The NBA Playoffs!

[Archy]

Sigh, it pains me to see there's no thread in here about the nBA Playoffs, so I'd say there's no harm done in making one, right?

Seriously, here are my predictions:

San Antonio vs. Sacramento - This matchup is obviously simple. Spurs in 6.

Dallas vs. Memphis - Dallas just took a 3-nil lead over them. I'll give Memphis their first postseason victory and let Dallas advance. Mavs in 5.

LA Clippers vs. Denver - The new playoffs seedings suck! Clips in five.

LA Lakers vs. Phoenix - Forgive me Phoenix fans, but I'm giving this matchup to the Lakers. Team play is what they have lately, and it's real good, they've even done it against the Suns not only once, but twice! Lakers in 6.

East:

Milwaukee vs. Detroit - The Bucks actually won a game. Detroit in 5..

Washington vs. Cleveland - Arenas did the one thing Michael Jordan could NEVER do: Lead Washington into the postseason. Considering how he's done it twice in a row now, and how LeBron's playoff inexperience might help Washington, Wizards in 7.

New Jersey vs. Indiana - While giving credit to Jersey for posting a great streak in the season, they don't have a good matchup for Jermaine O'Neal, and that's where they will end. acers in 7.

Miami vs. Chicago - Same with Detroit. Heat in 5.

WQell, what do you guys say about the NBA then?
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[RedCydranth]

Before I go in depth on the Playoffs, I'm going to politely ask that from now on you just use the white text and not the cyan. Its too vibrant on the eyes. It makes it harder to read.

The NBA Playoffs look pretty good so far. Yeah we haven't talked about it a whole lot but that is becayse Basketball isn't as popular with the gaming community as other sports are. However I am a sports enthusiast and I follow all sports, except Soccer.

I'll start in the east

Bucks - Pistons. I really don't care for either team but the Pistons are the better team. Naturally, since they're the 1 seed. However I don't think the Bucks can come back anymore. The series is at 3-1 advantage Detroit. Tonight's game is in Detroit and I really don't see them losing at home.

Bulls - Heat. I'm surprised the Bulls are doing as well as they are, but its probaby because there's some unrest in the heat locker room. Shaq is geting older and can't be as Magical (pun intended) as his early years. Alonzo Mourning is a liability out there and Gary Payton thinks he can still be an impact player. If it weren't for Wade, the Heat would be a 7 seed. But be that as it may, the Heat and D Wade still can get the job done.

Pacers - Nets. Pacers look good, and if they were facing any other team they'd be up in their series, but the Nets are playing like top class ballers should. They have the passes, the teamwork and the scoring drives to show they're the team to beat. I think Nets make Eastern Confrence Finals.

Wizards - Caveliers. LeBron can only do so much. The rest of the Cavs have to step up or else the Wiz are going to upset the Cleveland one man show. The Wizards look good so far, but can they keep it up?

Both the Clippers and Mavericks out west won their series. Wait.. CLIPPERS!! Well, I think they're most overdue. The last time their team won a playoff series they were in Buffalo as the Braves. Since then they've moved to San Diego and then to LA. Wow... they better make the most of this because it might be another 30 years before it happens again. Mavericks beat the Grizz in a sweep, yeah well. Thats not impressive because its the Grizzlies. If it were say, the Kings or the Lakers, then they could say they dominated.

Lakers - Suns. Nash and the Suns haven't shown to me why they've made the 2 seed. Of course the way Kobe has been distributing the ball and being a team player all of a sudden might have something to do with it. When you expect to face the LA Bryants and you get a team of good players, shock will take effect. Last night though the Suns looked good. If they can shut down Bryant and pick up their D, the Suns can turn this thing around. If not, we'll be seing LA in the semis.

Spurs - Kings. The Kings are a much better club that the 8th spot leads people to believe. Of course the Spurs knew that going in, as they didn't do very well against them in the season. The Spurs got lost for a while but when Duncan, Ginobli and Parker got hot, they're unstoppable. San An has the 3-2 lead and will take the series.

Its hard to say who will win it all this year, Mant of the teams are streaky. Aside from the Clippers who dominated over the Nuggets, I've yet to see a solid franchise in this playoffs. This can mean only one thing. Great games and drawn out emotional series'. And in a sport where it suddently gets less airtime than hockey, thats a good thing.
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[Barbarossa Rugner]

I just had to comment on the game last night between the suns and the clippers. The game went into double overtime and the suns eventually pulled away. Man was that a great game though. The Clippers looked like they would win it in regulation, and overtime, but couldn't close the deal. Finally in double overtime the suns pulled away enough to ensure a victory. I though Marion played one of the best games i have ever seen him play, despite being hurt. Also i thought Elton Brand was solid as always. Steve Nash almost cost the suns the game in overtime when he made 2 turnovers in their last three possessions. Cassell needs to look more to Brand and less to his own threepoint shots in my opinion.

