After a long and brutal
82 game season, only 81 games for Boston and Indiana, we now come down to the
much anticipated +NBA PLAYOFFS . Filled with
injuries, roster shakeups, renewed hope, record setting and breaking
performances, and a whole lot more, playoffs is where the drama continues. If
you're looking for "where amazing happens", brace yourself as we draw
near to the playoff atmosphere. Set to begin on Sunday, 21st of April
(Philippine time); let's check out the playoff picture and its schedule.
Eastern Conference
+Miami HEAT vs +Milwaukee Bucks
This is technically the
game that features the best team in the league against the team that made it to
post season with the least number of wins. 66 wins for Miami and just 38 wins
for Milwaukee. On this game, one doesn't have to be a basketball nerd to predict
the outcome of the game because this will surely be a one sided affair. Stop
right there, ask Brandon Jennings of the Bucks and you'll have your
second thoughts.
"... If you ask me, that's who I would want to play in the first round, Miami. Just the fact over the years, a lot of games have gone down the wire with us and Miami. Right now we haven't really played well against the Knicks. I just feel better if we play Miami first round, just the fact that we have good game against them. I don't know if it's because they're champs or what, but we always play harder against Miami," says Jennings on his thoughts on facing Miami.
A sweep is still very
much likely to happen on this 1st vs 8th match up. Whatever is going to happen
on this series, for sure Milwaukee will learn a lot from it. By the way,
Milwaukee has an audacious plan to make upset. Check it out here.
Key facts
If you're to translate what Jennings said from American English to basketball lingo, it would be "I'm ready to witness a massacre." The first round match for the Heat is just nothing but a warm-up for a long and promising exclamation point to what has been a spectacular season. Larry Sanders, Buck's defensive anchor, gears up to test his 'A' game against the explosive wing men of the Heat while Dwayne Wade sets his mind to add another ring.
+New York Knicks vs +Boston Celtics
There's no
better feeling than seeing the Boston-New York rivalry relived after so many
years. It is important to note that Knicks, two seasons ago, got swept by the
Celtics and this year the new look Knicks could plausibly return the favor.
This is going to be an interesting match up in the Eastern conference first
round between the 2nd seeded Knicks and 7th seeded Celtics, and the Melo-KG
dispute would most likely result to an ugly old school type of basketball. With
Rajon Rondo out of the scene for the rest of the season, the Celtics will never
be the same but with Jeff Green on a breakout season taking over Rondo's
responsibility, the Celtics could still pose a threat to the Knicks. Meanwhile,
emerging as the new scoring champion - Carmelo Anthony - snapping Kevin
Durant's three season dominance, 'Melo will be Knicks most potent weapon and
with an ample support from team mates, this playoff bound Knicks can finally get passed
the 1st round since Houston-Sprewell era.
Rasheed Wallace retired
after the same foot
injury hits back on a road against the Bobcats. Knicks
waived Kurt Thomas and signed Solomon Jones. Knicks signed
Quentin Richardson. Pablo Prigioni injured his ankle on their last home
game against the Hawks. Jeff Green injured his hand after a dunk against Miami.
Jared Sullinger and Rajon Rondo will not see action for the C's.
+Indiana Pacers vs +Atlanta Hawks
No Granger, no problem!
The Pacers season is definitely way beyond what was expected, with their star
player out for the rest of the season who would thought that on his absence
Indiana has gotten deadlier than ever. First time all-star Paul George,
talented center Roy Hibbert, and veteran forward David West were responsible to
this team's under the radar emergence. Topping the list on teams that could
give a hell of a fight to Miami and New York on the eastern conference
division, the Pacers is a team to watch out this playoffs. Ranking 1st on the
rebounding department with 45.9 rebounds per game and 2nd on points allowed
with a scary 90.5 points per game according to ESPN.com,
they sure could steal the national spotlight.
First dose of a Joe-less season for the Hawks. After Joe Johnson left them for Nets, spitfire guard Jeff Teague and flexible forward Josh Smith were left to take care of the franchise. Although plagued with injuries, Larry Drew's boys still fought hard to yield an impressive 5th spot for the playoffs. They love to play fast phase type of game so you better make sure not to commit silly turnovers or else... you'll see a hawk flying on the fast break. You slow the game and they could still hurt you, averaging 24.6 assists per game these guys know how to take good care of that ball and find daylight during stifling 'D'.
