| Trophy Season: NBA 2007 Playoffs Preview Authored by Scott Shniderman - April 20, 2007 - 1:32 pm
April 20, 2007
By Scott Shniderman
For die-hard NBA hoop heads, the months of April, May and June are pure delight. Night after night of do-or-die basketball with the best players in the world laying it all on the line for the right to take home Larry O’Brien’s trophy. Last year, the Miami Heat took home its first ever NBA title. Who will be this year’s champion? Enjoy the best basketball on the planet for the next eight weeks and I will attempt to break it all down for you below.
FIRST ROUND – EAST
Looking back at my Eastern Conference preseason predictions I hit six of the eight playoff teams on the head. After saying Toronto would be a regular season also-ran, many Raps fans emailed me saying that the team was better than I gave them credit for. So to all the Toronto readers who wrote me, I give you props. I also flip-flopped the last team in and last team out, incorrectly predicting Indiana over Orlando for the 8th spot. I’ll stand by the fact that S-Jax and Harrington’s departure via trade had a lot to do with their lackluster record, and if they had those two stayed in Indiana the Pacers would have probably made the postseason. I also had the Milwaukee Bucks in the playoffs. Obviously, it was unforeseen that their three best players, Michael Redd, Charlie Villanueva and Bobby Simmons would all miss major portions of the season. Let’s get onto the previews.
1 DETROIT PISTONS (53-29) vs. 8 ORLANDO MAGIC (40-42)
The Pistons swept the Magic 4-0 in the regular season, and I see the exact same outcome for this playoff matchup. The Magic will be in “just happy to be here” mode. It will be interesting to see how C-Webb meshes with his new teammates for Motown’s playoff run. The Pistons have too many playmakers and after Dwight Howard the Magic are out of options.
PISTONS WIN 4-0
2 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (50-32) vs. 7 WASHINGTON WIZARDS (41-41)
Cleveland took the season series 2-1. The first two games were before all-everything Gilbert Arenas went down with his season ending knee injury. Throw in a Caron Butler broken hand and things are not looking good for the Wiz. It would have been great to see how Gilbert would have done in the playoffs this season, but it was just not meant to be. As much as I want to see the Wiz move onto the second round again this year, I don’t see it happening. Without their best two players, I can’t even see them winning a game in this series.
CAVALIERS WIN 4-0
3 TORONTO RAPTORS (47-35) vs. 6 NEW JERSEY NETS (41-41)
These two Atlantic Division rivals split their regular season series 2-2, with each team holding court at home. First, let’s talk about the good for Toronto. Chris Bosh could have had the quietest 22 point-10rebound season in the history of the NBA. This guy deserves some MVP votes; without Bosh the Raptors are a lottery team and with them they are the Atlantic Division champions. That’s the definition of the most “valuable” player.
Now the bad--the Raps have only won one playoff series in the team’s history and haven’t tasted playoff hoops since 2002. Even after receiving some fun, but biting emails from some disrespected Raptors fans after dissing them in the preseason preview, I’m just not a believer yet. The Nets are playing red hot going into the second season winning 10 of their last 13. I’m going to call an upset in this series with the Nets forcing seven games and Vince Carter having the last laugh on his old team, winning a crucial elimination game at the Air Canada Centre.
NETS WIN 4-3
4 MIAMI HEAT (44-38) vs. 5 CHICAGO BULLS (49-33)
The Bulls blew a humongous opportunity on the last day of the regular season by losing their last game to New Jersey. By losing that game, they lost a tiebreaker to Cleveland and now have to open Trophy Season versus the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat. However, in a rule change instituted this season, the team with the better regular season record, Chicago, will get home court advantage. This will be critical, as the Bulls play much better at the United Center, finishing 21 games over .500 at home and 5 games under .500 on the road. Contrary to current general belief, the Heat are not exactly playing their best ball right now, going 7-8 in their last 15 games of the regular season. Yes D-Wade is back, but is he at full strength? I’m going with the slight upset taking the Bulls in 7.
BULLS WIN 4-3
FIRST ROUND – WEST
I nailed 7 of the 8 Western Conference teams in my preseason predictions, only missing out on the 8th slot, picking the Los Angeles Clippers over the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors made their late season move after trading for Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington and the Clips were generally disappointing after a myriad of injuries this year.
1 DALLAS MAVERICKS (67-15) vs. 8 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (42-40)
The interesting fact about this matchup is that the Warriors swept the season series 3-0 vs. Dallas this year. Dallas had the best record of any NBA team this year, but Golden State handed the Mavs 20% of their losses. The other subplot is the return of Don Nelson as Warriors coach to take on the Mavericks squad he coached from 1997-2004. While their 3-0 head-to-head record is very impressive, I just don’t see Golden State winning four games against Dallas after not making the playoffs for the last 13 seasons. I’ll give the Warrior fans one game to get excited about.
