Back to the NBA playoffs. First a first round review:
7 of the 8 series are over. As predicted, no upsets, and in three of the series I picked the right number of games. All that remains is Miami against New Orleans. My sweep prediction was of course wrong, but it seems likely that Miami will prevail like I said. I'm making second round predictions before this series finishes because another series will start today.
West:
#1 Minnesota Timberwolves vs #4 Sacramento Kings. Sacramento has more playoff experience as a unit, but they're banged up and not playing particularly well. Minnesota will handle them relatively easily. 4-2 Timberwolves.
#3 San Antonio Spurs vs #2 Los Angeles. Due to their superior record, San Antonio has home-court advantage, but I doubt this will be much of an issue. LA has more firepower, but San Antonio actually is a team, rather than a collection of talent. And it's not like their talent is bad, either. 4-2 Spurs.
East:
#3 Detroit Pistons vs #2 New Jersey Nets. Again #3 has home-court due to record. Again it's not the reason they will win. NJ has won the East the last two years and their big 3 are looking pretty good, but they have very little after that. Detroit is a deeper, tougher team, and won't let the Nets run nearly as much as they need to. While they've had some roster turnover to hurt continuity, Sheed's reluctance to be the man actually helps them here. 4-2 Pistons.
#1 Indiana Pacers vs (#4 Miami Heat or #5 New Orleans Hornets). Indiana is much better than either one of those teams. If Miami finishes off the series today, they will lose in 6 games. If New Orleans forces a game 7, whoever wins it will lose even sooner, with only the Pacers' being over rested helping them. So, provisionally, 4-1 Pacers.
7 of the 8 series are over. As predicted, no upsets, and in three of the series I picked the right number of games. All that remains is Miami against New Orleans. My sweep prediction was of course wrong, but it seems likely that Miami will prevail like I said. I'm making second round predictions before this series finishes because another series will start today.
West:
#1 Minnesota Timberwolves vs #4 Sacramento Kings. Sacramento has more playoff experience as a unit, but they're banged up and not playing particularly well. Minnesota will handle them relatively easily. 4-2 Timberwolves.
#3 San Antonio Spurs vs #2 Los Angeles. Due to their superior record, San Antonio has home-court advantage, but I doubt this will be much of an issue. LA has more firepower, but San Antonio actually is a team, rather than a collection of talent. And it's not like their talent is bad, either. 4-2 Spurs.
East:
#3 Detroit Pistons vs #2 New Jersey Nets. Again #3 has home-court due to record. Again it's not the reason they will win. NJ has won the East the last two years and their big 3 are looking pretty good, but they have very little after that. Detroit is a deeper, tougher team, and won't let the Nets run nearly as much as they need to. While they've had some roster turnover to hurt continuity, Sheed's reluctance to be the man actually helps them here. 4-2 Pistons.
#1 Indiana Pacers vs (#4 Miami Heat or #5 New Orleans Hornets). Indiana is much better than either one of those teams. If Miami finishes off the series today, they will lose in 6 games. If New Orleans forces a game 7, whoever wins it will lose even sooner, with only the Pacers' being over rested helping them. So, provisionally, 4-1 Pacers.
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