[DallasNews.com] Suns are the pick, but watch out for Rockets

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Suns are the pick, but watch out for Rockets

01:02 AM CDT on Thursday, October 25, 2007
by Eddie Sefko

The NBA season starts before you'll get the next newsletter, so it's time for predictions.

As always, these are intended for informational use only and are not recommended to anybody who might find themselves in Vegas this weekend.

First, the NBA champion. You may have seen already that Sports Illustrated is picking the Mavericks to win it all. I personally think it would be a great story if the Boston Celtics won it all, recapturing the glory days of a legendary franchise gone bad.

But I can't pick either of those teams. Nor can I pick San Antonio, because they seem content to win the thing every other year. Who wouldn't be, by the way?

So I have two teams for the title, a favorite and a long shot. The Phoenix Suns are the favorite because Grant Hill will help them more than anybody knows and Amare Stoudemire is going to have an MVP season once he gets healthy.

The dark horse? Houston. The Rockets made more moves than anybody in the Western Conference with power forward Luis Scola and guards Mike James and Steve Francis returning to Houston.

This team, as always, will have to prove it can stay healthy. But if Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady are hale and hearty instead of Laurel and Hardy, this team is primed to make major noise.

I'll also take a stand on Kobe Bryant (addressed below in question 1). If Phoenix starts slowly, expect them to make a serious run at the Lakers' superstar. Ditto for Chicago, Detroit and Dallas. But the Mavericks' problems are never in the regular season, right? And you can't make trades in the playoffs.

Expect Bryant to simmer in LA until December or January. Then he's off to the Eastern Conference.

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It's funny how Dallas reporters have lost all faith in the Mavs. I like his prediction of us as a darkhorse (I'll take that). We shall win all the way unless we meet the Grizzlies in the playoffs. Ha ha....just kidding!