NBA PLAYOFFS, BABY!
This year's NBA playoffs are going to kick major ass. Awesome teams in the West combine with drama and high expectations in the East to produce a seven/eight week bonanza of ridiculous games and TV viewage. Before we breakdown the series and match ups, I'd like to give my predictions:
Boston over Atlanta; Wizards over Cavs; Boston over Wizards in 7; Orlando over Toronto; Detroit over Philly in 7; Detroit over Orlando; Celts over Detroit in 7 for the finals.
Lakers over Denver; Houston over Utah; Lakers over Houston in 7; Spurs over Phoenix; Hornets over Mavs; Spurs over Hornets; Lakers over Spurs for the finals.
Lakers win the title over the Celts, giving Kobe the Playoff MVP.
Boston vs Atlanta - The Celts should have no problem destroying Atlanta. The Hawks are a decent team in the East, which barely made the playoffs in the last two weeks of the season. A decent team in the East, when you compare it to the entire NBA, is really just an average team with no expectations to win a title. KG and PP will dispatch this series in 4 straight games. Easy deal for the one seed.
What's important to notice, however, is that expectations are high for the Celtics this year. Fans are expecting, at the very minimum, a trip to the finals and even a title this year. Anything less will cause some major headaches, especially after the Patriots lost the Super Bowl.
I can also promise you that KG will start to worry about never winning a championship if they don't pull it off this year or next. He is getting old last time I checked. If the Celts don't kick Atlanta's ass and have to face Washington in the second round, watch the pressure hit a boiling point. The Wizards are 3-1 against the Celts this year. Maybe the Celts will cry like little girls and give up before even playing the Wizards. Hey - it could happen!
Cleveland vs Washington - Of all the first round match-ups, this series is by far the best. Lebron, Iglauskas and Wallace are very good together, the Wizards are finally somewhat healthy, and the teams really do hate each other. Lebron, by himself, is really just fun to watch. Remember his run last year? Add in the fact that this is the third time the teams have met in the first round, and you have a kick-ass series which promises to be fun to watch.
The drama is kicking into high gear already: Gilbert has been blogging about the Cavs, talking a lot of trash, and Charles Barkley of all people, decided to chime in, saying the Wizards were, "the dumbest team ever" to anger "the second best player in the league." I love Sir Charles and I love his analysis on TNT (along with his commercials with D-Wade). But for christ-sake, Charles, get your nose out of Lebron's ass. Stevenson was right to call him "overrated" and Gilbert SHOULD be talking trash to fire his team up. It's part of the fun.
I expect this series to go seven games, and for the Wizards to finally beat Lebron and the Cavs. Similar to KG, I know Lebron has a lot of pressure to win this year with the Cavs. And since his contract is up in 2009 (or is it 2010?), I assume Lebron will begin testing trade waters or free agency if they don't win this year. Talk about pressure. (The pressure is also on for Eddy Jordan. If the Wizards lose this series, he may be out).
Orlando vs Toronto - The Raptors disappointed everyone this year. Whether it was injuries to Bosh or sub-par defense from the Eurotrash, the Raptors basically shat their pants. Everyone thought they would be nasty this year, but instead they played uninspired basketball and let down their awesome fans. Orlando should have no problem beating this team in 4 or 7 if Bosh decides to play. Easy pick here. I look forward to watching D-Howard dismantle the trendy Raptors in 4.
Detroit vs Philadelphia - Does anyone think Philly has a prayer here? I hate Philly and I hope they get destroyed. I also hope the Eagles lose every game next year, but a Philly loss will suffice for now.
LA Lakers vs Denver - this is going to be an excellent series with Iverson and Melo taking on Kobe and Gasol. Denver will end up losing because they can't play defense, but Iverson and Melo should make it interesting for a few games. I expect Kobe to dominate and put up 30 plus points this series. The scores from these games should be incredible: 120 plus every night. The best part about this series is that we'll get a feel for how good Kobe will be this year in the playoffs. If he doesn't get the MVP, watch-out. He will be out for blood and drop 100000 points per game just to prove everyone wrong. In fact, I hope Paul gets the MVP just so we can see Kobe go nuts with rage!
Tomorrow I will cover the remaining Western Conference match-ups....
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I won't count Philly out. They have been playing insanely well of late, and they have beaten Detroit and the Celtics fairly recently. Andre Iguodala is a serious matchup problem (unfortunatly he can't shoot, which makes him less of a matchup problem) and Andre Miller has been playing nasty.
That being said, I don't think Philly wins the series over this seasoned Detroit team. But, there have been problems with Sheed and Flip lately, and I think Philly will stretch the series out.
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