NBA Playoffs heating up

Posted by jack bello on May 4, 2012 in Telegram Past News

This year the NBA playoffs have kicked off to an exciting start. However, this start is expected. The dominant teams have marked their territory, and the troubled teams are proving that they are clearly overmatched in their quest. This year the NBA playoffs are most likely not going to become interesting until the next round because of mismatches in the early round.

So far in the east, the Miami Heat have overwhelmed the weaker Knicks. Miami has used their talent to their advantage to shut down the high flying Knicks. The Knicks rely on their dominant scorer, Carmelo Anthony, to set the tempo, but the Heat have managed to shut down the strong forward, making it nearly impossible for the Knicks to beat the heat. Among scoring, the Knicks have no way to defend the players like Dwayne Wade and LeBron James.

Also in the East, to no surprise, the Indiana Pacers have taken a 2-1 game lead over the Orlando Magic. The Pacers have become a very competitive team this year and the Magic’s best player, Dwight Howard, is out for the playoffs. Without their top defensive player and scorer, there will be no way for the Magic to win the series over the Pacers.

A close series right now is going to be the Chicago Bulls versus the Philadelphia 76ers. Most experts didn’t expect this series to be close, but, with the Bulls’ loss of point guard Derrick Rose, this series will get a lot more interesting. The Bulls are still the more talented team, but without their best player, this series could take a turn for the worst for the Bulls.

The last series in the East is the Boston Celtics versus the Atlanta Hawks. Currently the series is tied 1-1 and is clearly going to be a
tight series. The Atlanta Hawks have the clear advantage in this series since the Celtics have both Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett out with injuries. But Paul Pierce put out a great performance in game 2 to tie the series. However, the Hawks are still the advantaged team, being the healthier team.

In the West, all top teams are currently dominating their series. The 2nd seeded Oklahoma City Thunder have taken a 2-0 lead over the defending champions, the Dallas Mavericks. However, both games were tight, which was clearly a statement to the Thunder that this series could be moving towards more games and a tough series for both teams.

The series of the Spurs vs. Jazz and Lakers vs. Nuggets are clearly mismatch series. Both of these are clearly favored by the Spurs
and the Lakers, which will ultimately push them into the next round.

An interesting series is the Memphis Grizzlies vs. LA Clippers which is currently tied at 1-1. These two teams are matched up
perfectly with one another making this the most interesting series of the first round.

Overall the playoffs in the first round is going to be a boring round, with a few exceptions. The next rounds will of course be much
closer and more interesting than the first round because of the closer matchups.

Predictions: I believe that in the East the final two teams will most likely be the Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat. For the West the final teams will be the LA Lakers vs. Oklahoma City.

My Finals predictions will most likely  be the LA Lakers vs. Miami Heat, and the winner of the NBA Finals will be the LA Lakers winning the series 4-2.