Okay -ROUND ONE- 1) Lakers 8) Nuggets 2) Hornets 7) Mavericks 3) Spurs 6) Suns 4) Jazz 5) Rockets Who you got and why? I got Lakers, Mavericks, Suns and Rockets... Lakers for the momentum and the Kobe factor... Nuggs have no "d." Mavericks just for the experience factor, and they beat NO in impressive fashion to close the season. Suns just for the Big Cactus and the intimidation factor on Duncan... Manu hurt. Rockets, because they home court, and the Jazz may miss Okur... etc. How do see it?
only one i disagree with is mavs NO was playing for nothing and CP3 sat out for almost a whole quarter straight NO in 6
1) Lakers - 4 7) Mavericks - 5 3) Spurs - 6 this is the iffy. my heart obviously says rockets, but my head is leaning towards another first round collapse. will this finally be the year? utah is so tough at home. 5) Rockets - 7
Lakers will demolish the Nuggets easily in 4 or 5 games. Can't decide between Hornets and Mavs yet. Suns in 6 over the Spurs. Jazz in 5 over the Rockets. I want to be wrong. Suns vs Spurs should be an intense bloodbath. Whoever loses that series will be "bitter"ly disappointed.
Lakers vs Nuggets - Lakers in 5 Jazz vs Rockets - Jazz in 6 (Hope I'm wrong here) Spurs vs Suns - Spurs in 7 Hornets vs Mavs - Hornets in 7
Whether it's sports, politics or business, I can separate my heart from my brain when making predictions. Our series with the Jazz is all on them. When the Jazz play hard and physical, we don't have much of a chance. Unlike last year, I doubt Deron Williams sleepwalks the first couple of games before waking up. They have the advantage at 4 of the 5 starting positions, plus their bench is better. I could go on and on.
Spurs/Suns and Hornets/Lakers have the potential to be classics. Greatest chance of a sweep is Houston/Utah. If we even take it to 5 games, I would call that a success.
LAKERS/NUGGETS = Lakers in 5. Why? the lakers can find matchups to slow iverson and melo, but who guards kobe? HORNETS/MAVS = Mavs in 6. Why? although choke artists, the Mavs are FAR more playoff tested. Plus terry and howard eat up peja/mopete/bonzi. SPURS/SUNS = Tossup. Spurs in 7 due to HC advantage. JAZZ/ROCKETS = Jazz in 6. Why? Jazz won't lose at home and have enough fire power to take one on the road. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAKERS/JAZZ = Lakers in 7. Why? Jazz can't win on the road and Lakers take care of business at home. SPURS/MAVS = Spurs in 6. Why? Spurs will control the glass and the tempo. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAKERS/SPURS = Spurs in 6. Why? outside of Kobe and Fisher, the lakers players fall apart at the end of close games. the Spurs will just out-execute them down the stretch.
It's hard to imagine the Spurs or the Suns not getting out of the 1st round. Rox, Mavs, Hornets, Jazz, & Nuggets is another story.
1) Lakers in 5 or 6. Dominance. 7) Mavericks in 6 or 7. Experience. 6) Suns in 7. Shaq was brought to Suns for this exact matchup. 5) Rockets in 7. We have scola and home court advantage.
Western Conference LA vs Denver: LA in 4 NO vs Dallas: NO in 7 SA vs Phoenix: Suns in 7 Utah vs Houston: Utah in 6 ------ LA vs Utah: LA in 6 NO vs Suns NO in 6 ------ LA vs NO NO in 7 Eastern Conference Boston vs Hawks Boston in 4 Detroit vs 76er's Detroit in 5 Magic vs Toronto Orlando in 4 Cavs vs Wiz Wizards in 7 ------ Boston vs Wizards Boston in 6 Detroit vs Orlando Orlando in 7 ------ Boston vs Orlando Boston in 5 NBA Finals Boston vs NO Boston in 6
Lakers sweep or take it in 5. I'm on the fence between Mavs and Hornets, because I think the Mavs might bring it, but I'm leaning towards NO in 6/7. Suns/Spurs go down to the wire, since Spurs have HC, they advance in 7. We (Rockets) are most likely going to get demolished. Hopefully we get it to 6 or just win it lol. The Lakers will come out of the West, most likely.
Lakers in 6 Mavs in 7 Spurs in 6 Jazz in 6 (If we are lucky, I truly hope I am wrong. 95 all over again I hope) Lakers vs Jazz Lakers in 7 Spurs vs Mavs Spurs in 5 lakers vs Spurs Lakers in 6 NBA finals Lakers vs Boston Boston in 5
I'm a little torn with the Mavs/NO series. I wanna go for the easy way out with NO since they're a tougher team and far more stable than the GS team that beat the Mavs last playoffs. But then again, I think NO is overrated.. plus the Mavs are playing without the pressure of being a #1 seed like last year. Anyways, my pics are: Lakers beat Nugs (5) NO beat Mavs (6) Spurs beat Suns (6) Rox beat Spazz (7)