NBA Playoff Thoughts
With the Celtics season being done for weeks now, I have been
forced to root for another team, the Nets (for obvious reasons: Pierce and
Garnett). It has been really tough to watch those two play though, because
well, it’s really rough. KG looks like he has aged 20 years or so in just two
seasons and my favorite player, Pierce, cannot consistently bring it like he
used to. He can heat up every other night or so, but the lack of lift and speed
on his shot is just depressing. I’m glad the Celtics made that trade though, because
they fleeced the Nets draft picks for some old guys. Anyway, as a Celtic fan
the only good thing to look forward to are the lottery selections next week.
That should be an exciting time. Hopefully we don’t get screwed. Anyways, here
are my thoughts on the playoffs so far:
·
As much as I frigging hate to say it, the Heat
look like they will coast into their 4th straight finals appearance.
Indiana’s collapse has been amazing to watch. I don’t think anyone has ever
seen a total fall off like this one. Roy Hibbert… Where the hell has he gone?
Fishing obviously. Even though the Pacers hold a 3-2 lead on the Wizards and
are in position to advance to the ECF, I hope the Wiz beat them only because I
think Wall and Co. could give the Heat more headaches than the Pacers who suck
right now.
·
Speaking of the Heat, I still loathe Ray Allen.
Guy still hits every single open shot… So annoying. Call me bitter, I don’t care.
·
Speaking of former Celtics, I loved Paul Pierce’s
play in Game 4 the other night vs. Miami. He had energy with a little pep in
the step and wanted to beat his rival. The Nets were in that game because of
Pierce’s play but of course Joe frigging Johnson thinks he’s good or something
and tried to iso on LeBron four times in the last two minutes not giving the
future Hall-of-Famer Pierce one touch in key possessions. The Nets lost that
game for that sole reason. Pierce had Ray Allen on him (mismatch!). Give the
damn HOFer the ball Joe! You are a choker in the playoffs! That’s why Atlanta
got rid of you!
·
The Wizards playoff success has been beyond
surprising. We all knew John Wall was a good player destined to be a star. But
I don’t think anyone saw Trevor Ariza and Nene having complete career
rejuvenations. Not to mention, Marcin Gortat looks good, somehow. The most
impressive guy on the Wiz to me is Bradley Beal. He’s only in his second year
and look this good. Very surprising. I can see the Wiz giving Miami a six game
series if they can comeback vs. Indiana.
·
The Spurs are still REALLY good. I thought the
Trail Blazers were going to give San Antonio trouble, but obviously Portland’s
young core isn’t ready just yet to take over the throne in the west. The vets
over in SA have dismantled Portland.
·
Kevin Durant and OKC need to shake Russell
Westbrook if they ever want to get over the hump. Don’t get me wrong, Westbrook
is an insanely talented player, but jesus the kid gets hot and thinks he’s invincible
so he starts throwing up the worst shots ever seen in the playoffs. He takes
away shots from Durant and makes dumb mistakes down the stretch. Unless he
eliminates the mistakes and poor shot selection I don’t see OKC winning the
title this year. I have a proposition to OKC. Rondo for Westbrook straight up.
We get a scoring PG that we need and you guys get a PG that looks to make the
pass, which will help Durant, Serge and the shooters.
·
Chris Paul may forever be known as the guy who can’t
win the big series or game. This guy has been a top 3 PG his entire career, but
come playoff time… things just seem to fall apart. This is the most talented
team Paul has ever been on and he was a key cog in the choke job in Game 5 vs.
OKC (even though the refs aided that W a lot too). But, with that said, I think
CP3’s career after the regular season has been disappointing. If you are a top
player in the game, you need to have some form of playoff success.
·
I loved Doc Rivers and his rant about the officiating
of the Game 5 LAC-OKC series. I just love Rivers actually. And also, I HATE NBA
officiating this year. Always have. If LeBron misses a layup, foul. If you tap
a shooters arm, foul. So many inconsistent calls too. Just ugh. Whatever.
·
To wrap this up, here are some predictions the
rest of the way:
o
Heat end the series vs. the Nets tonight.
o
Same with the Spurs.
o
Wizards in 7.
o
OKC in 7.
o
Heat over the Wiz in 6. (I hate Miami.)
o
Spurs over OKC in 7.
o
Spurs over Miami in 7 (just because I hate
them).
I just hope the rest of the way is entertaining for me as a
causal I-hate-the-heat-and-have-no-team-to-root-for fan. Speaking of hating the
Heat you can read my post from last season on why ALL Celtics fans should hate
the Heat: http://joepatsfan.blogspot.com/2013/06/why-celtics-fans-should-root-against.html
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