East

Atlanta (8) at Boston (1)
Philadelphia (7) at Detroit (2)
Toronto (6) at Orland (3)
Washington (5) at Cleveland (4)

West

Denver (8) at Los Angeles (1)
Dallas (7) at New Orleans (2)
Phoenix (6) at San Antonio (3)
Houston (5) at Utah (4)

First Round:
East

Atlanta (8) at Boston (1) - Boston 4-0
Philadelphia (7) at Detroit (2) - Detroit 4-2
Toronto (6) at Orlando (3) - Orlando 4-3
Washington (5) at Cleveland (4) - Washington 4-2

West

Denver (8) at Los Angeles (1) - Los Angeles 4-1
Dallas (7) at Charlotte (2) - New Orleans - 4-1
Phoenix (6) at San Antonio (3) - Phoenix - 4-2
Houston (5) at Utah (4) - Utah 4-3

I think ultimately we'll see the Celtics end up in the Finals but the West is such a toss up with everything... I don't even know how the first round is gonna shake out so I know it's dumb to make early predictions, but some of those matchups are solidified. (Suns vs. Spurs for instance, is almost guaranteed.)

Uh, NEW ORLEANS is the current #2 seed in the West. The Hornets moved from Charlotte a few years ago (they played the year and a half after the hurricane in OK City)

Whatever, I grew up with them at Charlotte sorry

I grew up with the only basketball being played in Carolina was in the NCAA

You must be much older than I. =)

I don't believe there is a scenario where Phoenix can finish third. Sportscenter was going through all possible scenarios with each team this afternoon, and they stated that Phoenix can go anywhere from fourth to sixth.

Their best match up, ironically, is against the Spurs... who currently look like a beaten and battered team that has ended their great run. Their second best will be Houston, still not buying that team getting past the first round. I would fear a match up against Utah, a team that does not lose at home and overall has a fantastic team that can play many different styles of basketball. They are tough, physical, well coached, and very strong.

I like the Pistons out East, and that is partly due to "homerism"... but more importantly, they have been there numerous times while Boston is experiencing all of this for the first time. And I am hoping that experience will help them overcome a more talented team in Boston and get them to the Finals. Out West, I will hold my vote until middle of June lol...

_________________

It'll be Detroit or Boston out of the East so it should be fun to watch them end up together in the EFC.

I predict a Celtics collapse in the playoffs, probably in the 2nd round. Garnett will disappear sometime in the series, reinforcing the belief that he isn't a finisher. Other than that I would like Detroit to win it all, just because I like Flip.

I'm going out of my mind with excitement, this could be the year the Suns take it all home. There's so much talent though in the West that anyone can take it home though. They're all legitimate contenders. Man, I can't wait for tonight to be over so we see the final standings and see who plays who Saturday. ARGH.

And as far as matchups, I agree Cicely, I think a great opening round would be to beat San Antonio. It's not just they're having a tough stretch right now though, the Suns have shown they can consistently beat them, and that they're the better team. I'd love to send them home for the first time in the Nash era. =)

The road to the finals goes through Kobe...

_________________

Maybe, but Suns have whacked the shit out of the Lakers the past 2 seasons so I'm not worried about that. =)

Lakers vs Hornets in West Final

Hornets 4-3


Celtics vs Detroit in East Final

Celtics 4-1

Celtics Vs Hornets in Championship

Celtics 4-2

I was confused - solly you're right Rokhan. Hornets are good but I don't think they're going to make it that far. I think they're a 1st or 2nd round exit.

I'd like to see the Lakers vs. Suns in WCF it'd be nice to send them home for the 3rd straight year while at the same time going to the Finals for the first time in 15 years.

If the lakers are the 1 and hornets are the 2, why cant they meet in the WCF?

_________________

youre right i got mixed up

1-8
4-5

2-7
3-6

Winner of 1-8 plays winner of 4-5

Winner of 3-6 plays winner of 2-7

Winner of that plays winner of 1-8 or 4-5

seedings are final. man i'm fucking pumped to murder the spurs in the first round. BYE!

