The NBA West Championship matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the homestanding Dallas Mavericks (57-25) gets underway tonight.

Dirk Nowitzki

The Mavericks finished second in the Southwest Division but cruised past the defending world champion Los Angeles Lakers in the quarterfinals The Mavericks are led by Dirk Nowitzki, playmaker Jason Kidd and a solid corps of defenders who give up no easy points.

The Mavericks average 100.2 points per game, 11th in the league, 41.4 rebounds per game, 14th in the league and 96 points per game or 10th in the league. Against the Lakers, the Mavericks were firing on all cylinders and once in the lead, never looked back.

At 55-27, the Thunder topped the Northwest Division. In the quarterfinals they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 105-90 on Sunday. Oklahoma is led by all-world small forward Kevin Durant who averaged 27.7 points per game in the regular season Durant poured in 39 points on Sunday to set up this matchup.

The Thunder have a statistical edge over Dallas. Offensively they score 104.8 points per game, 5th best in the league, pull down 42.8 rebounds per game, 8th in the league and allow 101 points per game, 18th in the league. The defensive shortcomings give Dallas reason to expect to win. The Thunder are far less experienced at this level of the playoffs than are the Mavericks.

Dallas is a heavy favorite tonight. The Mavericks average more than 30 years of age while the top four scorers for the Thunder are 23 years of age or younger. This series is about the Dallas defense trying to contain the Oklahoma City offense.

These teams will meet in Dallas again on Thursday before moving to Oklahoma City on Saturday for game three of the best-of-seven playoff series. All three games are scheduled for 9:00PM ET.

Deron Williams scored a career-high 42 points in a thrilling overtime win vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, including the game-winning jumper with 1.1 seconds remaining. D-Will made 14-of-23 FGs, 4-of-7 three-pointers, and 10-of-11 FTs, while handing out 10 assists vs. one turnover. The victory (which ended on a controversial non-call on Kevin Durant’s 3-pointer) moves Utah into 2nd place in the West, 1/2 game ahead of idle Phoenix, Denver and Dallas.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Memphis: Rudy Gay did not appear bothered by his recent back pain on Tuesday, scoring a team-high 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting, with eight rebounds, two steals and four turnovers. Gay logged 40 minutes and has some serious motivation as a soon-to-be restricted FA.

Houston: Kevin Martin returned to form on Tuesday, scoring 29 points on 7-of-16 field goals, 3-of-6 three-pointers, and a perfect 12-of-12 free throws. KevMart added three rebounds, two assists and three steals in what was easily his best game since returning from a bum shoulder.

Chicago: Kirk Hinrich struggled in Tuesday’s loss to Milwaukee Bucks, scoring just nine points on 4-of-16 shooting, with zero assists in 44 minutes. Hinrich made 9-of-12 FGs in his last game, but as a career 41.4% shooter we knew things had to balance out. Every loss is costly at this point for the Bulls, who failed to gain ground on 8th-place Toronto (though injuries to Chris Bosh and Antoine Wright don’t hurt Chicago’s chances).

Milwaukee: Kurt Thomas started at center in place of injured Andrew Bogut on Tuesday, getting four points, 14 rebounds, two assists and one block in 32 minutes. Thomas is averaging under 14 minutes per game this season, and Milwaukee will fill the void at center with a platoon involving Dan Gadzuric (13 minutes), Ersan Ilyasova (32 minutes), and maybe even Primoz Brezec (DNP-CD).

Kevin Durant passed Dale Ellis to set a franchise record for scoring in a season with 40 points on 13-of-22 shooting (2-of-4 from downtown, 12-of-12 from the foul line) to go with nine rebounds, two assists, one steal, and two blocks in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 116-108 win over the Wolves on Sunday.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Okalahoma City: Russell Westbrook had a career-high 16 assists on Sunday, and scored 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting to go with two rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes against the Wolves. He has been a bit all over the board recently, but keeping that in perspective his struggles have simply brought him back to the pack, and at the same time he has shown signs that he’s ready to be an elite PG once again.

