Tweet
Raps vs Pacers: Raps in 5 \
Yes I am biased. Yes the heart is on the sleeve. Now that that's out of the way:
Toronto features a top 10 offense with scoring coming from just about every angle and every position. Lowry / Derozan / Ross / Paterson /Carroll JV and now Norman Powell. Its hard to see how even with a highly rated defense the Pacers are going to find a way to plug all the holes in the dam.
Raps feature two right in your grill wing defenders (Powell and Carroll) who will over the series wear down the Pacers best player Paul George. Indy's two vet bigs don't stretch the floor at all and the rookie Myles Turner is a rookie. As we learned vs Brooklyn experience in the playoffs counts. The Pacers will take a lot of "shats" from behind the arc but they aren't the Warriors and unless you are this is pretty much a failed strategy in the playoffs.
George's ankle isn't 100% and the Pacers best/streakiest ? pt shooter CJ Miles has a shoulder issue.
Lebrons vs Motown: Lebron's in 5
So which Cleveland will it be ? The Lebrons that took the Hawks apart brick by brick in the second last game of the season or the team that showed up lame against the Bulls two weeks ago. I am betting the former.
The Lebrons are battle tested and have the best player in the series. When he is on he is pretty much unstoppable. Love has something to prove to the world and so does Irving. They rebound well with T. Thompson and will likely push Stan into playing small ball where they have a huge advantage and will want to exploit that.
On a clear day with no wind the Pistons might have a punchers chance as Andre Drummond could have the series of his life. He has to dominate and make it so that the Lebrons do not go small. (highly unlikely). Reggie Jackson is good but he is emotionally combustible. If Reggie can reign it in and play smarter, Drummond can own the boards and hit free throws and Harris shows the actual vs the potential the Pistons can take a couple of games. Just don't see them taking the series.
Hawks vs Celtics: Hawks in 7
The Celts have to "out hawk" the Hawks as they are similarly constructed teams. Just don't see the pluckiest team in the East being ready to do that... this year.
Horford and Millsap will fold spindle and mutilate Zeller and Sullinger up front over the course of the series. Olynyk will give the Hawks fits with his stretch 5 positioning and ability to run the floor and even take the ball up court but the steady pass oriented grind it out duo of Horford and Milsap will be the deciding factor here.
On the wings Kyle Korver is going to be checked by Jae Crowder and this is going to be great to watch. Both are relentless workers. Korver will be running around screens all game long and won't need much separation to catch and shoot but Crowder is really good and will stay with him. Best game within the game matchup.
Teague and Schroeder get the task of checking Issiah Thomas. Thomas is the Celts best offensive threat but its the playoffs and when your best scorer is 5 foot 8 inches tall its a tough go. Avery Bradley will frustrate Teague and Schroeder but they will outlast him. Look for Marcus Smart to be the antithesis of his surname and cause Stephens undue heartburn.
Comes down to game 7 and the Hawks get it at home as the Celts got seriously screwed over in the tiebreaker.
Heat vs Hornets: Hornets in 6
Again my anti Heat bias is showing.
The Heat played all their guys all out down the stretch in the last month to get homecourt. They had to play 35 plus hard minutes a night during that stretch. They do get a bit of a rest but the toll of an 82 game season has to be taken into consideration on: 13 year man Dwayne Wade, 14 year man Joe Johnson and 12 year man Luol Deng. Thats a lot of years.
The Hornets play really well at home. They won 30 times this year. They play a solid defensive game and feature a really solid Marvin Williams at the 4 who can guard Joe and Luol pretty well. Big Al Jefferson will give Whiteside a go down low and if Clifford wants a change of pace he can try to bring Whiteside out from under the basket to try to cover Kaminsky and Zeller. If he doesn't come out the Hornets will rack up a lot of points as Frank the Tank can make his shots.
Dragic is going to make life miserable for the Hornets and Kemba Walker.
This is the first round upset. Look for the Hornets to take care of business at home as the Heat don't travel well and look for them to steal one game in Miami when Jeremy Lin has one of those nights.