Atlanta (8) at Boston (1)
- Boston
Washington (5) at Cleveland (4)
- Washington
- Boston
Philadelphia (7) at Detroit (2)
- Detroit
Toronto (6) at Orlando (3)
- Orlando
- Orlando
- Boston


West

Denver (8) at Los Angeles (1)
- Los Angeles
Houston (5) at Utah (4)
- Houston
- Los Angeles
Dallas (7) at New Orleans (2)
- Dallas
Phoenix (6) at San Antonio (3)
- Phoenix
- Dallas
- Dallas

Boston Wins it all.

_________________

Final Predictions:

East R1
Celtics / Hawks -- Celtics in 4
Wizard / Cavs -- Cavs in 5
Pistons / 76ers -- Pistons in 6
Magic / Raptors -- Magic in 6

East R2
Celtics / Cavs -- Celtics in 5
Pistons / Magic -- Pistons in 5

East R3
Celtics / Pistons -- Pistons in 7

West R1
Lakers / Nuggets -- Lakers in 5
Mavs / Hornets -- Mavs in 6
Suns / Spurs -- Suns in 5
Houston / Utah -- Utah in 7

West R2
Suns / Mavs -- Suns in 6
Utah / Lakers -- Lakers in 6

West R3
Suns / Lakers -- Suns in 6

Finals
Suns / Pistons -- Suns to win it all in 7

First, let me preface this by saying that as someone born, raised, living in LA, and having grown up in the glory days of Showtime and the Magic/Kareem era and the subsequent Kobe/Shaq era, I'm a huge Laker fan.

I'm so glad they won the West. Just looking at the seedings you can't escape how important it was to be the top seed.

As the #1 seed, the Lakers face Denver, then Houston or Utah.

That is a LOT easier than being even the #2 seed, where the Hornets have to face Dallas first, then either Phoenix or San Antonio.

Of course I would love the Lakers to emerge from the West to play in the Finals, however, this has to be one of the most difficult years ever to pick a Western Conference champ.

If I was to pick the 4 or 5 teams that could make it though......all except the Lakers come from the other side of the bracket =) Denver, Houston, and Utah don't make my list; in fact if any of those teams play in the finals I'll be shocked.

However, I wouldn't be shocked if say Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio made it to the finals. Personally I would be a little shocked if New Orleans makes it, only because Paul has no playoff experience and as good as they play sometimes, the playoffs are a completely different environment that takes getting used to. Even MJ took a few trips to the playoffs before becoming the dominate force he was. The only exception I can think of is Magic taking the Lakers in his first year.

So again.....glad to see that 4 of the more serious contenders will have to beat each other up before than can meet the Lakers (hopefully) in the Western Conference finals.

The West is crazy this year.

Ill take Utah over Orlando for the fun of it.

_________________
"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."

Great game, Spurs showed why they are defending champs, should be a good series

Oops, forgot my picks.

Celtics over the Rockets (not that I think the Rockets will really go, but I gotta pick em... it'll probably be the Spurs IRL).

that game was amazing. if suns don't win the next one though i think they'll probably be dropped from the first round.

next game = must win

I cheered loudly for the Spurs. Duncan is the man.

Where can I find out how many lay ups that Parker and Ginobili combined for in the paint area? Or how many points both of them combined for off of drive/penetration (which includes Parker's teardrop shot that he does)? Thanks in advance!

_________________

Why? So you can tell us why the Suns lost and quote those numbers? Don't, please.

edit: oops, not up yet, but check ESPN.com for the shot chart.

ginobili tore shaq apart towards the end cuz of foul trouble

was a sad loss but i'm still confident the suns will close this out in 6. spurs can't put up efforts like that every night. suns just kind of choked and missed about 4 game winners in final, first ot, and second ot. oh well. tuesday will be here soon. what a bummer.

