Eastern Conference:
(1)Cleveland Cavaliers vs (4)Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Miami Heat in seven games, somewhat redeeming Josh Smith's embarrassing missed dunk. However, the main concern moving forward for a team who proved themselves to be legitimate playoff contenders last year was the fact that their 3 losses were all blowouts. The Hawks need to find some sort of consistancy if they are going to be defending Lebron James, who has a much better team than Dwayne Wade. Atlanta needs to take full advantage of home court, much like they did the past two years, but Cleveland has more than enough to steal a game or two in the South. Cleveland wins in 6.
(2)Boston Celtics vs (3)Orlando Magic
The Celtics needed seven overtimes to defeat the young and athletic Chicago Bulls, and the only reason they won was probably because Chicago didn't have an established force in the center position to take full advantage of the void left by Kevin Garnett. Well, Orlando does have that force in the form of Dwight Howard. Turkogolu found his stroke in the final two games of the series, so you know their X-factor will be confident moving forward. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce have still shown they know how to play championship basketball, but a lack of depth on both benches hurts the Celtics more than the Magic. Orlando wins in 6.
Western Conference
(1)Los Angeles Lakers vs (5)Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets advance to the semi-finals without their superstar Tracy McGrady, which leaves the media wondering more about what T-Mac's future is with the franchise more than what the Rockets will do about the Lakers. Which pretty much sums up how much chance everyone is giving Houston in what would be pulling off one of the biggest upsets in NBA history. The Lakers manhandled the Jazz, and even the one loss was by a very slim margin, a game they could've easily stolen if Kobe hadn't decided to miss 60% of his shots. Yao Ming poses a huge threat defensively for the 3-headed monster in the middle of Gasol, Bynum, and Odom. But Kobe has a huge match-up advantage over Ron Artest, and it is doubtful even the defensive work of Shane Battier can stop the reigning MVP. Should be a close match on paper, and it will go to 6 games, but the Lakers will have control of the series the entire time. Los Angeles in 6.
(2)Denver Nuggets vs (6)Dallas Mavericks
Amazingly, the Mavericks upset the dynasty of the San Antonio Spurs, who apparantly did not know how to play basketball without Manu Ginobli. Now, the Mavericks get to face the red-hot Denver Nuggets, who know how to play better basketball without Allen Iverson. Chauncey Billups is bringing the experience, the leadership, and the all-around skill level required for a deep playoff run, all factors that the Nuggets were not getting with Iverson. Carmelo Anthony, like all his other Olympian teammates, is showing that all the skills he learned to win the gold medal is translating directly on to the court. Nene Hilario did a masterful job in shutting down Tyson Chandler, while Dirk Nowitzki found his stroke (something he had been missing since the 2006 NBA Finals loss to Miami) and did a decent job of limiting the damage that Tim Duncan did. Those two will be the key match-up, but history has shown that Dirk will choke eventually. Denver wins in 6.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment