For the second time in less than a week the Cleveland Cavaliers will take on the Chicago Bulls, but this time in the Windy City.  The Cavaliers took the previous game, and they are playing some of the best basketball in the East.  After looking mediocre the first third, or so, of the season, Lebron James has played MVP type basketball, and has his team looking even better than the squad that made it all the way to the NBA finals last year.  James is averaging over 30 points a game, and is also averaging over 7 assists a game, showing he can do everything on the court.  The addition of “Big” Ben Wallace has added some much needed toughness in the middle, a toughness they lacked last year while getting beat by the eventual champions, The Spurs, in four games.  The East is altogether better than last year, but fans believe that they can once again make a run for it.

The Bulls have two former Cavs on their team since the trading deadline, Drew Gooden, and Larry Hughes, but it hasn’t amounted to anything that great.  The Bulls still have an outside chance of making the playoffs, but they have to start getting a winning streak going, something they haven’t done consistently all season. Drew Gooden is nearly averaging 20 and 10 since joining his new team, but I still favor the Cavaliers with the hot streak they’ve currently been enjoying. 

When All-Star center Yao Ming went down with a season ending injury it seemed the Houston Rockets playoff dreams were dashed.  Prior to his injury they had won 12 games in a row, and people were wondering if they were ever going to lose again.  I’m kidding, of course, but the tag team combination of Ming and Tracy McGrady was among the best in the league, and working at a top level.  However, somehow the Rockets have continued to win, riding their current winning streak up to 15.  While the Rockets do have a couple games before they meet the Mavericks in Dallas on Thursday, this game will go a long way in determining what the Rockets will be able to do in the playoffs, as the Mavericks are one of the tougher teams in the West.  McGrady has been asked to carry the offensive torch, and so far so good.  At times T-Mac has been said to lack the inner desire to make him and his team great, but everyone feels that now is as good as time as any to prove all the doubters wrong.

The Mavericks are hoping to prove doubters wrong by actually advancing past the first round of playoffs.  They brought in Jason Kidd via trade to help them accomplish that task, but Dallas Coach Avery Johnson turned a lot of heads when he left Kidd on the bench during the final seconds of a game recently.  I can’t blame the fans, you bring in one of the best point guards in the league only to sit him?  Doesn’t make much sense.

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