Preview of 2000-01 NBA Season
Oct. 31 -- The Knicks will be without Patrick Ewing, the Heat without Alonzo Mourning, and the Lakers will begin their title defense against a Portland team that nearly beat them in the Western Conference finals last year.
The NBA season begins tonight with 13 games around the league, and many teams will look a bit different than they did five months ago, thanks to several off-season moves.
The Orlando Magic, under Coach of the Year Doc Rivers, most improved their chances at a postseason bid by acquiring Grant Hill from Detroit and Tracy McGrady from Toronto. Orlando still lacks a big man in the middle after failing to lure Tim Duncan away from San Antonio, but the team still could be among the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
The Miami Heat, the team expected to represent the East in the NBA Finals this year, was dealt a major setback. Miami will play without center Alonzo Mourning after the All-Star was diagnosed with a kidney disease known as focal glomerulosclerosis.
The loss of Mourning means Miami coach Pat Riley’s deals in the off-season — acquiring Anthony Mason, Eddie Jones and Brian Grant — still might not give Miami its first championship.
Portland Could Top the West
It is the West, however, that appears to be the stronger conference this season. The Lakers still have Kobe Bryant and league MVP and unstoppable center Shaquille O’Neal, who recently signed a three-year, $88 million contract extension. Glen Rice is off to New York, but Horace Grant is reunited with coach Phil Jackson in L.A. after a stint in Seattle.
The Portland Trail Blazers, which squandered a 15-point lead in Game 7 to lose the Western Conference Finals to the Lakers, appear even better this year. Grant is in Miami and center Arvydas Sabonis has a knee problem, but the team bolstered its roster by acquiring Dale Davis from Indiana and trading for Shawn Kemp, a six-time All-Star forward who vowed to rededicate himself after two seasons of increasing weight and declining stats in Cleveland.
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