2008 Second Round Playoff Predictions
By Matt Rochinskibobcats.com
May 5, 2008
Conference Finals Predictions | First Round Predictions
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Speaking of our experts, big props to bobcats.com's Malinda Murray for setting the tone in Round 1 and putting the pressure on both myself and Bobcats Television Play-By-Play announcer Steve Martin. Murray nailed seven of the eight first-round matchups, missing only Cleveland's victory over Washington. She was the only one of us who saw the defending champs advancing past Phoenix, and in retrospect, Steve and I probably should have thought about our Suns pick a little harder. San Antonio is the defending champs - did we really think they'd make a first round exit?
Picking the Suns was one of only two mistakes Martin made, however, as he also missed the Cavs advancing to Round 2. This wily veteran was the only one who saw the Pistons needing six games to advance past Philadelphia, and he couldn't have been more spot on with his Hornets/Mavs prediction. "Dallas had better pay attention to David West," he said. "The Hornets are 7-10 when he scores less than 15 and shoots less than 45%. Avery, there’s no charge for that piece of information." Perhaps former Mavericks Head Coach Avery Johnson should have been reading bobcats.com, because West put up an average of 22.6 points on 48.4 percent shooting as the Hornets stung the Mavs in five games and Johnson got the axe.
As for my selections - I rule the East. I was the only one to go 4-0 in the Eastern Conference thanks in large part to the Wizards getting LeBron fired up, which I still can't understand why they would want to do. I was also the only one not to predict a Boston sweep, although the Hawks still won two more games than I expected. I take great pride in my Eastern Conference predictions for two reasons:
1. We all work for a team in the East, so we should know this conference, right?
2. My Western Conference predictions could not have been much worse. You could have thrown all eight teams in the West into a hat, picked four of them and come up with more winners than me. I went 1-3, with Kobe and the Lakers as my only saving grace.
So to recap Round 1:
Murray (7-1)
Martin (6-2)
Rochinski (5-3 but coming on strong)
Here's what we have for Round 2:
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BOSTON CELTICS (1) vs. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (4)
MURRAY: Boston got a huge scare as Atlanta took it to seven games in the first round. If Game 7 was any indication, though, the Celtics learned their lesson and realized that in order to win in the playoffs they have to come with intensity every night. They will need to take that lesson and apply it as they face LeBron James and the Cavaliers. As a whole, the Cavaliers don’t have the same type of athleticism that caused the Celtics such problems with Atlanta. Boston should also take a lesson from the Washington Wizards. The Wizards made the mistake of making LeBron James mad and when that happens, look out. James averaged 29.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.7 assists in the first round. If the Celtics can slow James down even a little and limit the involvement of his teammates, Boston should advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
PREDICTION: Celtics in six.
MARTIN: This series has the prospect of being one of the best in a while. You can’t derive much from the regular season meeting between the two because they split the four games, each holding home court serve. LeBron James missed the December 2 loss in Boston, while Kevin Garnett missed the February 5 loss in Cleveland. Anderson Verajao missed three of the four games, but the Cavs still won the rebounding battle overall. You must concede that LeBron will get his offense. If you are a Celtic fan, you must hope no one else gets theirs. This series goes to the first team that can win a road game. My guess is that’s Boston, winning Game 4.
PREDICTION: Celtics in five
ROCHINSKI: Don't count the defending Eastern Conference Champs out of this one. The Celtics "Big Three" of Kevin Garnett (31), Ray Allen (32) and Paul Pierce (30) are all in their 30's and coming off an unexpected seven-game set against the Hawks in which Atlanta exposed a flaw on Boston - they can be beat in transition. If LeBron and the Cavs want to push it, they can push it, and they're not intimidated by the Celtics. The two teams split the season series 2-2 with the home team winning each contest. The problem here, much like it was for the Hawks, is that Boston has four home games.
PREDICTION: Celtics in seven (but ripe for the picking by the Pistons at this point).
