such an obvious outcome, but here we are. Just keep in mind the infamous words oft spoken in the "Big Brother" house: "Expect The Unexpected". Enjoy the show, and please feel free to comment! I'll be back in two weeks with a preview for AEW Double Or Nothing 2021 on May 30th.
