2005 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals Update

#1Miami Heat vs #2 Detroit Pistons
(101.54 PPG #4 in Scoring) (93.32 PPG #24 in Scoring)
(95.02 PPG #8 in Defense) (89.46 PPG #2 in Defense)
(+6.52 #3 in Scoring Differential) (+3.86 #6 in Scoring Differential)

Looks like all the reporters can now relax and enjoy a real series. The Heat had already been written off by many after one bad home game, their first loss of the playoffs. Now that people have regained their senses, the Heat are in it to win it. In game 1 DWade and Damon Jones combined for 21 points on 9-31 shooting from the floor. Tonight they combined for 54 points on 20-35 shooting from the floor, eventhough 40 of it was DWade's good night. DWade and Damon Jones only scored 11 less field goals than the Pistons had as a team. I think Miami is in good shape to go to Detroit and take home court advantage back in the series. The series will be going 7 games with the Heat winning (4-3).

The series is tied 1-1
1. Mon, May 23 – Det 90, Mia 81
2. Wed, May 25 – Mia 92, Det 86
3. Sun, May 29 – at Det, 8:00 pm (TNT)
4. Tue, May 31 – at Det, 8:00 pm (TNT)
5.* Thu, Jun 2 – at Mia, 8:00 pm (TNT)
6.* Sat, Jun 4 – at Det, 8:00 pm (TNT)
7.* Mon, Jun 6 – at Mia, 8:00 pm (TNT)
All times are Eastern Daylight Time
* - If necessary

Head to Head
PG Damon Jones vs. Chauncey Billups
SG Dwyane Wade vs. Richard Hamilton
SF Eddie Jones vs. Tayshaun Prince
PF Udonis Haslem vs. Rasheed Wallace
C Shaquille O'Neal vs. Ben Wallace

2005 NBA Draft Early Entry Candidates

Player - School / Height / Status (Domestic Players)
Alex Acker- Pepperdine 6-5 Junior
Deji Akindele- Chicago State 7-1 Sophomore
Kelenna Azubuike- Kentucky 6-5 Junior
Sean Banks- Memphis 6-8 Sophomore
Jose Juan Barea- Northeastern 6-0 Junior
Brandon Bass- LSU 6-8 Sophomore
Jermaine Bell- Indian Hills CC (IA) 6-11 Freshman
Martellus Bennett- Taylor HS (TX) 6-7 HS Senior
Andray Blatche- South Kent Prep (CT) 6-11 HS Senior
Andrew Bogut- Utah 7-0 Sophomore
Brandon Bowman- Georgetown 6-8 Junior
Curtis Brown Jr.- Beach HS (GA) 6-9 HS Senior
Dee Brown- Illinois 5-11 Junior
Keith Brumbaugh- DeLand HS (FL) 6-8 HS Senior
Andrew Bynum- St. Joseph’s HS (NJ) 6-11 HS Senior
Jermareo Davidson- Alabama 6-11 Sophomore
Ike Diogu- Arizona State 6-8 Junior
Toney Douglas- Auburn 6-1 Freshman
Monta Ellis Lanier- HS (MS) 6-3 HS Senior
Olu Famutimi- Arkansas 6-5 Sophomore
Raymond Felton- North Carolina 6-1 Junior
Anderson Ferreira- Chipola JC (FL) 6-8 Sophomore
Torin Francis- Notre Dame 6-11 Junior
Francisco Garcia- Louisville 6-7 Junior
John Gilchrist- Maryland 6-3 Junior
Gerald Green- Gulf Shores Academy (TX) 6-8 HS Senior
Mike Hall- George Washington 6-8 Junior
Chris Hernandez- Stanford 6-2 Junior
Jibril Hodges- Long Beach State 6-2 Junior
Jarrett Jack- Georgia Tech 6-3 Junior
Amir Johnson- Westchester HS (CA) 6-10 HS Senior
Dwayne Jones- St. Joseph’s 6-11 Junior
Brian Kim- Vanguard University (CA) 6-5 Junior
Armein Kirkland- Cincinnati 6-8 Junior
Linas Kleiza- Missouri 6-8 Sophomore
Carl Krauser- Pittsburgh 6-2 Junior
Julius Lamptey- Garden City CC (KS) 7-0 Freshman
Darshan Luckey- St. Francis (PA) 6-5 Junior
Sean May- North Carolina 6-8 Junior
Rashad McCants- North Carolina 6-4 Junior
Pops Mensah-Bonsu- George Washington 6-9 Junior
C.J. Miles- Skyline HS (TX) 6-6 HS Senior
J.R. Morris- Seton Hall 6-5 Junior
Randolph Morris- Kentucky 6-10 Freshman
Tim Parham- Maryland-Eastern Shore 6-9 Junior
T.J. Parker- Northwestern 6-2 Junior
Chris Paul- Wake Forest 6-0 Sophomore
Pierre Pierce- Iowa 6-4 Junior
Kevin Pittsnogle- West Virginia 6-10 Junior
Shavlik Randolph- Duke 6-10 Junior
Anthony Roberson- Florida 6-1 Junior
Nate Robinson- Washington 5-9 Junior
Chris Rodgers- Arizona 6-4 Junior
Ray Rose- Olivet Nazarene (IL) 6-0 Junior
Brandon Rush- Mt. Zion Academy (NC) 6-6 HS Senior
Marcus Slaughter- San Diego State 6-8 Sophomore
Steven Smith- LaSalle 6-8 Junior
Tim Smith- East Tennessee State 5-9 Junior
B.J. Spencer- Jacksonville State 6-4 Junior
Chris Taft- Pittsburgh 6-10 Sophomore
Charlie Villanueva- Connecticut 6-10 Sophomore
Tiras Wade- Louisiana-Lafayette 6-6 Junior
Von Wafer- Florida State 6-5 Sophomore
Matt Walsh- Florida 6-6 Junior
Martell Webster- Seattle Prep 6-7 HS Senior
James White- Cincinnati 6-6 Junior
Deron Williams- Illinois 6-4 Junior
Eric Williams- Wake Forest 6-9 Junior
Louis Williams- South Gwinnett HS (GA) 6-3 HS Senior
Marvin Williams- North Carolina 6-9 Freshman
Kennedy Winston- Alabama 6-6 Junior
Antoine Wright- Texas A&M 6-7 Junior
Bracey Wright- Indiana 6-4 Junior

