Determining Factors of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals

LeBron James and Paul George - both the leaders of their
respective teams that will clash tonight in what should be
the most intense and hard fought game of the playoffs

Well, it's been a hard fought series and just when we thought that 1 team would pull away, the other responded right back. The Pacers Heat series has been fantastic and will come to an epic conclusion tonight night. What makes this series so special is that neither team has won 2 consecutive games. [Just a quick note, I'm going to stop making lists and rankings and stuff like that for a while, I don't want to be that person who wants to seem smart by stating the obvious.] Here are the determining factors of this
game 7:

Chris "Birdman" Andersen will have a HUGE impact
on the outcome of tonight's epic matchup

Birdman's Contributions - Since Miami signed Chris Andersen, they've been deadly. Though he's not the highlight reel he one was, his motor and defensive presence have anchored the Heat's second unit throughout the regular and post-season. Even if his stats don't show it, Birdman is invaluable. However, Birdman has always been criticized due to his overly-aggressive play. This was showcased in game 5, where he threw Tyler Hansborough to the ground and was later suspended a game. Naturally, the Heat were outscored 44-22 in the paint the next game, and lost 91-77 which brings me to my next point.

Rebounding Margin - In game 6, Indiana creamed Miami on the boards. They had 20 more rebounds than Miami. While the Pacers usually win the rebound battle, a plus-20 margin almost ensures a victory.Both teams will be counting on their bigs to haul down boards at a massive rate.

Which Lance Stephenson will we see? - When Lance Stephenson is performing well, Indiana is a deadly team. Stephenson has been Jekyll and Hyde all series though. In game 6, Stephenson scored

3 pf the most crucial players in this series wrapped up into 1 picture
as Lance Stephenson goes up for a tough layup against Dwayne Wade
and Chris Bosh, the Heat's 2 underperforming stars

only 4 points, but pulled down 12 rebounds [not bad for a 6'5 combo-guard]. Not only has he been a phenomenal rebounder for his size, nut Lance is also great at attacking the rim. In games 2 and 4 [both Pacers' wins] Stephenson scored 10 and 20 points, respectively [also grabbing a combined 13 rebounds]. However; in all 3 losses, Stephenson has combined for only 17 points. Not so good. We'll see which Stephenson

Will Wade and Bosh play like the stars they're supposed to be? -  Lately, it seems as though Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh have been mere shells of their regular-season selves. In game 6, Wade had 10 points on 3-11 shooting while Bosh had 5 points on 1-8 shooting. If this type of play holds up. It will be LeBron's Cavs [only more magnified].  As good as James is, I don't know if he can will his way to an NBA title without a supreme running-mate. Jordan had his Pippen, Magic had his Kareem [or vice versa however you want to look at it], Wilt had his Jerry West [or vice versa once again] and even [in this postseason] Paul George has his Roy Hibbert.  Who's LeBron's wing man? Thus far it appears to be Norris Cole, that just won't cut it against a defensively stout Indiana Pacers club.

Projected Winner - Indiana Pacers: The stars are aligned for Indy to make its move and shock the world on the shoulders of Paul George and Roy Hibbert.

Creating the "All NBA Underrated Team"

In an NBA season dominated by superstars like LeBron James, James Harden, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul among others, a lot of this season's top performers have flown under the radar.

*Note: the starters and bench-players weren't determined by skill, but how underrated they are*

Starting Point Guard: Isaiah Thomas - Thomas is one of the most criminally underrated players in the league. A big reason for that is that he plays for the dysfunctional Sacramento Kings. After off starting the season with a long slump, Thomas has come alive in the past 3 months of this season. So far in March, Thomas is averaging 18 points, 5 assists and one and a half steals while shooting .466 from the field.

Starting Shooting Guard: Paul George - I'll probably find Paul George underrated until the day I die. It may seem a bit strange that I'm considering an all-star underrated, but it's true. Paul George is averaging nearly 18 points and 8 rebounds per game to go along with 4 assists and nearly 2 steals per-game while playing . He's also keeping the Pacers afloat [with the 2nd best record in the East] while Danny Granger has barely seen the court this season due to injury. But you'll never hear his name when discussing the NBA's top 20 players.

Starting Small Forward: Luol Deng - Luol Deng is basically a lesser version of Paul George. Deng is an  extremely underrated player despite being named to the all-star team, averaging 16 points, 6 rebounds, nearly 3 assists and one steal per game, playing 39 minutes per-game while keeping his team afloat despite the team's best player having not played this season. Sound familiar?

Starting Power Forward: Paul Millsap - Paul Millsap is an undersized power forward and an extremely hard worker on both ends of the floor, crashing the boards [despite standing at just 6"8], playing great defense and keeping defenses honest with his silky-smooth mid-range jumper. Millsap averages 15 points, 7 boards, 1 steal and 1 block.

