John Berger
Reporter
The NBA season may have been shortened this year from 82 games to 66 games due to the lockout, but the playoffs are the normal length. You need to win 4 best of 7 series in order to win the NBA championship.
Here are my thoughts:
- The Heat are probably going to win it all. They are an easy team to hate, and they are almost hated universally by all non Heat fans. Still, they are the most talented team in the league by far and they seem to just play a lot better in the playoffs. They have pretty much a dream path to the Finals. The Celtics or Pacers might cause them some trouble, but beating the Heat in a best of 7 series is a monumental task. Once D-Rose went down, the heat immediately became much better than every other team in the conference. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are two of the ten best players in the world, and no other team in the league can claim that.
- The Lakers shouldn’t be counted out. So far in the playoffs Kobe is averaging 31 points a game on 45 percent shooting. He seems to be trying to involve Andrew Bynum more in the offense this postseason, who has become arguably the best center in the league. They have struggled with the Nuggets thus far, but with Metta World Peace back they should beat them in game 7. The Lakers will have to play the Thunder in the next series if they are able to get by the Nuggets. Beating the Thunder should be a tough task, but I’m not convinced the young Thunder are quite ready to beat the Lakers in a best of 7 series.
Kobe Bryant has been tremendous so far in the playoffs. Photo from businessinsider.com
- The Grizzlies-Clippers matchup is the most entertaining first round series. Both of these teams are very evenly matched, which is what you would expect with a 4-5 series. The Grizzlies blew a huge lead in game one at home as the Clippers closed the game with a 28-5 run to win. They then followed that up with a huge win in Game 2 at home. The Clippers then won game 3 at home where they survived a Rudy Gay shot at the buzzer in a game that went back and forth the whole time. Both teams are pretty balanced and talented yet they have flaws. At 3-2, I expect the Grizzlies to make it close, I think this one is going 7 games.
- Tony Parker is the most important player this postseason. For the second straight year the Spurs finished with the best record in the West, which was somewhat surprising because they’re an old team and most thought that the condensed season would wear on them with not as many off days. The soon to be 30 year old Parker has had arguably the best season of his career up to this point. He shot close to 50 percent from the field in the Regular Season and averaged 18 points and 8 assists. The Spurs need him to play well if they want to go far in the playoffs. His playmaking ability is critical to their success.