By the way, I am at work, so I listened to the game. The Suns announcer pronounced "Ginobili " as "gen o ba lee," which drove me insane. Gen oh blee, damnit!

Emanuel "Manu" Ginobili... MAN-u gi-NOB-blee

That game was epic. Best part for me, other than Duncan's 3-pointer, was when they used "Hack-a-Shaq" when the Suns were leading. Of course, they were promptly rewarded when Shaq bricked both free throws.....I think the Suns were up 5 at that point, then they took Shaq out, and when they brought him back in, the Suns were down by 1.

It's like just going up to the Suns and saying "yeah, you traded for Shaq, now we're going to foul him in the 4th quarter with the game tight so you can see what a liability he is now......he still can't hit free throws, but he's not the dominate player in the paint he once was either."

And the Suns played right into it.......Shaq gets fouled, misses his free throws, and then bench him because they are afraid he's just gonna keep getting fouled (rightfully so), thus negating his inside presence for a tight game.

I didn't think the Suns were going to lose this game, but give credit to the Spurs, it shows why they are the champs and should never be ruled out.

Shaq's doing better on freethrows -- sometimes he makes 7 in a row, sometimes he'll miss 5 in a row. The Hack-a-Shaq thing didn't work that well because they were UP when he came back in with 2:15 left in 4th, and that's not why they lost.

They lost cuz Barbs missed a layup. They lost because Amare fouled Thomas on a game winning shot. They lost because Diaw missed a lay-up. They lost because they didn't foul Ginobili when he was driving to the basket for the final shot.

The game was theirs to lose, SA didn't "beat" them -- Suns just didn't close it out like they could have. SA hit the shots, Suns didn't. Tuesday will be here soon. =)

Isn't hitting your shots while the other guys miss how you win the game in basketball?

Right but there's more to it than just hitting and missing shots, surely you agree to that Xantheus? We're talking "big" shots, not just regular shots. Clutch shots. Tim Duncan normally never makes 3s. That was an anomaly. He got lucky. =P

He said after the game he felt confident in that shot, I am still surprised by it however.

Just like a Homer, "they didn't win, we just didn't close it out/play our best/the ref stole it/<insert blame here>". You could have just as easily said "The Suns choked like they always do against San Antiono in the playoffs."

That was a great game. The Spurs were the better team that night and won the game. They executed when they had to.

The Lakers should not lose a game in round one. The Mavs will be lucky to win one. They got punked on Saturday. They were 12 up at half and lost by 12 -- not only lost the game but had their manhood removed. Bad bad loss. Utah showed me that they are better then Houston. The Pistons had their wakeup game, too bad it was the first game of the playoffs. Cleveland will make some noise before bowing out to one of the big two (Boston or Detroit).

They didn't choke away a game in the last years playoffs. They were reffed by a guy who admitted on betting on the games and every single person who watched the playoffs, every single sports writer, admitted that those were the most poorly contested playoffs, ever. In addition to the Suns playing fixed games, they also had Bruce Bowen kick Amare in his heels, trying to injure him -- and slam Steve in the balls with his knees. And on top of that, Horry tried to injure Nash because the Suns were winning.

It's funny how you slam the Suns, yet say "Pistons had their wake-up game LOLOZLZOZL"

Suns will still take this series, 4-2.

Do you prefer White cake or Chocolate and where can we have it delivered?

I don't get the joke.

PS: 72 out of 117 points were in the paint. That simply won't happen again. If it does, the Suns are toast (again).

The Pistons were up by 16 in the third quarter, and then got ridiculously overconfident and arrogant and thought that they could just waltz the rest of the game because they have "Detroit" on their chest. I am hoping that this is their wake up game, and that this will not happen again. Then again, I (as a big Pistons fan) sometimes look at Rasheed's antics and shake my head in disgust. He is the "Manny Being Manny" of the NBA; unfortunately, Manny comes through in the clutch moreso than 'Sheed. I still feel Detroit should win because they are just that much better than the Sixers, but they BETTER play 48 minutes and not 34 each game from here on out, regardless of opponent.

