Even though we still have two more first round games to be decided, it’s safe to say that the second round promises to be just as unpredictable. Can you honestly say you know who’s going to win the Mavericks versus Denver series? Are the Lakers a shoe in to beat the Rockets? In the east the Magic will face the winner f the Boston and Chicago series, no guaranteed winners their either. The only series that you can be certain about is either Atlanta or Miami losing to the Cavs. Miami won’t be healthy if they beat Atlanta due to Dwayne Wade’s back, and Atlanta is without Marvin Williams and Al Horford.
Looking at matchups, starting with Houston and Los Angeles, you can bet that L.A. won’t allow Aaron Brooks to run wild the way he did against Portland. Before the emergence of Shannon Brown I would’ve given Houston the advantage at point guard, but now that he’s getting minutes the Lakers are just deep at that position. Houston will try and rotate Shane Battier and Ron Artest to defend Kobe Bryant, but we all know the only man that can stop the Black mamba is Kobe himself.
Houston has no one that can man up on Lamar Odom and with Mutumbo out; Houston’s frontcourt is suspect. But wait on the other end defensively L.A. doesn’t know where to focus their attention. Since Tracy McGrady went down Houston has been the ultimate team, meaning everyone is getting the ball and anyone can be the hot man at anytime. What Houston better do if they want to win this series is feed Yao Ming, something they failed to do a few times against Portland.
The Dallas and Denver series is going to be another shootout period. Unlike the Spurs though Denver is just as young and athletic as the Mavs. They can score with Dallas and both teams match up man for man pretty well. There is no answer for Dirk so expect Denver to bump him and play him extremely physical in order to take him out of his game. There will be no answer for Chauncey Billups, so you have to give the advantage to Denver there, but at the same time who’s going to check josh Howard of the Mavericks? Maybe J.R. Smith, but offensively Smith may shoot Denver out of the game.
Nene and Eric Dampier are going to provide us with a true battle in the paint, along with Carmelo Anthony who will probably end up guarding Howard. This game comes down to whose bench is deeper, and I like the “Birdman” advantage for Denver on defense.
On the east coast I like Orlando’s chances against Boston or Chicago. Bottom line there’s no answer for Dwight Howard, but if Orlando reverts back to trying to be a three point shooting team Boston will get in them. Just like there’s no answer for Howard, Orlando has no answer for Paul Pierce or Ray Allen. The question is will the first round take its toll on the Celtics if they beat Chicago.
Speaking of Chicago, they’re so diverse and have looked so good against Boston I can’t zero in on who Orlando needs to plan for. Every guy for the Bulls has stepped up when called upon. From the starters to the bench everyone is playing well in Chicago and I don’t expect that young team to be too fatigued if they get past Boston. However you have to remember they’ll still have to have an answer for Howard, and I expect them to put different defenders on him through out each game to keep him off balance.
Lastly, the Cavaliers will be taking on either the Hawks or the Heat. Like I said earlier Miami is playing with a very beat up D. Wade and let’s be honest that’s all Miami really has. Other guys have stepped in and contributed a little bit, but that’s when all the attention is on Wade, none of the other Heat members have made any real noise during the times when Wade is not in the game, and to beat Cleveland you better have options on offense, and they don’t.
Atlanta has the multiple weapons needed to play the Cavs, but one weapon will be under 100 percent, Al Horford who sprung his ankle in game five against Miami. The other downside for Atlanta is that they just don’t play defense outside of Josh Smith. But I am looking forward to watching Lebron James and Josh Smith try to out jump each other if they do meet in the next round.
All in all if you thought round one was off the chain watch what the NBA has in store for an encore in the second round.
No comments:
Post a Comment