Friday, April 18, 2008

NBA First Round Preview: West

To the west first....

No. 1 LA vs No. 8 Denver
  • First of all, I think Denver was the team everyone wanted to play in Round 1...eh...maybe Houston...but Denver even with Melo and AI...no defense=no shot....The "we can't guard Kobe" thing probably doesn't help and is the first thing that comes into most people's minds when talking about this series.....I was going to pick a sweep but I can see like a 137-132 game in Game 3 (with JR Smith going for something in the high 30s) which favors Denver so I'll go with......LA in 5
No. 2 NO vs No. 7 Dallas
  • I haven't seen ONE PERSON pick the 2 seed Hornets here...so I will....CP3 will abuse Kidd and they have enough up front to give Dirk all he wants...I actually think the x-factor is the matchup up front with Chandler and Dampier...Dallas has exactly frontcourt depth so I think Chandler has a huge series and that with Paul (and a big series from Bonzi Wells) will get it done for New Orleans.......NO in 7
No. 3 SA vs No. 6 Phoenix
  • This is obviously the big one....and wow, why are they playing in round 1?...Oh well....Brace yourselves for this....I'm going to take Phoenix....I've been agonizing for days (literally) and have convinced myself somehow that Phoenix is winning this series...it goes against everything I believe (LOL) but there you are.....The Shaq addition was for one reason...beat the Spurs..and I think it gives them the edge...It neutralizes Duncan's defensive dominance because Shaq is a bad matchup for him (foul problems) and you don't want him guarding Amare 1-on-1...Also, Shaq usually does a good job on TD on the other end, and Duncan has to be huge for the Spurs to win.....All that said, Manu is the key to the series...he has to be the 27 a game scorer he's capable of for the Spurs to win and Raja Bell gets the assignment.....::Braces:: Suns in 6
No. 4 Utah vs No. 5 Houston
  • First a mini-rant....Utah is the 4 seed because they won the division...okay I get that....but Houston has a better record and gets homecourt....huh? Either get rid of the division winner seeding thing OR give them homecourt too....can't do it both ways.....OK! to the series....Houston is the team I'd never pick in these playoffs...just can't do it....Carlos Boozer is a bad matchup for Houston and even though McGrady is equally bad for Utah (Go Ronnie Brewer!).......Utah is a virtually unbeatable home team so they basically just have to win one in Houston....They will (especially when Alston is out as Deron Williams will run wild with or without Rafer)......Utah in 6

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