BTW the Sixers, in the last 35 games of the season, were 23-12. And their last 4 games were losses, which means at one point during the playoff crunch (where they were fighting for a spot) they were 23-8. That is not that shabby at all. They are definitely a team for the future. And to think they were going to drop Andre Miller for salary cap reasons at the trade deadline- no, not trade him... drop him. Like a Brent Barry or Sam Cassell. Wow.

The Suns, as always, have shown no heart, no soul, no brains. Dumb plays, poor execution, and a lack of a killer instinct to go after what "should" be theirs. I blame this on D'Antoni, a coach that I personally feel should be fired once the Suns lose their first round series matchup. I don't get why people like him- he has horrible in game management, he makes lousy decisions, he is unable to draw up and design effective plays for his team, and if it was not for Nash running the show... the team would be lost. D'Antoni makes a GREAT post game interview, and he is humorous. But as a basketball strategist? Forget about it. As much as I would love to see Suns-Pistons so I can walk around town wearing my Pistons jersey when they win... I doubt the Suns will even get past this round.

I think their "manhood" is on the line in Game 2. How are they going to react to the way they lost this game? If San Antonio goes up early, are the Suns going to pack it in and give up? Will they just go through the motions and hope to win? Very interesting to see...

_________________

Cleveland put a beat down on the Wizards last night... man I'd really hate to see them lose to the Cavs again. Gilbert Arenas is awesome.

Houston's outlook isn't so bright either... sorry Neesha. Jazz are almost unbeatable at home. 37-4 this season. =x

Houston blew their load on the streak.

No one ever thinks of the Spurs as a championship grade team, but they always seem to get the job done when it comes down to it. They have a really well rounded team, and have pretty consistently done well in the playoffs. That being said, I really think Nash deserves a championship. I really am rooting for the Suns because of that.

Overall, I really want Toronto to win. Main reason for that is that I'll be in Toronto end of may, so ya know they need to make it to the third round or so. I'd sell my soul for raptors playoff tickets. Sadly I don't think they have a prayer.

I've always been a Kobe fan, I think he has the most raw talent of any player in the league. I would go nuts for a LA/Phoenix final in the west. Personally as much as I want Nash to win, I think and would be happy with LA winning as well.

Boston is kind of a Cinderella story imo, when you look at the big picture. They've made such a huge turn around from last year, and even years before that. From them to go from that to the championship would be amazing, and something again - I would love to see.

As far as Cleveland and Washington go. I love Arenas, think he's a great player and have nothing but respect for him. However him and the wizards went into this series overconfident and talking shit. Cleveland put them in their place. They're going to learn their lesson the hard way this year to not overestimate anyone like that again come playoff time.

_________________
-Rileigh (aka Golliwog)

Even as a Laker fan, I still think of the Spurs as the best in the West, until proven otherwise. That includes this season. I think some people underrate them because they aren't flashy, their most "famous" player (Duncan) isn't flashy like a Kobe, Shaq, or a LeBron. He's more like a Garnett, he just gets the job done. No theatrics. No soundbites.

But you never, ever underestimate them. Especially if you play against them. Otherwise, you're going home. I don't care if they are the #8 seed, they are still the champs until they get beat.

So from the West I see Lakers vs. Spurs for WCF. My heart is of course with the Lakers, but I would not even be suprised if the Spurs win, yet again.

Now......on a completely different note....

The NBA is a business. It's meant to draw revenue and make a profit. This is somewhat different than the NCAA. So in the NCAA, a UCLA/UNC final would have meant bigger ratings than the Memphis/Kansas final we did see. Bigger ratings = bigger revenue. So in my eyes, there is no "fix" in the NCAA.

