NBA Playoffs Thread

[Chuck~Taylor]

EASTERN CONFERENCE


(1) Detroit
( 8 ) Orlando

(4) Miami
(5) Chicago

(3) Toronto
(6) New Jersey

(2) Cleveland
(7) Washington

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Dallas
( 8 ) Golden State

(4) Utah
(5) Houston

(3) San Antonio
(6) Denver

(2) Phoenix
(7) LA Lakers



Very very interesting bracket. Chicago and Miami are gonna' end up going at it in the 1st round, Utah and Houston should be a good one, and Cleveland gets really lucky with an easy path to the EC finals.
UPSET ALRET:
Golden State over Dallas
Denver over San Antonio

 

[hachat11]

Come on now Chuck. GS over Dallas? It's the sexy pick and all, but that series won't be close. GS was going crazy just because it made the playoffs. Defense rules the day in the postseason, which means a quick exit for Nellie.
I wouldn't call the Cavs lucky, either. The Bulls blew a golden opportunity to get that No. 2 seed and now it's going to be rough for them to win a series.
So, does T-Mac make it out of the first round?
My quick picks: Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago (they do have home-court) and Toronto. Spurs, Suns, Mavs and Jazz in the West.

 

[Chuck~Taylor]

Come on now Chuck. GS over Dallas? It's the sexy pick and all, but that series won't be close. GS was going crazy just because it made the playoffs. Defense rules the day in the postseason, which means a quick exit for Nellie.
I wouldn't call the Cavs lucky, either. The Bulls blew a golden opportunity to get that No. 2 seed and now it's going to be rough for them to win a series.
So, does T-Mac make it out of the first round?
My quick picks: Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago (they do have home-court) and Toronto. Spurs, Suns, Mavs and Jazz in the West.

I know, I know, but you gotta keep your eye on them. The Warriors are 3-0 against Dallas this season. The past 2 games(one was in March and other in April), they blew them out 117-100 and 111-82.

 

[GB-Hack]

Houston does make it out of the first round. The Jazz have had epic struggles with teams that have a functioning 2-guard. McGrady has a big series and eliminates Utah.

 

[Pastor]

Dallas' last game against the Warriors shouldn't even have counted. Dallas didn't put anyone on the court that was worth a damn. Dirk, especially, didn't play.

The early win was definitely one that the Warriors could hang their hat on, but that won't play out well in a 7-game series.

 

[Taylee]

Come on now Chuck. GS over Dallas? It's the sexy pick and all, but that series won't be close. GS was going crazy just because it made the playoffs. Defense rules the day in the postseason, which means a quick exit for Nellie.
I wouldn't call the Cavs lucky, either. The Bulls blew a golden opportunity to get that No. 2 seed and now it's going to be rough for them to win a series.
So, does T-Mac make it out of the first round?
My quick picks: Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago (they do have home-court) and Toronto. Spurs, Suns, Mavs and Jazz in the West.

I know, I know, but you gotta keep your eye on them. The Warriors are 3-0 against Dallas this season. The past 2 games(one was in March and other in April), they blew them out 117-100 and 111-82.

Rarely do regular-season matchups such as GS-Dallas mean much in the playoffs. It's a different game and the Mavs have been there.
Tell that to Penguins fans. Pittsburgh beat Ottawa 3-1 in the season series and once the playoffs started, it's flipped.
Yes, it's jumping from NBA to NHL but the common thread is you have an inexperienced team winning the season series before learning the playoffs is a whole new level.

 

[Oz]

I know, I know, but you gotta keep your eye on them. The Warriors are 3-0 against Dallas this season. The past 2 games(one was in March and other in April), they blew them out 117-100 and 111-82.

Tell that to Penguins fans. Pittsburgh beat Ottawa 3-1 in the season series and once the playoffs started, it's flipped.

Thanks for reminding me. ::)

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Chuck, are you taking your medicine? ;D

No way Golden State takes out Dallas.

I do, however, get the feeling we'll see some Davids beating Goliath.

The two things I think are the safest bets: Houston over Utah in round 1 and Cleveland to win the East.

 

[Songbird]

EASTERN CONFERENCE


(1) Detroit
( 8 ) Orlando

(4) Miami
(5) Chicago

(3) Toronto
(6) New Jersey

(2) Cleveland
(7) Washington

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Dallas
( 8 ) Golden State

(4) Utah
(5) Houston

(3) San Antonio
(6) Denver

(2) Phoenix
(7) LA Lakers

Dallas v. Golden State: Dallas sweeps. Golden State shot its wad getting into the playoffs. Great story, but the Warriors — who will (bottles clinking) come out to play-ee-yay — are too inexperienced. Sure, they swept the Mavs in the season, but it's a new ballgame now, and Dallas will cruise into the next round.

Utah v. Houston: Crapshoot. It'll go 7 games. In picking the winner I'll allude to the above series: It's the first time since '93-94 the Warriors are in the playoffs, the year the Rockets repeated with, what I consider, one of the finest TEAMS that ever played together with the likes of Hakeem, "Crafty One" Cassell, Mario Elie and Co. That said, we'll go with Houston in a 7th game that goes down to the last shot.

San Antonio v. Denver: Interesting series. Will refs penalize the Spurs because of the Crawford-Duncan fiasco? I think so, even if a little bit. It only takes a few calls in the playoffs to give one team the advantage. A big piece of me thinks A.I. and Carmelo will flourish. Nuggets in 6.

Phoenix v. Lakers: Suns sweep, each win by double digits, and a few of them by 20 or more.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Day-tois v. Orlando: Pistons sweep. Veteran squad. In a game last week I saw them run a play that was beautifully executed. I'd never seen this particular play, so Flip, I think, has upped his coaching game. Plus, Detroit is thriving right now.

