Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets (Thunder in 4)…Maybe my back-crankiness has given me a shorter fuse for some of those lower-seeded teams, and I think the Thunder will miss James Harden at some point in this postseason, but look for Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and company to make quick work of the Rockets here.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Lakers (Spurs in 5)…A banged up Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili? No problem. Personally, I love the high-low offense that the Lakers have been using with Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard sans Kobe, but let’s get LA out of here already. No more Dwight-saga, no more Kobe tweeting coaching tips at halftime, no more of any of it. Enough…get out. And let’s give Tracy McGrady a 1st Round playoff series win for Pete’s sake. As lukewarm as an accomplishment as it would be given he was signed an hour ago and will probably only play 5 minutes a game, I always liked McGrady, and I wouldn’t mind seeing his name taken off this list.
Do your thing, T-Mac.
Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors (Nuggets in 7)…Could end up being the most fun series of the whole 1st Round. Hopefully Kenneth Faried won’t miss too much time, as injuries have started to pile up for the Nuggets, but I’m looking forward to Denver trying to score 130 points every night while Stephen Curry jacks up shot after shot without having any conscious whatsoever. Plus, this series features the circus act known as JaVale McGee. Need I say more?
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Memphis Grizzlies (Clippers in 6)…While I was rooting for LA to be matched-up with Denver in Round 1, Clips-Griz is nothing to sneeze at either. In the 1st Round of last year’s playoffs, these teams played a 7-game, knockout, drag out brawl of a series. The backbone of both teams is the same, but the Clippers have acquired even more talent (Lamar Odom, Matt Barnes, Grant Hill) while the Grizzlies have lost some pieces (Rudy Gay, Marreese Speights). While I think LA’s system is flawed and Memphis is built for playoff basketball, the Clippers’ depth of talent should be too much to overcome.
Looks like I made it through...Advil, ice packs, and gin, here I come!
No comments:
Post a Comment