The first round match-ups look pretty darned exciting, particularly out in the West. No matter who wins, are they really upsets? Let's take a look at the Western match-ups first, and I'll give my predictions. 1 Lakers vs. 8 Nuggets The way the Lakers have played and finished, you have to favor them in this series. Kobe, imo and as much as I love Chris Paul, is the MVP. Well, he should have been the MVP before now, but this year it's his. Carmello's recent arrest doesn't help Denver with their focus, and they'll need all of it for this one. The trade that brought Gasol to the Lakers has really opened things up for the team. I think they'll be hard to stop. Iverson'll go off one game, and Denver will scratch at home, but I see the Lakers dominating this series. Lakers 4-1. 2 Hornets vs. 7 Dallas Here you go. The Hornets have been awesome this season, and CP3 is just behind Kobe for the MVP award, in my book. But Dallas is battle-tested in the playoffs, and they're finally getting some chemistry with Jason Kidd leading the team. Dirk is hobbled a bit, but his coming back to the team enabled them to make it into the playoffs. Josh Howard's been very good all year. I think the lower seed wins. Mavs 4-2 3 Spurs vs. 6 Suns Could any sport have a better first round playoff match-up? After last year's controversial finish, this one should be great. Add Shaq to the mix - and I think this is THE series Phoenix made the trade to get Shaq for - and you've got as much drama as any NBA series could ever have. I don't like the Shaq trade for the Suns. Not at all. I think it was horrible. But you know what? For this series, I think it might just be what the doctor ordered. Shaq's presence has helped Amare tremendously. The Spurs are the Spurs, and Duncan/Parker/Ginobli are fantastic. They'll be great. But revenge is a dish best served cold. Cold like the sun. Or the Suns. Suns 4-3 - yes in San Antonio. 4 Jazz vs. 5 Rockets Yet another great series. The Rockets had that stretch during the year where they were so, so good. Rafer Alston was a big part of that, and he may not play at first in this series. I think that hurts the Rockets. The Jazz... do they lose at home? Who has home court advantage? McGrady will try his hardest to overcome the reputation that he cannot win in the playoffs, but I think he comes up short. Another seven-gamer, though. Jazz 4-3 In the East, the division of talent is spread a little more thin. Not near as good of match-ups because, simply, there aren't that good of teams in the lower bracket of the East that made the playoffs. The match-ups look like this: 1 Celtics vs. 8 Hawks Everyone knew the Celtics would be better, but this good? They ran roughshod over most of the East, and they'd be competitive out in the West. KG was an MVP candidate most of the year, and still is probably # 3. Even Pierce's name has come up in the MVP conversation. The role players have come up and have played well. Atlanta... well, I think it's great for the Hawks they made the playoffs and will be good experience down the road. But I don't see them taking a game. Celts 4-0. 2 Pistons vs. 7 76ers Detroit is right there with the Celtics and may end up playing for it all when it all comes out in the wash. Philly has played Detroit well over the season, but Philly's good run in the middle to late part of the season ended a few games back, and they've really slumped to the end. I do think they'll take one in the City of Brotherly Love, but Detroit has a bunch of play-off hardened souls like Billups, Hamilton, and Prince, which are all going to outperform anyone Philly has to offer. Pistons 4-1 3 Magic vs. 6 Raptors This one could be better than most people think. The Raptors were a disappointment this year, but mostly because of injury. If Bosh plays well, I think they have a chance. The Magic are still feeling their way in the playoffs. However, I think they're the better team, And as Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith always say, "The better team always wins in a seven game series." I don't know about that, but it'll hold true here. Magic 4-3 4 Cavaliers vs. 5 Wizards Safely put, the Cavs are just a little better, and LeBron's will should be enough to move this team to the next round. But, here's what I really think: Call it a conspiracy theory, call it a gut feeling, call it b.s., call it what you want... I don't think there's any way the NBA lets the Cavs lose this series. LeBron is making it to the next round. He is. I probably should have just said the Cavs will win to avoid the bashing. They're probably better anyway. But I can't help myself. The season series was tied 2-2, and the Wizards are healthy again. Two games were close; two were blowouts. So this series should be pretty tight. When it comes down to it, though, I just feel LeBron's going to get a call here or there that's going to be enough. The whole stars getting calls thing the NBA does to market their players has always gnawed me, but it's a fact of life. The Cavs win this series. If they lose, I'll eat my words. Cavs 4-3 So what are your predictions?
