NBA Playoffs 2007: Conference Semifinals

[alfdogg 0]

Sat, May 5

Detroit 95, Chicago 69

 

Sun, May 6

Cleveland 81, New Jersey 77

San Antonio 111, Phoenix 106

 

Mon, May 7

Detroit 108, Chicago 87

Utah 116, Golden State 112

 

Tue, May 8

Cleveland 102, New Jersey 92

Phoenix 101, San Antonio 81

 

Wed, May 9

Utah 127, Golden State 117, OT

 

Thu, May 10

Detroit 81, Chicago 74

 

Fri, May 11

Golden State 125, Utah 105

 

Sat, May 12

New Jersey 96, Cleveland 85

San Antonio 108, Phoenix 101

 

Sun, May 13

Chicago 102, Detroit 87

Utah 115, Golden State 101

 

Mon, May 14

Cleveland 87, New Jersey 85

Phoenix 104, San Antonio 98

 

Tue, May 15

Chicago 108, Detroit 92

Utah 100, Golden State 87, Utah wins 4-1

 

Wed, May 16

New Jersey 83, Cleveland 72

San Antonio 88, Phoenix 85

 

Thu, May 17

Detroit 95, Chicago 85, Detroit wins 4-2

 

Fri, May 18

Cleveland 88, New Jersey 72, Cleveland wins 4-2

San Antonio 104, Phoenix 96, San Antonio wins 4-2

Edited May 22, 2007 by alfdogg

[Guest Richard McBeef]

Golden State in 6

Phoenix in 6

Detroit in 7

Cleveland in 5

[Guest Queen Leelee]

Houston in 5.

Phoenix in 7.

Detroit in 4.

Cleveland in 5.

[Guest Richard McBeef]

You're showing blatant anti-Chicago bias. Ben Wallace and Luol Deng are better than Chris Webber and Tayshaun Prince. Hinrich and Gordon can hang with Billups and Hamilton. Skiles is a better coach than Saunders. Bulls may not win, but it won't be a sweep. These are the two best teams in the East.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Houston in 7

San Antonio in 5

Chicago in 4

Cleveland in 6

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yet you (McBeef) have the Pistons in 7. The Bulls will win in 6 and then promptly get eliminated in 5 by the Nets.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Chicago sweep just to get beaten by the Cavs in 6.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I don't think the Cavs are advancing past the Nets. The Cavs aren't that good and are only in this round because they faced a team that in the current form would be a lottery team.

[Guest Richard McBeef]

Yet you (McBeef) have the Pistons in 7. The Bulls will win in 6 and then promptly get eliminated in 5 by the Nets.

Detroit is a very good team with home-court advantage. The Bulls can certainly win the series, and you know that I want them to, but it won't be easy. I'm just saying that they won't be swept. It's perfectly rational to predict that a team that has made four consecutive conference finals can make a fifth, even though I hope the Bulls outclass them in four.

 

God help us if the Nets win the East, though.

[Just John 0]

Late-night predictions:

 

Detroit d. Chicago (4-3): I know I picked against Chicago last round, but I feel a lot more comfortable with this pick than the Heat one. Detroit matches up well with Chicago. Detroit's guards are bigger and more physical, and I'll take Tayshaun and Sheed over Deng and PJ. The center position seems like a wash, because Ben is a lot better than Webber defensively, but offensively it's the other way around. Webber will have to be able to hit the mid-range jumper to pull Ben away from the rim. Both teams play great D and have guys that can hit big shots, but I think Detroit's size (and possibly experience) gives them the slight edge.

 

New Jersey d. Cleveland (4-2): The playoffs the last two years have clearly shown the ill effects of not being challenged for long periods of time. Cleveland was totally half-assing it in the Washington series, and they're too young/immature to just flip a switch. I definitely think NJ catches 'em off-guard and takes one of the first two. Someone besides Lebron is going to have to step up against the Nets' solid D to offset their healthy triple-headed attack. Gooden and Ilgauskas will have to be huge on the boards too. I don't see the Cavs having enough fire or firepower to overcome the Nets, though.

