The NBA Playoff field is set.

West
(1)LA Lakers vs (8)Utah Jazz
The Jazz have fallen apart after their short burst following Boozer's return. Maybe it's Sloans constant berating? What ever happened to AK-47? This is a walkover series, 4-1.

(2)Denver Nuggets vs (7)NO Hornets
The Hornets are a dangerous 7 seed, and the Nuggets are a 'soft' 2. When your best minutes from a big man come from the Bird Man, you are always beatable. The Hornets haven't looked like the same team from last year all year though. More trade talk regarding Chandler won't help, but in the end it'll be the supporting cast that decides this game. Peja can't do his playoff disappearing act. David West needs to score, lots, to take the weight off CP3. It'd be nice for Butler to be noticeable on the court too. I like the Nuggets still, courtesy of Chauncey 4-3.

(3) SA Spurs vs (6) Dallas Mavericks
I worship the ground Tim Duncan walks on, so no surprises here. The Mavs have all the same problems as the Spurs: aging stars, not enough depth, injuries.
Dampier is no threat to the Spurs, who can put Kurt Thomas out to match him, or Bonner to drag him away from the basket without having to worry about defense (since Dampier has no offense). The big question is whether Josh Howard can give the Spurs trouble. Everyone else the Spurs have an answer. Spurs 4-2.

(4) Portland TB vs (5) Houston Rockets
When I look at Portland's roster, it confuses me. How does this team keep winning? Roy is a beast, and despite all the negativity, Oden is developing nicely. After that it's Outlaw, Aldridge, and Pryzbilla? I mean, Steve Blake isn't even a real point guard.
The Rockets on the other hand can't keep their best players on the court for more than a couple weeks. This time it's McGrady, again. Hopefully Yao can stay healthy, and a collection of 6th men will knock off Portland 4 - 2.

East
(1) Cleveland Cavs vs (8) Detroit Pistons
The fact that the Pistons are here speaks volumes. They've got simply too much talent to be an 8 seed in a shallow East. It won't matter though, and they'll do well to get 1. 4 - 1 Cavs.

(2) Boston Celtics vs (7) Chicago Bulls
Without KG the Celtics aren't a top 5 team in the league. Fortunately, they play an abysmal Bulls squad. Noah is useless and Brad Miller can't exploit the lack of big, big men enough to carry that team. Celtics 4-2. I almost want to say 4-3, but if Pierce lights it up he's amazing.

(3) Orlando Magic vs (6) Philly 76ers
The Magic lack the consistency to beat a team like the Cavs or the Celtics with KG in a series. But, the 76ers should prove no issue, yet another 4-1 pick.

(4) Atlanta hawks vs (5) Miami Heat
D Wade is a beast, and the Hawks rely too much on Joe Johnson. Heat 4-2.
 

my prediction is that whoever wins the eventual match between the cavs and the celts will win the title

no one in the west is good enough to beat either team, not even the lakers.
 

The Lakers swept the Cavs (handing them their only real home loss), and I'm checking their record against the Celtics, who without KG aren't worth discussing.

Edit: Yeah, the Lakers swept the Celtics too.

Is that a serious post Erwin?

I mean, I know it might be the regular season, but those are headline matchups. The Cavs were dominant at home, but just good on the road.
 

yeah i was being serious, i dont think the lakers have the goods to stop lebron or the three horned beast from boston

i dont follow the cavs very well, but i know boston had all kinds of troubles with injuries during the season so maybe that's reason for the loses against the lakers.

kobe is a great player and everything, but he can't stop 3 players and LBJ is just an incredible player.

btw if it wasn't already evident, im not a huge basketball guy, so dont put too much weight on my predictions, hahaahaa
 

Lakers were also missing Bynum for a large part of the season, and he's developing into a hell of a player. The Lakers just look solid this year tho. Ariza has developed the way I thought he could, Pau's playing like less of a bitch, even Odom remembered he's built like Lebron.

I think a Cavs vs Lakers matchup would be a blast to watch (not to mention, make Stern cream his pants), so you can expect the officials to call every game to make that happen.

It's not like I'm always right, so feel free to have your own thoughts
 

Kobe is just too fucking hungry it's scary. I'd like to see a Celtics Lakers final
 

that's right, i forgot the lakers had gasol. even so, I dont see him matching up with a KG very well. shit I dont think anyone in the league matches up with that basket murderer well.
 

Alright, side rant on Kobe. This guy gets shit all the time for "shooting too much" etc.

First, if there's any single shot situation, you want the ball in his hands. This guy can hit any basket at any time. He's Jordan Jr ok?

