The game between the Cavs and the Mavs features two teams who had hoped to get off to a little bit better of a start then they have.  The Mavericks have almost lost more games then they did then last season and we are only less than a third through the season.  The Cavaliers made it to the NBA finals last year, but at this pace they won’t make it to even the playoffs. 

While Dallas doesn’t really have an excuse for their early season woes, Cleveland does.  They have had a lot of injury and contract problems.  Larry Hughes missed the early part of the season with a bad knee, and James missed a handful of games with an injured finger.  However, as James warned the rest of the league, “Get your wins now,” because once they all comeback from injury they will be fine.  Well, they are all back now.  James is averaging nearly 30 points a game, and Hughes has been playing with a hot streak as well.

Dallas is still good, and they have an impressive home record, only losing twice as of this writing.  Everyone says they will turn around soon, and with Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard on your team, who are we to disagree.  Because of the high energy the Mavericks play with at home I will pick them to win this game, and I too believe they will start to pick it up and will be more of a force in the playoffs this year than last year where they lost in the first round to the eight seeded Golden State Warriors. 

At the time of this writing the Boston Celtics have a 20-2 record and seem a viable contender for not only the NBA championship, but they also may be able to break the record of the 72-10 Chicago Bulls, led my Michael Jordan, if they can keep this up.  Seattle is well under .500, but if there is any good news coming out of facing the Celtics, it’s that the Supersonics are playing them at home, where Boston has lost both of their games.  The Supersonics also have leading rookie of the year candidate Kevin Durant on their team, which means even if they are losing, they get a chance to see one of the best players in the NBA, and at such a young age, every time out.

I’ve wrote about the Celtics already so many times this year because nearly every one of their games is on national TV.  They have three of the best players in the game on the same team.  Kevin Garnett can switch between power forward and center, and be equally effective at both spots.  Ray Allen has arguably been the best shooter in the league for the last decade, which he continues to prove in the green uniform.  Finally, Paul Pierce is finally getting recognition for being one of the best players, after a few years of playing on a down and out team.  Too make matters worse for opposing teams; they are also the best defensive unit in the league.  Yeah, we now see why they are on pace to break all kinds of records.

My Pick: The Boston Celtics. 

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