Here's a quick peek at the matchups for round 2, and a recap of some of the Game 1 action.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Los Angeles vs #5 Utah
This is a rematch of last year's first round match-up in which Utah was swept, so you can bet that D-Will and company will be looking for a little sweet vengeance. Utah has to be psyched about LA's struggles on the road in a hostile environment in round 1. The fans in Utah support their team as well as any, so look for this to be a long series. Kobe has not been Kobe for the most part, and LA has not been truly impressive aside from the one blowout win in game 5.
Game 1: Los Angeles 104 - Utah 99
The Lakers prevailed on their home court in game 1 as expected. Kobe looked more like Kobe going for 31, and 10 of the Lakers final 14. Utah had a lead late, but succummed to the late LA push, led by Bryant. Bryant also called out LA's 2nd unit, saying "They didn't get it done." We'll see if that lights a fire under the asses of the LA bench players who have basically done diddly-poo so far in this playoffs.
#3 Phoenix - #7 San Antonio
This has become as heated a rivalry as the NBA has. Perhaps, not nationally, but in the two respective cities this is Red Sox - Yankees. People in Phoenix have a genuine hatred of everything San Antonio, as it has been the Spurs who have eliminated the Suns in their last 4 playoff meetings, most notably the series in 2007 when Horry checked Nash into the scorer's table, igniting a clearing of the benches so to speak and Amare, not Duncan though, being suspended for the next game. Suns fans will tell you this cost them their best shot at a title. The Spurs went on to roll the Cavs on their way to another title. The NBA strangely seems to have a boner for the Spurs, despite the fact that I know not of a single person who likes to watch them. Their Finals appearances have been among the lowest rated, so I don't get all the theories that Stern fixes things in their favor, but something is definitely fishy.
Phoenix is decidedly a better team this season, but so was Dallas, I thought. San Antonio always has a way in the playoffs and thsi series should be long and very exciting.
Game 1: TONIGHT! on TNT @ 10:30 pm EST
EASTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Cleveland vs #4 Boston
And so here it is. The Celtics meet the Cavaliers in round two, and will need to find a way to slow down the, now two-time, MVP Lebron James. The Cleveland Lebrons enter as the league's best team and Lebron seems hell-bent on putting a ring on one of his fingers this season. The Big 3 of Boston look to add a 2nd ring to theirs.
Boston and Cleveland both disposed of their round 1 foes rather easily and should be fresh for this series. Although, Lebron does have a strained elbow that he says will not give him any trouble.
In my opinion Boston is going to need huge efforts from Ray Allen and Paul Pierce in order to win this series. I believe KG will get his inside against Jamison who is a crappy defender especially on the block, but Allen must hit his 3s and Paul needs to get back to his old game of getting to the free-throw line and scoring going to the basket. Obviously, Lebron will put up his MVP numbers, but if the Celts can contain the other Cavs this could be a very interesting series.
Many are predicting 7 games. I could definitely see that happening.
Game 1: Cleveland 101 - Boston 93
The Celts had a big lead in this one, but the Cavs came storming back for the game 1 win. James, behind 35, 7 and 7 led the way. But it was Mo Williams' 20 points, mostly in the 3rd quarter, that put them over the top. As we've seen time and time again it was the 3rd quarter that was the bugaboo for Boston. I don't know what Doc needs to do, but they better figure this problem out if they want to have a hope. It would have been huge to steal that first game on the road and send a big message. However, in the end Cleveland is supposed to win that game so Boston hasn't realy lost anything. I still think this will be a long series.
The good news is that O'Neal and Jamison pretty much sucked, and hopefully the Boston D can keep that going.
Pierce did not shoot well from the floor, and needs to show up more in the following games. Is it just me or has Paul Pierce been drifting in and out of relevance for this team all season long? He still has his big moments, but seems a long ways from the 2007 team that really became his team on the way to a title. I need bigger things from Pierce, starting in Game 2.
#2 Orlando - #3 Atlanta
The Hawks managed to stave off an embarassing round 1 effort by blowing out the Bucks in game 7 at home. Atlanta was for the most part unimpressive in beating Milwaukee, and in my opinion, have little chance at beating Orlando. Dwight Howard should have his way every time down the floor with the Atlanta bigs, as long as the refs don't get queer and start calling all sorts of lame fouls on him early.
Orlando has gotten nice efforts from a string of guys including Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, and as much as it pains me to say it, JJ Redick.
Atlanta will need superstar efforts from Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, and they'll need Crawford to bring that 6th man of the year type spark off the bench.
This is the series I am the least interested in by far and away.
Game 1 : Tuesday, on TNT @ 8:00 pm EST
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