 

San Antonio d. Phoenix (4-2): This will certainly be a fun series. I know the Suns seem like a team of destiny this year, but I'll believe them taking the Spurs in a series when I see it. As far as I can tell, San Antonio still has guys that can run, shoot 3's effectively, and can cut through the paint. Basically, they can play Suns ball if they have to, even though they're known for their D. The Spurs are also the only team I've seen effectively slow down the Suns for any length or period of time. Having Amare in there should help some, but remember, he's still going against Tim Duncan.

 

I'll refrain on the last pick until the end of Game 7 tomorrow.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I haven't watched the NBA as much this year as in years past because of my moving cross country and having no TV for a while, so I don't know if I can accurately predict these. So, there'll probably be a stronger bias of what I'd WANT to see rather than what would probably happen..

 

Golden State in 5.

Suns in 7.

Bulls in 6.

Nets in 5.

 

I dislike Cleveland and Detroit (the cities along with their respective teams) so Chicago is who I'd want coming out of the East. I'd be cool with anyone but the Spurs coming out of the West. And I don't care much for Houston, either.

 

I so desperately want a Suns-Warriors series. I want like a 155-154 game.

[iggymcfly 0]

I predict Baron Davis breaks his leg flopping and never plays basketball again. Other than that I don't care.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Bitter much?

 

I'll watch a little bit of Suns/Spurs, but mostly, I'm going to be ignoring the NBA and focusing on hockey for as long as the Sens are still in.

 

I'm holding you to this.

[godthedog 0]

spurs in 7

new jersey in 6

chicago in 6

 

i really hope phoenix proves me wrong, and i see them causing a lot of problems for the spurs, but i just don't see them winning a 7 game series.

[cabbageboy 0]

Phoenix 100% must win that series. It's not that I even necessarily think they will win, but as someone who has followed the Suns for about 15 years I'm sick of them having playoff meltdowns.

 

Predictions:

 

Phoenix over San Antonio (4-3). It'll take every bit of 7 games, but the Suns have to break through eventually.

Detroit over Chicago (4-2). The Bulls are improving and might contend seriously next year, but I can't see them winning this series.

Cleveland over New Jersey (4-2). The Nets are an unpleasant reminder of the East at its absolute 2002-03 nadir. If they somehow won this series it'd only produce a crap Eastern finals, since either Detroit or Chicago would own them.

 

I'm not sure yet regarding Golden St.'s series. If they play Houston I think the Rockets will that series in 5 or 6, but if they play Utah I think Golden St. wins in 7.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

You're showing blatant anti-Chicago bias.

Nah, it's not that.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Suns over Spurs in 7

GS over whoever in 6

 

Pistons over Bulls in 7

Nets over Cavs in 6

[bobobrazil1984 0]

Cleveland over New Jersey in 7

No particular reason, I just don't really like the NJ team and if the Cavs are smart, we'll be seeing a lot of inside attacking from them. I expect Lebron to really come to play this time.

 

Detroit over Chicago in 6

Pretty evenly matched series to be honest, and I would not be shocked if Chi took it 6 or 7, but I'm with the Pistons for a few reasons, one is their very good road record, second is that they have a distinct advantage with Rasheed Wallace down-low, he was unusually focused during the Orlando series so I hope he's really come to play, and three, well the Pistons are my team, so whenever you have an evenly matched series, duhh I'm gonna go with my guys. I'm guessing the series goes 2-2, Detroit wins 5 at the Palace, and pulls out 6 on the road.

 

San Antonio over Phoenix in 6

These will be hotly contested games not unlike their series two years ago, but I think S.A. will get the necessary stops in crunch time. Some people write the Spurs off because of the weak early part of the regular season, but they had a ridiculously good post all star record, and are at the top of their game. I actually want Phoenix to win because I don't want the Pistons to play the Spurs, but I think SA will pull it out.

