Second Round
I went 6-2 in the first round, which is good but not up to my normal standards at all. The bummer for me is I ended up losing the two series which I agonized over the most. Oh well, it continues my trend of not being as good this season as I have been in the past. I’ll be happy if those are the only two series I end up losing though.
WEST
Mavericks at Nuggets
Denver – These two clubs are so evenly matched all over the place (Chauncey Billups/Jason Kidd, Dahntay Jones/Antoine Wright, Nene Hilario/Erick Dampier, J.R. Smith/Jason Terry) that the Nugs really need to focus on the one area where they have a slight advantage, and that’s playing defense. If Kenyon Martin can harass/frustrate Dirk Nowitzki the way he just did David West, Denver will be in good shape.
Dallas – It’s quite obvious that the Mavs are a completely different squad when Josh Howard is in the lineup and productive. I wonder if Howard’s balky left ankle is healed enough to deal with the inside/outside game of Carmelo Anthony though? The big key for Dallas will be if their bigs (Dirk, Damp, Brandon Bass & Ryan Hollins) can control the boards against K-Mart, Nene and Chris “Birdman” Andersen.
The pick – Nugs in 7
Rockets at Lakers
Los Angeles – After a week off my boys should be primed and ready to go, at least for a quarter or so. The Lakers main problem as this post season moves along is battling complacency, and since they swept Houston in the regular season by an average of 13 points a game, I expect that to be an issue once again. Other than that though, I don’t see the Rockets giving LA many problems.
Houston – The Ron Artest/Shane Battier combo just “held” Brandon Roy to 26.7 points per game, so I don’t have much confidence in them stopping Kobe Bryant. Especially since Kobe averaged 28.3 points on 53% shooting against the Rockets this season. The Lakers also have more than enough length/size to deal with Yao Ming. I just don’t see the Rockets being able to score enough points to beat LA four times.
The pick – Lakers in 6
EAST
Magic at Celtics
Boston – The Celts are bound to have some sort of letdown after that epic first round series with Chicago, and while Orlando isn’t quite as athletic as the Bulls, the Magic still have more athletes than Boston does. The key for the C’s is going to be Kendrick Perkins staying out of foul trouble against Dwight Howard. The options after Perk (Mikki Moore, Brian Scalabrine & Glen Davis) are frightening.
Orlando – Other than Courtney Lee (left sinus) the Magic are much healthier than Boston is. Hedo Turkoglu (left ankle) does still seem a little slow, but he is coming around. Either Hedo or Rashard Lewis has to guard “Big Baby,” which could see one of them in early foul trouble. For the season Orlando defended almost as well as the Celtics did, so look for this series to be another grind it out affair.
The pick – Magic in 6
Hawks at Cavaliers
Cleveland – I don’t expect the eight full days off to have a negative effect on the Cavs other than maybe being a little rusty in the first quarter of game one. Cleveland plays better defensive, is superior on the boards and has more depth than Atlanta does. As long as the Cavs play their game and don’t get sucked into the Hawks chippiness they will be fine.
Atlanta – If they were 100% healthy the Hawks do have the athleticism to give Cleveland some problems. Unfortunately Al Horford (right ankle) and Marvin Williams (right wrist) are both hurting (Williams can’t even shoot the ball). With coach Mike Woodson’s rotation down to seven players, combined with the Cavs huge size advantage up front, I just don’t think Atlanta has the horses to compete.
The pick – Cavs in 5
WEST
Mavericks at Nuggets
Denver – These two clubs are so evenly matched all over the place (Chauncey Billups/Jason Kidd, Dahntay Jones/Antoine Wright, Nene Hilario/Erick Dampier, J.R. Smith/Jason Terry) that the Nugs really need to focus on the one area where they have a slight advantage, and that’s playing defense. If Kenyon Martin can harass/frustrate Dirk Nowitzki the way he just did David West, Denver will be in good shape.
Dallas – It’s quite obvious that the Mavs are a completely different squad when Josh Howard is in the lineup and productive. I wonder if Howard’s balky left ankle is healed enough to deal with the inside/outside game of Carmelo Anthony though? The big key for Dallas will be if their bigs (Dirk, Damp, Brandon Bass & Ryan Hollins) can control the boards against K-Mart, Nene and Chris “Birdman” Andersen.
The pick – Nugs in 7
Rockets at Lakers
Los Angeles – After a week off my boys should be primed and ready to go, at least for a quarter or so. The Lakers main problem as this post season moves along is battling complacency, and since they swept Houston in the regular season by an average of 13 points a game, I expect that to be an issue once again. Other than that though, I don’t see the Rockets giving LA many problems.
Houston – The Ron Artest/Shane Battier combo just “held” Brandon Roy to 26.7 points per game, so I don’t have much confidence in them stopping Kobe Bryant. Especially since Kobe averaged 28.3 points on 53% shooting against the Rockets this season. The Lakers also have more than enough length/size to deal with Yao Ming. I just don’t see the Rockets being able to score enough points to beat LA four times.
The pick – Lakers in 6
EAST
Magic at Celtics
Boston – The Celts are bound to have some sort of letdown after that epic first round series with Chicago, and while Orlando isn’t quite as athletic as the Bulls, the Magic still have more athletes than Boston does. The key for the C’s is going to be Kendrick Perkins staying out of foul trouble against Dwight Howard. The options after Perk (Mikki Moore, Brian Scalabrine & Glen Davis) are frightening.
Orlando – Other than Courtney Lee (left sinus) the Magic are much healthier than Boston is. Hedo Turkoglu (left ankle) does still seem a little slow, but he is coming around. Either Hedo or Rashard Lewis has to guard “Big Baby,” which could see one of them in early foul trouble. For the season Orlando defended almost as well as the Celtics did, so look for this series to be another grind it out affair.
The pick – Magic in 6
Hawks at Cavaliers
Cleveland – I don’t expect the eight full days off to have a negative effect on the Cavs other than maybe being a little rusty in the first quarter of game one. Cleveland plays better defensive, is superior on the boards and has more depth than Atlanta does. As long as the Cavs play their game and don’t get sucked into the Hawks chippiness they will be fine.
Atlanta – If they were 100% healthy the Hawks do have the athleticism to give Cleveland some problems. Unfortunately Al Horford (right ankle) and Marvin Williams (right wrist) are both hurting (Williams can’t even shoot the ball). With coach Mike Woodson’s rotation down to seven players, combined with the Cavs huge size advantage up front, I just don’t think Atlanta has the horses to compete.
The pick – Cavs in 5
posted by D$ at 11:57 AM
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