NBA Playoff Predictions

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Rhal, Apr 28, 2012.

  1. Rhal

    Rhal Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2009
    Messages:
    12,997
    Likes Received:
    2,756
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    UPS
    Location:
    Portland
    I thought it would be fun to hear every ones opinions on who will advance and why.

    Utah-spurs: Will be very competative. If Harris continues to play like he was his all star year in New Jersey then they have a shot. The spurs are the better team but there weakness is there frontcourt. The pure size that Utah can put out is staggering with Jefferson, Millsap,FAvors,Kanter and will stretch the spurs to their limit. The Spurs have been riding their young role players and playing Duncan career lows in minutes. They delt with the Ginoblin injuries like nothing happened and kept winning. This is an old veteran team that is mad they got bounced in round 1 last year and will do everything in their power to prevent that this year
    Utah is my darkhorse pick Utah in 7

    Dal-OKC: The raining season champs. No championship team has changed there team so drasticly as that of the DAllas Mavricks. They still have a good team but its nowhere near what it was last year. They can't contain Westbrook but Marion has shown that he still is a top defender and will give Durant trouble the entire series. In the end If Harden shows no adverse effects from Ron Artests Elbow i'm picking OKC in 5

    Den-LaL: The Laker have the best matchup they could have hoped for. Denver will be relying on Young bigs to try and stop Bynum and Gasol. Everything comes down to how Denvers Farried/Mcgee/Koufos can handle the LaL bigs. I can't think of a scenario were they can Playing in Denver against an old team is were the Denvers advtantage lies. If they can take a game in LaL they will have a chance but I don't see that happening.
    LaL in 6

    LaC-MeM: The series to watch in the first round of the west. If Any series will go 7 it will be this one. MeM is on fire and has been playing at a high level this whole season. They require Marc/Randolph to carry them last year. This year they have more contributions to Gay and Conley has been playing great this year. Randolph is still getting back into shape but if he can contribute even 80% of
    what he can healthy there is no player on the clippers who can stop him or Gasol. This series is going to exploit Blakes overratedness because the clippers are going to rely on Blake/Paul t owin games and I just don't think Blake can take over a game in the way they will need if Paul is struggling.
    MeM in 6

    Phi-Chi: What has happened to philedelphia? They were one of the young gun teams in the east that 20 games ago people were talking about how competative a second round series they would give Chi/Miami. Everyone assumed Indiani/Phi would be somewhere in the 3/4/5/6 spots but now Philly has dropped and doesn't look like the team from earlier this year. This will make for competative games but it won't be a long series. Even if Rose isn't healthy Chicago still has the advantage and the series would only be extended by 1 game
    Chicago in 5

    NYK-Heat: This will be a fun series to watch. It wont go on long but the star power in it will be fun to watch. If the NYN were to win it I think they would need to play Melo at the 4 and bring Stoudamire off the bench. Having stoudamire in their when Melo needs a rest for 8 minutes a quarter were he would be the go to guy and destroy whoever the heat had to defend him. Since that isn't happening
    New York has no way of taking advantage of the Heats bench of complete role players. The Heat will come out running like they did in the first half of the series and NYN aren't going to be able to stop them.
    Heat in 5

    Ind-ORL: This was going to be an amazing series until Dwight go injured. The magic is a depleted team that was completely reliant on Howard for Both offense and defense. Howard created open looks for their 3 shooters and allowed Howard to help defend everywhere near the rim. There gameplan is not that of a playoff team without Howard at the front. Indiana on the other hand is an enigma. Why are they so good, why have they had such success vs the top teams in the league. They have the length, two up and coming players playing
    out of their mind (Paul George/Hibbert). Even with a healthy Howard i'm giving this win to Indiana. This is my pick of any team can take out Chi/Miami its these guys.
    Ind in 4

    Bos-Atl: Can the boys in green make one last push for a title before its all over? The Celtics are playing hard and their defense has been steller but they feel like an injury waiting to happen. The Hawks on the other hand have been riding Josh Smith's insane play since the all-star game. The Hawks have been a playoff team but never a contender for the last five years and I dont see a change this year. Without Horford I cant see them getting past Boston.
    Bos in 6.
     
  2. KingSpeed

    KingSpeed Veteran

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2008
    Messages:
    60,908
    Likes Received:
    21,060
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    actor
    Location:
    New York
    Spurs in 4- they're not gonna get beat in the first round two years in a row. This team is better than last year's. Utah is too inexperienced.

    Mavericks in 6- Never underestimate the heart of a champion. And the Thunder have struggled lately.

    Lakers in 7- I want to pick the Nuggets here. I joked that they'll sweep the Lakers in another thread but truthfully, I don't believe it. The Lakers are too big and MWP will be back for Game 7

    Grizzlies in 7- The Clippers needed HCA and they blew it in the last couple games of the season. They're not experienced enough to beat the hungry Grizzlies.

    Bulls in 6- the Sixers are well coached and share the ball well enough to win a couple games in this series before being eliminated

    Knicks in 7- best series of the first round- Chandler needs to get over his flu and play for this to happen. As long as he plays, the Knicks have the advantage in the middle. Melo is playing better than anyone in the league right now and LeBron is already making excuses for not winning saying that winning the title wouldn't be failure but merely a disappointment. This is a high profile series and LeBron, since 2009, has disappeared in series like this.

    Pacers in 6- the Magic will surprise people with a couple wins but Pacers are the better team and a dark horse to go all the way in the East.

    Hawks in 7- I really really want the Celtics to win this series but they're time has passed and the Hawks are playing really well lately. This is a long series and the Celtics can't win a game 7 on the road.
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2012
  3. KingSpeed

    KingSpeed Veteran

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2008
    Messages:
    60,908
    Likes Received:
    21,060
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    actor
    Location:
    New York
    Bump. Anyone else have predictions?
     

Share This Page