1 - Detroit in 5 8 - Orlando 2 - Cleveland in 5 7 - Washington 3 - Toronto in 7 6 - New Jersey 4 - Miami 5 - Chicago in 6 1 - Dallas in 6 8 - Golden State 2 - Phoenix 7 - Los Angeles( ) in 7 3 - San Antonio in 6 6 - Denver 4 - Houston in 6 5 - Utah
lots of Toronto doubters! even the predictions of Raps winning are coming in 6 or 7 games. 4th best record in the league since January, the best record in the East during that time. The Raps have mismatches up and down their roster with only their PG spot looking lobsided in NJ favor on defense. Raps in 5
^ I like Toronto, good team, but I'm just not sure that Kidd, with all his playoff experience, is going to lose to such a young team in the first round. Most of these kids don't have much if any playoff experience to speak of, while Kidd-Jefferson have been to the finals twice. Plus I think Vince will be extra motivated to play his old team, its not like anyone from the Raptors other than like Mo-Pete or something is going to feel the need to show Vince up because this is a totally different team than the once VC was on a few years ago.
Detroit over Orlando Clevland over Washington New Jersey over Toronto Miami over Chicago Dallas over Golden St. Los Angeles over Phoenix San Antonio over Denver Houston over Utah
first round predicitons Rockets > The Jazz Spurs > Nuggets Suns > Lakers Warriors > Mavs............yessiree Cavs > Wiz Raptors > Nets Pistons > Magic Heat > Bulls
Predictions: Rockets in 5 Spurs in 6 Mavs in 6 Lakers' series: No comment. Cavs in 4 Raptors in 6 Pistons in 4 Bulls in 7
Detroit/Orlando Cleveland/Washington New Jersey/Toronto Miami/Chicago Dallas/Golden St. L.A./Phoenix San Antonio/Denver Houston/Utah Winners Detroit in 4 Cleveland in 4 New Jersey in 5 Chicago in 7 Dallas in 5 Phoenix in 5 San Antonio in 5 Utah in 7
Detroit over Orlando in 4. Cleveland over Washington in 5. Toronto over New Jersey in 6. Chicago over Miami in 7. Dallas over Golden State in 7. Phoenix over Los Angeles in 6. San Antonio over Denver in 5. Utah over Houston in 7.
Detroit/Orlando Cleveland/Washington New Jersey/Toronto Miami/Chicago Dallas/Golden St. L.A./Phoenix San Antonio/Denver Houston/Utah Winners Detroit in 5 Cleveland in 6 Toronto in 7 Chicago in 5 Dallas in 5 Phoenix in 4 San Antonio in 6 Houston in 7
Detroit in 4 Cleveland in 4 New Jersey in 6 Chicago in 7 Dallas in 5 Phoenix in 5 San Antonio in 5 Houston in 7
Detroit over Orlando in 4. Cleveland over Washington in 5. New Jersey over Toronto in 6. Miami over Chicago in 6/7. Dallas over Golden State in 6. Phoenix over Los Angeles in 5. San Antonio over Denver in 5. Houston over Utah in 6.
