NBA Playoffs Thread

Who will win the 2010 NBA Title?

  • Total voters
    45
jamesblakefan#1

jamesblakefan#1

G.O.A.T.
I don't know how many here follow the NBA (I'm not guessing a lot), but I will still start a thread for those who want to follow along. I'm a Bulls fan, so....at least we made it, I guess? Even though I'm sure LeBron and co. will sweep through in short order. So here's the matchups.

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So who will hoist the trophy?
 
P

pricey_aus

Semi-Pro
Biggggg NBA fan here, even though i live in australia.

I am a heat fan, and am looking forward to the series! I think we can take it to the celtics, maybe not beat them, but hey, im praying.

My tips for East and West:

East Finals: Cavs vs. Magic
West Finals: Lakers vs. Mavs
Finals: Cavs vs. Lakers

Cavs win in 6.
 
P

pricey_aus

Semi-Pro
I'm also looking forward to the Thunder vs. Lakers, bigg first round.

I love KD, so I hope he can take it to them. I'm just worried about OKC's lack of depth, compared to the lakers.

But hoping the monster that is Durant can take it to em!

It's gonna be very exciting.
 
dlk

dlk

Hall of Fame
I'm interested in Mavs/Spurs in the first round. Hope Cleveland wins it all. But my money is on the Lakers, & I don't like them.
 
T1000

T1000

Legend
Cavs in 5
Celtics in 7
Atlanta in 4
Orlando in 4

Lakers in 5
Utah in 6
Phoenix in 6
San Antonio in 7
 
C

Cantonese

New User
I can see Orlando coming out of the East... Cleveland don't match up well with them, and both teams will have no trouble going to the Eastern Conference Final. The West is really hard to call, with Lakers being out of sync at the moment, while Phoenix and Dallas are on a roll, and Denver is talented enough to take on anyone.

Orlando over Phoenix in 7 is my rough guess.
 
Juges8932

Juges8932

Rookie
My playoff bracket:

2010playoffbrackets.jpg



Lakers are not going into the post-season with a lot of momentum or steam. Hopefully the injuries won't affect them too much and the lack of experience with the Thunder will help them pull through the first round. For the second-round hopefully the Nuggets/Jazz will have beaten themselves up and the Lakers will finish the Thunder a little earlier and maybe get some more rest.

Not a LBJ/Cavs fan at all, but everything seems to have finally lined up for LeBron and I personally think they are the favorites this year. Last year, I didn't think they were ready or what they were made out to be. But with Jamison and Shaq (Allegedly in shape after all this time off :shock:), I think it is enough to potentially put them over the edge.

The West is really anybody's ball-game.

The East will probably come down to Magic-Cavs, but with Shaq and Jamison, that series won't be the same as last year. Shaq will frustrate Dwight. I'm hoping the Heat can make a run and fi the Lakers don't win, I'd like to seem them get to the Finals by some miracle and win. Big Wade fan.
 
TripleB

TripleB

Hall of Fame
Charlotte...don't give a flip about NBA basketball...I live closest to Charlotte, NC so I'll go with them.

TripleB
 
Juges8932

Juges8932

Rookie
Hell yeah, my Lake Show with an OK win today. Lots of positives. Great defense. Kobe and Bynum look good physically. Kobe's shot is still struggling, but everything else looks good, especially his defense. Artest's defense is also looking great. He shut Durant down today. He needs to hit those open shots though. But hey, as long as he keeps up the great D, I'll be ok with it.

Some good match-ups so far. I was disappointing the Heat didn't win yesterday (Wade fan-boy). None of the teams I wanted to win, won yesterday lol. But w.e, as long as the Lake Show bring home the hardware.
 
Juges8932

Juges8932

Rookie
Yeah, he deserved to be suspended for that.

Miami/Boston was close. Lead changes back and forth.

Lakers were in control, but the Thunder brought it back to within striking distance several times.

Jazz/Nuggets was close as well.

Final scores are not always indicative of how close a game was.

I'm definitely looking forward to this Mavs/Spurs game though. Hopefully the Spurs are healthy and have energy. Two of the oldest teams in the league.
 
