2011 NBA Playoffs

[ltjets21]

First Round Predictions

Eastern Conference

Bulls over Pacers 4-1

Hawks over Magic 4-3

Knics over Celtics 4-3

Heat over 76ers 4-3

Western Conference

Spurs over Grizzlies 4-1

Thunder over Nuggets 4-3

Blazers over Mavericks 4-3

Lakers over Hornets 4-2

[DustDevil61]

NBA Playoffs 2011, First Round:

Eastern Conference

(8)Indiana vs. (1)Chicago, 4-1

(7)Philadelphia vs. (2)Miami, 4-2

(6)New York vs. (3)Boston, 4-1

(5)Atlanta vs. (4)Orlando, 4-1

Western Conference

(8)Memphis vs. (1)San Antonio, 4-0

(7)New Orleans vs. (2)Los Angeles Lakers, 4-1

(6)Portland vs. (3)Dallas, 4-3

(5)Denver vs. (4)Oklahoma City, 4-2

[pmoehrin]

I think its going to be San Antonio over Chicago in the championship.

I'm not going to go into too much detail but the two opening round series I think have the biggest chances for upsets are Dallas/Portland and Miami/Philly. I'm not buying Dallas as a playoff team, and Philly is much better then their record indicates, and I think they have a real shot at taking out what's been a very incosistent Miami Heat team.

I know people are looking to the Celtics/Knicks series as a potential upset, but I'm not buying it. Its not a coincidence that Denver got better after Carmelo left, and New York got in my opinion slightly worse. Carmelo simply doesen't play D. He may be scoring close to 30 a night, but he nearly gives up as many on the other end depending on who he has to cover. In this case Paul Pierce who I think will eat him up. I think New York will be lucky to take two games in the series.

My power rankings for the playoffs would be as follows:

San Antonio

Chicago

Los Angeles

Orlando

Boston

Miami

OKC

Dallas

Philly

Portland

New York

Denver

Atlanta

Memphis

New Orleans

Indiana

[NJTank]

Here we go I go more in depth in the first round on my site and I made a thread for that.

Here is my overall picks for any contest

Chi 4 Ind 1

Mia 4 Phl 0

Bos 4 NYK 3

Orl 4 Atl 2

SA 4 Mem 1

LAL 4 NO 0

Dal 4 Por 3

OKC 4 Den 1

Orl 4 Chi 2

Mia 4 Bos 3

OKC 4 SA 2

LAL 4 Dal 1

Mia 4 Orl 2

LAL 4 OKC 2

LAL 4 Mia 2

[TFoA]

StatsCube

This is the greatest innovation in the history of my life as a basketball fan.

[See Red]

I want to be Derrick Rose when I grow up. Nevermind the fact I'm two years older than him.

[srj34]

It can't be a good sign for Chicago if they need 1) Derrick Rose to play at that level and 2) a 16-1 run to rescue the very first game in the playoffs against a 37-win team.

And as good as he is on defense, Dwight Howard cannot guard five guys at a time. But apparently he's going to have to try because his teammates aren't up to the task.

[dfwabel]

The Mavs has little. Too old and even older in the guard position (Kidd and Terry). Over the series, Camby/Aldredge/Wallace/Batum have to be too long for them and their poor shooting guards. One cannot depend on Jason Kidd to be the second best shooter.

[Drew22]

Hawks just won on the road in the playoffs. So rare.

[dfwabel]

It can't be a good sign for Chicago if they need 1) Derrick Rose to play at that level and 2) a 16-1 run to rescue the very first game in the playoffs against a 37-win team.

And as good as he is on defense, Dwight Howard cannot guard five guys at a time. But apparently he's going to have to try because his teammates aren't up to the task.

I did love that not only did Psycho T bring "him lunch pail", he brought his own first aid kit. He was good, but not enough.

The Heat actually knocked down shots from passes and not directly off the dribble.

[truepg]

So, the Hawks won Game 1 against Orlando. I don't know why everyone had Orlando taking this in an easy one. It's still too early to tell, but I, for one, expected this series to be the most even of all, considering the Hawks took the season series, if I recall correctly. So, I'm not ruling out, but quite the opposite, the Hawks beating Orlando.