The NBA has always been dogged with rumors of fixes. The one that cracks me up is Dave Stern "fixing" the NBA draft in the 80s so that Patrick Ewing ends up going to the New York Knicks, a large market team. I even remember seeing a clip (probably could YouTube it) of Stern hitting the Knicks envelope on the side of the bin, supposedly putting a small crease on a corner, so he could feel for it to pull it out so the Knicks would end up with the first pick.

Now with that one ref being caught betting on games and basically making calls to affect the outcome of games......how widespread is it? Let me first say I don't think the NBA is fixed. I'm sure there are a few bad apples like that ref, but I don't think there is some bat-phone that the commish has where he tells the league whose gonna win what.

But there is one very good way to dispel any notion of this once and for all. That is if the Lakers and Celtics DO NOT meet in the Finals. The biggest ratings are going to be a Lakers/Celtics matchup. ESPN is even doing "what-if" segments now, showing clips from the Magic/Bird era, mentioning how it basically saved the NBA and made it popular to watch which led to the Jordan era. They are hyping a Lakers/Celtics matchup that hasn't even come to pass.

Now, the Celtics coming out of the East isn't going to be a big suprise. They are definitely the top of the class, and it doesn't look good when their only supposed competition (the Pistons) lose to the Sixers at home.

The Lakers, however, are another story. Again, I'm a huge Laker fan, but they are largely untested in a playoff environment except for Kobe and Derek Fisher. It's hard for me to imagine them beating a team like the Spurs. Other than home court, they don't, imo, have an advantage over the Suns or the Mavericks. Talent and experience is about the same.

Therefore, if the Finals is something like Spurs/Celtics, then I don't think you can ever complain that the league is somehow fixed, because it should be obvious to any basketball fan that a Lakers/Celtics would blow anything else out of the water in terms of ratings (and consequently, revenues).

However......if you see the Lakers and/or Celtics get a lot of questionable calls going in their direction, especially late in the game and affecting the outcome of the contest.......then I think you can safely wear the conspiracy hats again and look for the commish's batphone =)

Suns are just straight up getting beat. This is sad. Wow.

Can they pull it out? Right now I don't know and I'm not in the state to talk about it. If they lose Friday, odds are they'll get swept, but it'll be a 99% certainty they'll be making a 1st round exit if they lose Friday.

you really had a bad day yesterday didn't ya....

in addition to my car being broke into, laptop / sirius / skateboard being stolen
my xbox 360 did the 3 red rings of death
phoenix suns lost
obama got smacked around by 10 pts

among other daily frustrations at work.

yeah it was a bad day.

Heartbreaking loss for the raps last night too. Maybe if they had of actually played the first quarter....

_________________
-Rileigh (aka Golliwog)

Was listening to Gambo and Ash (local Phoenix sports talk radio guys) while driving home from work today. An e-mailer suggested that when San Antonio starts hack-a-Shaq, that the Suns should bring in Marks and/or Skinner and start hack-a-Duncan. Back and forth, foul Shaq, inbound ball/rebound and immediately foul Duncan. Imagine the look on Stern's face when he hears about 40 free throw attempts in 1 minute in the middle of the third quarter.

BTW I personally think that the rules are gonna change this summer to prevent hack-a-Shaq from ever happening again. I know at the end of the game (last 2 minutes), doing that means the team gets one free throw and automatic possession. I would imagine if that applies throughout the game, then hack-a-Shaq is history.

I won't even comment on last night's game. Just re-read my post in that other thread after I saw Detroit come into Phoenix and beat them by 30. Same exact thing- Suns cannot guard pick and roll. Period. End of story. Game over. Further info, just read that thread/post.

Congratulations to Chris Paul for officially becoming the best point guard in the game, and holding onto that title until around 2018. Deron Williams is a solid #2, and Nash drops to #3 and will be done in two years. I am trying to figure out what team has less heart and zero manhood- Phoenix or Dallas. Tough choice...

BTW for those still reading this far- Gatorade has those commericals where it is black and white still shots for various sports. The latest one is about Garnett and the Celtics, something about Becoming History or Making History. Anyways, the same song plays during every commercial, some Beethoven/Mozart/etc. composition. Anyone know exactly what the name of it is please? Been wanting it forever but no one seems to know...