TonLars

TonLars

Professional
jamesblakefan#1 said:
Garnett suspended for Game 2.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2010/news/story?id=5110621

So far no close games, though Charlotte is putting up a fight late. DAL/SA should be a good one.
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He wasnt looking when that elbow landed, was just extremely amped up and emotional as usual and trying to get people away from Pierce. Unfortunately he will have to suffer some consequence in missing game 2 for being too emotional. I dont think its right that he is suspended and being ejected should have been enough, but its somewhat understandable. I was really happy when they won the championship a couple years ago. They are a long shot for this year but Im hoping they can do it again.
 
rosenstar

rosenstar

Professional
NonP said:
Kobe is past his prime. It's a tough road ahead for the Lakers.
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Sure he's past his prime, but he's still damn good, and his team is very good. I can't think of any team in the league who can stop them 4/7 games with Pau and Bynum both healthy and playing well.
 
NonP

NonP

Legend
rosenstar said:
Sure he's past his prime, but he's still damn good, and his team is very good. I can't think of any team in the league who can stop them 4/7 games with Pau and Bynum both healthy and playing well.
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You do know the Cavs now have Shaq and Jamison in their lineup, right? And Mo has been hot from downtown this season. I don't think it's a lock for the Lakers by any means.

But Kobe looked pretty darn good in the last game. If he can improve his shooting % the Lakers do have a good chance of defending their crown, I'll give you that.
 
Big_Dangerous

Big_Dangerous

Talk Tennis Guru
NonP said:
You do know the Cavs now have Shaq and Jamison in their lineup, right? And Mo has been hot from downtown this season. I don't think it's a lock for the Lakers by any means.

But Kobe looked pretty darn good in the last game. If he can improve his shooting % the Lakers do have a good chance of defending their crown, I'll give you that.
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I don't see the Cavs making it to the finals. I'm saying Orlando or Atlanta right now from the East.

Who knows in the West, there's a lot of teams that can beat the Lakers in a 7 game series. Phoenix, Dallas, Denver if George Karl comes back, maybe even Utah.
 
C

Cantonese

New User
If the Cavs can all the sudden figure out how to not rely on LeBron James doing everything, they'll have a good chance, but right now Orlando looks like the runaway favorite in the East with a very balanced offense. Hawks are looking strong right now, but they're too small and they don't have many great scorers.

The West is kind of a mess right now... nobody is getting a sweep in the first round, and would be even more tight if Brandon Roy didn't get hurt. Lakers should get to the conference final, since the Nuggets look inconsistent without George Karl. Suns look like they'll get to the conference finals also, since Dallas never look like they can pull out easy wins. If it ends up being Lakers versus Suns, it depends on whether Robin Lopez is back by then for the Suns.
 
Talker

Talker

Hall of Fame
Orlando has a good chance, Howard can be a monster.
The Cav's look good too.
So probably Cav's or Orlando from the East.

I wouldn't underestimate Kobe, he can carry the team for awhile.
 
rosenstar

rosenstar

Professional
NonP said:
You do know the Cavs now have Shaq and Jamison in their lineup, right? And Mo has been hot from downtown this season. I don't think it's a lock for the Lakers by any means.

But Kobe looked pretty darn good in the last game. If he can improve his shooting % the Lakers do have a good chance of defending their crown, I'll give you that.
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I don't think Shaq can't keep up with Pau and Bynum for a whole game. I think Mo's overrated and with Ron Artest guarding Lebron, I don't see any east coast team stopping them.

Big_Dangerous said:
I don't see the Cavs making it to the finals. I'm saying Orlando or Atlanta right now from the East.

Who knows in the West, there's a lot of teams that can beat the Lakers in a 7 game series. Phoenix, Dallas, Denver if George Karl comes back, maybe even Utah.
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Dallas is the only one of those teams with a realistic shot of beating the lakers, if they make it past the spurs . Phoenix, denver, and utah would all have to play their best ball and catch the lakers on a bad day 4 games out of a 7 game series. The chances just aren't looking good.
 
T

tricky

Hall of Fame
I don't see any east coast team stopping them.
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But I can definitely see the Lakers stopping themselves. They literally short themselves out of a victory in game 3 against OKC.
 
NonP

NonP

Legend
Big_Dangerous said:
I don't see the Cavs making it to the finals. I'm saying Orlando or Atlanta right now from the East.

