NBA Playoffs Second Round

Hey there guys,

Due to the 2nd Round of the Playoffs beginning before the first round of the playoffs ended I am already 3 games behind. Currently the Cleveland and Boston series is tied at 1 game a piece and th Lakers are up 1-0 over Utah. I am currently studying for exams so I will just review the results of the 1st round. In the East Cleveland in 5 over Chicago, Orlando in 4 over Charlotte, Atlanta in 7 over Milwaukee, and Boston in 5 over Miami. In the West the Lakers in 6 over Oklahoma City, San Antonio with a 6 game upset over #2 Dallas, Phoenix in 6 over Portland, and Utah with a 6 game upset over #5 Denver.

Round 2

Eastern Conference

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers 65-22 vs. (4) Boston Celtics 54-33

This is a very intriguing match up to me as Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando have been the Big 3 in the Eastern Conference over the past two seasons. What makes this interesting is that everyone has written off Boston, claiming age and health as the biggest reasons as to why they are not a championship caliber team anymore. Can't imagine that is going to sit too well with veterans Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. Rajon Rondo has also been a very big key to this team especially in their first round dominance over Miami. I like Cleveland in this series but I don't think it is going to be as close as many people imagine.

My Pick: Cleveland in 6

(2) Orlando Magic 63-23 vs. (3) Atlanta Hawks 57-32

While I do believe that the Hawks are making a strong case to be one of the better teams in the East I do not think they are there yet. The talent is there but they don't seem to play very well together, for example take a look at their first round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks were without star Center Andrew Bogut. This should have a been a 4-5 game cake walk for the Hawks. Instead it turned into a 7 game fiasco which saw them blow two double digit leads in the 4th quarter and look like a poor team on the road. If they can get their act together they might be able to make this a series. Oh yeah the Magic dominated this series during the season winning 3 of 4, and all 3 of their wins were by double digits.

My Pick: Orlando in 4

Western Conference

(1) Los Angeles Lakers 61-27 vs. (5) Utah Jazz 57-31

The Utah Jazz are certainly a legitimate dark horse team to make it to the Finals but I have one big problem with them in this series. And I mean Big in literal and figuratively speaking. Who does Utah have that is going to slow down Bynum, Gasol, and Odom? Carlos Boozer? He can only cover one at a time. Certainly nobody believes that Fresenko is going to be able to do it? Yes he is an underrated player but come on. I like the Jazz to make this a series but in the end the post play of the Lakers is just going to be too much.

My Pick: LA Lakers in 6

(3) Phoenix Suns 58-30 vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs 54-34

This is the most intriguing series of the 2nd Round as both the Suns and the Spurs are very legitimate title contenders. San Antonio has Ginobli, Parker, Hill, and Duncan. Phoenix has Nash, Richardson, Grant Hill, and Stoudemire. San Antonio has already taken out one offensive team in their upset of #2 seed Dallas in the first round while Phoenix seemed to struggle at times with the walking wounded Portland Trail Blazers. That said I love Phoenix in this series. With Dallas out many fans are beginning to believe that this team has a legitimate chance to just maybe make it to the finals. Meaning I think they will be deadly at home. It helps that they are one of the better road teams in the league as well. This series will be close and I think that, tied at 3, the Suns are going to feed off the fact that many of the "experts" are picking San Antonio to win this series.

My Pick: Phoenix in 7

After the first round this is how I stand compared to the Experts at ESPN.

1. Me (0ff by -7 games)
1. Chris Broussard (-7)
1. David Thorpe (-7)
4. John Hollinger (-8)
4. Tim Legler (-8)
6. Henry Abbott (-9)
7. J. A. Adande (-10)
7. Chad Ford (-10)
7. Chris Sheridan (-10)
10. Jalen Rose (-11)
11. Marc Stein (-14)

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Thank you for Reading

Batteman