The Playoff Thread

[BravesRule22]

Lets keep all the playoff talk into this 1 thread.

You can give out your prediction if you like, Question calls, question coaching moves whatever you want......

I have been really pumped for these playoffs, I think some of these series have a chance to be really great.

In the East I dont really see anyone beating the Pistons, I think the Heat @ a 100 % would have a chance but they are far from it, so I think Detriot has a cake walk to the finals.

In the West is really wide open, IMO, Everyone is on Dallas' back but I think they will slip up along the way possibly even to GS who has owned them to past 2 years. So with that said im going with an upset pick and the Houston Rockets win the West.

So I have a Rockets vs Pistons NBA finals

[BravesRule22]

Series Watch :

East

Det 3 - Orlando 0

Cavs 2 - Wiz 0

Nets 3 - Raps 1

Bulls 3 - Heat 0

West

GS 1 - Dallas 1

Denver 2 - Spurs 1

Houston 2 - Jazz 1

Suns 2 - Kobe 1

[Zen653]

I am really impressed with the Oakland fans. They are going wild for their Golden State Warriors. The fans are all dressed in yellow shirts, they're standing on their feet with 7 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. The electricity is palpable. It's almost like a Red Sox/Yankees playoff game. I'd love to see the Warriors pull off the upset and win this series. At first, I thought they only had a chance to win one game. Now I feel they could even pull off the inconceivable. Bill Walton thinks that the Warriors are just feeding off the incredible crowd. I think they deserve some more credit. They've looked legitimately good in the playoffs. The question is whether they can sustain this pace for the rest of the game, and the rest of the series.

[BravesRule22]

I agree about GS

Something else that has shocked me is the ease that the Bulls will put away the Heat. I picked the Bulls to beat them but I didnt think it would be the cake walk that it appears to be

[Zen653]

The Bulls-Heat series has surprised me as well. I thought Shaq and Wade would be more than enough to beat a Chicago team that doesn't really have any star players. The Bulls play with a team dynamic that we don't normally see in an otherwise star-driven NBA. The Detroit Pistons of a couple years ago had that too.

The East is so wide open this year, you could make an argument for almost anyone to reach the NBA Finals. One team to look out for could be the New Jersey Nets. They're a veteran team with a fair amount of playoff experience. The ageless Jason Kidd was phenomenal in his last game. Didn't he have something like 16 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists? He's only the third player in NBA history to ever do that in a playoff game. Throw in Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson and a solid bench, and I think the Nets could surprise some people and go on a run here.

[BravesRule22]

The Warriors are on the verge of knocking out most experts lock for the ring....

I am not shocked by this @ all, the Warriors and Nelson match up perfect with the Mavs, they are not going to change and try to play the Mavs style. Nelson is going small and running and gunning all day and he is making the Mavs adjust.

East

Det 4 - Orlando 0

Cavs 3 - Wiz 0

Nets 3 - Raps 1

Bulls 4 - Heat 0

West

GS 3 - Dallas 1

Denver 1 - Spurs 2

Houston 2 - Jazz 2

Suns 3 - Kobe 1

[Zen653]

I'm really upset at the Warriors. They were up 112-103 with about 3 minutes left in the game and totally choked. They should have taken time off the clock instead of continuing to push the ball up dangerously. Very poor execution down the stretch by Golden State. It's really a shame, because the Warriors played great for most of the third and fourth quarters. Golden State was outscored 15-0 at the end. Totally unacceptable. I think Dallas will win the series now. Dirk Nowitzki probably feels energized and he'll show the league why he's the MVP. This is a tough blow to the Warriors and I'm not sure they can handle this kind of adversity.

[BravesRule22]

When GS went on that 30-11 or w/e it was I thought there was NO WAY they lose that game but give the Mavs credit they battled back and kept themselves in this series.

Now, I still dont think Dallas is going to win this series because GS is a GREAT home team and DOES NOT lose at home, so I fully expect them to win game 6

UPDATE

East

Det 4 - Orlando 0

Cavs 4 - Wiz 0

Nets 3 - Raps 2

Bulls 4 - Heat 0

West

GS 4- Dallas 2

Denver 1 - Spurs 4

Houston 3 - Jazz 3

Suns 4 - Kobe 1

[BravesRule22]

WOW

GS just came out in the 3rd and absolutely OWNED the Maves, Steven Jackson went on a tear from 3 and at one point was 7-7 from downtown. GS was up 20 for most of the 4th and just KILLED the Mavs.

This was one of the WORST performances by a #1 seed, maybe ever........

I am very happy for GS and Don Nelson though, he got a raw deal from Cuban when he was canned by the Mavs so I was very glad to see Nelson get back at Cuban.

And no matter who wins Game 7 whether its Houston or Utah, the Warriors have a very real chance to beat either of them and move into the Western Conference finals.

[Zen653]

I'm really happy to see the Warriors win this series. I had my doubts after they choked in Game 5 but they really showed up to play in the 3rd quarter and just blew the Mavs out of their building. Where was Dirk Nowitzki? Did he forget that this was an elimination game? He played abysmally. I know Cuban said that Dirk will continue to be the centerpiece of his team but I think it might be a good idea for Dallas to shake things up a little. The supporting cast of Howard, Terry and Stackhouse is fine, I just wonder if Nowitzki is the right guy to build around. He's a great regular season player. I just don't know if he has the killer instinct to excel in the playoffs. He's been hit or miss - quite literally.