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MURRAY: Detroit beat Philadelphia to advance to the second round, but it wasn’t as easy as many people thought it would be. In the early games in the series, Philadelphia played with more intensity and just outhustled the Pistons to take two of the first three games. Detroit, with its seasoned veterans, got it figured out and over the course of the last three games played much more like the team that won 59 games this season. The Pistons will need to show that same type of fire to get past another young and hungry team in Orlando. Detroit will also need to find a way to contain Dwight Howard. Howard lived up to his “Superman” nickname averaging 22.6 points and 18.2 rebounds as Orlando easily dispatched Toronto in five games in the first round. This series may come down to the Pistons defense against Orlando’s offense. Detroit held Philadelphia to just 85.8 points in the first round while the Magic’s offense was clicking on all cylinders as they averaged 104 points in the first round. In the end though, Detroit’s defense and their veteran savvy prevails and helps them advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
PREDICTION: Pistons in six.
MARTIN: This will mark the fourth time the Magic and Pistons have locked up in a playoff series and the Pistons have advanced in the previous three. Their fourth straight series win over the Magic hinges on being able to control Orlando’s wing pair of Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. Tayshaun Prince slowed the Sixers’ Andre Iguodala to a crawl in the first round. Jason Maxiel is now starting and adds a banger inside. The question is, how does Flip Saunders match his players up. Don’t forget that Saunders is one of the best zone coaches in the league. My guess is the Magic sees a heavy dose of it. Can Rasheed Wallace drag Dwight Howard out of the paint with his three point prowess? Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton dominate the backcourt pairings. The Pistons have made it to five straight Eastern Conference Finals. They’ll make it six straight
PREDICTION: Pistons in five.
ROCHINSKI: Back in the day, try as they might, the Pistons just didn't have what it took to get by the Celtics. That was before the Bad Boys emerged and won two titles. Then it was the Bulls who couldn't get past the Pistons. Michael Jordan and crew finally figured that out and rolled to numerous championships. Often standing in the Bulls way were the Cleveland Cavaliers, but Brad Daugherty, Mark Price and company were never able to get the job done. This seems to be the way things work in the East, and with three-straight series wins over the Magic, the Pistons are Orlando's nemesis. Only thing is, I think Orlando is closer to the Cavs team that just didn't have enough to get it done.
PREDICTION: Pistons in five.
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LOS ANGELES LAKERS (1) vs. UTAH JAZZ (4)
MURRAY: The Lakers easily sailed through the first round and have had a week off to rest and prepare for a Utah team that had a tough first round series against the Rockets. Utah always plays fundamentally sound basketball, but they will have to execute to perfection if they want to win this series. The Jazz will need big performances from their big men, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur, to give themselves a chance. But even with all that, the Lakers may have the edge in this series because of #24. Not only has Kobe Bryant put up impressive point totals, but he also has found way to get his teammates involved. The Lakers seem to have developed great chemistry and if they can maintain that throughout this series, it looks like the Lakers could be headed to the Western Conference Finals.
PREDICTION: Lakers in six.
MARTIN: Game 1 is already in the books as this is written. Wasn’t Kobe great off the foul line? 21 of 23 from the stripe. Electrifying. The Lakers ran over the Jazz three of the four times they played…and the Jazz never laid eyes on Pau Gasol in a Laker uniform. The Jazz foul people. They foul them a lot. Their opponents took 2,468 free throw attempts during the season. By comparison, Bobcats opponents took 2,102. The best thing about this series is the prospect that every game will start at 9:30 or later and then you have an excuse not to watch.
PREDICTION: Lakers in five.