As of this writing, two of the Hawks' front court are listed on injured list and are considered day-to-day; Al Horford and Josh Smith. Already without Zaza Pachulia and Louis Williams, putting someone sidelined due to injuries is fatal as this team relies on the depth of the roster and not on individual basketball. On their 4 meeting this season, Pacers' defense hasn't really clicked as the Hawks got +8 on their scoring average .470 on FG%, and .381 on 3-point FG%.
+Brooklyn Nets vs +Chicago Bulls
Every team is a contender during the playoffs as we all know but the odds of winning are almost always given to a higher seeded team. However, this match-up is different from the usual ones. Out of 4 encounters this season, Bulls has won 3 games against the Nets. Nonetheless, playoffs is and will always be different from regular season games so let's see who will make it and who will shatter.
Think of the Bulls, think
of the playoffs, fuse the two and the thought of Derrick Rose wouldn't be left
untapped. Who could forget last year's unfortunate tale of events for the Bulls
that changed the tide of the whole playoff picture. Now the D-Rose is cleared
and ready to go, rumors has spread that his return would take place at the 1st
round of the playoffs. Scoring with an average of 93.2 points per game, ranking
as the league's second worst scoring team, Derrick Rose’s return would surely
provide a lift. Just like any other team in the league they were also plagued
with injuries but the more shorthanded they've become, the more unrattled
they've been. In fact, I'm getting used to call them the 'streak busters'
rather than calling them Bulls for what they have done to Miami's 27 game
winning streak and to New York's 13 game winning streak. Armed with stifling
defense designed by the defensive tactician, coach Tom Thibodeau, the
determined Bulls could once again rise up to the occasion.
Hungry for a distinction
against fellow a New York based team, Knicks, the Nets has found a very
appreciable spot in the playoffs that would enable them to enjoy home court
advantage, at least for the first round. Instead of enjoying, they better worry
because the Bulls is not an easy assignment after all. Limited to an average of
87.5 points per game on their season series by the Bulls's defense,
coach P.J Carlesimo has got pull out something to make it to the next leg.
Already suffering one of the league's worst 20.3 assists per game, the charging
Bulls has even made the matters worse for them as they force the Nets only to
dish out only 17.5 assists per game. If you let
the numbers speak, you would clearly understand why the Nets has fallen
thrice against the Bulls this past regular season. If numbers decrease when
they play against Chicago, not all-star center Brook Lopez. Lopez loves playing
against the Bulls averaging 22 points per game against them, he will provide a
steady numbers as expected.
Key facts
All-star center Joakim Noah could miss the whole series.
Western Conference
+Oklahoma City Thunder vs +Houston Rockets
Harden behind Westbrook and Durant on the bench feels like just a day ago. Old pals meet once again and the whole scenario has completely change. Harden already a starter and no longer a sixth man but a top 5 on the MVP talk, and Durant, sadly no longer the scoring champ. Expect a high scoring game as two of the top scoring clubs clash in this epic 1st round match-up, Houston 2nd in the league for scoring average and OKC 3rd in the same department respectively.
Jeremy Lin never appeared to a single post season game last year with the Knicks and though his numbers weren't as 'Lin'pressive when Linsanity took the basketball world by storm, shades of his game still remains. Houston is a bad ass team on the paint despite being an underdog on size and on talent but ranked as 7th in league for rebounds per game with 43.4 somebody really has eaten his heart out. Turkish big man Omer Asik should take much of that credit grabbing 11.7 rebounds per game, making him the 3rd busiest player on crashing the boards. Last but not probably the least, James Harden, 1st time all-star and his first trip to the playoffs being the face of the franchise. With only Asik and Harden entitled with a valid playoff experience, Harden will lead this young Rocket team to contend for the time since 2009.
Thunder won 2 of their 3
games with a margin average of 25.0 points. On Houston's only win, Harden
exploded with 46 points to go along with a triple on the late seconds of the
game to save the Rockets. 11-20 is the all time playoff record of the Rockets
versus the Thunder.
+San Antonio Spurs vs +Los Angeles Lakers
And they meet once again,
the purple and gold versus the kings of Texas. Sure be another classic match-up
between the two. With the old school type of basketball the Spurs has wowed us
again with their brand of basketball. On the other hand, this Laker team now
rests their fate to all star center Dwight Howard as leading scorer Kobe Bryant
injures his Achilles tendon and missing the rest of season.