What comes to the Chicago-Indiana series, man, what a game. Regardless of first being indifferent towards both teams, after seeing Indy playing to the level of the Bulls and even leading the whole game (by double digits at certain points) made me wish for a Game 1 upset by Indiana. After all, I'm tired of teams riding one guy, having to score 30+ to bail them out. However, it didn't happen . The Bulls were hanging around the whole game, and at the end it all came down to one well executed play which led to a wide open Korver three -> bang, game sealed.

And the Heat, I hadn't expressed my opinion on them yet, but they are painful to watch. A different guy bringing the ball up every time despite having a point guard on the floor, each of The Big Three trying to do their own thing on offense.

[pmoehrin]

Alot of really close games so far and a very exiciting two days. Every game so far I felt could have gone either way. It remains to be seen if it will continue like this, but I hope so as a fan.

[TFoA]

So, the Hawks won Game 1 against Orlando. I don't know why everyone had Orlando taking this in an easy one. It's still too early to tell, but I, for one, expected this series to be the most even of all, considering the Hawks took the season series, if I recall correctly. So, I'm not ruling out, but quite the opposite, the Hawks beating Orlando.

The Hawks actually had a pretty good plan for Game 1 (and for what looks like, the entire series): Let Dwight get his, clamp the hell down on everybody else. Obviously it worked like gangbusters for the Hawks since the vast majority of Orlando's points came from Dwight & Jameer, but it also worked on the other end for the Hawks because the jumpshots were falling.

Either way, as a Hawks fan who's seen this movie time & time again when it comes to this edition of the Hawks, unless they get really hot over the next couple of weeks I'm not willing to bet on the Hawks jumpshots falling consistently & the Magic continuing to brick. Plus, SVG is too good of a coach to not figure out a way to get the rest of the offense involved. But the encouraging part is that this is EXACTLY how the regular season series went, so there's a pretty good indication that if the Hawks stick with this plan & continue to execute, they're gonna have a very good shot at knocking off the Magic & moving on. But it's still early yet.

How about Rose, though? The Bulls spent all but 5 minutes of the game diddling around and then Rose absolutely takes over they get hot down the stretch & win. I heard a lot of people giving grief to the Bulls about their struggles with an 8 seed, but hey; at least they won their Game 1 struggle with an 8 seed, unlike the #1 seed out West.

[the admiral]

Orlando/Atlanta is gonna be a classic 4/5 taffy pull.

Rose went to the line more in that game than he did all season. He's probably going to get some grief for it the way Wade did in 2006. There's already a strange anti-Rose faction brewing among the FreeDarko weirdos who think he's not adequately conquering adversity with gracefulness, or some equally inscrutable FreeDarko impressionist blather.

[srj34]

With all the buzz about Derrick Rose, Chris Paul just reminded everyone that he can play a little.

[Lights Out]

There's already a strange anti-Rose faction brewing among the FreeDarko weirdos who think he's not adequately conquering adversity with gracefulness, or some equally inscrutable FreeDarko impressionist blather.

FreeDarko shut down, so there's no more of that bullcrap.

[AnythingChicago]

My (belated) predictions...

Eastern Conference

(1)Chicago vs. (8)Indiana. CHI 4-1.

(4)Orlando vs. (5)Atlanta. ATL 4-1.

(3)Boston vs. (6)New York. BOS 4-3.

(2)Miami vs. (7)Philadelphia. MIA 4-2.

Western Conference

(1)San Antonio vs. (8)Memphis Grizzlies. MEM 4-3.

(4)Oklahoma City vs. (5)Denver. OKC 4-3.

(3)Dallas vs. (6)Portland. POR 4-3.

(2)Los Angeles vs. (7)New Orleans. NO 4-0.

[the admiral]

There's already a strange anti-Rose faction brewing among the FreeDarko weirdos who think he's not adequately conquering adversity with gracefulness, or some equally inscrutable FreeDarko impressionist blather.

FreeDarko shut down, so there's no more of that bullcrap.

I just went over there and saw the farewell post. I think I'm going to go bang my head into several walls until my brain shuts off. Jesus Christ.

[Lights Out]

Indeed. Some of the writing was good over the years, but that long parade of creepy, propaganda-esque "FreeDarko influenced everything and was the greatest website in history" diatribes is ridiculous.

[NEW.ERA]

Am I seeing this right. Upsets in the NBA's first round??