Who knows in the West, there's a lot of teams that can beat the Lakers in a 7 game series. Phoenix, Dallas, Denver if George Karl comes back, maybe even Utah.
Click to expand...

rosenstar said:
I don't think Shaq can't keep up with Pau and Bynum for a whole game. I think Mo's overrated and with Ron Artest guarding Lebron, I don't see any east coast team stopping them.



Dallas is the only one of those teams with a realistic shot of beating the lakers, if they make it past the spurs . Phoenix, denver, and utah would all have to play their best ball and catch the lakers on a bad day 4 games out of a 7 game series. The chances just aren't looking good.
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I'm surprised at how many of you have such low expectations for the Cavs. In case you don't already know, they have a winning record against most of the top teams this season, including against the Lakers (2-0) and the Hawks (3-1). With the Magic they're tied at 2-2. And their only loss to Atlanta and second loss to Orlando came just before the end of the season with LeBron on the bench. Oh, and did I mention that now they've got Jamison?

As for the Lakers, here are their H2Hs against their Western rivals:

3-1 against Phoenix
2-2 against Dallas
1-3 against Denver
3-1 against Utah

So going by the records alone the Nuggets seem to have the best chance of stopping the Lakers. But, of course, Bynum missed almost a whole month at the end of the season and Kobe's shooting has been subpar due to his injuries. And the Nuggets themselves are in danger of being knocked out by the Jazz partly because of George Karl's absence. Let's see if they can survive the 1st round first.

BTW, rosenstar, in the 2nd and last Lakers-Cavs game (played on Christmas) even Artest could hardly contain LeBron. Shows how good LeBron is.
 
C

Cantonese

New User
Blazers threw a curveball at the Suns by playing Brandon Roy, and ties the series 2-2.

Thunder beat the Lakers by more than 20 points with Russell Westbrook blowing by everyone, and also ties the series 2-2.

Good stuff going on in the West.
 
rosenstar

rosenstar

Professional
jamesblakefan#1 said:
Clutch GWer by Pierce tonight for the Celtics. I'm not a fan, but that was a great shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqBFJrkVvNE

Also SA and Utah both hold home court to go up 2-1.
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mmm Good shot, but Miami messed up big time. They had a foul to give with 13 seconds left, and didn't foul. Miami really lost that game for themselves.

NonP said:
I'm surprised at how many of you have such low expectations for the Cavs. In case you don't already know, they have a winning record against most of the top teams this season, including against the Lakers (2-0) and the Hawks (3-1). With the Magic they're tied at 2-2. And their only loss to Atlanta and second loss to Orlando came just before the end of the season with LeBron on the bench. Oh, and did I mention that now they've got Jamison?

As for the Lakers, here are their H2Hs against their Western rivals:

3-1 against Phoenix
2-2 against Dallas
1-3 against Denver
3-1 against Utah

So going by the records alone the Nuggets seem to have the best chance of stopping the Lakers. But, of course, Bynum missed almost a whole month at the end of the season and Kobe's shooting has been subpar due to his injuries. And the Nuggets themselves are in danger of being knocked out by the Jazz partly because of George Karl's absence. Let's see if they can survive the 1st round first.

BTW, rosenstar, in the 2nd and last Lakers-Cavs game (played on Christmas) even Artest could hardly contain LeBron. Shows how good LeBron is.
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I think experience goes a long way in the playoffs, and I don't think Lebron's clutch enough. I'll take a 4-time NBA champion over a team who IMO has never really proved themselves in the playoffs. Ever notice how Lebron's most famous game winning shot was in a series his team lost?

That being said, I do think that in the past 3 years, the team with the best regular season record has won the finals, so maybe the Cavs do have a chance ;-)
 
Juges8932

Juges8932

Rookie
rosenstar said:
mmm Good shot, but Miami messed up big time. They had a foul to give with 13 seconds left, and didn't foul. Miami really lost that game for themselves.



I think experience goes a long way in the playoffs, and I don't think Lebron's clutch enough. I'll take a 4-time NBA champion over a team who IMO has never really proved themselves in the playoffs. Ever notice how Lebron's most famous game winning shot was in a series his team lost?

That being said, I do think that in the past 3 years, the team with the best regular season record has won the finals, so maybe the Cavs do have a chance ;-)
Click to expand...

2009- Best record= Cavs; Champs= Lakers
 
B

BigServer1

Legend
I don't see Cleveland getting past Orlando in the East...