Well those were just some comments i had about a great game of Basketball last night. THe series is now 3-2 suns. I expect the series to go to seven games. The Heat v. Nets game was also a close one, but i think even if Miami didn't finish them off last night, it would not have been much longer. That's it.
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The Rune on my Sword, the Dragon King Sword, is protected against any form of magic, Even the rune of the Gate - Barbarossa Rugner

[Sai Fujiwara]

Anyone else excited about game 6 between the Cavs and the Pistons?

It's pretty amazing what LeBron James and co. can do, when motivated to succeed due to the loss of a team-mate's brother. In any case, it should be a great game to watch, that should be real close. It's best that nobody makes any mistakes, because I think 99% of the people here know that Detroit is the better team, but with the way Cleveland has been playing, and now actually having a chance to take out the #1 Pistons, the Cavs will be fired up like crazy.

I expect to see both teams score over 90 points in this one. However, I wouldn't be all that suprised if Detroit's defense is able to kick it up a notch, but I'd also suspect that they might not be stroking the net quite like they were in game 1, either.

I'm pretty confident that the Pistons will pull it out in 7, but at the same time, I know this game will pretty much make or break the series... Because, really... Let's be honest... Does anyone here really think that Cleveland will win a game 7 in Detroit? I don't think so.

As for the Suns & Clips, they're tied up at 3, which is pretty nice. Seriously, I REALLY hope that the stupid Mavericks and that gumpy Dirk Nowitzki finally take out those damn Spurs. I wouldn't want to see a Miami / SA or repeat Detroit / SA finals... And as funny as it would be to see Mark Cuban and his annoying ass whine about it, I just can't stomach another championship run by the Spurs and their dirty Horry... Their dirty, dirty, dirty Horry.

Here's to hoping the Suns and Mavericks are in the West, and the Pistons and Heat in the East... And god would I love to see Detroit win that one in 4 or 5... Of course, that wouldn't happen... But, I'm a Wade-Hater. :P
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Happily Married to the Lovely Lady Chris Lightfellow! :D

[lebron]

The Cavs lost to the Detroit Pistons by the score of 86-84. The key factor in this game was the offensive rebounding of the Pistons. They had 8 offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter alone. Series now tied 3-3. Game 7 will be held at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan

[Archy]

Sorry LeBron, not this year. You just earned yourself a whipping tour at the Palace of Auburn Hills. You should've gotten that in Washington, but somehow youi escaped. Detroit shall exact swift and divine retribution unto the Cavs on Game 7.

Anyone saw Spurs-Mavs G6? I mean, that was a great game! True, Dallas can't win without Terry, but they actually did a damn good job without Terry. I'm looking forward to G7.
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[lebron]

Lebron James and the Cavaliers lost to the Pistons by the score of 61-79 at The Palace. The Cavs made just 31 percent of their shots. Tayshaun Prince led the Pistons in scoring with 20 points but the Pistons offense was well-balanced as Richard Hamilton scored 15, Rasheed Wallace had 13 and Chauncey added 12. The Pistons held the Cavs to 10 points in the third quarter. Lebron James led the Cavs with 27 points-21 before halftime as Detroit didn't give him good looks at the second half. Detroit won series 4-3.

Some notes about Game 7s: Detroit is now 4-1 during Game 7s- the lone defeat at the hands of the Spurs.
The Cavs are now 2-1 in Game 7s- the last decisive game coming in 1992 when Lebron was 7 years old
The home team has won 77 out of 84 times during Game 7- a big factor that's why teams want to have homecourt advantage.

[lebron]

Lebron James and the Cavaliers lost to the Pistons by the score of 61-79 at The Palace. The Cavs made just 31 percent of their shots. Tayshaun Prince led the Pistons in scoring with 20 points but the Pistons offense was well-balanced as Richard Hamilton scored 15, Rasheed Wallace had 13 and Chauncey added 12. The Pistons held the Cavs to 10 points in the third quarter. Lebron James led the Cavs with 27 points-21 before halftime as Detroit didn't give him good looks at the second half. Detroit won series 4-3.

Some notes about Game 7s: Detroit is now 4-1 during Game 7s- the lone defeat at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.
The Cavs are now 2-1 in Game 7s- the last decisive game coming in 1992 when Lebron was 7 years old
The home team has won 77 out of 84 times during Game 7- a big factor that's why teams want to have homecourt advantage.

[Cereberus]

I've been a Mavs fan ever since and I just only hope that the Mavs beat the Spurs in game 7 in San Antonio, if they beat the spurs they have a great chance in getting to the finals and get a championship but i know it's gotta be tough beating Spurs at their home again, i just hope that someone should step-up in the clutch time. While in the east i'm rooting for the pistons over the heat.