<div class="quote_poster">Umair Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">7 games? I dont think this series will even last more than 6 games. Dallas is too determined to get a ring. They will murder teams like GS to get to the finals. I am predicting this series to go to as many as 5 games. Dallas is too determined to win this. They have guards like Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse that can step up, and you can't forget about Harris and Terry. Yes GS has beaten Dallas numerous times this year, but you have to realize Mavericks are a totally different team in playoffs. Regular season is over. This is playoffs time. I expect Mavs to take this series in as many as 5 games. Utah in six? I'd understand if you said 7, but I doubt Utah will take this series in six. Houston is the 5th seed and have homecourt advantage, and they are the favorites in this series. Not that it matters but if you have watched Tmac and Yao play lately then you'd know. I really think this is the year Tmac will get past first round. The guy is tired of getting knocked out of first round. He has more determination this year then ever. With Yao's dominancy in the paint , I think Houston could possibly end this in 6 games. Also, you have to realize that Houston has a much better and a deeper supporting cast then they had 2 years ago.</div> Golden State matches up extremely well with the Mavs, and they already beat them three times in the regular season. It's rare that you saw anybody beat the Mavs last season, but the same team three times? They won't go down without a fight, especially with Don Nelson going back to coach his old team and whatnot. Talk about being determined for a ring, this is the first time that Golden State is even in the playoffs since Chris Webber was a rookie 13-years ago. Dallas might be looking ahead toward their match-up with either Utah or Houston. TMac has never been past the first-round, he comes up small in these types of situations. I'm a big fan of Deron Williams, he's quickly emerging as one of my favorite players to watch these days. They'll have no answer for Yao, which is why they'll lose a game, but that series is very debatable. A lot of people have Houston as a "sleeper pick" this year. I could've easily picked that series in 7.
<div class="quote_poster">C.K. Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">TMac has never been past the first-round, he comes up small in these types of situations. </div> That's BS. In 22 playoff games since leaving Toronto, T-Mac has averaged 31.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and 6.1 apg. He's been stellar. He's averaged at least 30 ppg in each of his last four playoff series. There aren't many players in NBA history you can say that about. And McGrady has never faced a team in a playoff series with home court advantage. His team has always been the underdog.
<div class="quote_poster">durvasa Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">That's BS. In 22 playoff games since leaving Toronto, T-Mac has averaged 31.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and 6.1 apg. He's been stellar. He's averaged at least 30 ppg in each of his last four playoff series. There aren't many players in NBA history you can say that about. And McGrady has never faced a team in a playoff series with home court advantage. His team has always been the underdog.</div> Lets just hope he doesn't guarantee a series victory...
<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I agree 100%. THe 3 must-see series for me are: Miami-Chicago Phoenix-L.A. Dallas-GSW</div> Those are going to be some awesome series, I agree. The Bulls may be one of the few teams that has a shot at taking down the Heat, but it definitley will not be an easy task. The Suns/LA series should be interesting because it's a rematch from last offseason, but I would probably put Denver/San Antonio into the top three must-see series. The whole first round seems like it will be some rediculously good basketball (well maybe the Cavs/Wizards series won't be as good as it could have been because of some key injuries to the Wizards, but otherwise... who do you pick?). I could imagine a lot of upsets. It probably won't happen, but the matchups are great. Two things to realize when comparing the season stats for the Warriors to other teams or whatever standards you may have to see what team is good or not is that 1. They are an extremely hot team (especially since March 5th they have been one of the top three teams in the league; granted it has been up to the end of the season where many teams are getting lottery position or rest for the playoffs) and 2. The roster has only recently started to gel together and actually play together because of the mid-season trade and the late return of Jason Richardson from injury. The decisive factor in this series (and probably many others) is going to be the bench. The Warriors starters and the Mavs starters is pretty even. Both have strengths at the off guard and forward positions with the most compelling matchup being what happens with Harrington and Dampier at center. This series kind of seems like the old Dallas team with Nash/Finley/Dirk vs the new Dallas team with Terry/Howard/Dirk. It should be fun to see who prevails, especially since the Warriors have played very well against the Mavericks, usually by playing their best games against Dallas. As far as my predictions I'll go: West Rockets in 6 (I think they can contend for the title: TMac, Battier, Yao, inc.) Suns in 5 (Amare is back. Bynum can be an x-factor but Odom needs to show up) Nuggets in 7 (This is going to be an awesome series. Bruce Bowen is the x-factor in my opinion. I feel like rooting for AI though) Warriors in 6 (Maybe I am biased but the Warriors strengths match-up well against the Mavericks) East Cavs in 4 (definitley a finals contender from the East) Nets in 7 (I like Kidd, Vince, and Jefferson and their experience) Pistons in 5 (I like the Magic, but the Pistons are tough) Heat in 7 (Shaq, Zo, and Haslem are tough to go with Wade and others like the sharp-shooting of Jason Kapono. The Bulls have the talent and players to pull through though) Yeah, maybe I'm crazy but I don't know how you can be certain about any of the series, or at least most.