MAVERICKS WIN 4-1
2 PHOENIX SUNS (61-21) vs. 7 LOS ANGELES LAKERS (42-40)
Kobe Bryant has been absolutely unbelievable this year. He hit the 50 point plateau ten times, including two games of 60 or more. Incredible. The problem is who else, after KB, can score for the Lake Show? The Lakers will give the Suns a great rematch of last season’s near upset, but won’t have enough firepower to answer the Suns triumvirate of Nash, Amare and Marion. The Lakers took one of four during the regular season, I see them winning two games in the playoffs, but the Suns will advance.
SUNS WIN 4-2
3 SAN ANTONIO SPURS (58-24) vs. 6 DENVER NUGGETS (45-37) )
The Spurs swept the regular season series versus the Nuggets 2-0. What everyone, myself included, will be watching is to see how Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony play in their first playoff series together. After their midseason trade, most pundits thought the Nuggets would be a very dangerous team after acquiring AI, but they have been merely good, not great. The Nuggets could throw a scare into the Spurs, but the team from San Antonio just has too much playoff experience.
SPURS WIN 4-2
4 UTAH JAZZ (51-31) vs. 5 HOUSTON ROCKETS (52-30) )
The Rockets get the homecourt advantage in this matchup by virtue of their better regular season record. However, Utah won the regular season matchup 3-1. Something is going to have to give, and I think Houston is a real dark horse to make it all the way to the NBA Finals. When T-Mac and Yao Ming are both on the court, this team has a potent inside out combo that can give any team fits. The Rockets take this series easily.
ROCKETS WIN 4-1
SEMIFINALS – EAST
1 DETROIT PISTONS vs. 5 CHICAGO BULLS)
Chicago actually matches up very well against Detroit, winning 3 of 4 versus the Pistons, losing their only game to D-Town by two after missing a three at the buzzer. I like the Bulls in this matchup, they are ready to take it to the next level and have the confidence to take out the Pistons.
BULLS WIN 4-2
2 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS vs. 6 NEW JERSEY NETS)
The Nets surprising series win over Toronto will have many believing that their big three—Kidd, Jefferson and Carter might be able to overtake Cleveland’s big one—LeBron James. Not happening. LBJ will get help from Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden to move onto the Eastern Conference Finals.
CAVALIERS WIN 4-2
SEMIFINALS – WEST
1 DALLAS MAVERICKS vs. 5 HOUSTON ROCKETS )
This Texas twosome will put on a great show and engage in a hotly contested series. The Rockets will win the first game and have people thinking upset. However, the series will go seven games before the Mavs will be able to pull it out behind a big game from underrated Josh Howard.
MAVERICKS WIN 4-3
2 PHOENIX SUNS vs. 3 SAN ANTONIO SPURS)
San Antonio knows what it takes to win championships. Tim Duncan has three rings and will do everything he can to try to add to his collection. The series will be a contrast of styles as the Suns like to get up and down the court, while the Spurs try to slow things down. The Suns will rise in this series, the Spurs will be going home to the Riverwalk.
SUNS WIN 4-1
CONFERENCE FINALS – EAST
2 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS vs. 5 CHICAGO BULLS )
The Bulls seem to have all of the pieces in place to get to the NBA Finals. They went out and got the workmanlike Ben Wallace to add experience. They have a plethora of emerging young stars in Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich. However, they might be one year away from making it to the promised land. The Bulls’ lack of scorers will be exposed and James is ready to show the world he is King. BronBron will lead the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in a great series that goes seven games.
CAVALIERS WIN 4-3
CONFERENCE FINALS – WEST
1 DALLAS MAVERICKS vs. 2 PHOENIX SUNS)
This matchup is what many NBA aficionados will call the real championship as the teams with the two best records in the NBA will do battle out West. The Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks will play a series for the ages and the top two NBA MVP vote getters will be showcased in this series as well. Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash will play lights out, but Amare and the Matrix will be too much as the Suns make it back to The Finals for the first time since the Chuckster laced them up in Phoenix.
SUNS WIN 4-2
NBA FINALS
2 PHOENIX SUNS vs. 2 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS)
I’m sure that Nike will be drooling when they realize two athletes they represent, Steve Nash and LeBron James, will be battling it out on the NBA’s biggest stage. I would venture a guess that Mr. Stern wouldn’t be too disappointed with these two superstars on display as well. For Phoenix--Nash, Stoudemire, Marion, Barbosa, Bell, Diaw, the Suns list of scorers goes on and on. In an exciting NBA Finals, the Suns will be too deep for Cleveland and win their first ever NBA title to make all Phoenicians proud. Nash will lose out to Dirk for the regular season MVP, but will take home the Finals MVP and his first ever championship ring.
SUNS WIN 4-2
For any questions, comments or general musings, Scott can be reached at scottx2000@yahoo.com.
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