NBA Second Round Playoffs Predictions
Only one seeding upset occurred in round one, the Clippers’ thrilling seven game series win over Memphis, (I wouldn’t consider Philadelphia beating the Derrick Rose-less Bulls an upset) but Oklahoma City’s surprising sweep of defending champion Dallas and the Lakers’ near loss in game seven of its series with Denver provided a ton of excitement in the first round. What’s in store for the NBA’s quarterfinals? Let’s take a look.
Eastern Conference
Miami over Indiana in five- Chris Bosh is out and the Heat still beat the Pacers, who have given Miami trouble this season, that quickly? Absolutely. With more of the responsibilities down low falling to LeBron James, he’ll actually rise to the occasion and allow underrated guards Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole more room to operate. Danny Granger will be well defended by James and Dwayne Wade, so it falls on Roy Hibbert and David West to keep Indiana in this series. If they can do it, this series will go six or seven. They won’t be able to keep them in it.
Celtics over Sixers in six- Like Philadelphia’s series last year with Miami, their depth will allow them to stay competitive in games and allow them to even win a couple. But the sheer dominance shown by Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett in this postseason will propel Boston forward. Andre Iguodala is the x-factor for Philadelphia–and I’m not talking about Britney Spears or Demi Lovato–he has to take control, because he’s the only player with the ability to take over games for the Sixers.
Western Conference
Spurs over Clippers in six- I can’t wait for the Tony Parker-Chris Paul matchup. Two of the elite point guards this season going toe to toe until one of these teams win four contests. San Antonio did a tremendous job on Utah bigs Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson in the first round and will need a similar effort against Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. The key to this series could be the play of Manu Ginobili, who no one on Los Angeles can really deal with.
Thunder over Lakers in six- The Lakers are banged up and had trouble against the Nuggets. Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant are the top two scorers in the league and should cancel each other out. If Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum do not win the battle down low with Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka, this will be a short series. Los Angeles won’t be able to deal with Russell Westbrook and James Harden, despite all of Metta World Peace’s anticipated antics.
Los Angeles Lakers-Denver Nuggets Game Seven Preview
Who’s excited for an NBA playoffs game seven? The Lakers and Nuggets will duke it out on Saturday night and we have you covered with keys for both teams.
Keys For The Lakers- By SprungOnSports
If you look at the players on both rosters, the Lakers clearly have the top three players in Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. So it’s quite surprising that Denver has actually outscored Los Angeles in the series and are still lingering around for a do-or-die game seven on Sunday night at Staples Center.
One big key for Denver has been their ability to take care of the basketball. While the Lakers have committed 12.2 turnovers per contest, it’s been just 9.8 for the Nuggets. The Lakers need to settle down. That’s it. If they do that, they should take game seven with ease. They have more talented players and a guy in Bryant with the killer instinct. First year head coach Mike Brown should keep things simple and run a slow-down offense through Kobe and let him get to work. All Ramon Sessions has to do is be a distributor and the Lakers will take its rightful place opposite Oklahoma City in round two.
Keys For The Nuggets- By Aron Jacobowitz
So the Nuggets have thoroughly outplayed the Lakers in the last four games of this series, and luckily for the LA, they managed to come out on top in that fourth game or this series might have been over already.
The Lakers have a monstrous advantage on the inside and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out. However, the Nuggets have found away to disrupt their post game and get out on the break. The Lakers bigs have been rendered ineffective after the first two games, as the speed and athleticism of JaVale McGee and Kenneth Faried has caused the Laker bigs a lot of problems.
Ty Lawson and Corey Brewer most likely won’t combine for 50 points in game seven as they did in game six, but McGee will assuredly be more effective than his two-point, five foul performance last night. If Geroge Karl’s group of young guns can get out and run on the Lakers bigs, this series could shift in the Nuggets favor and put the Lakers on the wrong end of squandering 3-1 series lead for the second time in six years. Andre Miller’s veteran savvy will be called upon to make sure his young teammates do not become engulfed by the moment and lead a heady charge into Los Angeles tomorrow night.
Memphis Grizzlies-L.A. Clippers Game Six Preview
Game six is on the horizon for the Grizzlies and Clippers, and it’s been a wonderful series so far with a good amount of close games, one epic comeback and a healthy dose of drama. What does Memphis have to do to stay alive and force a game seven? How can Los Angeles close things out? Let’s find out.
Keys For The Grizzlies- By SprungOnSports
Memphis has led for all but 82 minutes of this series and have outscored the Clippers overall. Strong defense and more consistency is crucial for the Grizzlies to force a deciding game seven at the FedEx Forum. Rudy Gay has been tremendous in the series, but it will be the inside-outside combination of Marc Gasol and Mike Conley that will be the keys for Lionel Hollins’ group.