Miami v. Chicago: Good series. Bulls in 6.

Toronto v. Joisee: Great to see the dinosaurs find their identity this season, but this is a Nets team with Kidd, Vince, Jefferson -- all with years of playoff experience. Yes, they were 41-41, but postseason experience trumps youth. Jersey in 5.

Cleveland v. Washington: What should've been a good series will be a sweep without Agent Zero playing for the Bullets, err, Wizards. Bron-Bron, just like on the diving board in the commercial, takes flight to the next level.

 

[fmrsped]

Come on now Chuck. GS over Dallas? It's the sexy pick and all, but that series won't be close. GS was going crazy just because it made the playoffs. Defense rules the day in the postseason, which means a quick exit for Nellie.
<b>I wouldn't call the Cavs lucky, either. The Bulls blew a golden opportunity to get that No. 2 seed and now it's going to be rough for them to win a series.</b>
So, does T-Mac make it out of the first round?
My quick picks: Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago (they do have home-court) and Toronto. Spurs, Suns, Mavs and Jazz in the West.

I don't know what the bolded is supposed to mean, but you'd better call the Cavs lucky. The Nets bailed them out of one of the ultimate choke jobs: 8 wins in a row have them chasing the Pistons, but stumbles against the taking ****ing Celtics and the horrible Bobcats put them at 5, with the Heat and Pistons looming.

Now they have a badly depleted Wizards team they'll sweep, then the very-beatable Raps/Nets in round 2.

The Cavs are EXTREMELY lucky.

 

[hachat11]

I didn't know I bolded anything, so whatever.
Now that they are the No. 2 seed, it's a very favorable draw. It's as close to a first-round bye as you could get. But I don't know about luck. Minus a couple slip-ups, they've played well down the stretch and positioned themselves to at least have a chance for a 2 seed. The Bulls coughed it up more than anything, with losses to the Nets on Wednesday and to the Cavs at home two weeks ago. There's also a deplorable loss to Memphis in the last month. So you can play that card with anyone.
Either way, the Cavs are in a enviable position.

And GS maybe gets a game, but no more. That team probably can't spell defense, let alone play it.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Bulls in 5.

 

[thebiglead]

Against a rested Shaq and a rested Wade?

Wonder how Scotty is handling the fact he had the 2 seed locked up and now his path to the finals will be Miami and Detroit, the two best teams in the East.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Against a rested Shaq and a rested Wade?

Wonder how Scotty is handling the fact he had the 2 seed locked up and now his path to the finals will be Miami and Detroit, the two best teams in the East.

That is a compromised Wade.

 

[thebiglead]

define 'compromised'

Damn, I wish we could post video here ...

 

[Chuck~Taylor]

Come on now Chuck. GS over Dallas? It's the sexy pick and all, but that series won't be close. GS was going crazy just because it made the playoffs. Defense rules the day in the postseason, which means a quick exit for Nellie.
<b>I wouldn't call the Cavs lucky, either. The Bulls blew a golden opportunity to get that No. 2 seed and now it's going to be rough for them to win a series.</b>
So, does T-Mac make it out of the first round?
My quick picks: Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago (they do have home-court) and Toronto. Spurs, Suns, Mavs and Jazz in the West.

I don't know what the bolded is supposed to mean, but you'd better call the Cavs lucky. The Nets bailed them out of one of the ultimate choke jobs: 8 wins in a row have them chasing the Pistons, but stumbles against the taking ****ing Celtics and the horrible Bobcats put them at 5, with the Heat and Pistons looming.

Now they have a badly depleted Wizards team they'll sweep, then the very-beatable Raps/Nets in round 2.

The Cavs are EXTREMELY lucky.

Yeah, this might be too early to tell, but I think this is going to be 'Bron's easiest path to the Finals. I'm not confident in the Cavs front office. They haven't brought enough tools to help LeBron so if he's gonna pull this off, he better do it this year.

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

The worst thing that could happen to the Raptors is that Carter will actually be motivated to play them. Anyone else in the East, he pulls a no-show.

 

[Chuck~Taylor]

The worst thing that could happen to the Raptors is that Carter will actually be motivated to play them. Anyone else in the East, he pulls a no-show.

He'll show up against the Raptors, and then he'll miss the rest of the playoffs because of a sprained penis.

 

[RokSki]

Bulls-Heat is going to be a very good season. No team in the East might give MIA more trouble than CHI can, especially if they're hitting their shots and Ben Wallace is at his ferocious best.

CHI - with a rusty Wade and Payton, etc. hurting, has a solid chance at the series. If they're hitting their j's, it could happen.

- But I have to pick the Heat. I'll say 6.

- DET, although I wouldn't be stunned if ORL got even two, with Hill and Howard having monster games. Likely 4 or 5.

- Clev rolls the Wiz

- Jersey in 6. Experience.

----

- SAS in 5 or 6. You figure AI is going to blow up for a couple of games, dragging young 'Melo with him

- DAL in 5. I love what GSW is doing with their team, and Nellie knows DAL, but DAL is just too deep and too good

- HOU over UTAH in 7. This is a toss-up, depending on who plays the best. I could see this either way, but Yao is rested, T-Mac is playing extremely well. Neither team winning would surprise me.

- PHX over LAL in 5. Worst matchup for LAL, because Kobe and crew can't outscore them. I figure Kobe gets his and his teammates step up for 1 win, but a sweep wouldn't shock me. PHX is too talented and too deep, and their style plays right into LAL's weak D.

 

[Chuck~Taylor]

It's gonna' be interesting to see how the Chi-Mia games are gonna play out if some of the games come down to the wire. DWade is a great clutch player and all, but don't sleep on this Ben Gordon guy. Dude.Can.Ball.[Jim Rome]