[Barbarossa Rugner]

Game 7 tonight has the Clippers and the Suns which should be a great game. I am really looking forward to see who steps up tonight. Marion has had a great series and i expect the same thing from him tonight. I also expect the same things out of Elton Brand and expect another solid 30-10 night. For the clippers to win another person has to step up. I look for Kaman or Cassel/Magette/Mobley to have a monster night. One of those four not only has to step up big, but they have to have a monster game for the Clippers to advance. For the suns to advance, i think it all rests on Steve Nash. We know Marion will be there so Nash has to play like the MVP. I needs to have a great game in every aspect for the Suns to advance.

Well i am really looking forward to this game as well as the Spurs-Mavs series. Something tells me that this is the Mavs year and they will squeak out a victory to go to the Western conference finals. The Spurs just don't look like the spurs of the previous three years. Besides it is just time for the Mavs to make a run.
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The Rune on my Sword, the Dragon King Sword, is protected against any form of magic, Even the rune of the Gate - Barbarossa Rugner

[Archy]

yesss, Thank you Detroit for whippine them silly CaVS> Now I look forward to you guys get beat by Miami.

Dallas - SA was . . . awesome.

Spurs have been thrown off the throne! Yay!
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[Cereberus]

I really thought it was all over for Dallas when Manu hit a three in the final minutes...good thing Dirk made a 3point play at the other end hehehe it was really a good game. The Clips and Suns wasn't so bad even though it looked like a one-sided game. It's great to see Nash's shooting again. I'm really looking forward to the western conf. finals. :D

[lebron]

The Miami Heat has beaten the Detroit Pistons by the score of 91- 86. Dwayne Wade led the Heat with 25 points in just 27 minutes as he sat out 10 straight minutes in the second half with 4 fouls. Shaquille O'Neal scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half. The Pistons backcourt scored a lot of points but missed a lot of shots. Rip Hamilton scored 22 points but only shot 9-of-22 shooting while Chauncey Billups scored 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting. The Heat's reserves: Antoine Walker, Gary Payton and Jason Williams scored in double figures. Antonio Mcdyess added 10 and Rasheed Wallace added 7 points after missing 7 of his 10 shots. Game 2 will be held at The Palace. Miami now leads series 1-0

In other NBA news, Toronto will have the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

[Sai Fujiwara]

The lottery is just plain crazy. I'm not too sure why they just don't give the #1 pick to the team with the worst record, but oh well. They talked about that last night far more than I cared to hear about... :P

In any case, the Pistons looked pretty pathetic shooting from the field last night. I hate to say that Miami outplayed them, but that's more or less what it looked like, as Dwayne Wade and Shaq were benched for a very good portion of that game, yet Detroit was outscored by the Miami scrubs. I guess you can't count on them to do too well when Chauncey, Rip, and Rasheed all shoot below 40%... And it didn't even look like Rasheed was taking that many shots at all, the Pistons just couldn't get jack shit to fall... Only Tayshawn Prince has really been playing at or above his level, and maybe you could add Lindsey Hunter and Antonio McDyess to that list also, for Detroit. My only question is, how much longer will this drought continue, and WHERE THE HELL IS CARLOS DELFINO?! :P

Anyway, I still say Detroit can win this series in 6, but after losing game 1, it's looking more and more like it'll be at least a seven game series, and like Cleveland, don't count on Miami to win a game 7, should it take place... Because it will be in Detroit. Miami's best hopes lie with beating them in 4, 5, or possibly 6 games. Of course, I'd put money on Detroit winning tomorrow night, but that's me. I'm just pulling for the Mavs against the Suns tonight, in what should be a pretty decent game. Someone on the radio was saying Dallas in 4 or 5, but I dunno, I look for this one to go 6 or 7, like Detroit and Miami.

Anyway, here's to Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups lighting it up in Game 2. They've been playing like crap, but the way I look at it is, they're long overdue for a great game, and they really need to win tomorrow night.
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Happily Married to the Lovely Lady Chris Lightfellow! :D

[lebron]

The Phoenix Suns has just beaten the Dallas Mavericks by the score of 121-118. Boris Diaw led the Suns in scoring with a career high 34 points which included a turn around jumper that sealed the game for the Suns as they snatched the home court advantage from the Mavericks. This game was fast paced and full of drama in the last seconds. Devin Harris put Dallas ahead with a 16-foot jumper with 4.8 seconds left. There were at least one injured player for each team: Josh Howard of Dallas(sprained right ankle) and Raja Bell of Phoenix(strained left calf). Shawn Marion had 24 points and 13 rebounds and Tim Thomas added 13 points. Jerry Stackhouse scored 16 points and Jason Terry added 15 points.

Phoenix now leads series 1-0.