Minnesota: Ryan Gomes hit four 3-point buckets on his way to 22 points on Sunday, finishing with a 7-of-13 mark from the field to go with three rebounds and no assists.

New Jersey: Devin Harris scored 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting (including a three) with three rebounds, three assists, and a steal in the New Jersey Nets’ loss to the Wizards on Sunday. He has been banged up and is a shutdown risk, as usual.. Brook Lopez also chipped in with 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting (10-of-11 from the foul line) with five rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.

Toronto: Chris Bosh’s 42 points weren’t enough in the Toronto Raptors’ 113-112 loss to the Warriors on Sunday, as he hit 11-of-19 shots from the field (20-of-23 from the foul line) with 12 rebounds, no assists, five steals, and a block. The loss means that the Raptors are still fighting for their playoff lives

Oakland: Coach Don Nelson tied Lenny Wilkins for most career wins as a coach on Sunday, as Corey Maggette led the charge with 31 points on 10-of-14 shooting (including a three) with four rebounds, four assists, and a steal in 37 minutes.

Oakland: Stephen Curry neared a triple-double with 29 points on 10-of-23 shooting (including five threes) with eight rebounds, 12 assists, three steals, and two blocks against the Raptors on Sunday.

Russell Westbrook had 30 points, five boards, 13 assists, a steal and a 3-pointer in Tuesday’s win over the Kings. Westbrook is having a dream season and has proven to be one of the more valuable point guards. Also, Kevin Durant had 39 points, 10 rebounds and a 3-pointer on 13-of-26 shooting. The Oklahoma City Thunder have now won nine out of the last eleven games.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Miami: Dwyane Wade went off for 35 points, six boards, 12 assists and three steals on 15-of-23 shooting Tuesday’s win over the Warriors. Leave it to the Golden State Warriors to let an injured guy get healthy. Wade looks good to go for now, but as usual, keep an eye out for news on his tender calf.

Boston: Paul Pierce returned from a thumb injury on Tuesday but had just nine points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one 3-pointer on 2-of-6 shooting.

Detroit: No word yet on the severity, but Wallace finished with six points, 12 boards, a block and an 0-for-5 free throw shooting night. Hopefully the injury’s not serious and he’s back for the next one.

New Orleans: Sources close to Chris Paul (knee) tell beat writer John Reid that the all-world point guard is about 10 days or so from returning. Reid guesses that Paul “may return” for the beginning of the New Orleans Hornets’ five-game road trip that begins on March 14. Paul is taking part in pregame warmups right now and is doing some running as part of his rehab

Phoenix: Leandro Barbosa (wrist) got full medical clearance on Monday to return to the court. Even though he’ll be practicing, Barbosa likely won’t return to game action until March 12 against the Lakers. When he returns, he’ll wear a light wrap on his right (shooting) wrist. We’re skeptical about how effective he can be and with Goran Dragic’s emergence, it’s hard to expect much.

Chris Bosh (ankle) will not play on Monday and remains questionable for Friday’s game vs. the New York Knicks. The good news is that he’ll get another four days off before Toronto plays New York, though that leaves him with a maximum of two games this week.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Orlando: The Orlando Magic rode Jameer Nelson’s 22 points and 10 assists to a victory on Monday — he made 8-of-11 shots, including 2-of-4 from downtown. This was just the third time all season Nelson has scored 20+ points, but he has scored double-digits in nine straight and is dishing out a season-high 6.7 assists per game in February.

Minnesota: Due to the two-game suspension of Al Jefferson, Darko Milicic is likely to start in his place for the next couple games. Obviously Kurt Rambis doesn’t want to break up the delicate bench rotation by starting Kevin Love for the 14-win T-Wolves. So it will be Darko, who is all set to go to Europe forever once the season is over, who will get the call tonight. If you want to use him for the Wolves’ two-game week, he should put up some numbers.

Oakland: Monta Ellis, who missed Saturday’s game with a sore back, is not with the team for the start of their five game road trip and is awaiting test results before determining his availability for the rest of the week.

Oakland: Andris Biedrins did not accompany the Warriors for the start of their five-game road trip and is out indefinitely with his groin injury. He’ll see a specialist soon in order to determine a plan for recovery.