Not bad of a prediction. I'm going with Lakers 4-1 (4-0 if everyone's healthy including Bynum) Mavs 4-3 Spurs 4-3 Jazz 4-2 Celts 4-0 Pistons 4-1 Magic 4-2 Wizards 4-3 (Arenas has not played against the Cavs in each of their close games so he's a major X-Factor against weaker Cav PG's)
Bynum will not play again this season unless they go to the finals. And if they do, it will prove that they most likely do not need him this year as he probably won't bring much to the table due to lack of conditioning. Thank goodness Mihm is back to add a body up front. I see the Lakers over the Nuggets 4-2 Hornets over the Mavericks 4-3 Jazz over Rockets 4-2 Suns over Spurs 4-2 Lakers are simply better than the defenseless Nuggets. The Hornets are young but Chris Paul has been sensational and I think they squek past Dallas. The JAzz are almost impossible at home and will win at least one on the road and Shaq will come alive to help dethrone the champs before bowing out in the second round. The East Celtics in 4 Everyone else...why bother?
Hornets in 7 Lakers in 5 Spurs in 7 Jazz in 7 Not gonna bother with the East like Samphin said, I just have Detroit over Boston in 7 in the ECF. Lots of Sevens lol.
Western Conference (1) Lakers vs. (8) Nuggets 4-1 (2) Hornets vs. (7) Mavericks 4-2 (3) Spurs vs. (6) Suns 4-2 (4) Jazz vs. (5) Rockets 4-2 Eastern Conference (1) Celtics vs. (8) Hawks 4-0 (2) Pistons vs. (7) 76ers 4-0 (3) Magic vs. (6) Raptors 4-2 (4) Cavaliers vs. (5) Wizards 4-3
i think LeBron is going to walk all over the Wiz because they have no low post defense(or any defense at all)., hes just going to drive to the basket the whole time. The Wiz dont have very good ballhandling. The get caught up shooting jumpers all day long. Theyre a hot and cold team, especially if Arenas cant go. Without Arenas, the Wiz have no shot. They might steal a game or two, but they wont be much of a matchup. Cleveland is a more complete team.
Eastern: Celtics over Hawks in 5 Pistons over 76ers in 5 Magic over Raptors in 6 Cavs over Wizards in 6 Western: Lakers over Nuggets in 5 Hornets over Dallas in 6 Suns over Spurs in 7 Jazz over Rockets in 6 With the way the western conference is, im suprised i still dont believe there will be any first round upsets
I guess so, i actually didnt know Spurs were the higher seed when doing the predicitions, wasn't paying attention
Lol to be honest, I didn't know the seedings either. It changes everyday or did at least and got me all confused. I just said that matchup because I feel the Spurs are a better team than Phx.
lol i dont understand what happend though with LeBron and Haywood. Did Haywood set an illegal screen and LeBron ran into it and fell? Then he taunted him or what?
This Cleveland/Washington series is looking like it's going to be some must-see basketball. It's apparent that these teams DO NOT like each other. At all. I mean, we're not talking Pistons/Bulls, Knicks/Heat or Celtics/Lakers here, but in today's toned-down NBA, it's about the best we can hope for. Granted, it's all for the right to play the bug to Boston's windshield in round 2, but still, it's looking memorable.
Yeah I was thinking when I saw LeBron get hit in the mouth and than after that, there were several plays where there was a lot of contact, I kept thinking to myself the Detroit/Chicago series, where it was the "Jordan Rules" plan for Detroit but less hate and physicality.
are the playoff brackets already set or does the highest seed play the lowest seed remaining in the next round??
Cleveland by about 7 i think..Lebron took it away in the final two minutes. Zero went to...well...zero in the end, but he proved to be an important figure in this series. looking forward to game 2.
that face meshing commercial is pretty intriguing. the kobe/shaq one, the nash/kidd one(funny how theyre playing in each other's other roles on different teams...like six degress of separation kinda stuff).
