Five matchups will kickoff NBA basketball season by The Gaming Today’s, Andy Iskoe

After nearly a half-year lockout the NBA returns for a shortened
season on Christmas Day. Five matchups will kick off what will be a compressed
66 game season.

The Christmas Day lineup includes several very attractive
pairings, highlighted by a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals between Dallas
and Miami.

The Mavericks are expected to receive their Championship rings
prior to taking the court.

Also highlighting Sunday’s NBA debut will be Boston visiting the
New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers playing host to the Chicago
Bulls.

Finishing out the slate will be Orlando at Oklahoma City and Los
Angeles’ “other” team, the Clippers, traveling upstate to face Golden State.

A long standing saying at Major League ballparks designed to
increase sales is “you can’t tell the players without a scorecard” and it may
never be more applicable than to the new NBA season. Because of the owners’
lockout, player movement among the 30 teams was non-existent from July 1 until
Dec. 9.

Several players opted to play in foreign lands, which depleted the
rosters of some teams. Free agency consisted of a very brief frenzied period and
a situation that still is not complete. Most rosters are still not complete and
may not be so until right before the season tips off.

The very abbreviated training camp period also includes just two
preseason games per team so there is precious little time for coaches to
implement much in the way of sophisticated offenses or defenses.

The most significant handicapping factor to be considered will be
scheduling dynamics. There will be many instances of teams playing three
straight games back to back to back.

It will be important to observe how coaches handle those
situations as to how playing time is allocated to starters and reserves. Some
coaches may make an effort to win the first two of the three-game set while
others may put more emphasis on Games 1 and 3.

Older teams may be at a disadvantage in such scheduling blocks yet
at the same time be in a better position to pace themselves. The quality and
sequencing of foes in such scheduling spots will also be a key factor.

Already the 10 days of free agency and roster moves have made
headlines and not necessarily positive ones. NBA Commissioner David Stern has
been widely criticized for his voiding of a key trade that would have brought
outstanding point guard Chris Paul III to the Los Angeles Lakers. Paul
ultimately wound up cross town with the Clippers. The fate of Orlando Magic
center Dwight Howard remains uncertain.

Forecasting teams to make the playoffs is more hazardous than in
seasons past because of the uncertainty surrounding opening day rosters and the
effects the schedule will have. In other seasons coaches can plan months ahead
for how they want to handle road trips, key injuries, etc. and have tentative
plans in place. That is not the case now when coaches and management will have
to act ‘on the fly’ as situations develop.

Nevertheless, here are some thoughts on teams that should have
success despite all the turmoil of the past several months.

EAST

Despite all the early season struggles amid high expectations the
“Dream Team” – the Miami Heat – still made it to the NBA Finals in its first
season with Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. They’ve added versatile
veteran Shane Battier whose leadership qualities will combine with his
basketball talents to make the Heat just as formidable.

Miami’s main competitor for the Eastern Conference title should be
Chicago. The Bulls return most of the team that made great strides last season,
earning the conference’s top seed before losing to Miami in the Finals. The
Bulls led the NBA with 62 wins last season.

Boston and New York should also be contenders in the East while
Orlando will be in the mix for as long as Howard remains with the team. If he is
traded, as expected, the Magic should stumble but might still be good enough to
make the Playoffs although their prospects for advancing without Howard are not
good.

Milwaukee might be a surprise team to make the playoffs while
Atlanta should fall back in the standings.

WEST

We could continue to see a shift in the balance of power that
started a few seasons ago. With Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook the
additional season of experience could put Oklahoma City in the NBA Finals.
Dallas will still be a force but the difficulty of repeating, combined with a
retooled roster and the proverbial “target on their backs” make them a poor
proposition to successfully defend that title.

The LA Clippers are expected to be on the rise with star Blake
Griffin welcoming both Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups. It may be a bit
premature to expect that the Clippers will overtake the Lakers as the best team
in LA, but that gap has narrowed. Still, expect the Lakers to be a force even
with an again roster that includes Kobe Bryant still as one of the premier
players in the league. The departure of Lamar Odom to Dallas will be felt
however.

San Antonio is on the decline but the well coached, well managed
Spurs should still make the playoffs. They had the NBA’s second best record last
season although age took its toll with a second half slump and first round upset
loss to eighth seeded Memphis. Expect Memphis to continue its improvement and
again make the playoffs but likely as a fifth or sixth seed this season.

A potential sleeper might be the Minnesota Timberwolves whose
collection of young talent will be coached by Rick Adelman, who enjoyed much
coaching success previously in the NBA at different stops. The T-Wolves are
poised to make the same kind of leap this season in the standings as teams such
as Memphis and Oklahoma City did over the past few seasons.

Houston, Portland and especially Denver should be on the decline
this season.

In the end, the expectation is for Chicago and Miami to again duke
it out in the East with Chicago prevailing this season. In the West look for
Oklahoma City to prevail over the Lakers and make it to their first NBA
Finals.

The call is for Chicago to defeat the Thunder in six games to
bring the NBA Championship back to the Windy City for the first time since the
end of the Michael Jordan era.

Here’s a look at three of the games on Christmas Day that will
launch the 2011-2012 NBA season.

Boston +1 at New York: The Knicks should get off to a strong
start. The Celtics return an aging but effective trio of stars but will be
without the services of Jeff Green all season, acquired in a controversial mid
season trade with Oklahoma City last season. Still, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and
Paul Pierce give the C’s great balance.

New York counters with Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and the
recently signed Tyson Chandler to give the Knicks their own talented trio. The
home court will be worth several extra points in this season opener and the
teams are fairly even and the crowd will make a difference. NEW YORK.

Miami -3 at Dallas: The line makes sense as Dallas will have much
of a new look while the Heat return the core of last season’s team. Dirk
Nowitzki leads Dallas but it will take some time for him to adjust to several
key losses and some new additions. Normally the Mavs would be a take as a home
dog if this were played other than in the national spotlight.

The Heat are extremely motivated to make an early season statement
and if they have the chance to run it up against the Mavs, they will. They catch
Dallas at the right time when sloppy offensive execution is at its highest,
especially with a Miami team that can play defense. MIAMI.

Chicago +3 at LA Lakers: Calling for the demise of the Lakers may
be a bit premature although this team figures to be as negatively affected by
the compacted schedule as any team. And not just for the obvious reason of age.
But having former Cleveland coach Mike Brown on the sidelines to replace the
retired Phil Jackson also suggests a period of transition made more difficult by
the lockout.

The Lakers open the season against a much younger and very
talented Chicago team, eager to erase the bitter taste from their early exit
from last season’s playoffs. The Bulls return most of that roster, led by league
MVP Derrick Rose and supported by Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and others including
newly signed Rick Hamilton’s leadership will be valuable. Still, the Bulls will
be displaying a swagger as well as playing pretty good defense. CHICAGO.

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