Starting Center: Al Horford - Like Millsap, Al Horford is an undersized player [a 6"10 center] who works extremely hard. Al Horford isn't the most fun player to watch, but you have to appreciate his work ethic. Millsap averages 17 points, 10 boards, one block and one steal per game while shooting .551 from the field

Bench:

6th Man / Backup SG: Jamal Crawford - Since Crawford is the most underrated 6th man in the league, it would only make sense for me to put him as my 6th man on my "All Underrated Team".  Crawford averages nearly 17 points per game coming off the bench for the Clippers.

Backup PG: Ty Lawson - If somebody were to take a survey of 100 people and ask them who the best player of the Nuggets is, 20, at most, would say Ty Lawson. The other 80 would say it's Andre Igoudala. Lawson IS the best player on the Denver Nuggets. He currently averages 16.8 points and 7 assists this season while Denver is currently riding a 14 game winning streak.

Backup SF: Maurice Harkless - Harkless is by far the least known player on this list. Just to give you a little background information: Harkless was drafted 16th overall by the 76ers before being traded to Orlando as part of the Dwight Howard blockbuster trade. Now back to the task at hand, Harkless has recently been placed into the starting lineup, since the all-star break he averages nearly 13 points,nearly 2 steals and 5 rebounds per game, while shooting over .500 from the field.

Backup PF and C: Derrick Favors and Enas Kanter - I put these two players together because they're always mentioned together and barring any trades, they always will be. In Utah, Favors and Kanter are the heirs to the thrones of Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson once they both leave the Jazz in free agency. Between these 2 players, there's enough potential for 5 good players. Favors averages nearly 10 points, 7 boards and 2 blocks per game in 22 minutes per game on over.470 shooting, while Kanter averages 7 points, 4 and a half boards and shoots .790 from the free throw line [excellent for a center] while shooting.549 from the floor.

SUPER BOWL PREDICTIONS

We're less than a month away from the most exciting game in sports and it features a match up that's perfect on so many levels. The San Francisco 49ers play the Baltimore Ravens. There are so many key match-ups to look at in this game:

The Quarterback Match-up - This may come as a shock to you, but Joe Flacco has more road playoff victories than any other quarterback to ever play in the NFL. Flacco has also won a playoff game in each of his seasons in the NFL. Flacco also has a powerful arm and isn't afraid to pull the trigger on the deep ball [which is extremely effective]. However, the best safety duo in the league [Donte Whitner and Dashon Goldson] may take advantage of Flacco's trigger-happy play style which may lead to some interceptions. Meanwhile, on the other side, Colin Kaepernick is a strong, mobile quarterback with TONS of raw arm talent [he threw a 70 mph ball in the regular season against New England]. The main reason why people doubt Colin is inexperience. He only started 9 games in the regular season, but that's an overrated factor that shouldn't make much of a difference. The real concern that I have with Colin is middle accuracy. His deep ball is great but, when throwing 11-20 yards past the line of scrimmage, his completion percentage is under 54% which may be a problem if the Ravens' pass rush doesn't give him enough time to throw 30 yard bombs.
Running Backs and Receivers - Both teams run somewhat of a 2-back rushing game [Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce vs Frank Gore and Lamichael James]. Rice's diversity along with the hard running style of Bernard Pierce may be too much for to overcome especially with a passing game that keeps the defense guessing. Even though the 49ers have a stout run defense, I think Baltimore will have a huge game on the ground. But, I'm not as sure about the 49ers running game. They have 2 great backs, but they tend to use Gore an awful lot and don't seem to trust James as much as I think they should.
 The receiving matchup isn't as close as the others and Baltimore has a huge advantage. Michael Crabtree is a great receiver, but there's no one else there to draw attention from him. Meanwhile, Flacco has many options. Anquan Boldin is the type of receiver that annoys defenses. He keeps catching these 8-10 yard passes all game long and opens up up the deep game with [possibly a top 3 deep threat in the league] Torrey Smith and kick-return specialist / one of the league's fastest players [and best touchdown celebrators] Jacoby Jones.
Defense - Barely gonna debate this one. With the exception off possibly the pass rush, San Francisco has the clear edge in every category. Speaking of the pass-rush though, for Baltimore it's; the BEST LEADER in all of professional football [and best linebacker to ever play the game] Ray Lewis, the best interior lineman in the game, Haloti Ngata, reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Terrell Suggs, and newly emerged outside linebacker, Paul Kruger. They're up against an extremely tough 49ers pass rush consisting, the 2nd best interior lineman in the league, Justin Smith, The soon-to-be [once Lewis retires] best linebacker in the NFL, Patrick Willis, and the man who cleans it all up [and gets all the credit, even though the other guys force the quarterbacks out of the pocket] Aldon Smith.
Coaching - This one's even. The Harabaugh brothers are both equally brilliant [even though Jim gets all the credit]. But they do have different preferences. Jim [despite working with Andrew Luck in the past] likes to run a rush-heavy offense [that's why he picked Kaepernick over Smith]. But, John likes to run a pass heavy offense, often bringing his backs out of the backfield into the passing game.
Leadership - Ray Lewis. That's all I have to say about that.

FINAL PREDICTION - RAVENS, 21-17