Clippers stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul are not at full strength, but it would certainly be a shock if either missed Friday’s game six at Staples Center. With that duo banged up, Memphis has the current advantage at both positions, and Gasol and Zach Randolph should take advantage down low.
On the defensive end, there is much room for improvement for the Grizzlies. The Clippers are shooting 38.5 percent from three and 47.1 percent overall, both ranked 15th among the 16 playoff teams. The three-ball has killed Memphis in the series and that has to be a major focus if they want to grit and grind into the second round.
Keys For The Clippers- By Aron Jacobowitz
In order for the Clippers to take the series tonight, first and foremost, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will need to be operating at close to 85 percent. To shut the door on the Grizzlies, they will need to come out of the gates and return to form as they were struggling to find the hoop in game five.
The Clips have already proven to be a resilient team and no lead for the Grizzlies is safe, however, if LA comes out strong and imposes their will from tip to finish, tonight should prelude Sunday’s game one matchup with San Antonio. Randy Foye and Caron Butler are integral role players for this team. Foye had led the NBA in three-pointers made since the All-Star break before this series, but has managed to turn in only one impact game. Butler, playing with a broken non-shooting hand, has inspired the Clippers since he returned for game three and he has continued to play great defense on Rudy Gay. Reggie Evans will need to assume the enforcer role as Deandre Jordan has been unable to really get into any sort of groove defensively. If Jordan can get going defensively tonight, it will vastly improve the Clippers chances of advancing.
It really comes down to effort and energy – if the Clippers can make the Grizzlies work for every single bucket and play pressure defense, their offense will surely feed off of that energy and lead them to only their second series win since relocating to L.A.
Is The Writing On The Wall For Dallas & Deron Williams?
Following the championship run of 2011, Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks decided that it was not the right move towards the future to bring back Tyson Chandler at around $17 million per year. With an aging squad and an older super-star in Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavs have taken a gamble and will hope to reload with a younger squad in the summer of 2012. This season, without Chandler and a few others from the championship team, the Mavs had their worst winning percentage in 13 years, at .545. Lamar Odom was nothing but a cancer, and the Mavs ended its season being swept for the very first time in a seven game series.
Clearly the Mavs are looking to overhaul the roster this offseason, with the contracts of Jason Terry and Jason Kidd ending after the season. While I do think the Mavs will resign Kidd to be a backup, I believe Terry will look towards free agency. I can almost assure you that Brendan Haywood will be given the amnesty clause, clearing nearly $9 million in cap space. Dallas might also look to release or trade Odom and Shawn Marion.
The big fish Dallas hopes to land are in the free agency market. While players like Chris Paul and Dwight Howard have re-signed with their teams, the jewel for the Mavs is still there for the taking. Deron Williams went to The Colony High School in northwest Dallas, and grew up an avid Texas Rangers and Mavs fan. He has certainly shown interest in the team over the years, and was even found in the Mavs locker room following their game five victory over the Heat in last years Finals.
The Mavericks cannot offer Williams a larger contract than the Brooklyn Nets, but what they can offer is a team which competes for championships, has one of the best owners in sports and, most importantly, gives Deron the chance to play for his hometown team.
Ultimately, I think Deron will wind up in Dallas, unless the Nets make a massive splash and trade for Dwight Howard or another superstar to help compete to get into the playoffs. After all, D-Will was traded to the Nets, not signed as a free agent. Despite moving to Brooklyn, the Nets are currently not competitive, and a player at the caliber of Williams needs to be on the biggest stage, for a team competing.
So don’t be surprised when July comes around and Deron Williams comes home.
Nuggets Stalker Was Looking For Kenyon Martin
We all have our obsessions, some more unhealthy than others. Savannah McMillan-Christmas, 20, has a history of stalking Denver Nuggets players and walked onto the court during Sunday night’s game four between the Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers.
McMillan-Christmas, in a surreal scene, reportedly started screaming “where is Kenyon?“ at the Denver bench, looking for longtime Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin, who is now on the Clippers, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears. She then ran on the floor in the second quarter looking for someone before she was quickly ushered off the court, charged with trespassing and released to her mother, says Spears. Marv Albert and Steve Kerr described the bizarre occurrence as it happened.
During the game, it was learned that McMillan-Christmas was confirmed by several sources as Martin’s old stalker and TNT reported that this maniac had actually been banned from the Pepsi Center. Hopefully this woman never steps into an NBA arena again.