With Tony Parker back from injury, the Spurs can now rely on TP's 20.9 points per game performance and with Manu getting healthy, he sure could provide a spark off the bench. At the age of 36, Duncan found the fountain of youth as he powers his way to the playoffs with a remarkable 17.8 ppg, 9.9 rpg, and 2.7 bpg. Distributing the ball as good as no other team, San Antonio tops the league in dimes per game with 25.1, making them tough to defend as they could hit from all angles. All factors contribute to exploit Lakers' weakness - defense.
Coach Mike D'Antoni just
won the coach of the month. Yes, you're reading it right. The Lakers this
season finally made things right in the late season. Lakers are in but Kobe's
out which is still subject for talks if they're better with him or without.
There is a photo of a Laker team in the midst of a joyous celebration with a
meme "Kobe is out, we can shoot now" that has gone viral in a social
media site right now. No matter what your say is, Lakers without Kobe is just completely
strange. Strange as it is when Lakers won three straight and two of it are
against playoff bound teams (GSW & SAS). With the ball going to
Howard now more often than not, the Laker nation has witnessed the vintage
Dwight and with Pau Gasol standing tall, they are slowly forming a new face of
twin towers. When Superman maintains his stellar 12.4 rpg and 2.4 bpg, and
Gasol to increase his numbers on the stats sheet, we might witness a Cinderella
story.
Key facts
Spurs signed veteran forward Tracy
Mcgrady. Spurs waived Stephen Jackson. Lakers were 3-0 after Kobe's season
ending injury and it was Dwight and Pau who rescued them. On their last game
against the Spurs, Dwight stepped up and so does Steve Blake when Blake
sweeshed 23 points.
+Denver Nuggets vs +Golden State Warriors
When coach George spoke that a team doesn't necessary need a superstar to contend, he was clearly referring to his team after 'Melo left for Knicks, coach Karl was more than correct. Looking at mile high Denver this season, being 1st in the league for points per game, 2nd in rebounding, 3rd in the assist department, and set a franchise record for most wins in a season, the Nuggets just might be the force to be reckoned with this 2013 playoffs.
Where were we? Oh! We're at the best shooting team in the league yo. Coach Mark Jackson's boys now enters the playoffs spotlight for the first time. Expect an aggressive young team with contributions from all star forward/center David Lee, sharpshooters Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, and sixth man Jared Jack. Up and down? They could give you that. Half court set? Still, they have that. Down the wire? The more, you know what Steph Curry is capable of doing. There's only a big setback though, expect rookie mistakes down the stretch.
Key facts
Now that
Gallinari is out for the rest of the season, the Nuggets will have to find
someone willing to fill his role because it was Gallo who chipped in 20.8
points per game against GSW in their 4 outings. The man-nimal is still
questionable for game 1 as he is still nursing a sprained ankle. Also look out
for Australian center Andrew Bogut, known for being haunted by injuries. AB
will play for the first time in the playoffs after his last playoff appearance
with the Bucks.
+Los Angeles Clippers vs +Memphis Grizzlies
For the first
time, Clippers won the division title and now set to face a familiar foe -
Memphis Grizzlies. A review of last year's nail biting 7-game 1st round match,
watch this if you love the physicality.
The Clipps already
emerged as champions on 'Battle Los Angeles' but the way these guys were
playing since the start of the season, they probably wanted more than that.
Already learned a lesson from the Spurs last playoffs, they toughen up their
roster by adding notable veterans to add more sting to their half court game
and mobility on their defense. Now that the pick-n-roll of CP3 and Blake
Griffin has more variations to choose from, opponents would have to choose if it’s
going to rain with threes or let the highlight factory roll.
First it was O.J Mayo and
recently, Rudy Gay. Thought they lost morale after the trade which was evident
on their first game without Rudy at OKC.That mid-season trade surprisingly made
this grizzly bear's claw sharper and cutting deeper. During the post all star
period it was Mike Conley who stepped up to light up the scoreboard. The
addition of Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye provided a boost on their defensive
prowess aiding Tony Allen on the floor. Not forgetting Zach Randolph and Marc
Gasol's presence inside the paint, Memphis Grizzlies registered themselves as
league's best defensive team only limiting 89.3 points per game. The grit n'
grind brand of basketball has already been labeled a big threat for post season
games, this year, what happened to the Spurs against the Grizz could also happen
to the Clipps. Just saying.
Key facts
Both starting point guards average at least 2 steals per game, each steal leads to a lob or another ball possession. Take note of that. If it's a low scoring game, then the game is to be handed to the Grizz and vice versa. Watch out for Deandre Jordan and Marc Gasol collision. Blake Griffin versus Zach Randolph match-up. I'm sure you're excited how they'll play if a cross match would ensue.
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