<u>East</u> 1. Pistons-Magic- 4-1 Pistons 2. Heat-Bulls- 4-3 Heat 3. Raptors-Nets- 4-2 Raptors 4. Cavaliers-Wizards- 4-1 Cavaliers <u>West</u> 1. Mavericks-Warriors- 4-2 Mavericks 2. Jazz-Rockets- 4-2 Rockets 3. Spurs-Nuggets- 4-0 Spurs 4. Suns-Lakers- 4-2 Suns
Mavericks vs. Warriors- Dallas in 4 Suns vs. LAKERS- Suns in 5 Spurs vs. Nuggets- Spurs in 5 Rockets vs. Jazz- Rockets in 7 Pistons vs. Magic- Pistons in 5 Cavs vs. Wash- Cavs in 4 Heat vs. Bulls- Heat in 6 Raptors vs. Nets- Raptors in 6 Anybody who thinks the Warriors can beat the Mavericks are stupid. The regular season means nothing compared to the playoffs
<div align="center"><u>East </u></div> Detroit over Orlando: 4-1 - The team is too inexperienced and have a sub .500 record too. Clevland over Washington: 4-0 - Injuries have killed this team's chances. Had Butler and Arenas been playing, the series would have definitely been interesting. I actually would have taken Washington. New Jersey over Toronto: 4-2 - I think Carter will be on fire for the whole series pretty much. The team's also pretty young, while the Nets have some good playoff experience. Miami over Chicago: 4-2 - I don't believe Shaq will allow his team to get out so early. Has Shaq ever lost in the first round? <div align="center"><u>West </u></div> Dallas over Golden State: 4-2 - Nice playoff run by Golden State, but at the end of the day, Dallas has close to 70 wins this season for a reason. Phoenix over Los Angeles: 4-1 - Unless Kobe averages 50 points in this season, or his team actually steps up, I don't see them beating the Suns. San Antonio over Denver: 4-0 - Denver has become more cohesive towards the end of the season, but in the midst of the Dallas/Phoenix hype, the Spurs have quietly amassed a 58-24 record. Utah over Houston: 4-2 - I've just been impressed with the Jazz this season and have a gut feeling that they will be able to beat the Rockets. Both are pretty identical in the W/L column with Houston having one more win. Still, I think Sloan will get his team to the second round.
<div class="quote_poster">MrJ Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> Utah over Houston: 4-2 - I've just been impressed with the Jazz this season and have a gut feeling that they will be able to beat the Rockets. Both are pretty identical in the W/L column with Houston having one more win. Still, I think Sloan will get his team to the second round.</div> yeah, I think so too. I think Deron Williams is going to have a great postseason
<div class="quote_poster">C.K. Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Golden State matches up extremely well with the Mavs, and they already beat them three times in the regular season.</div> Exactly my point. Dallas is a much different team in the playoffs. They are much more of a playoff team than a regular season team. Yes, Golden State has beaten Dallas 3 times this year, but there is no way I see Dallas GS series go to 7 games. Dallas will be too determined to lose to an 8th seeded team like GS. <div class="quote_poster">C.K. Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">TMac has never been past the first-round, he comes up small in these types of situations. I'm a big fan of Deron Williams, he's quickly emerging as one of my favorite players to watch these days. They'll have no answer for Yao, which is why they'll lose a game, but that series is very debatable. A lot of people have Houston as a "sleeper pick" this year. I could've easily picked that series in 7.</div> He comes up small in these situation? Did you ever watch McGrady against Dallas 2 years ago when Houston was in the playoffs? McGrady single-handedly got Houston 3 games from Dallas. Tmac has much more passion and intensity this year to win. The guy is tired of getting knocked out of first round. There is no way Tmac is going to lose this year.