What most impresses me about the Warriors is their team play and resilience. They're very cohesive and play an attractive brand of basketball. I just wonder whether they can carry it over into the next round. At some point, you have to think they'll run out of pixie dust. There's no way that Baron Davis will continue to shoot threes at a 50% clip. The whole Warriors team seems to be able to hit shots from anywhere on the court. I'll be rooting for them to get past Utah/Houston as well.

[BravesRule22]

Dirks problem is the Mavs need him to be a force on the inside and thats not his game. The Mavs have enough people that can play from the outside they do not have dominate force inside. Now can Dirk become that type of player ? I highly doubt it

I dont know where the Mavs go from here, 1 thing is for sure that there will be ALOT of changes

East

Det 4 - Orlando 0

Cavs 4 - Wiz 0

Nets 4 - Raps 2

Bulls 4 - Heat 0

West

GS 4- Dallas 2

Denver 1 - Spurs 4

Houston 3 - Jazz 3

Suns 4 - Kobe 1

[dlb]

I haven't followed the NBA very seriously for a couple of years. I don't even think I watched one full game of last season's finals and if I've watched one full game this year, I don't remember it.

But now that we're getting to the potentially interesting part of the season, I'm wondering what you guys think will be the most entertaining of the upcoming series.

Here's what I see with my thoroughly untrained eyes:

Pistons - Bulls: Should be the premier matchup this round, but the score in game 1 makes me think maybe not. OTOH, game 1 blowouts are meaningless. I remember great Lakers/Celtics tilts in which one team won by dozens in a game one or two and then either struggled to win in 7 or lost the series.

Cavs - Nets: I've watched parts of games from both of these teams this year, and this strikes me as the "everything that's wrong with the NBA" series. B-list stars vs. the current next MJ in a sloppy "pimp the player" style. Everything worth watching will be on SportsCenter.

Suns - Spurs: Could be a great series, or it could be the next piece of evidence the Duncan's career is in its final years. Are the Suns any good this year?

Jazz - Warriors: The Cinderella catfight. Someone has to win this thing and earn the right to be eliminated in the next round, but does it really matter who does? Will we see worthwhile basketball in the process?

[BravesRule22]

Pistons - Bulls: Should be the premier matchup this round, but the score in game 1 makes me think maybe not. OTOH, game 1 blowouts are meaningless. I remember great Lakers/Celtics tilts in which one team won by dozens in a game one or two and then either struggled to win in 7 or lost the series.

It SHOULD be a great matchup going off their records but the Bulls rely too much on their outside shooting and the Pistons are probably the best defensive team in the NBA so as you saw in game one the Pistons D will give the Bulls fits. Pistons should take this series in 6 MAX.

Cavs - Nets: I've watched parts of games from both of these teams this year, and this strikes me as the "everything that's wrong with the NBA" series. B-list stars vs. the current next MJ in a sloppy "pimp the player" style. Everything worth watching will be on SportsCenter.

Eh, I dont really get where you are coming from with the B List stuff with the Nets. They have 2 future HOF'ers in Vince and Kidd on their team who are both top 15 players in the league. Kidd is the 2nd BEST PG in the NBA AT WORST behind Nash and Vince has the talent to be the best NBA player in the game. But thats besides the point, as for the series I just think the Nets dont match up well with the Cavs, they have no1 to matchup with Bron. They have no1 that body up big Z. Were as Larry Hughes is 1 of the better denfensive PGs in the league so he should hold Kidd in check and Bron on Vince will be interesting. Cavs should take this one with realitive ease.

Suns - Spurs: Could be a great series, or it could be the next piece of evidence the Duncan's career is in its final years. Are the Suns any good this year?

This is going to be a GREAT series, this will be what the Mavs / Spurs series was last year and that was an epic. I really cant wait for this series, The teams matchup fairly well in terms of personale. The are complete opposites though because the Suns are run and gun were as the Spurs are the protype half court team. I would be stunned if this series doesnt go 7, its a lock for 6, IMO and I see the Spurs prevailing in the end.

Jazz - Warriors: The Cinderella catfight. Someone has to win this thing and earn the right to be eliminated in the next round, but does it really matter who does? Will we see worthwhile basketball in the process?

If you like scoring then you will love this series, both teams can drop 110 with ease on anyone. While it isnt the sexy matchup this will be a good one, I just think the Warriors have too much depth and too much scoring for the Jazz to stop them. If the Jazz are going to win this series they need Okur to have a HUGE series, I mean like avg. 25 and 11 for the series type of numbers. Ill take the Warriors in 6 though

[dlb]

Thanks, BR.

Eh, I dont really get where you are coming from with the B List stuff with the Nets.

As I suggested, ignorance mostly. Being a Tar Heel, I'll pull for the Nets; but I don't think Vince has ever demonstrated that he's a complete player.

[BravesRule22]

Oh ok my bad, wasnt attacking you or anything.

I mean Richard Jefferson is a B level guy but Kidd even though hes past his prime is still an elite player in the NBA. And Carter is just great when he wants to be, just a matter of being consistant