By BRIAN LEWIS
With the NBA season starting tomorrow, the tech-savvy folks over at EA Sports _ the same people who bring you Madden _ did a videogame simulation of the entire campaign using their NBA LIVE 09 game. The machine predicts Kobe Bryant’s Lakers will reach their second straight final, this time beating Miami in six games.
The Knicks and Nets? Not so much. They predict the defending champion Boston Celtics will finish third in the Eastern Conference with 44 wins before getting upset in the conference finals by the Heat. Kobe Bryant leading the league in scoring at 27.9 points-per-game isn’t a shocking call, and neither is Memphis’ O.J. Mayo taking Rookie of the Year honors. But Yao Ming actually going injury-free to win the MVP might be the biggest reach.
In case you care, they tab Mike D’Antoni’s Knicks to make a modest improvement over Isiah Thomas’ sad-sack bunch, going 32-50 for 13th in the Eastern Conference. The rebuilding Nets are to finish three spots ahead, at 37-45, both out of the playoffs. That’s for amusement only people; don’t come crying to me if you decide to use that to bet an over-under. That’s on you.
Anyway, those numbers are assuming no major injuries or trades; but the amazing thing about this year’s NBA LIVE 09 game is that is uses something called Synergy Sports Technology, the same analytics provider used by over 20 NBA teams. It indexes every single possession of every single game in real time, and the stats drive the logic of the game. In other words, if Eddy Curry is playing like a sieve or getting stripped of the ball, he’ll actually start doing it on your game. If _ no, WHEN _ Marcus Camby and Baron Davis get hurt, they’ll be hurt on your game.
For those of you who like your games real, this is the one….