Joakim Noah is absolutely CRUSHING the Cleveland bigs, and Dwight Howard is so much better than Noah. Add to that the fact that the Magic have other legit scorers in Carter, Lewis and Nelson and they play a great balanced game on both ends.

LA is in trouble, imo. OKC almost won game 2, and games 3 and 4 showed the Thunder that they could beat LA...Kevin Durant is an absolute beast and he is showing why he will be a future MVP (and arguably should have been the MVP this season).

PHX is wildly overrated, and Dallas will struggle to get past SA. LA will have a free pass if they beat OKC.

I'd predict a repeat of last year's finals at this point.
 
rosenstar

rosenstar

Professional
DownTheLine said:
I thought the Lakers would have a easy 1st round. Series is tied 2 all. They need to shut down Durant.
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I wouldn't be too surprised or worried. The Thunder probably have the best fans of any NBA team. That place looked like a college game, people were body painting and yelling for all 48 minutes of the game. The crowd was so loud, I thought they were playing in Cameron Indoors (not to mention how all of the 18,203 people there were wearing blue). You don't often see fans like that at a professional game.

Anyways, Lakers don't have to go back there for the rest of the series. While I'd like to see it happen, I don't think The Thunder can win 2 of the next 3 games including 2 at the Staples Center.
 
Last edited:
C

Cantonese

New User
rosenstar said:
I wouldn't be too surprised or worried. The Thunder probably have the best fans of any NBA team. That place looked like a college game, people were body painting and yelling for all 48 minutes of the game. The crowd was so loud, I thought they were playing in Cameron Indoors (not to mention how all of the 18,203 people there were wearing blue). You don't often see fans like that at a professional game.

Anyways, Lakers don't have to go back there for the rest of the series. While I'd like to see it happen, I don't think The Thunder can win 2 of the next 3 games in the Staples Center.
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Thunder will get one more home game, its a 2-2-1-1-1 format.

Thunder won't win the series, since they need everything clicking for them pretty much, but I can easily see the series pushed to 7 games.
 
Juges8932

Juges8932

Rookie
Lake show rolling through!

Heat though, pissed me off. Poor Wade. It's like deja vu with Kobe 05-07. His physical prime wasted with scrubs. Only Heat I like are Haslem and Chalmers.
 
NonP

NonP

Legend
rosenstar said:
I think experience goes a long way in the playoffs, and I don't think Lebron's clutch enough. I'll take a 4-time NBA champion over a team who IMO has never really proved themselves in the playoffs. Ever notice how Lebron's most famous game winning shot was in a series his team lost?

That being said, I do think that in the past 3 years, the team with the best regular season record has won the finals, so maybe the Cavs do have a chance ;-)
Click to expand...

Again I think the addition of Jamison and Shaq will prove to be a significant factor, especially if the Cavs keep getting those BS calls on Shaq's defenders like they did tonight. (Seriously, how else are they supposed to defend a big guy like Shaq?) And the Cavs actually have winning or even records against the top teams this season, unlike the last season when they had a losing H2H (1-2) against the Magic going into the conference finals. We'll see what happens.

Juges8932 said:
Heat though, pissed me off. Poor Wade. It's like deja vu with Kobe 05-07. His physical prime wasted with scrubs. Only Heat I like are Haslem and Chalmers.
Click to expand...

The parallel might not be lost on Wade himself. But he does have a ring after all, unlike LeBron, and frankly he's a slight notch below Kobe or LeBron at their respective peak, so I'd say he doesn't have much to be sorry about.
 
rosenstar

rosenstar

Professional
NonP said:
Again I think the addition of Jamison and Shaq will prove to be a significant factor, especially if the Cavs keep getting those BS calls on Shaq's defenders like they did tonight. (Seriously, how else are they supposed to defend a big guy like Shaq?) And the Cavs actually have winning or even records against the top teams this season, unlike the last season when they had a losing H2H (1-2) against the Magic going into the conference finals. We'll see what happens.
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Mavs also led the spurs head to head this season 3-1, and it's not looking good for them. A perfect example of play off experience beating a perhaps more talented team.


