Playoffs other than Atlanta

evildallas · Post #1 » by **evildallas** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:06 am

The matchups are set

LA (1) vs. Utah (8)
Looks like a blowout series, probably a sweep. LA in 4.
Portland (4) vs. Houston (5)
Houston lost home court on the last day of the season, ouch. Things don't look good for them to finally win a series. Portland is hot and the only team that looks like a serious threat to the Lakers out west. Portland in 6.

Denver (2) vs. New Orleans (7)
Interesting match up. Billups has not been stellar the last couple of playoffs, but I can't think that the Hornets supporting cast is enough for the upset. Denver in 6.
San Antonio (3) vs. Dallas (6)
Hard call on this one with San Antonio not at full strength. They seem to still have enough to get it done. Dallas just doesn't seem capable of winning 4 games against a quality opponent. San Antonio in 7.

Cleveland (1) vs. Detroit (8)
Philly needed overtime to beat the Cleveland backups by 1 in a game they needed to win. Detroit's not as good as Philly. A.I. is on the playoff roster, which really confuses me. I can't see Cleveland even slowing down a bit against the Pistons. Cleveland in 4.

Boston (2) vs. Chicago (7)
Boston has enough talent to win the series with or without KG being healthy. Chicago strikes me as just happy to be there, but I think they win a couple at home in the series on athleticism alone. Boston in 6.
Orlando (3) vs. Philadelphia (6)
Wow the 2 Eastern playoff teams that are playing the shakiest the last 10 days face off against each other. Orlando should win, but the injury to Hedo is a concern. Philly showed how far they are from the top against Cleveland's bench. Because of that I'm taking Orlando in 7.

What say the rest of you about round 1?

Post #2 » by **HMFFL** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 7:07 am

I'm going to look things over and post mine Saturday or Sunday morning.

Doc Rivers is still not sure Kevin Garnett is going to play in the opening game of the playoffs, when the Celtics meet the Bulls.
"I think so," said Rivers, before pausing briefly and adding, "I don’t know, honestly." Garnett is out with a knee injury and it looks like he may need some kind of surgery once the Celtics' postseason ends.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/bask ... 1&srvc=rss

HoopsGuru25 · Post #3 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 7:22 am

I don't think this Garnett injury is being covered enough. He came back and played a few games and reportedly had a set back. They said he would be out until their game against Charlotte. Then we heard reports that he would come back the last week for the last 3 games and now it turns out he was shut down for the rest of the regular season. This feels similar to the Manu injury this year and the Andrew Bynum and Shawn Merriman injuries last year. I could be wrong but my gut feeling(for a week or two now)is that they are going to bring him back in the playoffs just to see how he responds for a couple of games and then announce that he's going to be out for like 6-8 weeks or just shut down completely.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #4 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:38 pm

Score one for me.

In an interview this morning on Boston sports radio station WEEI, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said it was likely that Kevin Garnett would not be ready to play at all in the playoffs. "After today there's no way he can play," said Rivers, who left open the possibility his star could return at some point in the postseason but was not optimistic.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... it:celtics

evildallas · Post #5 » by **evildallas** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:43 pm

Yes, but in my prediction, I said I felt Boston would beat Chicago even without Garnett. Round 2 is a different matter.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #6 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:41 pm

evildallas wrote:Yes, but in my prediction, I said I felt Boston would beat Chicago even without Garnett. Round 2 is a different matter.

I know...I still think the odds of the Bulls winning in Boston are almost zero given their track record on the road. I just thought it was interesting that no one(before this morning)in the media made a big deal about this Garnett injury. I've been suspecting that he would be out for the season ever since they said he wouldn't play until game one. Wade in 2007 was able to come back to tune up before the playoffs when his initial diagnosis was much worse than Garnett's. Same for Marvin and Andrew Bynum this year. 2 weeks ago Ainge said Garnett would play if the playoffs had started then and that they were being cautious. It seems like the Celtics have been just lying to the press about the severity of the injury and holding out hope that KG would somehow be ready for the playoffs before announcing they were shutting him down.

As for the playoff picks I'm going

LA in 5.

Portland in 7-Portland is a team that I can't see winning on the road in the playoffs but they have a huge homecourt advantage.

Spurs in 7

Denver in 6

Cavs in 4-Pistons strike me as a team who will mail it in once they go down 2-0.

Celtics in 5

Orlando in 6-Don't know how to predict this series because both teams played like crap down the stretch.

Skyhawk1 · Post #7 » by **Skyhawk1** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 7:33 pm

Let me pick the winners:

1. Cavs 4 x 1 Pistons ( Pistons glorious days are gone)

2. Boston 4 X 2 Chicago ( The Bulls have some depth, the celtics have experience and know how to win)

3. Magic 4 x 0 76ers ( The Magic are way better)

4. Hawks 4 x 2 Heat ( I'm a homer all day long) GO HAWKS!

West

1. Lakers 4 x 0 Jazz ( If they blow this team up after they get swept by the Lakers, I want the Hawks to get M. Harping or/and M. Okur)

2. Nuggets 4 X 3 Hornets ( Both teams are overrated, Hornets got no depth though)

3. Mavs 4 x 2 Spurs ( It's about time for Spurs fans do something else come May)

4. Rockets 4 x 2 Blazers ( Artest is a beast, Blazers have some depth, so have the Rocktes)

JoshB914 · Post #8 » by **JoshB914** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:31 pm

Cavs 4-0 Pistons: I think at least a couple of 20+ point blowouts in this one. Detroit looked like they just wanted the season to end over the last few months.

Boston 4-3 Chicago: I can't wait to watch D Rose in the postseason. I'm looking for him to have a couple of huge games and show everyone what a great player he's gonna be.