Toronto: Jose Calderon will miss Monday’s game with a lacerated elbow he suffered on Sunday in Oklahoma City Thunder.

Houston: Trevor Ariza will not play on Monday because of his lingering hip injury. He was questionable coming in and should be considered day-to-day

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Kevin Durant scored a season-high 45 points on Sunday, missing only five shots from both the field and the foul line (16-of-21 FGs, 11-of-11 FTs) with 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two 3-pointers.

At 21 years old, it’s possible that there’s not enough buzz for Durant, whose 29.6 ppg passed LeBron James (29.4) on the scoring list to sit in second place behind Carmelo Anthony (29.7). His past weakness was his FG%, and he finished the month of January shooting over 50% from both the field and from 3-point range

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Oklahoma City: Russell Westbrook posted a monster 28-point, five-rebound, and eight-assist line in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 112-104 win over the Warriors on Sunday. We feel bad completely discounting every great line that gets dropped on the Warriors, but they might be the worst defensive team in the history of the NBA

Phoenix: Suns C Amare Stoudemire scored a season-high 36 points on Sunday, hitting 12-of-22 shots from the field and all 12 of his free throws to go with 11 rebounds, one assist, and two blocks.

Charlotte: Chris Paul needs arthroscopic surgery for a cartilage tear in his left knee and will be out 1-2 months, according to a report by Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski. Wojnarowski is one of the more reliable reporters around, so owners can start to make adjustments immediately. The report says that Paul will have the surgery on Monday.

New Jersey: Devin Harris, who missed his third straight game with a wrist injury, said he will try to play Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons, but that he will certainly be available for Wednesday’s game against the Raptors. “If Devin feels he can play unrestricted, then we’ll let him play. But we need him to play the way he can play,” said coach Kiki Vandeweghe. “We can’t have him playing with limitations.”

Los Angeles: Kobe Bryant’s fadeaway jumper from the top of the key with 7.3 seconds left put the Lakers up for good as they beat the Boston Celtics 90-89 on Sunday. Maybe one day the rest of the league will get the memo to double or triple-team him at the end of games, but until then we get to marvel over how easy he makes it look.

Oakland: Corey Maggette scored 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting (10-of-11 from the foul line) with five rebounds, four assists, and a steal on Sunday.

Minnesota: Kevin Love hit 9-of-18 shots and two 3-pointers for a career high of 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block off the bench on Sunday. He also had six turnovers, and while he’s not as fun to own while coming off the bench, but as long as he gets 32 minutes on most nights, it shouldn’t matter too much.

Jamal Crawford led the Hawks to a 100-91 win over the Boston Celtics on Friday, scoring 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting (3-of-7 from downtown, 7-of-7 from the foul line) with three rebounds, six assists and two steals in 39 minutes off the bench. Crawford will continue to score if given the opportunity.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Philadelphia: Allen Iverson turned back the clock Friday night, dueling with Kobe Bryant on his way to a season-high 23 points. AI also added two three’s, four assists, one steal and one block. He went shot-for-shot with Kobe during a memorable third quarter that brought back memories of the 2001 NBA Finals. All that said, we’d sell high on Iverson right now. He’s had 20+ points in two of his last three games and someone should be ready to bite on the name recognition.

Los Angeles: Kobe Bryant shook off a minor leg injury and scored 22 points in the second half of Friday’s win in Philadelphia. Kobe finished with 24 points, four rebounds, three steals, two blocks and three assists.

Portland: Coach Nate McMillan said that Brandon Roy (hamstring) is not expected to make his return on Monday. Roy will be re-evaluated on Monday and the Portland Trail Blazers are now hopeful that he gets back on the court by Feb. 3 or 4.

Denver: Carmelo Anthony (ankle) will not play Friday against the Thunder. Coach George Karl said that the ankle has worsened since playing in Houston on Wednesday, adding that the ankle had swollen up on the flight to Oklahoma City Thunder and that they’ll be taking a “wait and see process.”

Minnesota: Kevin Love will continue to come off the bench against the Clippers on Friday, with Ryan Hollins starting at center and Ryan Gomes at small forward.