The parallel might not be lost on Wade himself. But he does have a ring after all, unlike LeBron, and frankly he's a slight notch below Kobe or LeBron at their respective peak, so I'd say he doesn't have much to be sorry about.
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I'd agree. If Wade's career ended now, I think he'd get to the hall of fame. Not sure I could say the same about Lebron, who got to the finals once in 7 years in the league, only to be swept in the finals.
 
Juges8932

Juges8932

Rookie
NonP said:
The parallel might not be lost on Wade himself. But he does have a ring after all, unlike LeBron, and frankly he's a slight notch below Kobe or LeBron at their respective peak, so I'd say he doesn't have much to be sorry about.
Click to expand...

It's true, he had one of the GOAT finals performances, but still. He's playing great and is in awesome physical condition. It's sad to see another great player's prime be wasted because he isn't surrounded by the talent he should have and deserves. Yeah, he's won a title, but why should he be content with that? He doesn't just go out there and bust his ass for ***** and giggles lol. He wants to win and his team should be helping him do that. 4-1 loss in the first round with their only win coming from a ridiculous performance by Wade is completely unacceptable.
 
B

BigServer1

Legend
NonP said:
Again I think the addition of Jamison and Shaq will prove to be a significant factor, especially if the Cavs keep getting those BS calls on Shaq's defenders like they did tonight. (Seriously, how else are they supposed to defend a big guy like Shaq?) And the Cavs actually have winning or even records against the top teams this season, unlike the last season when they had a losing H2H (1-2) against the Magic going into the conference finals. We'll see what happens.
Click to expand...

Eh, Joakim Noah absolutely b!tch slapped the Cleveland bigs in the 1st round, averaging like 15 points and 15 rebounds per game...Can you imagine what Dwight Howard will do?

Shaq is the single most overrated "earth shaking addition" ever. He was a huge flop in Phoenix, and should still be considered a huge flop in Cleveland. I don't like the Cavs to make the finals, and I hope Shaq hangs it up. It's not fun to see an all-time great floundering out there, while still expecting the star treatment.
 
hollywood9826

hollywood9826

Hall of Fame
That D wade finals has absolutelty nothing to do with the fact that he shot 397 free throws the last 4 games of that series.

The NBA hates Mark Cuban and made sure that his team didn't win a title. Just like it made sure the Knicks won the Ewing lottery, and made MJ secretly retire to not have gambling issues made public.

Its why Orlando has no chance of beating the Cavs to make it to the finals. theres too much at stake money wise with Kobe vs Lebron (and throw in the Shaq hows my @ taste thing also).

Of course if Lebron has to have his arm amputated that might matter.
 
C

CCNM

Hall of Fame
Yaaay Boston!!!!! Are the Jazz still in???? Go Suns!!!!! I miss Bill Walton's commentary.....
 
Juges8932

Juges8932

Rookie
hollywood9826 said:
That D wade finals has absolutelty nothing to do with the fact that he shot 397 free throws the last 4 games of that series.

The NBA hates Mark Cuban and made sure that his team didn't win a title. Just like it made sure the Knicks won the Ewing lottery, and made MJ secretly retire to not have gambling issues made public.

Its why Orlando has no chance of beating the Cavs to make it to the finals. theres too much at stake money wise with Kobe vs Lebron (and throw in the Shaq hows my @ taste thing also).

Of course if Lebron has to have his arm amputated that might matter.
Click to expand...

Wade was attacking the basket constantly, so yeah, of course he's going to get calls. If the NBA didn't want Mark Cuban winning a championship, why didn't they shut him down before the finals, or even better, why did they wait for the Mavs to go up 2-0 and very nearly win a championship to make sure that didn't happen? You saw what you wanted to see. U just mad. LOL @ the NBA wanting MJ to retire. Are you ****ing stupid? He just won 3 championships in a row. Why the Hell would the NBA want MJ to retire? They still mention Jordan whenever they can. Compare X to player to Jordan, blah blah. Give me a break.

Except for Orlando beat the Cavs last year when the Kobe vs LeBron hype was a lot greater. This year, there hasn't been much talk at all about that, especially compared to last year. Why would the NBA have Spurs vs Pistons finals if they were manipulating the system in order to have their dream ratings match-ups?

I'm not saying there isn't anything shady about the NBA. The refs are ****ing awful, for sure and there is a lot of stuff, but what you're "pointing out" is lulz @ best.
 
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