_________________

Mavs win that hands down. No team gets their SUPERSTAR bitch-slapped like that and responds like the Mavs did last night. The Mavs have no heart, no manhood, and no chance.


I know that Paul is good but I am trying to decide if it either him making the Mavs look that bad or the Mavs making him look that good.

By the way, keep in mind that San Antonio was SUPPOSED to win those games. Phoenix is SUPPOSED to win the next two. The series isn't over, by any stretch. Ditto any of the others that are 2-0. Other than the Rockets/Jazz, that one's done...

Mavs are done. They are getting out-played at EVERY position on the floor -- including Power Forward.

The Mavs have given up over 60 points in the last three halves played

It's called O Fortuna, a poem arranged to music by Carl Orff.

If it sounds familiar, it's because it's been used in a lot of stuff, going back to when I first remember hearing it which would be from the movie Excalibur (a classic!)

Suns are Duns

... and the Rockets have a little life!

Man the refs are already making these playoffs a joke. Even as a Utah fan I can't stand the shitty officiating in this series so far. NBA referee has got to be the best job ever because no one ever seems to do anything if you continually fuck up and make a fool of yourself.

I wonder if the Suns are going to be dismantled during the off season. IMHO their team last year was a much better team than this year's version with Shaq... and if anything, they were far more exciting to watch. And excitement helps ticket sales and merchandising revenue, which is music to most owner's ears... especially Sarver, who destroyed the team by trading Kurt Thomas because he did not want to pay the luxury tax on him.

Their roster this year is going to possibly be swept in the first round. Do they honestly feel that next year is going to improve dramatically with Shaq and Nash getting a year older? D'Antoni (who should/better be fired) refuses to play a bench, which does not help his aging roster get better... and his young players improve and develop. If the Nash/Amare/Shaq trio gets you a first round exit, next year it might knock you out of the playoffs with the improvement of teams like Portland (who is getting Oden and a lottery pick), Golden State (who is a match up nightmare for most, especially if Davis comes back), and the Clippers (who will be getting Brand and Livingston back, and will add lottery pick #19,783,205 to their roster- you HAVE to think that all that talent eventually will get them into the playoffs). Both Shaq and Nash look old right now, and I fear that leaving this roster intact is going to result in a missed playoff season next year.

I also wonder if the Pistons would dismantle the roster if they cannot get by Philadelphia in the first round. For all their "entitlement" that they feel that they deserve... all they really have is one NBA title and five straight years of the Eastern Conference championship series. I would imagine Flip will be gone if they can get a driven, hard nosed coach like Larry Brown to motivate and guide this team for every game. I would also not be surprised if they trade Wallace and either Billups or Hamilton- Stuckey is the first guard off the bench, and probably could be inserted into the starting line up next year if either of the starters is traded. And Wallace is just too much of a head case- it seems like the Pistons' success rests on whether or not Wallace decides to "show up" for the game that day. If he does, they win.. if he does not, they lose. Yeah he is an excellent and talented player... when he wants to be.

Hopefully the Pistons will all wake up and defeat Philadelphia, like they are supposed to/should. They are too good a team to go out in the first round to Philadelphia, and I hope as a fan that they win tonight and then take care of business in two of the next three games afterwards...

I just find it incredibly amazing that the Phoenix Suns could possibly be the very first team knocked out of this year's playoffs. Wow.

_________________

Suns are a better team now than they were last year. There's no disputing that.

However, they have played the toughest possible first round matchup imaginable in the playoffs. The way they're playing now (21 pt lead at end of first quarter) gives me some hope they'll win a few games but I dunno about the series.

And yeah, Steve Nash has at least 3 good years left, Shaq has at least 2. They'll be fine. Marion missed the last 20 games of the season w/ a severely injured foot, so we'd be completely fucked if we hadn't traded him.