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NBA Playoffs

Discussion in 'Sports Forum' started by ccrobinson, Apr 18, 2014.

  1. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    Playoffs start tomorrow. Who ya got?

    Eastern Conference
    1st Round
    Miami 4-0 Charlotte
    Indiana 4-2 Atlanta
    Brooklyn 4-1 Toronto
    Washington 4-2 Chicago

    Semifinals
    Miami 4-1 Washington
    Brooklyn 4-2 Indiana

    Finals
    Miami 4-3 Brooklyn


    Western Conference
    1st Round
    San Antonio 4-1 Dallas
    Oklahoma City 4-3 Memphis
    Los Angeles Clippers 4-2 Golden State
    Houston 4-2 Portland

    Semifinals
    San Antonio 4-3 Houston
    Oklahoma City 4-3 Los Angeles Clippers

    Finals
    San Antonio 4-3 Oklahoma City


    The Finals
    San Antonio 4-3 Miami
     
  2. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    Eastern Conference
    1st Round

    Miami, yes, but in five, not a sweep
    Pacers, yes, but in five, not six
    Nets, yes, but it's take the full seven-game series -- lotta talent there in Toronto
    Another seven-gamer, but the Bulls win, not the Wizards

    You've got your brackets confused in the semis. That bracket is Pacers/Hawks and Bulls/Wizards in the upper, Nets/Raptors and Heat/Rockets in the lower ...

    Semifinals
    Here's your upset -- Nets in six over Miami. The Heat is too slothful and overconfident in that series
    Pacers easily over the Bulls in five, or perhaps six, but it still won't be a dramatic series

    Conference Finals
    Pacers over the Nets in six

    Western Conference
    1st Round

    Agreed, Spurs in five
    Agreed, OKC is seven
    Agreed, Clippers in six
    Agreed, Rockets in six

    Semifinals
    San Antonio over Houston in six
    Another upset -- Clippers take OKC is seven. Thunder too tired from the first round

    Conference Finals
    Spurs in six over Clippers


    NBA Championship
    Seven game series, goes to San Antonio. No game has a larger than an eight point differential.
     
  3. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    I botched that, but it doesn't matter, because I'm not changing any of my picks.

    On the Chicago/Washington series, Chicago's one of the toughest teams in the league and maybe that's enough, but Chicago also can't score.


    It's not crazy to pick the Nets to win, especially since they beat Miami 4 times this season. What is crazy is saying it will be due to sloth and overconfidence. 2 time NBA champions are not slothful or overconfident.


    How do you figure that? There will be plenty of days between series starts for the teams to be rested enough. If the Clippers win, and they certainly could, it will not be due to fatigue.
     
  4. FriendofSpurgeon

    FriendofSpurgeon Well-Known Member
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    My projections ---

    Eastern Conference
    1st Round

    Miami 4-0 Charlotte
    Atlanta 4-1 Indiana
    Brooklyn 4-1 Toronto
    Washington 4-2 Chicago

    Semifinals
    Miami 4-3 Brooklyn
    Washington 4-3 Atlanta

    Finals
    Miami 4-2 Washington

    Western Conference
    1st Round
    San Antonio 4-1 Dallas
    Oklahoma City 4-3 Memphis
    Los Angeles Clippers 4-3 Golden State
    Houston 4-3 Portland

    Semifinals
    San Antonio 4-2 Houston
    Oklahoma City 4-3 Los Angeles Clippers

    Finals
    Oklahoma City 4-3 San Antonio

    The Finals
    Miami 4-3 Oklahoma City
     
  5. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    On to the 2nd round and here's who I think wins.

    Miami vs. Brooklyn
    If you're picking Miami, the safe pick is Miami in 6. It would be bolder to say Miami in 4, but that's the only mystery about this series. Make no mistake, Miami is winning this series. It doesn't matter that Brooklyn beat them all 4 times in the regular season, because a) this isn't the regular season, and b) Dwyane Wade has gotten all kinds of rest and c) LeBron James still plays for Miami. I had the guts to take Washington when most people said Chicago would win and my gut feeling is that Miami sweeps them, so Miami in 4. The only mystery here is whether Brooklyn wins a game or not.


    Indiana vs. Washington
    As it turns out, just not playing Roy Hibbert was the answer for Indiana. It might be the answer against Washington, too. Gortat's a nice player, but that's not the guy the series is riding on. The series is riding on the George/Ariza matchup and the Wall-Beal/Hill-Stephenson matchup. I think the gap between George and Ariza is bigger than the gap between guards. The team with the best player usually wins, and while Wall is terrific, Paul George is the best player. Pacers in 6.


    San Antonio vs. Portland
    These 2 teams feel more even than they really are. I'll go conservative and say Spurs in 6, but I really want to pick Spurs in 5. Regardless, Spurs win.


    Oklahoma City vs. LA Clippers
    I don't know how OkCity is stopping Blake Grifffin. I also don't know how the Clips are stopping KD. They aren't, actually. OkCity in 6.
     
  6. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    Brooklyn still upsets Miami in six.

    Indy over Washington in six.

    Spurs sweep Blazers.

    Still got Clippers over Thunder, in seven.

    Pacers beat Nets in six, Spurs beat Clippers in six.

    Spurs in seven over Indy, and I still think no game has a greater margin than eight points.
     
  7. FriendofSpurgeon

    FriendofSpurgeon Well-Known Member
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    Miami vs. Brooklyn
    Would love to see a Miami sweep, but expect this to go six games. Looking forward to an Eastern Conference without Pierce and Garnett. Just saying...

