WNBA Draft
The first round of the WNBA draft will air on EPSN2 tomorrow night at 8 pm Eastern. The second and third rounds will air on ESPNU at 9 pm. Baylor's Brittney Griner has already basically been revealed as the the number 1 draft pick to go to the Pheonix Mercury. It is believed that Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins and the University of Delaware's Elena Delle Donne are expected to be the next two picks going to either the Chicago Sky, who holds the second pick, or the Tulsa Shock, who hold the third. This will be the first time the WNBA draft will be aired on the East Coast in prime time. The WNBA also plans to air 30 games next season on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. No doubt that Griner and Diggins have made big names fore themselves in their college careers and will attract some of their fans to the WNBA to follow their careers. This can only mean good things for not only the WNBA but also the respective franchises that these ladies are drafted to.
Sunday Showdown
The Miami Heat will take on the Chicago Bulls today at 1 pm on ABC for the first time since the Bulls snapped Miami's 27-game winning streak on March 27th. This game is at home for Miami and although they already have clinched the league's overall best record, I'm sure they are looking for just a bit of revenge. These two teams began a brief rivalry in the first 2 years of the Big 3 era but the hype was significantly retracted once Derrick Rose went down. Rose won't be playing this afternoon but that's no problem for this Bulls team. Miami's Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem are listed day-to-day and will be out for today's game. Even though there is only three more days left in the regular season, I still call this a low-level statement game. I expect a Heat win in the name of redemption.
The Lakers also take on the Spurs tonight at 9:30 pm on NBATv in a crucial game for LA. If they lose this game, they will have to pray that the Jazz lose their last two or they will not clinch the 8th spot. I have to predict that the Spurs will pull this win off but LA has the comfort of homecourt advantage on their side as well as the inspiration to perform well for Kobe.
Final Pushes
Wednesday night the 8th seed battle between the Jazz and the Lakers will finally be over. If each team wins their second to last games, their final games will become much more anticipated. The Jazz will take on the Grizzlies in their regular season finale. The Grizzlies still have a chance to take the 4th spot from the Clippers who bounced them out in the first round of the playoffs last year and will likely be their opponents in the first round this year. Both the Jazz and Grizzlies both have much to play for. The Lakers take on the 7th seeded Rockets in their regular season finale. The Rockets have 3 games left and still have the chance to take the 6th seed spot from the Golden State Warriors. Dwight Howard must be aggressive and the Lakers defense has to step it up in order for them to successfully pull off this playoff push. With Kobe gone, this is really Howard's chance to show what he could possibly do as the head of the franchise and the leader of this team. Both games will be covered on ESPN Wednesday night at 8 pm and 10:30 pm respectively. You really don't want to miss it!
The NBA Playoffs begin on Saturday. Check in with The Rundown this week for predictions on a few matchups and tweet @RealRundown to give your own.
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