Magic 4-2 Phili: A lot of it depends on how healthy T. Young is, he really keys the offense for the Sixers. The Magic have to feel a lot better about their chances of getting to the ECF with KG likely out.

Hawks 4-2 Heat: Good matchup for our guys and we don't lose at home. I fully expect D Wade to snag those two wins for Miami all by himself.

Lakers 4-1 Jazz: The Jazz make us look good on the road. How can you be that good and that deep and not be able to beat ANYONE away from Salt Lake?

Hornets 4-3 Nuggets- CP3 v. Billups is going to be fun. A lot will depend on how much Chandler can contribute for NOH.

Spurs 4-3 Mavs: Good matchup for SAS. I think I would have picked them to lose a series against pretty much anyone else. Duncan is still a good player but he is not the superstar he once was and is hurting, and Ginobli being out doesn't help matters.

Blazers 4-1 Rockets: I love Portland. They are talented and deep, well-coached, and have their superstar in Brandon Roy. All they need is a solid PG to bring things together and I think they will win multiple titles with that core. Oh yeah, and the Rose Garden is going to be going absolutely bonkers, that is a great basketball town and they are starved for postseason basketball.

evildallas · Post #9 » by **evildallas** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:17 pm

You notice how no one is talking about Lorenzen Wright being injured? How will the Cavs deal with that?

Post #10 » by **HMFFL** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:08 am

Cavs - 4
Orlando - 5
Boston - 6
LA - 4
Portland - 7
Denver - 7
Dallas - 7

evildallas · Post #11 » by **evildallas** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:00 pm

Interesting predictions from all. The games have started with Chicago playing with no fear for the first 44 minutes in Boston. It's crunch time now and Boston has stepped it up to take the lead. We'll see what transpires the last 2 minutes. If Chicago steals game 1 the whole tone of the series might change.

Rose has been amazing.

evildallas · Post #12 » by **evildallas** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:18 pm

Noah fouls Pierce up by 1 with 2.6 seconds left and Pierce only makes 1 to tie. Overtime. Chicago dodged a bullet there as that was a silly foul to commit.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #13 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:21 pm

Do people still think Joe choked during that game vs Boston? Even the best players make mistakes down the stretch.

Also...this is going to be a huge loss for the Bulls if they lose. They had 2 dumb fouls on Pierce jumpshots and that blocking foul on Rondo was bad too. They also gave up the offensive rebound that led to Rondo's basket.. Del Negro also had no timeouts left which is the sign of bad late game coaching. It almost feels like I want them to win on Boston's court to finish off what we had a chance to do last year.

evildallas · Post #14 » by **evildallas** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:37 pm

Rose fouls out with 10 seconds to go in OT (maybe OT 1). Ouch. 50 min, 36 pts, 11 assts, 4 rebs, 5 TOs Great playoff debut tied the all-time high debut by Abdul-Jabbar (shouldn't that actually be Alcindor since it was pre-name change?).

Wow, no one touched the ball and Pierce tossed it out of bounds. They give it to Boston. I'm going to write that off to one of those we didn't call a touch foul, so we'll give you the out of bounds call.

Ray Allen missed the final shot (bad afternoon for Ray) and Chicago wins. Great start to the playoffs. Great win by the Bulls. I didn't expect it. Good luck with the rest of the series.

Adobozz · Post #15 » by **Adobozz** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:41 pm

That just made my day... I still remember Paulina making fun of JJ when he missed a ft in a regular season game... U suck Paulina!

HoopsGuru25 · Post #16 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:44 pm

That Pierce layup shows why I don't like NBA officiating. No one touched him or the ball but they still give the balls to the Celtics.

Man...having a point guard who can get to the basket at will sure does help in the playoffs. Look at Paul,Wade,and Deron's 1st playoff series and it looks like Rose will be right there with them. Rondo wasn't that bad either. At what point will the new trend(before it was 7 footers)just be to draft athletic point guards? I hope Sund was watching that game.

JoshB914 · Post #17 » by **JoshB914** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:18 pm

Cavs having no trouble with Detroit. Can't we end this series already and just send the Pistons home? It's not like they want to be here anyway.

What a performance from Rose earlier today. I truly believe he will be mentioned in the same breath as CP3/Deron in a couple of seasons when discussing the best PG's.

evildallas · Post #18 » by **evildallas** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 3:26 am

Dallas looked better than I expected. Could it be they finally got over that long post-season hangover?

evildallas · Post #19 » by **evildallas** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 4:23 am

It's hard watching an ESPN telecast of a Houston game. I say that because of the broadcast crew and their analysis of the Rockets.

Point #1) Stop talking about how they've overcome Tracy McGrady being out. How many games do they have to win without him to demonstrate that no matter how good of a player he is, that they as a team are better without him? There will be an occasional situation where they will wish they had the guy out there who they could just give the ball to and watch like they did with McGrady, but there will be more games where they just win outright because he was never on the floor.

Point #2) They chose to trade Alston away because they knew what they had in Aaron Brooks and what they were getting in Kyle Lowry. They didn't lose Alston and it was a coaching miracle overcoming his loss. Again a team can play better by removing someone if it alters the way they play or gives more court time to someone who is ready for it.

Post #20 » by **HMFFL** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:15 am

evildallas wrote:Dallas looked better than I expected. Could it be they finally got over that long post-season hangover?

Rick coached a hell of a game tonight and made the right adjustments. The first was brutal and it was a team effort by Dallas.

evildallas wrote:It's hard watching an ESPN telecast of a Houston game. I say that because of the broadcast crew and their analysis of the Rockets.

I love how she mentions how she hopes Shane Battier does great things after he retires. Shane already gives his time and money to help others. They killed my interest for this game and I was unable to watch most of the second half. It had nothing to do with the score because I always enjoy watching the coaching side of things even during a blowout. Next time I will just mute it.