The 2010 NBA Playoffs

Magic over the Mavs in 7.

The Magic really do look focused right now. They've won nine out of their last ten, six in a row, and have been on fire since the All-Star break. And if they make it that far, they'll have home court for the Finals. I just hope they don't stumble against Charlotte, they've played the Magic tough this year.

Obviously, I'm rooting for the Celtics, but I'm concerned. Like a lot of C's fans I've been buying into the idea that the team has been inconsistent and sluggish to keep themselves in good health for the playoffs, and we'll quickly see if they're going to flick the switch or if they're, you know, really just inconsistent and sluggish.

Celtics have no shot, KG looks like garbage these days and the Sheed gamble clearly backfired. There's no way they get by either the Magic or the Cavs imo.

Lakers can bring it together and compete with anyone in the league over 7 games, especially if Bynum contributes, but their defense and disappearing role players might be their undoing. Denver and Dallas, I just don't see it from either of them but who knows... Phoenix could make a run at it possibly.

Anyone other than the Lakers in the finals and my money's on the east, be it Magic or Cavs. Lakers could beat the Magic. Cavs would beat Lakers.

I agree. Looks like their championship window was even shorter than most people realized. Be interesting to see if the whole thing gets blown up in the summer. Does Rivers leave? Do they offload Allen?

But we'll always have 2008 <sniff>.

I'm covering the Mavs/Spurs series for the Sporting News.

This is gonna be awesome.

You're out of your mind... in 1 game yes anything is possible. But the Celtics don't have it, KG is a completely different player since his knee injury and the fire isn't there anymore. They are 500 since the all-star break, their best player right now is probably Rondo which is sad considering the guns they have... no way they make the Finals, I'd put money on it.

Of all the things to take issue with in terms of my post, Sheed is the last thing you'd have a good point about. He's done, he roped the Celts into a boondoggle of a contract because they know how bad Garnett's knee is.

Maybe someone should tell the Magic they can't handle Boston's toughness... they went 3-1 against the C's this year.

Besides, the only way the Celtics face the Magic is if they get past Cleveland, and I'm not even sure they get past Miami at this point.

Being a former Phoenix resident (and currently living in an east-coast city with no NBA team), I follow the west more than the east. Here are my thoughts:

1) Lakers: The path to the championship still goes through LA. If Bynum is playing, then these guys are favored to win the west. But, there are some vulnerabilities. For one, their bench isn't as good as the past couple of years. You got Odom coming off the bench, but after that, no one that's really great. That means the starters are playing more minutes and Kobe has to be more involved. Why is that a problem? Point 2, Kobe can be a ball-hog. And if he's not on, he wants the ball even more. It can be a slippery slope. Lately it seems like he hasn't been on as much as in the past, so this could be an issue. Is it enough to beat them four times? I don't know. Stranger things have happened before, but their match-ups (OKC, and Denver/Utah) don't fill me with a lot of confidence. My prediction Lakers get to the western finals.

2) Mavs/Spurs: This one is a head-scratcher. Can the Mavs put away the Spurs? The Suns fan in me hopes so.

Normally, I'd call it in favor of Dallas, but they're playing the Spurs. Every year the Spurs death watch starts and continues until they either win it all or get to the finals. They have the talent on paper to get it done again.

The Spurs aren't your typical 7th seed. To paraphrase the words of the great Dennis Green, the Spurs are who we think they are. If the Spurs Big Three play up to their typical level in the playoffs, then the Mavs are done in the first round.

That being said (written?), the Mavs hard-charged their way to a 2 seed in one of more ridiculously competitive conferences in pro-sports. The Mavs are no shrinking violets. They have the talent to send the Spurs home. Jason Kidd is playing well, as is Nowitzki (sp), and they have that annoying fucker Jason Terry who plays fairly good defense and who can shoot pretty well too.

So who wins? Since I bleed Purple and Orange, I hope it's the Mavs since I don't want to see San Antonio at all until the next year. Talent wise, I'd say it's a push or slightly in favor of SA. So, I'd say Spurs in 7, with Popovich's skills as a coach giving SA the edge.

3) The Phoenix Suns
I think they'll get by Portland in 5. Portland's too banged up and the Suns are on a tear. After that -- who knows? I like them better against the Mavs than I do against the Spurs. If Robin Lopez is back in the line-up, then I think they got a good chance at getting to the western conference finals, regardless who they play. But I still don't think they can get through LA to hit the finals. I'd love to be wrong, but I don't know that they can handle Phil Jackson and his two seven footers, to say nothing of Kobe.

4) Utah/Denver
Denver in 6. Don't ask me why. Intuition.

Kobe's finger and ankle have contributed to his shooting slide the past month... but he's at 27, 5.5 and 5 on the year. Kobe knows what's at stake, he has a chance at a better career than Michael Jordan in terms of the numbers and I bet he thinks about it every night. Him being a "ball hog" hasn't hurt the Lakers for years at this point.

The team will live and die by Bynum. If he performs, they will go to the finals, if he doesn't they won't. The longer he can stay on the floor the longer Odom can wait to take over second unit duties...

The only time KG has grabbed fewer boards and scored fewer points, he was getting under 30 minutes a game as a rookie and only started half the season. You can talk about 'the fire' all you want, he's not the same player and he's not getting it done. He can't jump for chrissakes. He can't do what he does, he can't push off with strength. Look at his offensive boards.

Tell that to Pau Gasol. Gasol, apparently, wasn't very happy with the way Kobe's been playing lately.

ETA: I'm not suggesting that the Lakers are weak or that Kobe is a weak-link. If they do have a weakness, it's just what I wrote: without Bynum, the starters have to play longer and Kobe hasn't been his usual self. And when he's off, he tends to compound the problem by trying to take every shot. That's an issue.