New Jersey: Devin Harris (wrist) will not play against the Wizards on Friday. Harris is improving, but tonight will mark the third straight game he’s missed with this injury. We don’t have a timetable on his return but the New Jersey Nets will play it safe considering Harris is their best trade bait and their record is 4-40. Keyon Dooling gets another start.

Tim Duncan had 21 points, a career-high 27 rebounds (10 offensive), six assists and one block in Wednesday’s easy win over the Hawks. He dominated Al Horford (2-of-10, 4 & 9) tonight despite hitting just 5-of-20 shots. It was a strange night for Duncan, who had the biggest rebounding night of his 12-year career and hit 11-of-11 free throws. We don’t know why he would be on any fantasy benches, but hopefully he was in there for you tonight. Amazingly, Duncan has never lost to the Hawks when he has played in a game against them.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

San Antonio: Tony Parker suffered a left ankle sprain on Wednesday, which appeared to be of a severe nature. He has had problems with the same ankle in the past and while X-rays were negative, it does sound like he will probably miss some time with the injury. We should know more information on Thursday. Our guess is George Hill, who was already starting at shooting guard, will take over at point guard if Parker is out.

Chicago: Joakim Noah hit 6-of-10 shots for 13 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two blocks in Wednesday’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He’s playing through a painful foot injury, but looked great tonight. Go ahead and keep him active. Derrick Rose added 26 points and seven assists in this one.

Cleveland: .J. Hickson got hot early and hit 8-of-10 shots for a career-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds and a block in Wednesday’s easy win over the Wolves. We’ve seen Hickson do this before and it usually happens when he hits a bunch of shots early. He was scoreless in his last game, but had 11 points and 14 boards in the previous one.

New Jersey: Keyon Dooling started in place of injured Devin Harris and had 18 points, eight assists and two 3-pointers on 7-of-13 shooting as the New Jersey Nets beat the Clippers for their fourth win of the year on Wednesday.

New Jersey: Kris Humphries scored a career-high 25 points to go along with eight rebounds, a steal and a block, and hit 10-of-14 shots as the Nets won for the just the fourth time this season by beating the Los Angeles Clippers in Jersey. The Nets avoided the worst 44-game start in NBA history with the 103-87 win and you can bet Humps has probably earned more playing time after this effort. Brook Lopez added 19 points and nine rebounds in the win, helping the Nets snap an 11-game losing streak.

Milwaukee: Carlos Delfino left Wednesday’s game against the Sixers in the second half with an ankle sprain. We’re assuming this is an aggravation of the ankle Delfino rolled on Tuesday. He had just six points, five rebounds and no 3-pointers in 24 minutes before getting hurt.

How was that for a first season in Los Angeles? Blake Griffin, who was selected first overall by the Clippers in the 2009 NBA draft, will undergo surgery on his left patella, which will force him to miss the next 4-to-6 months and effectively end his season.

Griffin showed promise in the preseason and summer league, dominating lesser competition, but the fairly tail ended on October 23, 2009, when Griffin injured his kneecap while dunking in the team’s final preseason game. After resting the stress fracture for several weeks, the former Oklahoma City Thunder star recently increased his workload in rehabilitation by running on a treadmill.

However, team doctors determined that Griffin’s knee wasn’t healing properly after he felt discomfort jumping into a swimming pool. The pool exercises were part of the last hurdles to be cleared before Griffin could rejoin the Clippers in practice. He has been a constant presence at Los Angeles Clippers games and in film sessions during his injury.

“It’s a little disappointing, because he brings so much to the table,” Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said on a conference call.

“As a group, we’re coming together better all the time and adding that talent to our lineup was something we were looking forward to…”I think the reaction is going to be one of disappointment, but he hasn’t been here all year,” Dunleavy said. “We’ve just got to move forward and do what we were planning on doing anyway – making the playoffs.”

