The Boston Celtics showed that without Kevin Garnett they are not the same team that won the Championship last year. With their 105-103 overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, they need to play their hearts out in tonight's game. Which is exactly what they did. The Celtics won in a back and forth drama 118-115 from a last second shot three pointer made by Ray Allen.
The San Antonio Spurs are showing their age. Their 105-97 loss to the Dallas Mavericks made them realize that their stars are loosing their steam. Tim Duncan's knees have been questionable for most of the season, while Manu Ginobli has been in and out of the starting line-up due to numerous injuries. If the Spurs want to stay on top they need to make sure Duncan doesn't get knocked around, and keep Tony Parker playing strong.
The Detroit Pistons showed that they too are not the same team that has made it to the Eastern Conference finals numerous times. Their 102-84 loss said that they could not keep up with the strength and speed of Lebron James and his Cavaliers. It honestly will take a miracle for the Pistons to pull off an upset against the number 1 seeded Cavs.
The 76'ers proved that they earned their spot in the playoffs by beating the Orlando Magic with a last second shot made by Andre Igoudala. The 100-98 defeat of Dwight Howard and his team was a shock to most fans. But Howard and his team have more than enough talent to win out the series. The 76'ers however, look like they won't let the Magic win easy.
The Los Angeles Lakers's domination of the Utah Jazz was not unexpected. There seems like there will be no trouble at all for the Lakers through the entire series. Don't expect an upset from this one.
Even with Chris Paul, the New Orleans Hornets got stomped on by Chauncy Billups and his Denver Nuggets. With Billups hitting 8 three-pointers, the Nuggets won easily 113-84. The Hornets look to pull off a win at home tomorrow but Denver looks too strong for the smaller New Orleans team.
Miami discovered that Atlanta is a much better team than most people expected. The Heat's 90-64 loss gave them a touch of reality--in the playoffs amazing actually does happen. Dwayne Wade and his team need to step up in the next game and play like they deserve to be in the playoffs.
Lastly, the Houston Rockets and Yao Ming, showed the young Portland Trailblazers team that it takes more than a young team to win. The Trailblazers lost 108-81. Brandon Roy and his Portland team need to step up their fast paced game and make sure that the giant named Yao doesn't have time to get into position.
The NBA playoffs is where anything can happen. The Miami, Orlando, and Boston losses show that the East might have some surprises in store.
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Got that right....sad to admit the Pistons are on the downhill and have no shot at beating the Cavs (especially the Cavs), but after years of Detroit sports fans falling back on the Pistons success, it looks like we're going downhill for a bit....
ReplyDeleteFortunately, Joe Dumars is a genious and we'll be back up and running strong in several years (not like last time where it took a decade and a half of bad basketball to figure things out).