    Indiana vs. Washington
    May take a full seven games. Will be interesting to see how the Pacers play on the road. Will they look like last night or will they revert to the Pacers of the last month? May be wishful thinking, but going with Washington.

    San Antonio vs. Portland
    Don't see how Portland wins this. The may go five or six games, but that's it. I think Houston would have had a much better chance against the Spurs.

    Oklahoma City vs. LA Clippers
    Probably the best match up. LA was unstoppable in game one, while OKC was in game two. Expect this to go to seven games, with OKC coming away with the win - due to home court advantage if nothing else.
     
  8. FriendofSpurgeon

    FriendofSpurgeon Well-Known Member
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    Great win for the Heat last night. Jason Kidd and the Nets made a lot of adjustments and the game flow was very much a Nets type of game. Very slow, very deliberate. Teletovic had a record night (six 3's) and Garnett (while only scoring 4 points) was incredible on the boards. Even with all of this, the Heat still pulled it out and won by 12.

    Can anyone see Portland winning more than a game against the Spurs?
     
  9. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    No. Easy to say this when the Spurs lead 3-0, but I'm not sure the Blazers can win even 1 game. They look completely overmatched.


    BTW, I don't want to open a thread about it since it was hashed out for quite some time in the Current Events forum, but I'm changing my position about what the NBA did in regards to Sterling. I stated that I was in favor of what Adam Silver said originally, but I've come to the belief that what Silver did was wrong. Instead of standing up to the mob, he joined in the mob.
     
  10. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    :thumbsup:
     
  11. JPPT1974

    JPPT1974 Active Member
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    Sure what Sterling said was very, very wrong. But also banning for life as Sterling should had been banned for a couple of months. Not for life.
    What about people that need to be banned for life like the drug dealers, murderers, rapists? NOW THOSE ARE the people that need to be banned for life!:BangHead:
     
  12. FriendofSpurgeon

    FriendofSpurgeon Well-Known Member
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    Updates...

    Miami vs. Brooklyn
    Miami won as expected. The Heat were just too much for a much improved Nets team.

    Indiana vs. Washington
    Back in Washington for game 6, with Pacers up 3-2. Still may take a full seven games. Still have wishful thinking and going with Washington.

    San Antonio vs. Portland
    As expected, Spurs close it out in 5.

    Oklahoma City vs. LA Clippers
    The best match up by far. Wonder how LA will respond after the terrible play and terrible calls in the last minute which cost them the game. They would be up 3-2 and playing at home. Now, they're down 3-2 and have to win two straight. Don't see them doing that, and OKC should come out alive (barely).
     
  13. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    Which terrible call are you referring to? If you're referring to the play where the ball was supposedly off of Reggie Jackson, they actually got that call right, but they didn't explain it properly. Here's a copy of the NBA rulebook in PDF format.

    From page 30:

    Everybody thought that the refs were looking to see if the ball went off Reggie Jackson, but that's not what they were looking for. They were trying to see if, when Barnes hit Jackson's hand, did Jackson have his hand on the ball. That was the part that was inconclusive, so they went with the call on the floor, which was the correct call.
     
  14. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    Heat-Pacers: Gotta go with the Pacers, even though everybody thinks that's crazy. Indy has home court advantage, and while we tend to blow that off as almost inconsequential in the NBA, it will be a factor here. I admit, I thought this would be Nets-Pacers, but I still think the Pacers win the East.

    Thunder-Spurs: OKC's superstars will be the reason they lose. Westbrook is very capable of throwing the ball away nine or ten times and going 3-for-19 from the field any given night. When he has nights like that, Durant goes ballistic and draws technicals. All it takes is one night like that for the Spurs to head back to the NBA finals.
     
  15. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    Who's we? :) Home court matters in the NBA. Even though the Pacers have played at times like hot garbage during the playoffs and over the last couple of months, it's not crazy to say the Pacers can win the series. That said, Lebron James still plays for Miami and Wade has stayed healthy. The team with the best player usually wins in the NBA, so I'm going with Miami in 6.


    OKC hasn't lost their composure in any playoff game this year and I sincerely doubt they will in this series either. I thought the Clippers were a bad matchup for OKC, but the Thunder fared well, obviously. The Spurs are no picnic, but for all the trouble OKC will have stopping them, especially with no Ibaka, the Spurs are going to have the same issue, especially against Westbrook, even if OKC lacks a real offense. Before the playoffs started, I picked the Spurs, but I'm not so sure anymore. OKC not only has the best player, they have the best 2 players. Being the contrarian I am, OKC in 6.
     
  16. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    Wow! Monday night, OKC's +/- totals -- the team's net points when a given player is on the court -- was a whopping -57 for the starting five, and Durant's +/- was -17.

    It's gonna be a long but short series.
     
  17. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    Yeah, I did not expect the loss of Ibaka to hurt that much, but it surely did. It's so easy to overreact after 1 game of a series, but I'm not seeing OKC winning the series.
     
  18. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    This may be the first time we've totally agreed on anything. :laugh: :thumbsup:
     
  19. JPPT1974

    JPPT1974 Active Member
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    Not a fan of theirs but really kind of wanted the Clippers to take it all in wake of the Sterling incident thing.
     
  20. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    Looking for the Pacers to pull an '85 Royals comeback -- but not very confidently.
     
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