NBA Playoffs Thread

[MisterCreosote]

Hope this one goes a little better than the regular season thread, but playoffs start tomorrow:

Chicago-Indiana
Miami-Philadelphia
Boston-New York
Orlando-Atlanta

San Antonio-Memphis
Los Angeles-New Orleans
Dallas-Portland
Oklahoma City-Denver

Not a particularly compelling first round, if you ask me, but my team (Sixers) is technically still alive, so I'm happy even if they get blown out by the Heat. I like the Blazers and Knicks as upset picks.

I said it at the beginning of the season, and I still don't think Miami makes it out of the East. If the Sixers can't make the Finals, I'd love to see Chicago and the Lakers.

Thoughts?

 

[JackReacher]

Everyone is on Portland and New York. Although it's tempting, I see Dallas and Boston winning.

I couldn't be more cised for the playoffs. Could be epic. Especially in the second round, when you could have Boston-Miami, San Antonio-OKC and L.A.-Dallas.

Being a Lakers fan, I'm obviously pulling for them, but only with about 35 percent confidence that they can actually win. Too many good teams.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

If the Knicks win more than one game in this series, I will be surprised. I also like Oklahoma City a lot.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Only lower-seed I see with any chance in the first round is Atlanta, and that's hardly a huge upset.

The second round, though - hold on to your hats! That's when it's really gonna get fun.

 

[JackReacher]

Atlanta's going to get swept.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Could see Memphis giving San Antonio a real struggle.

Orlando will knock of the Hawks in 3. After three 30 point blowout losses, the citizens of Atlanta will barricade the arena and refuse to let the players in for any more carnage.

And the only thing in the way of a Heat/Lakers final is OKC.

 

[JackReacher]

Is the first round best of 5 or best of 7?

 

[RickStain]

And the only thing in the way of a Heat/Lakers final is OKC.

Chicago would like a word.

And they'd like you to come to their home court to have it. That's going to make a bit of a difference.

 

[JackReacher]

Everybody's on OKC, but have they even won a road playoff game yet? I don't believe they have. Quite a jump from 0 road wins to NBA Finals. Or even Western Finals.

Sure are fun to watch, though.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

And the only thing in the way of a Heat/Lakers final is OKC.

Chicago would like a word.

Yea, I know, but I've been on the Heat back since they were getting smacked around by all the top contenders and people were burying them, and I'm not about to change my tune now. Even if it turns out wrong. And incurs the wrath of the Windy City SportsJournalists.commers (which I fully expect it will--very shortly).

With that said, despite how good the Bulls are and how well they've played in calendar year 2011, I see them coming up short against Miami in the conference final matchup.

 

[BrianGriffin]

I used to complain that the playoffs and the NBA season in general went too long, but now that I've almost completely tuned out MLB, I sort of welcome this thing dragging on into June. No clear-cut favorite makes it more entertaining for me, but I understand why it would be less compelling for a general audience.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I'm an OKC fan as much as I'm a fan of any NBA team, but I just don't see them getting through the other top 3 teams in the West. Most likely case for them is a competitive series loss in the second round. Next year they could be the top seed in the conference though.

Just because I think it'll be fun to see how I fare:

Chicago-Indiana - Bulls in 5
Miami-Philadelphia - Heat in 4
Boston-New York - Celtics in 6
Orlando-Atlanta - Magic in 6

San Antonio-Memphis - Spurs in 5
Los Angeles-New Orleans - Lakers in 5
Dallas-Portland - Mavs in 4
Oklahoma City-Denver - OKC in 5

Rd. 2
Chicago-Orlando - Bulls in 6
Celtics-Heat - Celtics in 7

Thunder-Spurs - Spurs in 7
Lakers-Mavs - Lakers in 6

Rd. 3
Bulls-Celtics - Celtics in 6
Lakers-Spurs - Spurs in 6

Championship
Spurs-Celtics - Spurs in 6

 

[Blitz]

I've been to several Spurs games during the season and have gone-in with a friend to buy some tickets to all rounds of the playoffs.
I'm not a native Texan but have lived in SA for over 3 years and could sort of see the writing on the wall early with this team. It's their year to win the West and it's not the Lakers year. Too much internal problematic stuff dogging the LA team.
But now with Phil Jackson being fined and Kobe bashing gays, a lot more people are looking at The Lakers and (finally) allowing themselves to give San Antonio some credit.
So be it ... the bandwagon is plenty big.


Memphis ... might win one game.
The other series ... simply part of the procession to the Finals.

OKC ... not quite ready.
Denver ... grossly exaggerated with regard to ability to win in the playoffs.
Lakers ... did it to themselves. (Who's taking over out there next year? Brian Shaw?)
Dallas ... hasn't ever gotten it done at crunch time.
Portland ... up-and-coming for sure but not this year and not in a 7-game series with SA.

Enjoy it, Charles Barkley! This one's for you, *****.

 

[Cosmo]

It's amazing how little I care about the NBA playoffs when I don't have a dog in the fight ... since the Suns, playing with 13 small forwards, a center and Steve Nash couldn't make the playoffs.

I'll hitch my rooting wagon to Oklahoma City, though, just to be cliche.

 

[mb]

I realize the Pacers might not be the best defensive team in the league, but HOLY **** did Derrick Rose just own that last minute or so.

 

[Bob Cook]

The Pacers have been taking dumps in the fourth quarter all year. But the difference was that the Bulls had Rose, and the Pacers didn't. Rose was making plays no mere mortal could make.

Also in the playoffs, every team needs a badass who can tell everyone to get out of the way so he can take over. Rose is that, big-time. Danny Granger -- not so much.

Still, I have to take bad every bad thing I said about Tyler Hansbrough. He had a very good game, and is probably the only Pacer at this moment with the will to get bigger with the stakes.

 

[RickStain]

That was about the most predictable ending in the world. Pacers hit a million shots all game, Bulls just take over when they needed to. 76ers are about to do the same thing against the Heat.

 

[Webster]

I never want to live in a city where everyone wears the same color to a game.

 

[Matt Stephens]

Thunder all the way, baby! Looking forward to tomorrow. My girlfriend (a Colorado native / Rockies fan) and I are going to the Cubs/Rockies game (I'm a Cubs fan).

After, we're heading to a bar to watch the OKC / Denver game (I'm a Tulsa-born Thunder fan).

Nothing like fighting with your partner with pretty much every pro sport you watch. A house divided, my friends.

 

[mb]

The most interesting Finals would be Thunder-Bulls.

Exciting, maybe? Interesting? Not by a longshot.

Most interesting would be Lakers-Heat. And I'm not sure there's anything close to that.