Player - Team/Country / Height / Status (International Players)
Cenk Akyol- Efes Pilsen (Turkey) 6-4 1987 DOB
Nemanja Aleksandrov- Reflex (Serbia-Montenegro) 7-0 1987 DOB
Martynas Andriuskevicius- Zalgiris (Lithuania) 7-2 1986 DOB
Luka Bogdanovic- Partizan (Serbia-Montenegro) 6-8 1985 DOB
Ivan Chiriaev- Dynamo Moscow (Russia) 7-1 1984 DOB
Rudy Fernandez- DKV Joventut (Spain) 6-5 1985 DOB
Marcin Gortat- RheinEnergie Koln (Germany) 7-0 1984 DOB
Mile Ilic- Reflex (Serbia-Montenegro) 7-0 1984 DOB
Ersan Ilyasova- Ulker (Turkey) 6-9 1987 DOB
Paulius Jankunas- Zalgiris (Lithuania) 6-8 1984 DOB
Viktor Keirou- Unics Kazan (Russia) 6-6 1984 DOB
Tomasz Kesicki- Pamesa Castellon (Spain) 6-10 1986 DOB
Yaroslav Korolev- CSKA Moscow (Russia) 6-9 1987 DOB
Marko Lekic- Atlas (Serbia-Montenegro) 6-10 1985 DOB
Erazem Lorbek- Climamio Bologna (Italy) 6-10 1984 DOB
Ian Mahinmi- Le Havre (France) 6-9 1986 DOB
Steven Markovic- West Sydney (Australia) 6-3 1985 DOB
Miguel Marriaga- Gaiteros (Venezuela) 6-9 1984 DOB
Drago Pasalic- Split (Croatia) 6-10 1984 DOB
Kosta Perovic- Partizan (Serbia-Montenegro) 7-1 1985 DOB
Johan Petro- Pau Orthez (France) 7-0 1986 DOB
Alexandr Rindin- Gala Baku (Azerbaijan) 7-5 1985 DOB
Dusan Sakota- Panathinaikos (Greece) 6-10 1986 DOB
Predrag Samardziski- Partizan (Serbia-Montenegro) 6-11 1986 DOB
Cheick Samb- Tenerife (Spain) 7-0 1984 DOB
Carlos Matias- Sandes Boca Juniors (Argentina) 6-7 1984 DOB
Thabo Sefolosha- Chalon (France) 6-6 1984 DOB
Tiago Splitter- Tau Ceramica (Spain) 6-11 1985 DOB
Tang Zhengdong- Jiangsu (China) 7-1 1984 DOB
Marko Tomas- Zagreb (Croatia) 6-6 1985 DOB
Caio Torres- Rayet Guadalajara (Spain) 6-11 1987 DOB
Roko Leni- Ukic Split (Croatia) 6-5 1984 DOB
Konstantinos Vasileiadis- PAOK (Greece) 6-6 1984 DOB
Panagiotis Vasilopoulos- PAOK (Greece) 6-8 1984 DOB
Marcus Vieira de Souza- Premiata Montegranaro (Italy) 6-9 1984 DOB