Your Nostradamus Views are welcomed !
Yes I am biased. Yes the heart is on the sleeve. Now that that's out of the way:
Toronto features a top 10 offense with scoring coming from just about every angle and every position. Lowry / Derozan / Ross / Paterson /Carroll JV and now Norman Powell. Its hard to see how even with a highly rated defense the Pacers are going to find a way to plug all the holes in the dam.
Raps feature two right in your grill wing defenders (Powell and Carroll) who will over the series wear down the Pacers best player Paul George. Indy's two vet bigs don't stretch the floor at all and the rookie Myles Turner is a rookie. As we learned vs Brooklyn experience in the playoffs counts. The Pacers will take a lot of "shats" from behind the arc but they aren't the Warriors and unless you are this is pretty much a failed strategy in the playoffs.
George's ankle isn't 100% and the Pacers best/streakiest ? pt shooter CJ Miles has a shoulder issue.
Lebrons vs Motown: Lebron's in 5
So which Cleveland will it be ? The Lebrons that took the Hawks apart brick by brick in the second last game of the season or the team that showed up lame against the Bulls two weeks ago. I am betting the former.
The Lebrons are battle tested and have the best player in the series. When he is on he is pretty much unstoppable. Love has something to prove to the world and so does Irving. They rebound well with T. Thompson and will likely push Stan into playing small ball where they have a huge advantage and will want to exploit that.
On a clear day with no wind the Pistons might have a punchers chance as Andre Drummond could have the series of his life. He has to dominate and make it so that the Lebrons do not go small. (highly unlikely). Reggie Jackson is good but he is emotionally combustible. If Reggie can reign it in and play smarter, Drummond can own the boards and hit free throws and Harris shows the actual vs the potential the Pistons can take a couple of games. Just don't see them taking the series.
Hawks vs Celtics: Hawks in 7
The Celts have to "out hawk" the Hawks as they are similarly constructed teams. Just don't see the pluckiest team in the East being ready to do that... this year.
Horford and Millsap will fold spindle and mutilate Zeller and Sullinger up front over the course of the series. Olynyk will give the Hawks fits with his stretch 5 positioning and ability to run the floor and even take the ball up court but the steady pass oriented grind it out duo of Horford and Milsap will be the deciding factor here.
On the wings Kyle Korver is going to be checked by Jae Crowder and this is going to be great to watch. Both are relentless workers. Korver will be running around screens all game long and won't need much separation to catch and shoot but Crowder is really good and will stay with him. Best game within the game matchup.
Teague and Schroeder get the task of checking Issiah Thomas. Thomas is the Celts best offensive threat but its the playoffs and when your best scorer is 5 foot 8 inches tall its a tough go. Avery Bradley will frustrate Teague and Schroeder but they will outlast him. Look for Marcus Smart to be the antithesis of his surname and cause Stephens undue heartburn.
Comes down to game 7 and the Hawks get it at home as the Celts got seriously screwed over in the tiebreaker.
Heat vs Hornets: Hornets in 6
Again my anti Heat bias is showing.
The Heat played all their guys all out down the stretch in the last month to get homecourt. They had to play 35 plus hard minutes a night during that stretch. They do get a bit of a rest but the toll of an 82 game season has to be taken into consideration on: 13 year man Dwayne Wade, 14 year man Joe Johnson and 12 year man Luol Deng. Thats a lot of years.
The Hornets play really well at home. They won 30 times this year. They play a solid defensive game and feature a really solid Marvin Williams at the 4 who can guard Joe and Luol pretty well. Big Al Jefferson will give Whiteside a go down low and if Clifford wants a change of pace he can try to bring Whiteside out from under the basket to try to cover Kaminsky and Zeller. If he doesn't come out the Hornets will rack up a lot of points as Frank the Tank can make his shots.
Dragic is going to make life miserable for the Hornets and Kemba Walker.
This is the first round upset. Look for the Hornets to take care of business at home as the Heat don't travel well and look for them to steal one game in Miami when Jeremy Lin has one of those nights.
Your Nostradamus Views are welcomed !
Comment