I think they match up better with the Cavs. The Cavs are not as athletic as the Hawks are which is what was killing them. Beside Lebron I dont see anyone else on the squad that has am edge match up wise. Bron vs. "the truth" if thats who he matches up against is going to kill Pierce IMO. And being the main focus of the Celts offense they are going to have to keep him off Lebron so he isnt killing himself keeping up with him. I wouldn't be shocked if Posey gets alot of minutes in this series.
Am I the only one that thinks the eastern games have been more exciting so far? For some reason I just could not get into the Lakers/Jazz game.
I think the first round of the west was pretty good, but the east had some surprising results which I think led to some unexpeted drama. The Laker game was pretty physical and intense today, but the refs killed it for me. I think once this series moves to Utah, you will see an awesome game made for TV. The Spurs-Hornets matchup will most likely continue to be boring.
Not really the Jazz never really threatened, even when it was close they had no chance. No one can hold Kobe back on that team or even slow him down.
Jeez, I couldn't disagree more. Atlanta was just awestruck by playing in Boston. They lost four games, each seemingly worse than the previous one. This afternoon's game was just incredible. When Boston took a 34 point lead, I said, "I don't think the Hawks could score 34 points in an empty gym." Atlanta's a weak team that got hot for spurts, nothing more. The fact that the series went 7 said much more about the Celtics than the Hawks. Cleveland, for all their warts, remains the defending Eastern champions, and a playoff-tested unit. Even if the big trade didn't pay as much of a dividend as they hoped, they've still got a big that can play Garnett without much help (Wallace, though he's fading), they've got the edge at center (Ilgauskas vs. Perkins), and most of all, they'll have the best player in the series, which is nearly always good for at least one win, and sometimes much more. And frankly, I'm not entirely enamored of Boston's point guard play. I didn't think Rondo helped them much against the Hawks, and he had Mike Bibby's awful defense to go against, while Sam Cassell has nothing left in the tank. Delonte West might be able to exploit those guys. If Wally Szczerbiak can hit the outside shots he's likely to get, Cleveland can pull this out. Make no mistake, I still think Boston will win. But where I had absolutely no doubt that Boston would beat Atlanta, game 7 or no, I feel that Cleveland has at least a puncher's chance against Boston. Look at last year's playoffs against Detroit for a template: LeBron put that team on his back four straight games and said "screw it, I'll drag this sucky group of teammates to the next round kicking and screaming if I have to." Now he's got better teammates, and we've already seen that Boston's not nearly the opponent they were made out to be. If they're better than the 06-07 Pistons, they're not so much better that we can just rule out a repeat of last year's playoffs.
It's called being a team fan. We're all homers for at least one team just by being here at all. I can complain about why there are so many haters? That's frustrating too but I don't. They were in Game 1 only because the Lakers got complacent with a huge lead.
I wouldn't bet on the Jazz, but in a sense, you're right: they played a lousy game and were still in it until the last 2 minutes. They missed a ton of open shots; the Lakers can't count on that every game. And after the first quarter, Kobe was good, but not great. The Jazz are a much better team than they get credit for; there was NOT much difference between them and the Lakers this year. And they've got one of the best home court advantages in basketball. I'd be stunned if this doesn't go at least 6, and I think it'll go 7.
This series is going to 6 with the C's winning it. I don't think the Cavs have enough support around Lebron to take out the Celtics. Granted Lebron droping 30+ could sway me but I think the Celtics will play better on the road this time around. I think Gibson will be a big factor.
The Pistons are too complacent IMO, and that was their downfall last year. They think they can just turn it on when they need to which was their downfall last year. Personally I think (Hawks series)this should serve as a wake up call for the Celtics. They also at times look too uninspired in play. And it still blows my mind that KG seems to disappear when the games on the line, which seems to have gotten worse now that he plays with Allen, and Pierce. Rondo is not an all star by any means but his play has been just as if not better than West, or Gibson's.
How are they in trouble exactly? They were in the game in the final minutes. A couple of bad shots and bad bounces or the game is even closer. That Deron Williams layup that went in and out and then sat on the rim for five minutes killed me!
Excellent point. However, Unless L.A. COMPLETELY changes who they are as a team between today and Tuesday night, it will probably be more of the same as Pau just isn't physical enough to go up and grab rebounds away from the team. This is where L.A. misses Andrew Bynum the most honestly. The scoring isn't a problem and they do a good job defending against the initial shot, but those second chance opportunities are going to kill them eventually. Probably not in this series to a tune of being eliminated though. I maintain that L.A. will be hosting New Orleans in the Western Conference Finals which is good and bad. Good because I think they rebounding issue won't be as great aginst New Orleans, and bad because we struggle with quick, shooting point gaurds and CP3 is exactly that, on top of being the best assist man in the league. Facing Deron Williams for x amount of games will help them get ready for that series though.