Griffin was the consensus college player of the year in 2009, averaging 22.7 points and an NCAA-best 14.4 rebounds per game last season for the Sooners and the Clippers eagerly chose him in last June’s draft. Griffin averaged 13.7 points and 8.1 rebounds during the preseason, and coach Mike Dunleavy and his new teammates all expected him to be a major part of their comeback season. Instead, Griffin has never been fully healthy in Los Angeles, even straining his right shoulder during summer league play in Las Vegas.

The Clippers also have a long history of disappointing draft picks, including a pair of No. 1 overall choices that didn’t dazzle. Danny Manning played just 26 games in his rookie season in 1988-89 after tearing his knee ligament and undergoing surgery, though he eventually became an All-Star before fleeing town. Michael Olowokandi, the top pick in 1998, played just 45 games in his rookie season and he wasn’t much help even when healthy during five underachieving seasons.

Griffin’s woes sadly can’t be surprising to fans of a team with just two winning seasons in the last 30 years and just one playoff series victory since moving to town in 1984. Let’s hope that Griffin can bounce back next season and lead the Clippers back to the playoffs.

Warriors coach Don Nelson flatly denied a report that he would be stepping down as the Golden State Warriors head coach or that the club is shopping guard Monta Ellis. The Warriors have quickly become one of the worst teams in the league and are even comical at times. Even if Nelson doesn’t step down during the season, he will likely be fired in the offseason.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Dallas: Mavericks C Erick Dampier is showing “marked improvement” since being transported to a Detroit-area hospital, after feeling light-headed during pregame warmups on Sunday. Although H1N1 has been ruled out, Dampier has been taken to the hospital because the arean lacked proper testing equipment. He is being kept overnight for observations and will miss Monday’s game against the Bucks.

Oklahoma City: Thunder SF Kevin Durant scored a season-high 40 points on 14-of-25 shooting (2-of-4 from downtown, 10-of-11 from the foul line) with eight rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block in the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-93 loss to the Clippers on Sunday. Durant continues his great play and is developing into the nest NBA superstar.

Los Angelas: In LA-type fashion and an ongoing soap opera regarding Pau Gasol’s injured hamstring, it is being reported that he “may” practice this week. Coach Phil Jackson said that he has been without “pain” for five days and he has advanced to light court work.

Orlando: Magic PG Jameer Nelson (flu) is expected to play Monday against the Bobcats. The Orlando Magic Sentinel updated their earlier report, adding that coach Stan Van Gundy expects him to play. Use him as you would normally in the Magic’s four-game week.

Boston: Celtics SF Paul Pierce blamed his sore left knee for a weak defensive effort on Saturday. It was also mentioned in the Boston Herald that he might take a “few days” off in order to let the knee heal. “I was able to make it through the game, but I obviously hurt us tonight,” he said. “I was a step slow pretty much all night and it really hurt us. Dahntay Jones goes out and has one of his best nights, with me guarding him.” The Boston Celtics don’t play until Wednesday, so Pierce will get some much needed rest.

Phonix: Suns PF/C Channing Frye hit an amazing six 3-point buckets in a win over the Raptors on Sunday, racking up 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting with seven rebounds, one assist, and one block. Frye only took one two-point attempt tonight, and has become the poster boy for what a move to Arizona can do for a fantasy basketball player. It’s hard to say if his stock is still rising, or if he should be sold-high, but it’s clear owners got a bargain on draft day.

2008-09 NBA Team Preview – Cleveland Cavaliers

2008 Record: 45-37
Division Finish: 2nd – Central
2008 Playoffs: Lost, 4-3, to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals

Head Coach: Mike Brown
Season: Going into fourth season
Record At Cleveland: 245-101

Offseason Acquisitions:
Signed Ronald Dupree, F, 1.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, from Seattle
Signed Tarence Kinsey, G, 3.6 ppg., 1.1 rpg from Memphis
Signed center Lorenzen Wright, F-C, 1.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg. from Sacramento
Traded Damon Jones to Milwaukee & Joe Smith to Oklahoma City Thunder. Got guard Maurice Williams, G, 10.2 ppg, 6.1 apg. from Milwaukee