Second, he's leading his team in assists, and he's scoring less this year than any time in like the past decade. He trusts Fisher to run the point, and the team is vastly better because of it.

I used to despise Kobe, I still hate how much shit he talks, and his too skinny legs. But I'm not a liar. He's one of the best players of all time, and I'd kill one of you to have his talent (and more importantly work ethic). Literally, I'd kill you, and I might even feel bad. But I'd be Kobe, so I'd get over it.


As for Gasol, he can't stop KG, but he doesn't have to do it alone. He's got a big man who's much better than anyone else on the Celtics to back him up, Bynum. 14pts, 8rebs, and almost 2 blocks a game. He's the brighest upcoming center behind Howard right now. I'd even take him in front of Oden right now.
 

The NBA doesn't even count this year. Celtics will make it to the Conference Finals without KG, but easily get bounced by Lebron and the Funky Bunch. If they do somehow win, they'll lose to the Lakers. Stupid injury shit, defeated before we even get the chance to defend our title.
 

Welcome to every other team that has tried to defend this decade.
 

For being such an NBA expert, I suppose it takes someone like me to inform Redcloak that the first round of the playoffs in the NBA are now best of 7 series. I know he's getting old and he's very old fashioned, so it's easy to forget these modernizations that they like to do.

Anyways, I'll admit again that I don't follow the NBA that closely, especially now that the Pistons are mostly irrelevent. However, it does seem like everything is implying a Cleveland vs Lakers final. San Antonio isn't going to be as good due to Ginobli being hurt and of course Boston isn't very likely to win it all with Garnett being out(this truly made me more sad than any negative comments about the city of Detroit).

However, here are SD's predictions that are due to fail:

Western Conference:
(1)Los Angeles over (8)Utah in 6
(2)Denver over (7)New Orleans in 6
(3)San Antonio over (6)Dallas in 7
(5)Houston over (4)Portland in 5

(1)Los Angeles over (5)Houston in 5
(2)Denver over (3)San Antonio in 7

(1)Los Angeles over (2)Denver in 6

Eastern Conference:
(1)Cleveland over (8)Detroit in 6
(2)Boston over (7)Chicago in 6
(3)Orlando over (6)Philadelphia in 5
(5)Miami over (4)Atlanta in 6

(1)Cleveland over (5)Miami in 6
(2)Boston over (3)Orlando in 6

(1)Cleveland over (2)Boston in 5

Cavaliers win NBA Championship in 7 Games over the LA Lakers. Sorry that I can't be more creative.

Teams I want to see do well: Portland, Denver and Detroit obviously
Teams I want to see fail: Boston, LA Lakers
-SpaceDominator
 

Anyone got opinions on possible "upsets" (any lower seed beating any higher seed first round)?

Miami could definetly beat Atlanta and Houston will have a shot at Portland, as SD said. I think the Bulls could give Boston a run for their money as well; even Orlando in the next round. In the West, I think you could argue that every match up is possibly an upset (even Jazz-Lakers).

It's gonna be an interesting post-season.
 

Well to be honest with you ChaosSmurf, when it comes to games like 4v5, I don't really view them as upsets. I think the most likely upset would be the one that Redcloak mentioned about New Orleans beating Denver. I think the Bulls are still a year or two away from being more relevent.

I would also like to just throw out the slim idea that the Pistons are still a talented enough team that could give Cleveland some trouble. They still have a majority of their core together from their 6 straight conference championships. I personally don't envision it happening much more than 2 wins for Detroit, but Cleveland better not sleep on the Stones either.

I think the first round in the East could potentially be really boring.
 

I agree with you on 4v5, hence inverted commas on upsets. I'd say the teams in both conferences have been a lot closer than usual, certainly than they were last year - hence the possibility of upsets.

Your comment about Pistons and Cavs is an interesting one - I think if the Cavs are pushed to (say) 7 games on that, it could really demoralise them. But if they managed to sweep them it could give them a lot of confidence.
 

Damn NBA and its damn crab dribbling. Who can keep up with it all?

The Bulls have issues SD, and that's primarily circling around the fact that they think Noah can be a real NBA big-man. He can't. They'd be better off ditching him entirely for Brad Miller and going fishing again. The scary part about that team is that their best play was coming from Derrick Rose, John Salmons, and Brad Miller. These guys are all new this year. Rose is fine, but how can cast-offs from one of the worst teams in the league become your higher scoring players? I know Deng is out but jesus they're pathetic. They need to pull a Cavalier-like fix on those middle of the road bums they've got lining the bench and get some role players in their actual place.