ROCHINSKI: Last round I badly want to choose the Nuggets, but stated that "a D-League team could put up 100 points on Denver." The Nuggets went out and were easily disposed of by the Lakers 4-0. The Jazz went to six games against the Rockets, winning the series without the home court advantage. Kobe and the Lakers were rested and rolled in Game 1 of the series. Phil Jackson is 39-0 in 39 series after winning Game 1 of that series. It's nicer in Los Angeles this time of year than it is in Utah. L comes before U in the alphabet. All signs point to the Lakers here, but I was 1-3 in the West last round and am hoping that since Kobe is being reported to have won his first MVP he'll slack off a little. What the heck...
PREDICTION: Jazz in seven.
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MURRAY: This is a series that should be exciting to watch. It features some great matchups. Chris Paul vs. Tony Parker. David West vs. Tim Duncan. Morris Peterson and Peja Stojakovic vs. Michael Finley and Bruce Bowen. Bonzi Wells vs. Manu Ginobili off the bench. A young, up and coming team facing the NBA Champion. It has all the makings of a dog fight. New Orleans is confident and has done nothing but record victory after victory all season. They certainly won’t be intimidated by the Spurs after splitting the season series with them. The Hornets will pose a serious threat to the Spurs chances to repeat, but in the playoffs San Antonio just seems to find a way to win.
PREDICTION: Spurs in seven.
MARTIN: The party starts early in this series with Game 1 becoming the crucial battleground. The Hornets need it to maintain an even keel with the veteran Spurs. Luckily for them it happens in the Big Easy. The teams split their four games, each getting a road win. But the Spurs win over the Hornets came during the first month of the season when only 8,000 people were showing up. Now the Greenhouse on Girod St is rocking. The Spurs won a game they shouldn’t have in Game 1 against Phoenix and it set the tone for the series. The Spurs have more experience and depth, but the Hornets have Chris Paul and that says a lot. According to Hornets TV voice Bob Licht, the anticipation of meeting the Spurs in the playoffs was the motivation for trading for Bonzi Wells. Bonzi was a nightmare for the Spurs in his last playoff run with Sacramento, averaging 23 points and 12 rebounds. If Wells can negate Bruce Bowen, then the Spurs suffer defensively and the Hornets are not a team you want to fall asleep on defensively. There are just two many mismatches to worry about. Who guards David West? Can Tony Parker offset Chris Paul? On the other hand, good money says Tim Duncan gets Tyson Chandler in foul trouble and the Hornets are weak behind Chandler. Note that the Hornets blew out the Spurs twice, once in San Antonio. I’m big on a changing of the guard. This is the Hornets fifth journey to the Conference Semifinals, I say they break through to the Conference Finals for the first time ever against San Antonio and then they’ll settle this MVP thing once and for all for the West title (hint, hint, hint).
PREDICTION: Hornets in six.
ROCHINSKI: David West torched the Spurs for 30 points in a Game 1 victory, and as my colleague Steve Martin pointed out last round, it can be West, not Chris Paul, who can be the key to a New Orleans' series. Do I think the Hornets are going to be able to hold Tim Duncan under double-digits in scoring again after holding him to five points in Game 1? Heck no, but I don't think Bruce Bowen is going to score 17 points with five 3-pointers every time out either. What I do think is that no team in the league is playing with as much confidence in league right now as New Orleans is behind Chris Paul, and much like it will in Boston, the home court advantage is going to play a major role here. I can't believe both Steve and I are picking against Malinda and her Spurs for the second-straight series.
PREDICTION: Hornets in seven.
spenco88:
I just have a comment about the Celtics-Cavs series. I believe that to many people are over looking the Cavs in this series. They are going to pose a bigger problem down low for Garnett than the Hawks could, and even though they may not be as athletic as the Hawks they are going to be able to play better half court defense. I am not going to make the prediction that the Cavs win the series, but let us not forget that Lebron has been to this stage and gotten it done, but for all of these veteran stars on the Celtics, well they have all the pressure. Look for this series to go 7 games.
mars9:
i do think it will be hornets 2 - 4 spurs.
willywill657:
yo the lakers are winning it in 4 and the hornets in 5 so yah and the magic in 7 and the celtics in 6 nj status!
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