Eastern Conference Playoff Predictions and Watch Thread

[CNinja26]

Wearing the stripes tonight are Mike Callahan, Kane Fitzgerald and John Goble.

Not mad at this!

[psrs1]

Not to be mean, but, can you grasp nuance?

It's a long regular season, and different teams struggle at different times for various reasons. The Celtics probably overperformed a bit during the regular season because of being well coached and coming out hard on a nightly basis.

The Hawks struggled a bit in the regular season for various reasons. But when you get to the playoffs, everyone's 0-0, and the Hawks are healthy and the Celtics are missing their best defensive player. Also, the Hawks have a lot of star power and the 4th best bench in the league.

A Raptors fan should understand how important a strong bench is in the playoffs, especially this year.

I hope Hawks can give CAVS a tough series. Spread the CAVS put hit lots of 3s.

[Demographic Shift]

Well team Douche took it in the chops last night... a little different playing the Spurs than playing the game but very under manned Mavs...

So three games today... but only one truly matters....

Its late and it looks like the Heat win over the Buzz...
Its not late.. and it looks like the Warriors over the Blazers.....

Its not late. I believe in Karma... Raps over Pacers.It started with the first overall pick to the Leafs last night.

Coupled with that bit of good fortune a win tonight makes up for a lot of Toronto Sports Fan suffering over the past years.

The Bargnani pick as first overall. The Arujoao pick. The coaching genius of Kevin O'Neill. Vince just missing in Philly.
Scott Norwood being wide right foreshadowing 4 straight Super Bowl losses for the Bills and then years of nothing.
Kerry Fraser not calling a high sticking penalty on Wayne Gretzky in the semi finals the last time the Leafs were relevant.

Just win baby.. Just win.

[Demographic Shift]

2nd Round is Now Here... And we are in it !

Recap from Round 1.

Going 4 and 0: Abbas (Mind picks)... S.R.... PRS1.... SLAW.... JustIs.... DanH... Mack11

Going 3 and 1: 3inthekeon.... LJ2....CNinja26...Barrolt....JawsGT.... Demographic Shift and Abbas (Heart)

Going 2 and 2: tdotted ... OldschoolCool... Trex


Now we head into Round 2.

Lebrons vs Hawks

The Lebrons made quick work of the Pistons and have conserved their energy. The Hawks made quicker work of the Celtics than most thought in 6. So the Hawks now face the question every team that lines up against Cleveland faces.. who is going to check Lebron ?

For Atlanta to win Sefalosha will have to have the series of his life....the bookends Milsap and Horford need to continue to play well anywhere from 15 feet in ...Kyle Korver finds that consistent 3 ball shot and Schroeder and Teague outplay Irving and Delevadova. I can see two of those four happening.

Cleveland is a quirky outfit as they at times struggle when they shouldn't but with the backdrop of having the best player on the floor (and we all saw how Paul George almost beat us himself) along with some consistent offensive help the Lebrons are pretty formidable.

Fearless prediction is Lebrons in 6.

Raps vs Los Heat

An emotional series win by both the Raps and Heat see both teams coming into round 2 with no extra rest. This favours the Raps as they are a deeper and younger team.

Indy played incredible defense against the Raps. They funneled Kyle and Demar into the teeth of the defense and chased them relentlessly around the perimeter. When they did turn the corner on the screen either S.Hill or Turner was waiting for them. Wade and Dragic don't to my view match that intensity on the defensive side of the ball regardless of what rubbish is spewed out about the Heats elite defense and they won't chase our guards nearly as hard as the Pacers did. When they turn the corner Whiteside will be waiting inside but he is not as mobile as Turner was. Its going to be easier relatively speaking for DD and Kyle on drives to my thinking.

Raps are going to see more space than they did vs the Pacers. Offensively the Heat guards present more trouble than Hill and Ellis on dribble penetration but the Heat guards don't shoot the 3 ball like Indy did. Actually no one on the Heat shoots the 3 and thats a big problem for them.

JV and Biz will play Hassan even more or less. Maybe a little more edge to us as we have 12 fouls and Miami only has 6 in the 5 matchup.

After watching Paul George for 7 games we should not fear the aging duo of Johnson and Deng. Carroll and Powell and Ppat will hold their own and then some.

