NBA Post – Season is now here
The time for more playoff basketball is here…NBA style with the 2011 post season kicking off today. Before going forward, I will look back to my NBA preseason entry from 26 October 2010. In that, my playoff picks for the East were correct with the exception of Milwaukee and Charlotte. I was wrong on Milwaukee winning the Central Division.
In the Western Conference, take out my preseason picks of Utah and Phoenix and insert New Orleans and Memphis.
So my pick of Lakers vs. Heat final survives but there may be adjustments as I look at the first round.
Eastern Conference:
Chicago (1) 62-20 vs. Indiana (8) 37-45
This one will not be much more than a tune up for the surprisingly top seeded bulls as they go into the next round easily
Bulls win series 4-1.
Miami (2) 58-24 vs. Philadelphia (7) 41-41
The Heat has finally lived up to some of the hype in the last weeks of the season and should go on to the next round with a series win over the rejuvenated 76ers.
Miami wins series 4-0.
Boston (3) 46-26 vs. New York (6) 42-40
The Celtics showed lots of cracks in the armour late in the season while the Knicks were fine tuning their game… hmm…this could be upset of the round.
Knicks take series 4-3.
Orlando (4) 52-30 vs. Atlanta (5) 44-38
Both teams have been seen as underachievers this season but the winner of this series could go on to be the spoiler against Chicago.
Orlando takes this one 4-2.
Western Conference:
San Antonio (1) 61-21 vs. Memphis (8) 46-36
The Spurs are not completely healthy but they are a deep squad and should get through this round.
Spurs win series 4-1.
Los Angeles (2) 57-25 vs. New Orleans (7) 46-36
This could be a testy series for LA although they swept the regular season series.
LA wins 4-2.
Dallas (3) 57-25 vs. Portland (6) 48-34
Portland is a team that no one wanted to face in the first round. Dallas is a team prone to first round flops…..do the math.
Portland takes it 4-3.
Oklahoma City (4) 55-27 vs. Denver (5) 50-32
The Thunder are getting back on track and Denver has surprised since the All-Star break…good series on the way.
OKC wins 4-2.
If the predictions hold true we will have second round matches of Chicago/Orlando and Miami/NY in the East with San Antonio/OKC and LA/Portland in the West.
For the Conference Finals I would predict Chicago/Miami in the east and San Antonio/Portland in the West with Championship series of Miami vs. San Antonio where I would give the nod to Miami.
But, we will see how things pan out over the next month.