Sure, the Pistons have the same core, minus Billups, but they've just been lifeless. Sheed hasn't seen the inside of the paint in about 2 months, and the Cavs are just too crisp for them. If they had a game against Atlanta they might be able to put it together, but I think they'll just be deconstructed by the Cavs.
 

Pretty much this. I can't stand Lebron though, so watching the Cavaliers get stomped by the Lakers will be an acceptable consolation. The Bulls suck so I agree that the C's are going to get by them pretty easily. I'm an Ohio State fan so I have no love lost for Joakim Noah and I'll enjoy seeing them lose.

I love the people who have come out of the woodwork all of a sudden now that Garnett is hurt and say that the Celtics have been overrated/underperforming/whatever else all along. Yes, I know they're screwed for this year. But if Kobe Bryant or Lebron James broke their leg in a car crash tomorrow, would the Lakers/Cavaliers be seen as overrated when they get swept out by an 8 seed?
 

On a side note, if you think Kevin Garnett is as good (or important to his team) as Kobe or Lebron, you're delusional.

I think most of the Celtics comments this year surrounded the fact that teams were better built to match up with them. The teams they faced late in the playoffs last year didn't have a big man who could do anything other than let KG shoot turnaround jumpers. This year, Howard's game (and the rest of his team) made that an interesting matchup. Cleveland hadn't really added someone who could stop KG, but the rest of the team was elevated to such a level that it'd be a game. The Lakers having a healthy Bynum minimizes the fact that Pau Gasol played like a bitch last year (truly his whole career he has been, but I'll give him credit, he's done less of that this year).

The point is far removed now though. The Celtics need to go into the offseason and make a couple more moves, get them the bench role players they need. So often people say "Eddie House can score", and he can. He's a perfectly suitable backup PG. However, his game is the complete opposite of Rondo. That's a tough mental change for the whole team when one goes out and the other comes in. I think they hoped Starbury might be able to fill the role, but as everyone expected he's failed. They need to ditch Big Baby and Perkins and get them a real big man to go with Powe, who's developed into a hell of a player this year. I hate Perkins. He's slow, foul prone, makes too many turnovers, and that scowl is stupid. If Powe had Perkins body size, they wouldn't even bother with him.
 

Kobe Bryant is a bitch to his teammates throughout games, even now that the Lakers are very good. As for being one of the best players of all-time, he's easily top 20 and very possibly top 15.
 

My quick predictions before I go to work:

Cavs over Pistons in 5
Celtics over Bulls in 5
Magic over 76ers in 4
Heat over Hawks in 7

Cavs over Heat in 5
Magic over Celtics in 7

Cavs over Magic in 6

Lakers over Jazz in 4
Nuggets over Hornets in 5
Mavs over Spurs in 6
Trail Blazers over Rockets in 6

Lakers over Trail Blazers in 5
Nuggets over Mavs in 7

Lakers over Nuggets in 5

Lakers over Cavs in 7

I hope the Cavs win it all, but I think the Lakers are too good this year.
 

Spurs and Celtics were both disappointments. The Mavs bench was lights out and Howard did his part. Ray Allen played like shit.

There, I summarized Saturday.
 

Called it.

^ My summary.
 

Andre Iguodala is the most badass player in the NBA.
 

You're right of course and it wasn't my intent to make that kind of a comparison, you could probably take KG and Ray Allen together and you might be close to one of those two. But the fact of the matter is that Garnett missing makes a big difference, probably more psychologically than anything. I still think they'll beat the Bulls, because there's no way Rose is going to put up 36 again, but it'll be a fast bow-out after that.

Didn't see Game 1 (no TV at school) but from the sounds of the recap I didn't miss anything.
 

No doubt. If Ray Allen plays like that for the rest of the series, even the Bulls might beat them. They need Allen to play well more than they need points from Rondo. You're right about Rose too, that's just too good for him at this point, there's no way he can maintain it. I wouldn't be surprised if he keeps putting up big numbers tho, he was doing whatever he wanted to that Celtics de.

I can't believe the Hawks trashed the Heat quite like that, but that team is 100% reliant on DWade scoring 30+. Didn't see any of it, don't really care about those teams.

Edit:
Ben Gordon is lighting it up, which is something he does roughly every 4 games. Can't believe they're up late again tho.
 

Mr. Deus Ex Machina decided to show up, at exactly the right time.
 

Gordon had a hell of a game, but Rose gets held to like 10 points. Must have changed something, great finish.