Is there anyone out there besides me who follows the NBA? (I know you do kaytodd)
Anyway, big news today... the 42-40 Golden State Warriors eliminated (actually, destroyed, demolished, or demoralized are more like it) the 67-15 Dallas Mavericks 4-2 in the first round of the playoffs, making them the first No. 8 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the first round in a best-of-seven series. I guess what makes this win even sweeter is that they didn't make the playoffs until the last game of the regular season.
The Mavs made it to the NBA Finals last season but lost to the Miami Heat. This year, both the Heat and the Mavs were eliminated in the first round (but hey, at least the Mavs won two games... the defending champs were swept).
The only two first rounders still going on are the New Jersey Nets vs. the Toronto Raptors (3-2 Nets) and the Utah Jazz vs. the Houston Rockets (tied 3-3). Besides the Warriors, the teams advancing to the second round so far are the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference and the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference.
Here's how I see the rest of the playoffs going...
2nd Round
WESTERN CONFERENCE
San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns (SA wins in 7 -- the best defensive team in the league goes up against the best offensive team in the league... the Spurs beat the Suns 2-1 during the regular season and beat them 4-1 two years ago during their championship run -- Phoenix's defense is much improved this season, but SA's D is even better now than it was then, even though their offense isn't as good -- it'll be an interesting series, but I predict SA's D will control the tempo, shut down Phoenix's run-and-gun offense, and grind out a hard-fought victory in the end)
Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets/Utah Jazz (GSW wins in 6 either way... I pick Houston to win the first round, btw)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Chicago Bulls vs. Detroit Pistons (Detroit wins in 6)
New Jersey Nets/Toronto Raptors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (Cavs win in 5 either way... I pick New Jersey to win the first round)
3rd Round
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons (Detroit in 7, just because LeBron James doesn't have the supporting cast needed to make it to the NBA Finals; they did, however, stretch a much stronger Detroit team to 7 games last season, and the Cavs are much better now than they were a year ago, not to mention more confident)
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Golden State Warriors vs. San Antonio Spurs (Tough call, but I'd probably pick San Antonio in 7, but it could go either way, especially if GSW plays the way they did against Dallas. I give SA the edge because we've won 3 championships in the past 8 years and we have the best defense in the NBA, but don't count out the the underdogs, especially these underdogs. It will all come down to whether or not Golden State can withstand the all pressure that will come with all the media hype of their Cinderella story)
NBA FINALS
Detroit Pistons vs. San Antonio Spurs (I won't even begin to make a call this hypothetical match-up right now, but if I had to make a wild guess, I'd say SA in 7 because they will have homecourt advantage -- plus, this could just as easily be Golden State vs. Detroit, Detroit vs. Phoenix, Golden State vs. Cleveland, Cleveland vs. Phoenix, etc.)