Not to sound like a know-it-all, but if that comes as a shock to you, you haven't watched Kevin Garnett much over the years. That's what irritates me so much about his scowly, determined, yelling-at-teammates demeanor. When everything's wine and roses, he's hooting and hollering, intimidating the bad guys, and practically assaulting his teammates with chest bumps and full-body hugs. But in the last 5 minutes? Nowhere to be found, and not exactly calling for the basketball. Lead by example, big man. As for last year's series, I don't think the Pistons got complacent. I thought they played hard, but LeBron absolutely put the Cavs on his back. (They imploded in game 6, of course, but that's another story.) Believe me, I'm the first one to call out the Pistons on complacency, but watch game 5 of that series again, specifically the 4th quarter. The Pistons threw EVERYTHING they had against LeBron and it wasn't enough. That was, honest to God, on par with any performance I've seen from Michael Jordan. Here's the thing about the Atlanta series being a "wake-up call": I don't think the Cetics needed a wake-up call. I thought they played hard throughout the series. The games they lost in Atlanta weren't a function of effort. They were a function of the Celtics getting shoved and not responding. They were a function of passive basketball; look at how many times they settled for jump shots. They were a function of Doc Rivers being a crappy coach; look at how badly he mangled game 3 (or was it 4?) by guarding Atlanta's best offensive player, and only real threat (Joe Johnson) with a guy who was never a good defensive player even when he was young and certainly hasn't improved with age (Ray Allen). Cleveland is NOT a team that's going to be scared to death of playing in Boston, and certainly isn't going to allow themselves to be bullied as the Hawks did for most of the series.
gawd phunwin....you know it all. Yeh I have watched alot of KG, I just thought that surrounded by better talent he would break out of that kind of behavior, I thought wrong.
some would say that actually gave them an advantage over the Lakers. I dont know I tend to think they would be getting somewhat fatigued, but they played like they had energy. I just dont know if they can handle the Lakers. you cant send Kobe to the line 22 times and expect to win.
Pistons up 2-0, baby! Withstood some of Dwight Howard's best shots tonight, and an absolute white-hot streak from the Magic in the third quarter. Good God, I've never seen a team get so hot from the outside.
If you truly watched KG over the years he doesn't want the ball thats why Iverson in Minnesota made so much sense. Though I admit he SHOULD take over when no one is there to step up. Him being in Boston was the next best thing you have Allen and Pierce, players who take the last shot.
we just can't seem to ever beat the Pistons. I'm so tired of losing to them in the playoffs! Especially with all of the former Magic players they have and have had in the past.
Did anyone expect the Hornets to be doing this well in the playoffs? I know they had a great season but many thought they wouldn't do much in the playoffs with some thinking they would lose to Dallas in the first round. Could they be the team to represent the West in the Finals this year?
Not at all. That's what I kept thinking about as they were making the Spurs look very average tonight.
I think the Lakers represent the West this year. Once they get Bynum back their going to be hard to beat. Though CP3 is a game changer, if he is hitting his shots there is no one on the court that is better. David West is serverly underrated. Hornets though are a dark horse IMO.
Bynum's a long shot at returning this season, sadly. And that's the scary part about the team because he's our best rebounder, shotblocker, and post defender yet we can still dominate without him. I expect the Spurs to get their breath back from the Suns series with home-court advantage.
I expect the Hornets to beat the Spurs in 6 games at the most. The Spurs are just losing the matchup. Yeah, Duncan isn't 100%, but there's such a gap in the scores of these two games that Duncan would have to turn in top-tier performances simply to take a game to OT.
That shot by Detroit at the end of the 3rd quarter was total B.S. and everyone who saw it knows it!! The clock wasn't running, but I timed it, it was over 6 seconds, and the refs claimed it was only 4.7. Those 3 points proved to be huge for Detroit down the stretch. I can't believe a close game like this can allow such total B.S. to go on. 1-1 and 2-0 are lightyears apart in terms of how this series plays out. On a side note. I hope Chauncey Billups gets mugged, robbed, and raped Wednesday when he arrives at Orlando International Airport. That man doesn't deserve to breathe our Orlando air.
They did the same thing against Toronto in game 1. Put up 40+ in the 1st quarter. Drained 11 from beyond the arch in one quarter. The Magic have been living and dying on the 3 point streaks. When they are on fire, it only feeds Howard's dominance on the inside. It's too bad they can't maintain that accuracy for 48 minutes.
Actually, it shouldn't come as THAT much of a surprise. Dallas is more name than game right now, and New Orleans has 2 All-Stars, a good supporting cast and an improved bench since the Bonzi Wells deal. And frankly, Chris Paul's been the best player in the playoffs, which also shouldn't be a huge surprise, since he was a perfectly reasonable choice for MVP, even though they went with Kobe.
I would imagine that three pointer at the end of the third will probably lead to the NBA allowing the use of some sort of a clock to get the exact time next year. I was very surprised to learn they don't allow that.
I think you're right on both counts. However, this was a very close race, and you could make a good argument for any one of four guys. Personally, I'd have given it to Paul, but I can't fault them too much for picking Kobe.
By the way, any Magic fan that wants to lay their 2-0 deficit at the feet of the officiating crew MIGHT want to consider that maybe, just maybe, the Magic's 19 turnovers played a role in this game. Or perhaps that the Magic made exactly TWO shots from the field in the last 7 minutes of the game. Or was that the refs' fault too, guys?
