2014-2015 NBA Playoffs Round 1
East:
1. Hawks over 8. Nets in 5 games
-Give them a fifth game with one win in Brooklyn. This Nets
team isn’t good enough to seriously threaten the Hawks. It should just give the
Hawks a round to warm up and get in rhythm.
2. Cavs over 7. Celtics in 5 games
-Basically the same thing in the above lines. Stevens gets
them one, but that is about it. The Celtics are set up well for the future, but
not for this series. The Cavs get to the rim so easily, and the Celtics simply
have no rim protection.
3. Bulls over 6. Bucks in 5 games
-Yeah, see above. Thibs is way too good and the Bucks aren’t
there yet. It will be interesting to see how effective Rose is in this series
with limited explosion and the length of the Bucks though.
4. Raptors over 5. Wizards in 6 games
-Okay, this is more interesting. These teams both probably
need new coaches, but we don’t have a plethora of new coaches waiting in the
wings so they may stay with the same bad ones. I would pay to watch Mike D’Antoni
coach the Wiz though. For this series, Toronto has home court and a deeper
team, and with the Wiz frontcourt dissolving should be far more balanced.
West:
1. Dubs over Pelicans
in 4 games
-Brooms. Davis isn’t quite ready. The rest of the team is far
from ready. Monty Williams will never be ready.
7. Mavs over 2. Rox in 6 games
-Tight series, but I really like the Mavericks upon a long
look at it. The coaching discrepancy is significant. The Rockets are so built
around Harden and I think the Mavs will take that away as much as possible. The
losses of Beverly and D-MO, even with Dwight’s “return” are hard to take. Jason
Terry will actually have to guard someone. Playoff Dirk and Playoff Rondo are
now here. If Rondo has it left in him to be that higher level player, it will
come out right now. I’m willing to bet on the fact that it will happen.
6. Spurs over 3. Clippers in 6 games
-Man is this going to get awkward when Chris Paul exits the
playoffs early AGAIN. The Clippers aren’t bad but I don’t think they are good
enough for this right now. The wings for SAS will kill JJ and Barnes. I am only
giving it 6 games because A. The pattern of the home games and B. A reminder
the Spurs went 7 in Round 1 versus the Mavs last year.
5. Grizz over 4. Blazers
-I know both teams have injuries, but the Blazers’ concerns
are deeper and have changed this team. Grizz are built for the playoffs, know
it, and may surprise some people yet again this year.
Title Picture:
-I hate to say it, but I think we are down to Cleveland,
Chicago, and Atlanta in the East and San Antonio, Golden State, and maybe
LAC/MEM in the West as real contenders at this point. I’d say Cleveland over
Atlanta in the East and Spurs over Golden State in the west, with the Spurs as
my title favorite.
