NBA Playoffs Around the League

Yes, it's true, the playoffs do exist outside of Cleveland, so I'll update you all on what's happening in the other 7 first round series.

Orlando/Charlotte(2-0)
The Orlando Magic have basically dominated this series so far, which is really disappointing to see. I love the combo of Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson in Charlotte, but they need others like Boris Diaw and Raymond Felton to step it up and score if they want to have a chance of making this thing competitive. That and they need to not average around 20 turnovers a game...

The Magic are raining down 3's on the Bobcats, surprise surprise, and the Bobcats just haven't found an answer yet. They seem to be containing Dwight Howard scoring wise so far, but he's showing why he was chosen as Defensive Player of the Year for the 2nd consecutive season. This is a bad matchup for the Bobcats because they are basically a driving team, getting most of their offense from guys cutting to the basket, but as soon as they get there, Howard is waiting for them. The Bobcats also have very poor perimeter shooting, something Orlando has an abundance of.

They play today at 2pm in Charlotte so I hope they can turn things around because I want to see Orlando gone.

Phoenix/Portland (2-1)
Portland surprised everyone by winning game 1 in Phoenix behind Marcus Camby and Andre Miller, but that excitement didn't last very long for them. The Suns woke up and realized they were in the playoffs. That combined with Portland having the most injuries to their players I've ever seen in my life means that this series is over. Suns will win the next 2 games and finish 4-1.

Boston/Miami (3-0)
Disappointing. I was so excited for this series initially, but it's been awful. Dwyane Wade has been great, but he got literally no help from his teammates in the first 2 games, losing game 2 by like 30 points. The Celtics didn't even have Kevin Garnett that night due to his suspension and they STILL got destroyed.

Last night when the series shifted to Miami, I thought the Heat might have a chance to take a game at home, but Paul Pierce thought differently. With the game tied and around 5 seconds left in the 4th, Boston inbounded the ball to Pierce, he dribbled to his favorite mid-range shooting spot on the court, pulled up in the defender's face and knocked down the game winner as time expired. This series is over. Boston in 4.

Los Angeles/Oklahoma City (2-1)
The Thunder looked good against the Lakers in both games 1 and 2, but sloppiness and inexperience seemed to be too much for them to handle and just couldn't close out against the Champs in LA.

But the series shifted to OKC on Thursday night for the first playoff game in the Thunder's couple year history in Oklahoma. It was also the night where Thunder headcoach Scott Brooks received the Coach of the Year award for his team's amazing turnaround from last season.

The crowd was INSANE. Take a look for yourself:



And that crowd, along with the youth and clutch shooting of the Thunder were too much for Kobe and the aging Lakers to handle. OKC took game 3 and made it a 2-1 series. I cannot wait for game 4 in Oklahoma.

Spurs/Mavericks (2-1)
I knew this series would be good, but I didn't expect San Antonio to be playing this well against such a stacked Dallas Mavericks team. After losing game 1 in Dallas, the Spurs flipped a switch and took both games 2 and 3. I honestly have no idea what the outcome of this series will be because Dallas is definitely not going to just give up and San Antonio is on a hot streak. We'll see how this one plays out.

Atlanta/Milwaukee (2-0)
No Bogut in Milwaukee, no 2nd round in Milwaukee. Simple as that.

The Hawks have outplayed the Bucks in each game at home and I just can't see any scenario where Milwaukee gets back in this series without Andrew Bogut. The Bucks might get a win in Milwaukee in either game 3 or 4, but that's all I can see happening.

And finally...
Utah/Denver (2-1)
Wow. Utah has been playing so hard these past 2 games it's unbelievable. They lost Mehmet Okur in game 1 in Denver and I thought the series was essentially over. They were already without AK47 so it just seemed impossible for them to stop the offense of Denver. But Boozer and Deron Williams had another opinion. They've taken 2 games straight, 1 in Denver and 1 in Utah. Denver just can't find an answer for the Jazz's energy. Foul trouble for Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony have also really hurt them the past 2 games.

I still don't know who wins this series, but I would have to think Denver comes back and at least makes it interesting. I highly doubt that Utah takes game 4 and goes up 3-1, even at the Energy Solutions Arena.