NBA BasketballNBA Playoffs Eastern Conference …

At the top of the Eastern Conference Bracket you had the Indiana Pacers against
the Atlanta Hawks.  This series was full of drama.  The Pacers who were the #1 seed,
seemed to lose some steam at the end of the year.  We all thought they were rest for
the playoffs, but someone need to tell them that, yes the Atlanta Hawks match was
the first round.  I have never in my life seen a #1 seed look so asleep in the first
round.  Roy Hibbert completely disappeared in this series, the Hawks were hungry
and they took it to the #1 seeded Indiana Pacers.  But in the end the Pacers did just
enough to get the win.  But if they have ideas of going to the NBA Championship,
they need to wake up and get hungry.

In the 4/5 match up you had the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards.  This wasn’t
much of a series in my humble opinion.  Without star point guard Derrick Rose, the
Chicago Bulls lack scoring options.  While the Washington Wizards, can get it done
a couple of ways with point guard John Wall and shooting guard Bradley Beal.  The
Bulls were simply over matched.  They are a team that will play you hard every game,
but in the end they lacked scoring options and the Wizards took control of the series
early and dispatched the Bulls in 5 games to move to the 2nd round of the Eastern
Conference.

That leads me to the Washington Wizard and the Indiana Pacers in round 2 of the
NBA Playoffs.  This should be a very good series.  The Washington Wizards have
great perimeter scoring and the big men down low to give the Indiana Pacers a real
run for their money.  The Pacers better wake up and wake up quick or they are going
to watch the Washington Wizards face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference
finals.  The series is tied right now 1-1 with Washington winning the first game, but
in the second game Roy Hibbert, came out of his funk and put up a monster game 2
with 28 points and 9 boards, to even up the series.  This is one series you should
keep an eye on.  I’m going with the upset – Washington Wizards in 7, it’s a tall order
to win a road Game 7, but I think they are going to do it.

In the bottom half of the Eastern Conference Bracket you had the Toronto Raptors
and the Brooklyn Nets, squaring off for the right to play the Miami Heat, let’s be
real did any think the Heat would lose in round 1? This series between the Nets
and Raptors was a battle, going 7 games and coming down to the final seconds.
But Brooklyn’s veteran presence with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Deron Williams,
helped push the Nets into the second round.  It’s a familiar story with Pierce and
Garnett only this year they won’t be wearing Boston green.  Will a new team give
the one more shot at a ring, only time will tell.

Finally I come to the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Bobcats.  I feel bad for the
Bobcats, they played hard to get into the playoffs and had the Heat not sandbagged
the end of the season they may have moved on against the Indiana Pacers.  But in
the end the Big 3 of Lebron, D. Wade and Bosh were too much for this young
Bobcat team.  They fought hard, but they didn’t have enough to keep up with
Lebron or the Miami Heat, who sweep them out of the playoffs in 4 straight.

That leads us to the final match up in the Eastern Conference, the Brooklyn Nets
vs. Miami Heat for the right to go to the Eastern Conference Finals. This should
be an entertaining series, there is some bad blood between the Heat and Garnett
and Pierce.  We know that Kevin Garnett is always going to make a game interesting,
he’s not afraid of King James and will give him a hard foul when he can.  I would
love to say that the Nets additions are going to help them overcome the Miami Heat
but it won’t.  The Miami Heat are too good, Lebron is a man on a mission for
another title.  Barring injury to the big three, Miami is going to take this one.
My Pick – Miami Heat in 6

NBA Finals are almost here!

By Pat Gavin