The Heat can't shoot the 3 and Dragic is suspect at best on the defensive side of the ball. Wade will get his but unlike George he isn't playing 46 minutes a night and Wade has to play every other night for 3 weeks now. Old legs get tired. For the bench matchup the Heat are relying on two rookies coming off the bench Winslow (who can't shoot that well) and Richardson (who can) to hold leads. Raps counter with CoJo ... Patterson.... Powell... and a still to show his mettle TRoss.

Like the Raps in 6.

Rebuttals and Agreements welcomed ? Make your calls !

[Just Is]

Round 2 Predictions:
East - Cavs in 6 (I think this series is personal for the Hawks so I could also see it going to 7) and Raptors in 7
West - Spurs in 6 (Although it could be 5 ... that was the most brutal Game 1 between a 2/3 seed I've ever seen) and Warriors in 5

[Demographic Shift]

Round 2 Predictions:
East - Cavs in 6 (I think this series is personal for the Hawks so I could also see it going to 7) and Raptors in 7
West - Spurs in 6 (Although it could be 5 ... that was the most brutal Game 1 between a 2/3 seed I've ever seen) and Warriors in 5

Yeah OKC got it handed to them and its all on them to regroup and get it together tonight. The Spurs will come out and play the exact same way they did in game 1. Aldridge may not shoot as high a percentage but its going to be the same formula and see if you can stop it. Thunder will be better but I think the dancing machine and the UFA are going home down 2-0.

[slaw]

I was perfect in the first round except for the whole Raps in 5. I should know better..... Fearless Round 2 predictions:

- Cavs in 7
- Raps in 7

[psrs1]

CAVS 4-0
Heat 4-2
SA 4-1
GSW 4-1

[tDotted]

Cavs and Raps moving on. Both in 6.

[iblastoff]

Cavs vs Hawks. 36-71 and the half isn't over yet.


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[MACK11]

What the Cavs are currently doing to Atlanta should be illegal

[MACK11]

18 threes in a half? WHAT THE FUCK?

[iblastoff]

18 threes in a half? WHAT THE FUCK?

Say what you will about our perimeter defense. But at least we never let that happen!

[MixxAOR]

[Demographic Shift]

Instead of putting tshirts on the seats the Raps should put brown paper bags on them. Folks can use them to help when they begin to hyperventilate. The deeper you go in the playoffs the higher the caliber of competition gets. You are going to lose games.

The Heat are a good team but they are not a great team. The Raps are a good team too and are also not in the quadrant of being considered a great team. But we are better than the Heat. Tonight our defense will be very good again and it will continue to be. Wade is still good but watch for him to start to tire just a bit as the schedule has him playing every other night now and when your tired your shots hit the front of the rim. Think we see a 6/19 night from Lebrons buddy. JJ and Deng will get 30 between them.Whiteside is also good but has the brain of a flea and the mental composure of a teenage girl who sees someone with the exact same outfit on at a party. He will rattle if we push him a bit and JV has the chops to push Whitesides buttons. Dragic generally matches good games with games where he is .. well.. not so good.
On our side Kyle will right the ship. Statistical averages say we will hit more of our open looks from the arc than we have been. We hit at 37% during the reg season and a let em play whistle doesn't affect that aspect of the offense. Drives yes. Moneyballs not so much. See JV taking up the challenge and continuing to play well on both ends of the floor.

Blowing the whistle tonight are Ken Mauer,Derrick Collins and John Goble. Looks like its another "let em play" again tonight.

Fearless prediction is that we get the split tonight and head to Miami where we will get a split again.



Well Atlanta took a pretty good beating last night at the Quicken Loans Arena in the mistake by the lake.
Atlanta can play better and the odds of the Cavs taking 45 shots from the arc let alone hitting 55% of them would appear to be very very low.
Hawks should be pretty pissed that the Lebrons dedicated the 4th quarter to getting a record. Shows a little disrespect but then its the NBA equivalent of the bat flip. So the Hawks need to play better to avoid having sand kicked in their collective faces. Looking for the Hawks to come out and beat the Lebrons in the first of two in hot'lanta to make amends to themselves.