The NBA regular season has now come to an end, there is just over a week left and then it will be time for the playoffs, which will start on April 20th. In the East, the games had been closed for some time, even if Milwaukee mathematically secured access to the final phase just a few days ago, securing its eighth place thanks to the victory over Toronto and therefore extinguishing any hope of a comeback by Philadelphia, ninth and six wins away from the Bucks, despite recovering in the last month.
With defending champions Miami firmly in first place and with the best record in the whole league (60-16), the fight for second position between New York and Indiana is interesting, with the Kinicks (who are third from last they will host the Pacers) favorites and returning from 12 consecutive victories, dragged by an unstoppable Carmelo Anthony author of 167 points in the last four games. Competing for fourth place (and therefore the advantage of the field in the first round of the playoffs) should be the Brooklyn Nets of Deron Williams and the Chicago Bulls, harassed throughout the season by injuries but who have shown a crazy character and mental strength.
Speaking of Chicago, one cannot fail to update the Derrick Rose situation, given that it has now been almost exactly one year since the star of the team broke the cruciate ligament in his left knee, during the first series of the playoffs last season (a fact which compromised the path of the Bulls). The question is increasingly a mystery and among the fans the concern of not seeing their idol take the field this season is becoming more and more concrete, the 2011 MVP is clinically cured according to the doctors, he has resumed training since mid-February and in the pre-matches he works with his teammates, but keeps putting off his return. The problem, by now, is only of a psychological nature (and for an athlete like him who has suffered an injury of this kind, with a completely reconstructed ligament, his fears and uncertainties are obviously acceptable), he recently declared once again that for the moment he wants to keep improving and that he will come back when he feels fully ready. Meanwhile, he said that he thinks about encouraging his teammates, giving them confidence and pushing them to do their best, but the hope of the fans is to see their number 1 on the court in this final stage of the tournament. Even if, reasonably, calculating the level of competitive spirit, intensity and tough clashes characteristic of playoff matches, at this point it might be better for him and for the team to return more calmly at the beginning of next season, we'll see.
To complete the picture of the eight qualifiers, the Atlanta Hawks, authors of a regular journey, and the Boston Celtics, without Rajon Rondo for months (and until the end of the season), but who can count on a Kevin Garnett who is proving everything, except being almost 37 years old. Unlike the Western Conference, the other teams have never managed to worry the first eight, with Charlotte bringing up the rear with the worst record in the league (18-59), preceded by only one win by the Orlando Magic. A truly horrible season for the Florida team, punctuated by long injuries and during which they stood out more for the long streaks of consecutive knockouts than anything else. An anonymous season for the Detroit Pistons but you couldn't ask for much more of them, as was the negative year in Cleveland, a franchise that however has a phenomenon like Kyrie Irving among its ranks, destined to become one of the most strengths of the league, and who dreams, one day, of the sensational return of LeBron. Nice second part of the season, however, for Toronto and Washington, bad games and without great goals, in the last few months they have slipped in some important victories that have improved their ranking. Unfortunately, Andrea Bargnani experienced a complicated year in the Raptors and was unable to give his contribution, penalized by injuries (the last one with his elbow caused him to end the tournament a month early), this summer for him a shirt change would be desirable with a team more suited to his characteristics and which would give him new stimuli, while in the excellent Wizards of the last period a great John Wall should be noted.
Moving on to the West, instead, thanks to a higher average level of teams, the fight for a place in the playoffs was much more fun and exciting, and with five games to go, it's still far from over. Of the group of six teams (Golden State, Houston, Utah, Lakers, Dallas and Portland) that until recently competed for the last three useful positions, the first two have the advantage over the others (despite a defeat for both in the last exit) and tonight they could close the speech having scheduled two easy home matches, the Warriors against Minnesota and the Rockets against Phoenix. Golden State (44-33) is the one that most deserves to continue the season, given that since the beginning of the year it has always firmly occupied a place in the top eight, while Houston (43-34) had to play a great final to recover some positions and now, with Oklahoma currently in second position, the fascinating possibility of seeing the challenge between James Harden against his former Thunder teammates in the first round of the playoffs is becoming increasingly probable.
With Portland (33-44 and recovering from 8 defeats) which officially withdrew from contention a few weeks ago, after having been above the others for some time, but which has crash-landed in the last two months (one can however console with rookie of the year, Damian Lillard, averaging almost 19 points in his debut among the greats), the real challenge is between the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Lakers, with the Dallas Mavericks also arithmetically still in the running. The Jazz, after having gone through a very dark moment in which they threw away all the advantage they had accumulated, allowing themselves to be caught up and then overtaken by the Lakers, have recovered in the last month and slipped in a series of successes (very heavy the last one, arrived on the Golden State field) who got them back on track. Now fate is in their hands, in fact, the situation sees Utah (which played one more game) with half a game advantage, and above all with direct clashes on its side, over Los Angeles (41-37 against 40-37) , which however, in fact, has one game less. In the night they will both take the field, with the Lakers who will have a much easier commitment than their rivals, in fact the yellow-purples will host New Orleans, while the Jazz will receive the Oklahoma City Thunder, looking for the first place in the conference.
But then the calendar won't be very simple for either of the two, given that the Salt Lake City franchise will face Minnesota twice (the first at home, the second away), but in the last game they will have to go to the very difficult field of Memphis, hoping that the Grizzlies are at that point already sure of their placement on the grid and do not give too much battle. While Bryant and his companions in the last four will face it first away against Portland and then the day after at home (where they have a 25-12 record at the Staples Center, but this year they have never won two challenges in 24 hours) with Golden State, ending with San Antonio and Houston, all three difficult customers but still satisfied with their position (unless the Rockets have complicated their lives in the meantime and the Spurs are still fighting for the leadership with Oklahoma).
The Lakers, after a year that to define as troubled is limiting, had been the protagonists of a huge comeback that had brought them up to the longed-for eighth place, but in recent weeks they have run into a few too many new slips (such as at home against Washington or on the field of the Phoenix Suns) and now they find themselves chasing again and hoping for a misstep from the others. For this final rush, however, they can count on almost all of their most important elements (only Nash is out at the moment), they have recovered Gasol at good levels and Dwight Howard is finally making the expected contribution, but as always of the Hollywood team will pass through the hands of Kobe Bryant. They will once again rely on him in Los Angeles, if they don't want to stay out of the playoffs for the second time in the last 19 seasons, the difference between a disastrous year and one that can still be saved is very thin and for the yellow-purples the the risk that he has to decide is the direct clashes with Utah, in which he is down 2-1.
Last night, however, the NBA stopped because the final of the NCAA tournament was scheduled, the last act of the American collegiate basketball season and the second most awaited and watched sporting event in the United States after Superball. At the end of an exciting and very balanced game, the Louisville Cardinals got the better of the Michigan Wolverines by 82 to 76. For Louisville it is the third title in its history while its coach Rick Pitino entered history as the first coach to win with two different schools (the first time in 1996 at the helm of Kentucky), a triumph obviously dedicated to Kevin Ware, the player whose terrible leg injury (literally broken in the fall after an attempted block) had shocked America (beyond his teammates and the opponents present that evening on the pitch). And it was Ware himself, during the celebrations, who cut the retina of one of the two baskets, the symbolic gesture of the victory of this event. Worth noting was the prediction of President Barack Obama, which turned out to be wrong, who, as per tradition, had chosen his favorites and this time had bet on Indiana, who however came out in the round of XNUMX, which in the final should have beaten Louisville, against which Obama therefore had seen us anyway long.