Offseason Transactions:
Resigned guard Daniel Gibson
Resigned guard Delonte West

Offseason Losses:
Damon Jones, G, 6.5 ppg, 1.1 rpg., Free agent
Devin Brown, G, 7.5 ppg., 3.4 rpg., Signed with New Orleans Hornets
Dwayne Jones, C, 1.0 ppg., 2.0 ppg., Signed with Orlando Magic
Detemtris Nichols, F, 1.1 ppg, 0.4 rpg., Claimed off waivers by Chicago Bulls

Rookies:
JJ Hickson, F, 6-9, NC State, 14.8 ppg., 8.5 rpg.
Darnell Jackson, F, 6-8, Kansas, 11.2 ppg., 6.7 rpg.
Sasha Kaun, C, 6-11, Kansas, 7.1 ppg., 3.9 rpg.
Signed Jawad Williams, F

The Skinny:
If the Cleveland Cavaliers want to make that next step from a good team in the East to a great team in the NBA that has a chance to win a championship, they need look no farther than one of their Central Conference foes. The Chicago Bulls wrote the playbook on how to win with a superstar and Cleveland general manager Danny Ferry needs to not only read it, but take the necessary steps.

For my money, the Cavs have the best player in the league in LeBron James. He might not go out and score 50 points in a night like Kobe Bryant and may not play as much defense as Bryant, but he’s more consistent than Bryant. He can beat you in so many ways that I think he’s more versatile than Bryant. He also rebounds a lot better than Bryant and being around the basket creates scoring opportunities with second chance points.

Another reason that makes James a better player in my opinion is that he’s trying to get everyone involved and make them a better team. James’ idol was Jordan and he knows if he wants to be in the same company some day that he has to start winning championships. Jordan was a great player but his status was elevated even higher once he started winning titles. Karl Malone may be one of the 50 greatest players in the league’s history but he’ll start to fade into the background because he was never on a championship team.

James can score just about any time he wants. It’s not a matter of if he could; it’s a matter of does he want to. I’m sure a lot of team would like for him to just to try to score at will. Detroit will let James get 45 points, but hold the rest of the team to 30 and the Pistons will come out on top almost every time.

But LeBron is smarter than that. He knows he has to get them involved because there are going to be nights when he can’t score at will and has to rely on his teammates. He also knows that he needs them because he already gets all of the attention off the court and if that spreads to the floor they won’t be as likely to play as hard. Look at the Lakers for the last few years up until this year. It was the Kobe Show and he wasn’t doing anything to make friends so no one wanted to play hard or play with him and they lost. He became more of a leader, wasn’t a ball hog, shut his mouth some and they went to the Finals.

So the Cavaliers knew they needed help last year when the acquired the services of Ben Wallace in a big midseason trade. Along with Wallace, Cleveland picked up guard Delonte West from Seattle and guard Wally Szcerbiak from Chicago. In the process they got rid of a lot of dead weight as the traded sent six players packing, topped by Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall and Shannon Brown.

Hughes and Marshall made sense. Both are getting long in the tooth and Marshall isn’t a great team player. Brown isn’t living up to the hype at Michigan State and he’s not doing it in the pros either. The one that surprised me is Gooden. He’s only been in the league six years and was averaging 11.3 ppg. and 8.3 ppg., but you have to give up something in those trades and they felt like Gooden was ready to go.

For his size, 6-foot-9, Wallace has been one of the best rebounders in the league over the last half a decade. However, he is getting a bit old. With a dozen NBA seasons under his belt he is getting close to hanging it up. Szcerbiak is a solid role player who can help a ball team win if he can stay healthy.

I like the edition of West. He’s a younger version of Hughes who averaged 10.3 ppg., 4.5 assists per game and 3.7 rpg. They also picked up Maurice Williams in trade during the offseason. He averaged 10.2 ppg and 6.1 apg for the Milwaukee Bucks so it will be interesting to see what happens in the battle between he and Hughes.

Most of the Cavs offseason moves besides getting Williams weren’t that spectacular. They drafted a pair of pretty solid forwards in JJ Hickson from NC State and Kansas’ Darnell Jackson. With Wallace as a mentor they don’t have to jump right into the fold and be expected to contribute, though they may.

