Who do you like in the first round?

[planetmars]

Chicago would be a tough first round opponent.. Noah is crazy in the playoffs and can get into your head. Boozer can be a beast on the glass. They have some decent three point shooters.. and Butler will make it hard for DD to operate.

My preferred opponents would be Detroit (dysfunction), Washington (inexperience), NY (Bargnani) and Cleveland (inexperience). I would hate to have to face Chicago, Charlotte, Atlanta, or Brooklyn for various reasons.

[RandomGuy]

Chicago would be a tough first round opponent.. Noah is crazy in the playoffs and can get into your head. Boozer can be a beast on the glass. They have some decent three point shooters.. and Butler will make it hard for DD to operate.

My preferred opponents would be Detroit (dysfunction), Washington (inexperience), NY (Bargnani) and Cleveland (inexperience). I would hate to have to face Chicago, Charlotte, Atlanta, or Brooklyn for various reasons.

HAha, the Bargnani effect

[ball4life]

I'd be happy with Det or Was... new to playoffs with major holes in their lineups.. but with our luck.. we are more likely to end up with a finally healthy brooklyn or Thibed out Bulls SMH

[Demographic Shift]

Like Chicago. No offense. Even we get cold we can stay in it because the scoreboard won't be spinning on Chicago's side of the board.

[BallaBalla]

I want the Knicks (no defence), im kinda of wary of grinding teams (please no bobcats)

I'm the opposite here.

At the end of the day, games in the playoffs tend to be closer. During stretches of the game, I don't want the other team to have a guy like Carmelo/JR Smith who can make really difficult shots that are well defended.

I want to play teams that have no star power whatsoever. We can beat a Charlotte team every day of the week in the playoffs, but the knicks were a high level team last year, and the playoffs is a fresh start for them

[BallaBalla]

Like Chicago. No offense. Even we get cold we can stay in it because the scoreboard won't be spinning on Chicago's side of the board.

Chicago would be awsome

I wouldn't mind ATL either, for different reasons, but i think we can defend them easily without Horford

[Fully]

Washington/Detroit/Cleveland or Washington.

You want to face teams who like us, have key guys with little playoff experience. I think teams like Chicago, Atlanta and even the NY teams will be much tougher outs come playoff time, and I could envision a similar result as the Nets Series back in 2007. We were a much better regular season team but they just had more guys who got it done in the playoffs once they got healthy.

[Mediumcore]

On a 5 game win streak, 5th place haha.

Yeah Chicago has been playing well, and as Isaac eluded to you don't ever want to under estimate coach Thibs, but I don't see this lasting. As the rest of the East gets healthy and chemistry with teams that are still searching for it gets better, Chicago will just get more and more worn down. Also, don't underestimate how badly their organization wants a star player in the draft.

It wouldn't surprise me if Chicago blows up that roster before the deadline.

[JawsGT]

Yeah Chicago has been playing well, and as Isaac eluded to you don't ever want to under estimate coach Thibs, but I don't see this lasting. As the rest of the East gets healthy and chemistry with teams that are still searching for it gets better, Chicago will just get more and more worn down. Also, don't underestimate how badly their organization wants a star player in the draft.

It wouldn't surprise me if Chicago blows up that roster before the deadline.

Chicago is also playing a fairly easy schedule atm. They should blow it up IMO. I have been suggesting that since Rose went down. CHI's roster doesn't impress me at all without Rose. It's Thibs defense that keeps them hanging around, and he's playing guys heavy minutes so I expect them to fall out of the playoff picture.

[feet85]

If we get washington we'll sweep them with 40 point blowouts every game they're just waaaaaayyyy toooo inexperienced and quite frankly they're just not that good, John Wall is legit but who else do they have? An Overrated streaky shooter(Beal), an 82 year old playing pf(Nene) and bootleg Tiago Splitter (Gortat) they also have a god awful coach in Wittman. If we get Washington it's a wrap

[YoungGunRaptor]

I think our best bets would be against either the Wizards or Cleveland. Chicago is a tough team and their front court is still strong. Same with Detriot; we could blow them out, and they could respond with some ingenious coaching our bigs would have a real challenge trying to guard Monroe and Drummond in the post over a playoff series. That all depends on how effectively they are used though, and if Smith and Jennings are willing to take a step back on offence.

Cleveland could also potentially be tough, with Kyrie and Deng firing on all cylinders. I still think we could beat them in 4-6 games.

[stooley]

If we get washington we'll sweep them with 40 point blowouts every game they're just waaaaaayyyy toooo inexperienced and quite frankly they're just not that good, John Wall is legit but who else do they have? An Overrated streaky shooter(Beal), an 82 year old playing pf(Nene) and bootleg Tiago Splitter (Gortat) they also have a god awful coach in Wittman. If we get Washington it's a wrap

We're pretty inexperienced

[BobLoblaw]

If we get washington we'll sweep them with 40 point blowouts every game they're just waaaaaayyyy toooo inexperienced and quite frankly they're just not that good, John Wall is legit but who else do they have? An Overrated streaky shooter(Beal), an 82 year old playing pf(Nene) and bootleg Tiago Splitter (Gortat) they also have a god awful coach in Wittman. If we get Washington it's a wrap

They have thee starters with deep playoff experience and even a ring. Raptors have Hansbrough and Novak? Two backups.

They are a decent team. Gortat is a good center, Ariza/Webster is a nice combo at SF with good defense and decent shooting, their backcourt is very talented.

I wouldn't care if that's who they play, I'd favor the Raptors, but I'd prefer a less talented / more injured up opponent.

[NoPropsneeded]

They have thee starters with deep playoff experience and even a ring. Raptors have Hansbrough and Novak? Two backups.

They are a decent team. Gortat is a good center, Ariza/Webster is a nice combo at SF with good defense and decent shooting, their backcourt is very talented.

I wouldn't care if that's who they play, I'd favor the Raptors, but I'd prefer a less talented / more injured up opponent.

Chuck Hayes, John Salmons, Landry Fields, Amir Johnson, Kyle Lowry, Psycho T. They've all been to the playoffs even if they played very little they still experienced the intensity and the style of play. John Salmons and Chuck Hayes were key players in the playoff runs for their respective teams. We have a good mix of vets and young players, i think we have a chance to make a lot of noise in the playoffs.

[S.R.]

Chuck Hayes, John Salmons, Landry Fields, Amir Johnson, Kyle Lowry, Psycho T. They've all been to the playoffs even if they played very little they still experienced the intensity and the style of play. John Salmons and Chuck Hayes were key players in the playoff runs for their respective teams. We have a good mix of vets and young players, i think we have a chance to make a lot of noise in the playoffs.

The way the Raps are playing right now translates really well to the playoffs. Recent broadcasts have mentioned:
#6 D-rat.
#6 FT%
#7 FTM
#8 FTA

This is the polar opposite of the Bosh teams, which were jump shooting frontrunners. If these Raps stay healthy, I'll be disappointed if they don't make the 2nd round.

What a season.