 

Golden State over Utah/Houston in 6

I really have no idea how this GS will fare as the Dallas series was the first time I've seen em play, so I'm picking em just for the fun of it, so i'll have someone other than the usual suspects to root for.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

game's still going on, but i immediatly see a big problem for Chicago. Ben Gordon can't guard Billups, billups is having no problem getting open. Hinrich is a great defender but he's spent the lion's share of time against Rip Hamilton.

[Guest Richard McBeef]

The Bulls look like kids out there.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I don't want to sound like the Heat here, but I'm actually encouraged. The Bulls has one of their worst shooting performances ever, and while 26 point deficits aren't exactly encouraging, they can't shoot this bad all series long. This was probably Chicago's wake up call, realizing they can't run everyone off the floor like they did the Heat. Chicago in 7.

[Just John 0]

Final Pick

 

Golden State d. Utah (4-2): Utah looked lost most of the time against Houston's small lineup, and at most positions, that one isn't very good. GS is athletic at every position and should be able to throw Utah off much like they did to Dallas. Utah's only shot is to run with them because they have enough shooters to compete, but I think Sloan will insist on slowing them on D similar to Avery. Also, Don Nelson isn't afraid to change something if it doesn't work, so there will be no "Yao Mings" in this series for Utah to constantly exploit. GS will also actually chase down long rebounds unlike Houston which will give them a huge advantage since that takes away one of Utah's big things from the Hoston series (second chance points) and adds to something that helped GS (fast breaks). Expect Boozer's numbers to drop when a faster, more athletic player is on him for a whole game.

[Ripper 0]

game's still going on, but i immediatly see a big problem for Chicago. Ben Gordon can't guard Billups, billups is having no problem getting open. Hinrich is a great defender but he's spent the lion's share of time against Rip Hamilton.

 

 

Which is mind numbingly retarded. Guarding Richard Hamilton consist of running and trying to stop him from catching the ball. Guarding billups requires a better on the ball defender. So why in the flipping hell are the two guys made to guard them switched right now?

[alfdogg 0]

I don't know what to think about the Detroit/Chicago series now. Once the Bulls swept the Heat, I thought they'd ride that wave of confidence right out of the East, much like Dallas did in the West after beating the Spurs. Time will tell if tonight's game brought them down a peg. I hope not, because I'm really pulling for them out of the East.

 

I like the Jazz against Golden State, if only because Boozer is playing with the fire and aggression that Dirk wasn't in the last round, and I don't think the Warriors will be able to contain him. That's going to be a fun series. I'll say the Jazz win it in 7.

 

Suns/Spurs: Much like John said, this is one of those series where one team just has the other's number, much like the Spurs and Mavs last year, and you'll believe the other team winning when you see it. Spurs in 6. The NBA champions will come out of this series.

 

Nets/Cavs: This is going to be one wretched series. The Kidd/Carter/RJ trio combined with the Nets' experience will just be too much for LeBron to overcome. Nets in 6, but God help us if they come out of the East again.

[Guest]

If the Suns don't suffer from playing their short rotation, they will win their series and be the champions. That's a big if though.

[Ripper 0]

I am taking Jazz, Suns, Pistons, Nets this round.

 

I wouldn't be suprised if the Bulls won though. first game was not how this series will be.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Warriors (in 6), Suns (in 7), Pistons (in 6) and Nets (in 6).

 

I'm cheering for Phoenix, after them I don't really care although the Warriors would be a nice story.

[King Kamala 0]

Warriors in 6

Spurs in 7

Pistons in 6

Nets in 7

[Ripper 0]

The spurs not having a foul in the second quarter was complete and utter bullshit, especially when they are calling chippy stuff on the other end.

[Just John 0]

Yeah, something else I took away from the Houston/Utah series is that if one team has a rep for playing aggressive D, they won't get as many fouls called on them as they should. The refs can't call 'em all, I guess.

 

Suns have to like the pace so far, but they need to go on a big run because you never know when San Antonio might clamp down.