Doug E's "Sportstalk with Dan Russell" - 2002 - 2003 NBA Predictions

Well, it's that time of year again.  No, not the annual "who will marry J-Lo" season but the National Basketball Association season. Which means it is now time for my titan of sports journalism NBA predictions.  Now that I'm a 3 year veteran on "Sportstalk with Dan Russell," my Kreskin-like NBA prognostications are eagerly anticipated across North America and around the world (or at least in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and perhaps in London, where I know a couple of people from the World Championships).

So, here  goes as I rank the teams according to their predicted finish in each conference.  Remember, top 8 make the playoffs.  Stay tuned over the next little while as I add each teams predicted number of wins and a few other tidbits to watch for over the NBA season.

No. Western Conference No. Eastern Conference
1 Sacramento 1 New Jersey
2 LA Lakers 2 New Orleans
3 Dallas 3 Detroit
4 San Antonio 4 Indianapolis
5 Portland 5 Washington
6 Minnesota 6 Philadelphia
7 Houston 7 Milwaukee
8 Seattle 8 Boston
9 LA Clippers 9 Orlando
10 Utah 10 Toronto
11 Phoenix 11 Atlanta
12 Memphis 12 Miami
13 Golden State 13 Chicago
14 Denver 14 Cleveland
    15 New York

 

Western Conference Finals Dallas vs. LA Lakers
Eastern Conference Finals New Jersey vs. New Orleans
2002 - 2003 NBA Finals LA Lakers vs. New Jersey

 

2002 - 2003 NBA Champions LA Lakers

That's right folks, I'm going out on a limb and predicting a 4-peat for those glamour boys from Los Angeles. This may actually be a bold step as the Big Aristotle's big toe may cause far bigger problems for the Lakers then anything the Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs or Dallas Mavericks can muster up. Even with NO action from GM Mitch "I'm definitely not Jerry West" Kupchak in the off-season, LA wins because they have Shaq.  It's that simple. More teams will play zone against the Lakers this season but the combination of Shaq's passing, the spot up shooting role players and Tex Winter's triple post offence should keep all the other pretenders at bay for another Larry O'Brien trophy for the purple and gold.

Doug E.

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