2005 NBA Draft Order

2005 NBA draft June 28 in New York

First Round
1. Milwaukee (30-52)
2. Atlanta (13-69)
3. Portland (27-55)
4. New Orleans (18-64)
5. Charlotte (18-64)
6. Utah (26-56)
7. Toronto (33-49)
8. New York (33-49)
9. Golden State (34-48)
10. LA Lakers (34-48)
11. Orlando (36-46)
12. LA Clippers (37-45)
13. Charlotte from Cleveland (42-40) via Phoenix
14. Minnesota (44-38)
15. New Jersey (42-40)
16. Toronto from Philadelphia (43-39) via Denver and New Jersey
17. Indiana (44-38)
18. Boston (45-37)
19. Memphis (45-37)
20. Denver from Washington (45-37) via Orlando
21. Phoenix from Chicago (47-35)
22. Denver (49-33)
23. Sacramento (50-32)
24. Houston (51-31)
25. Seattle (52-30)
26. Detroit (54-28)
27. Utah from Dallas (58-24)
28. San Antonio (59-23)
29. Miami (59-23)
30. New York from Phoenix (62-20) via San Antonio

Second Round
31. Atlanta
32. LA Clippers from Charlotte
33. New Orleans
34. Utah
35. Portland
36. Milwaukee
37. LA Lakers from New York via Atlanta and Charlotte
38. a-Toronto
39. LA Lakers
40. Golden State
41. b-Orlando
42. c-LA Clippers
43. New Jersey
44. Orlando from Cleveland
45. Detroit from Philadelphia
46. Indiana
47. Minnesota
48. Seattle from Memphis
49. Washington
50. Boston
51. Utah from Chicago via Houston
52. Denver
53. Boston from Sacramento
54. New York from Houston
55. Seattle
56. Detroit
57. Phoenix from Dallas via New Orleans
58. Toronto from Miami
59. Atlanta from San Antonio
60. Utah from Phoenix

Notes
a-this pick may be conveyed to Orlando
b-this pick may be conveyed to Toronto
c-this pick will be conveyed to Orlando
or to Toronto via Orlando or to Golden State via New Jersey

2005 NBA Playoffs Western Conference Finals Update

#1 Phoenix Suns vs #2 San Antonio Spurs
(110.41 PPG #1 in Scoring) (96.19 PPG #18 in Scoring)
(103.29 PPG #30 in Defense) (88.39 PPG #1 in Defense)
(+7.12 #2 in Scoring Differential) (+7.8 #1 in Scoring Differential)

At face value this series looks like it's over. On the other hand though it is just getting good. The Suns have missed SG Joe Johnson this series. Before his injury he was arguably covering the fact that SF Quentin Richardson hasn't been scoring, as well as help PF Shawn Marion get more open shots. Johnson also plays good defense, and is a good ball handler, giving Phoenix more options on both sides of the ball. Going into game 3 in San Antonio, the Suns are the best team on the road (31-10), and the Spurs are the best home team (38-3). I think the Suns could be set up for a comeback while on the road. The Suns have won 2 road games in each series so far in these playoffs. With SG/SF Jim Jackson coming off the bench the scoring options increase for the Suns. San Antonio isn't going to lose easily at home. The Spurs have only lost 1 home game in the playoffs this year. Game 3 will be the pivotal game in the series, from Phoenix's standpoint it is a must win game, from the Spurs standpoint it is a way to close out the series quickly. I still like the Suns chances and they will win in 7 games (4-3).

Spurs lead series 2-0.
1. Sun, May 22 – SA 121, Pho 114
2. Tue, May 24 – SA 111, Pho 108
3. Sat, May 28 – at SA, 9:00 pm (ESPN)
4. Mon, May 30 – at SA, 8:30 pm (ABC)
5.* Wed, Jun 1 – at Pho, 9:00 pm (ESPN)
6.* Fri, Jun 3 – at SA, 9:00 pm (ESPN)
7.* Sun, Jun 5 – at Pho, 8:30 pm (ABC)
All times are Eastern Daylight Time
* - If necessary

Head to Head
PG Steve Nash vs. Tony Parker
SG Joe Johnson vs. Bruce Bowen
SF Quentin Richardson vs. Manu Ginobili
PF Shawn Marion vs. Tim Duncan
C Amare Stoudemire vs. Nazr Mohammed