Well, my statement doesn't apply to prima donna statements from guys that are 2 points off their career best average. Oh, and that are having career bests in other stats while playing with this ball hog.

No one that forces the issue the majority of the time, playing in this system as a scorer, gets 5 assists a game.

And Mehmet "Brah Juice" Okur gets injured. Well played.

Richard Dickson, Unfortunately The Celtics...Beat the Heat, by kicking them out of the kitchen. A 4th Qtr, Garden Party, ruined a great first...3 qtrs for Miami! If Pat Riley, lets...D Wade leave via free agency, he just might have to leave Florida!

Dwight Howard has two points. And eight blocked shots. Geez, what a monster. And the way Jameer Nelson is playing, Howard doesn't need to score.

Ugh...this Suns game is giving me indigestion.

How do you figure? They came back frmo 17 down and were within 7 in the 4th quarter. Westbrook is no joke either, and they can play good d.

[QUOTE=Fat Elvis;2898012] Rose was awesome.
QUOTE]

Rose is a great player to watch no doubt but Dwyer from Ball Don't Lie said something I tend to agree with:

"Rose got his 23 points, but it was on 24 shots, and his go-to move late was the typical rocker dribble and pull up move that works to get him two makes in five tries, consistently. Consistently. You notice the ones that go in and forget about the rest."

As a point guard he needs to expand his game. Does not have the court vision of a Deron Williams and I don`t see him being to able to develop it because usually it's something you're just born with.

To his credit I do think he can take over a game and win it by himself in the fourth (with solid nights from Deng, Noah and Hinrich), and he'll need to do it if the Bulls want to steal one.

Best answer ever to this type of question:

Did the Bulls really taunt LeBron to shoot? They ever hear the phrase, "Don't tug on Superman's cape?" Really wish they had a 1.9% shot at the #1 pick instead of a 4 game sweep.

Sure tonight was hard-nosed instead of dirty. KG wasn't playing.

Just kidding, he's too old to be dirty. Or at least too old to be effective playing dirty.

Good game OKC. Protect home court.

Miami was so cold tonight, they...Froze against the...Kevin Garnett less Celtics.

Yeah man, what the hell happened?

I'd love to see OKC upset LA, but that isn't happening. Still, it shouldn't be that close between an 8th seed and a 1st seed.

If LA gets past the Thunder, they're going to the WC Finals. Whoever wins the Denver/Utah contest will not be able to challenge LA. Utah is a walking infirmary and Denver is flakey and out of it. Of the two, I can see Denver giving LA the most trouble. George Karl coming back for the second round has emotional lift written all over it.


Oh, and the Suns beat Portland by 29 last night. That was a good feeling.

Putting Hill on Miller was the key adjustment for the Suns.

Suns Mavs is gonna be an interesting match up.

It shouldn't have been that close between a 1 and an 8, look at the combined shooting of guys that aren't Kobe or Pau. Game 2 was an anomaly as much as anything, Fisher and even Artest aren't going to miss that many wide open shots so consistently over a 7 game series.

Lakers in 5.

Wouldn't be surprised if the Cavs walk into the finals and win it all. This is a team on a mission.

That being said, I so hope they fail at it.

Nothing warms the heart of a Pittsburgher than a devastated Cleveland sports fan.

The last 1.9% got the Bulls Derrick Rose.

And the Bulls themselves made me think this way. They have targeted the 2010 Free Agent class to get better. Del Negro can't coach and will be gone after the sweep. The last 2 seasons were to develop Rose and Del Negro hasn't.

Devildoubt, Even though Miami was...Winning, the Celtics went on a...44-8 run. Ouch!

I could care less about 'competing in the moment'. As a Chicagoan, it pains me to see so many my peers cheering the Bulls right now for making the playoffs.

People seem to equate being in the playoffs as getting better, which is cart-before-the-horse logic. You go farther in the playoffs by playing better basketball, you don't get better at playing basketball by playing in the playoffs.

Any imagined "playoff experience" didn't help the Bulls last season, did it?

Yes, well, you've gotten worse since last year. Cross your fingers for Wade.

So the Celtics will win a round before getting beaten by the Cavs. I'll take it.

If I was a Laker fan I would be worried. OKC is young, athletic, good rebounding and a good free throw shooting team. Plus Durant is a stud.

Lakers better win Game 5.

I know Dwight Howard commits some stupid fouls, but when he's standing set in the lane with both feet on the ground and arms in the air and gets called for a block when the guy runs right into him, well, I can see why he gets upset.

Yeah, Roy has the heart of a warrior, but he has the brain of retard. Why is he risking his career on this series? Last night he stepped on someone's foot and he went down hard. At first, it looked like he might've hurt his bad knee again. That kind of incident is very common in the NBA and all it takes is the wrong kind of accident and he's done. For this year and possibly the next. And really, what has he done in this series? Nothing, that's what. Last night he almost tied me for points scored.

Even if they get by the Suns, they don't have the players to get by the Spurs or the Lakers. It's all risk and little reward for Roy to play now. It's a stupid, stupid decision.

I haven't had a chance to watch a lot of the LA/OKC games, but I tell you, from what little I've seen and hear, it looks like that Durant kid is for real. I hope OKC can pull the upset, but my brain doubts it. LA plays better when they're engaged and if OKC wins again, you can bet OKC will have their full attention. That being said, I keep hearing Kobe is hurting more than he's letting on. If that's the case, who knows.

Denver is damn mess. Goodbye Nuggets...and take that irritating bird-guy with you.