Playoff Thoughts

In terms of possible playoff outcomes, the Western Conference is much more unsettled, and much more interesting, than the East.  While the Lakers are the defending champs and the team with the best record out West, things are very tight and basically any team has a shot of winning in the first round.  Before we get to the match ups, here's a few fun facts:  -The spread between the Lakers as the one seed and Oklahoma City at the eight seed is only seven games.  This is quite rare.  We went … [Read more...] about NBA Playoffs Preview: Western Conference

After slogging through one of the least suspenseful seasons in a long while, playoff time is finally here.  As thankful as we are that the regular season is done, the playoffs are fairly intriguing.  In the East, we're all waiting for the outcome of Cavs-Magic, while out West it's not clear what's going to happen.  Let's jump in with our annual playoff preview.  Today we'll start in the East:  1.    Cavaliers v. Bulls:   The interesting story coming into the series is the state of the Bulls.  … [Read more...] about NBA Playoffs Preview: Eastern Conference

1.    Game 4 Fallout:    On Thursday the Magic and Lakers played an great Game 4, filled with twists and turns and plenty to buzz about, both good and bad.  Here are our observations of the proceedings: … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts

1.    Blown Out:    Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Lakes and Magic was really notable for...well nothing.  The Lakers destroyed the Magic and effectively held down Dwight Howard as well as anyone we've seen so far (including the Celtics).  Phil Jackson used his personnel perfectly against Howard.  In effort to avoid defensive mismatches with the Magic's small but quick forwards, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, and Pau Gasol did not play too much together in the game (though that might've also … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts

1.    Cavs/Magic Aftermath:    After Orlando closed out the Cleveland on Saturday, we've all been buzzing about what kind of fallout there will be for the Cavs.  Before we worry too much about the hysteria we should all recognize that the Magic's win over the Cavs was convincing and had no hallmarks of a fluke.  It is true that coming into the series, the Cavs were the clear favorites.  They had the best regular season record and had smoked all playoff competition, while the Magic were pretty … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts

As very entertaining Thursday saw Orlando struggle at home against a short handed Boston team before roaring ahead in the final minutes to force a Game 7 in Boston.  Next, we saw Houston bum rush the Lakers in the first quarter, which gave them just enough cushion to hang on and get the series back to Los Angeles.  Here's a quick rundown of what we saw in the series:  … [Read more...] about Game 7 Time