Chicago in 4. The Pacers are by far the worst team in the playoffs and the Bulls are arguably the best. Bulls are coming into the playoffs strong and show no signs of slowing down.
(4) Orlando Magic. vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
Orlando in 6. Hawks supposedly have the superman stopper in Jason Collins and won the regular season series 3-1. While this may not be the easiest series for Orlando, I am not buying Atlanta having a real chance of taking this one. The Hawks are 14-20 since the start of February and I don't see this team turning it around at the drop of a dime come playoff time. With the horrible and huge contract the Hawks handed over to Joe Johnson this last off season, they will be stuck in this position a lot, making the playoffs but not close to being a real contender.
(3) Boston Celtics vs. (6) New York Knicks
Boston in 5. Celtics are coming into the playoffs looking horrible, but they found the perfect opponent in the Knicks. The Knicks are one other of very few teams in the playoffs who do not have a legit center or big man on their roster to take advantage of the Celtics horrible depth down low. Boston won this series 4-0 in the regular season and I see this trend continuing. The games may be fun to watch and will be full of emotion, but the Knicks just aren't deep enough to really compete and great defense always beats great offense. Garnett plays Stoudamire great and Pierce always performs well against the Knicks. This is also a great series for Rondo to get out of the slump he has been in recently. Playing the Knicks will allow him to run the fast break frequently as well as give him easy passes to wide open teammates. Billups should not be able to slow him down as his lateral quickness is all but gone.
(2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers
Miami in 4. The Heat are up 3-0 in the regular season games and have an average margin of victory in those wins of 10.3 points. Doug Collins has done a great job at making the 76ers not-so-talent-filled roster work, getting a .500 record and 7th seed in the East, but they just don't stack up to the Heat. Iguodala runs point-forward so Lebron will cover him and the 76ers don't have a big man who can take advantage down low. This means the 76ers just don't have the weapons needed to take advantage of the Heat's weaknesses (PG and C). Also, good luck to Jodie Meeks and Evan Turner trying to cover Wade; he averaged 30.7 ppg against them, his highest vs. any team in the Eastern Conference.
(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
San Antonio in 7. Welcome to the series of the two most underrated teams in the playoffs. Kind of hard to underrate the 1 seed in the Western Conference, but people have managed to do so after writing off the Spurs because of their slow finish. Take away the games Duncan missed, (six games in which the Spurs went 2-4) and the last two games (where the Spurs rested people and went 0-2) and the Spurs finished the season pretty well, especially considering that in the games the Spurs big three did play they were only on the floor for around 30 mpg. Do not be mistaken by Memphis 8th seed either. Memphis wanted to get the eight seed. They rested their starters the last two games to insure it happened. Zach Randolph has become an actual good player over the last two years and not just a numbers machine that doesn't help, Tony Allen is a top defensive player in the NBA who brought in a whole new attitude, OJ Mayo has embraced his role as the spark off the bench, and Marc Gasol is the forgotten brother on the forgotten franchise. Also helping Memphis is that Manu Ginobili (hyperextended elbow) is questionable for Sunday's playoff opener. This should be a great series.
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Denver Nuggets
Oklahoma City in 6. It is too bad Denver is matched up with Oklahoma City, they looked like they were ready to upset someone in the first round. Since trading Melo, Denver is 18-7 and has never looked better. The one team they seem to have problems with is...the Thunder. They have lost the only two match ups since the trade and both were within the last week and a half. The depth and energy that they have been using to their advantage is met with just as much depth and energy from the still young and talented Thunder. Injuries are also not in Denver's favor. Arron Afflalo, Ty Lawson, and Chris Anderson are all hurt and questionable for game 1. Since Perkins has hit the court for the Thunder, they have seemed to take on a whole new persona. He installed a much needed confident swagger and toughness down low, and in general, that is needed to prevail in the playoffs. James Harden has also become a whole new player since Jeff Green left as both his fg% and ppg have way gone up. If he played like that all season he could of easily been a contender for 6th man. The Thunder are no longer the tough little kids that Kobe can pat on the top of the head and say they tried hard, they are official contenders. They are 13-3 since Perk started playing with wins over Miami, Portland, Denver twice, and the Lakers. The Thunder are my pick to come out of the West.
(3) Dallas Mavericks vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers
Portland in 6. The season series is tied at 2-2, all games won by the home team. Another way to look at it: the Trail Blazers with Gerald Wallace were 2-0 and without Gerald Wallace were 0-2. Since the very slept on and not talked about trade for Wallace, the Trail Blazers are 18-6 with wins over Dallas twice, Miami, San Antonio twice (SA full strength for one of them), the Lakers, and OKC. The problem for Portland is that they don't have home court and they struggle on the road. Of all of the above listed wins only Miami was away from home. The good thing for Portland is that Dallas has been struggling lately and we all know how Dirk led playoffs teams do. I still cannot shake the image of him standing on the podium after losing a game to the eight seed Golden State in the first round and saying, "I just don't know what to do..", and Avery Johnson saying Dirk needs to get his confidence back. That is not how a leader of a team is supposed to act, especially when your game is 95% offensive. I see Portland stealing one game at Dallas and winning all their home games on the back of Aldridge's continued strong play against Dallas (avg 27.8 and 9 vs. Dallas). Dallas will again get bounced by a lower seed this year and again people will question Dirk.
(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets
Lakers in 4. They are 4-0 vs. Hornets this season with two blowouts. New Orleans has not looked worse all season and don't have close to enough length down low to compete with the defending champs. At best I see them stealing one game with a well rested Paul (games 3+ days rest he avg. 22 and 11) and if Bynum (Questionable for game 1) doesn't play.
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