Prediction:
I still think the Cavaliers are a year or two from putting together a championships team though when you’ve got a player the caliber of James anything is possible. If this team sticks together for 2-to-3 more years and they can keep some key guys in place then they may be a contender in 2009-10 or the following year. They have to resign James, but that’s a whole other blog.

They’ve got a great center in Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who averaged 14.1 ppg and led the squad at 9.4 rpg., and he’s locked up until the 2010-11 season. As I stated before I’m also a fan of West and Williams. One of them may have to play the point and the other the off guard because that’s where they’ve got a hole.

The Cavs have a pair of holes in their off guard and power forward. I don’t know if Wallace can hold up through the whole season, though being on the floor with Ilgauskas  and James may take some of the focus away from him and let him be productive like Dennis Rodman was with the Lakers. Hickson and Jackson could be good down the road but it’s hard to tell.

Since I predicted Detroit to win the Central and the NBA title the best I can give Cleveland is a second-place showing in the Central. I’ll give them the upset of Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but they’ll lose to Detroit in six.

Technically speaking, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the newest team in the NBA. Until 2008, they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics. In a hotly contested move, owner Clay Bennett bought out the SuperSonics’ lease with Seattle’s Key Arena, and moved the team to Oklahoma City. The Thunder will play their home games at the Ford Center. Their head coach is P.J. Carlesimo.

Early Years in Seattle

The Seattle SuperSonics were born in 1967. They suffered the typical growing pains of an NBA expansion franchise, winning only 23 games in their inaugural year. Led by future Hall of Fame point guard Lenny Wilkens, the team averaged 33 wins in its first seven seasons. Their best season during that stretch was the 1971-72 season, in which they won 47 games but failed to make the playoffs.

The Seattle SuperSonics made their first playoff appearance in the 1974-75 season, Bill Russell’s first as head coach. They beat Detroit in the first round before losing to the Golden State Warriors in the second round.

Championship

The Seattle SuperSonics posted a 52-30 record in the 1978-79 season. Led by Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson and center Jack Sikma, they beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs, four games to one. In the Western Conference finals, they beat the Phoenix Suns in seven games, advancing to the NBA Finals. The Sonics faced the Washington Bullets (now known as the Wizards) in the Finals, defeating them four games to one. It is, so far, the franchise’s only championship.

Karl, and Payton, and Kemp — oh, my!

After enjoying moderate success during the 1980s the Seattle SuperSonics developed into one of the NBA’s best teams for much of the 1990s. Three factors are largely credited for this development: the drafting of forward Shawn Kemp in 1989, the drafting of point guard Gary Payton in 1990, and the hiring of head coach George Karl in 1992.

Karl’s hiring boosted the Sonics from a playoff contender to a Western Conference powerhouse. In the 1992-93 season, the team posted 55 regular season wins and made it to the conference finals, where they lost to the Phoenix Suns, four games to three.

After first round losses in the following two seasons, the Sonics came roaring back. In 1995-96, the team won 64 regular season games. In the playoffs, they beat the Sacramento Kings, the Houston Rockets, and the Utah Jazz en route to their first NBA Finals appearance since the 1978-79 season.

Like the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trail Blazers, the Sonics had the misfortune of going against the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. The Bulls won the series, four games to two, and despite continued success, the Sonics never made it to another Finals.

Shawn Kemp was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1997, George Karl left after the 1997-98 season, and Payton was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in the middle of the 2002-03 season.

2007-08 Season

In 2007, Sonics star shooting guard Ray Allen was traded to the Boston Celtics for three minor players. The Sonics drafted Texas scoring machine Kevin Durant the same year. Led by Durant, the Sonics won only 20 games in their last season in Seattle.

2008-09 Outlook

The Oklahoma City Thunder may have moved east, but they are still a member of the Western Conference. As such, a playoff berth is not a feasible goal for the Thunder. Rather, a 30- to 35-win season would be considered a successful campaign for the former Seattle SuperSonics.

Greatest Players

Fred Brown, Tom Chambers, Spencer Haywood,  Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Jack Sikma, Lenny Wilkens, Gus Williams