NBA (Delayed) Playoff Preview

First off I want to apologize for the delay, but due to Brent Barry's William Tecumseh Sherman-esque run through the bracket, I had to wait an extra round to post this. With that said, a lot has happened since then. The Celtics rolled, Miami and Chicago escaped, and Dallas avoided the upset that everyone predicted. Oh yeah, and in the words of the great Kristin Cavallari, the top seeded Spurs are officially dunzo.

Let's start out in LA where the Lakeshow struggled a bit against the David West-less New Orleans Hornets. After starting the series off 2-2 and letting Chris Paul torch their defense, Phil and Kobe got the squad under control by ripping off back to back blowout wins to end the series. Now with the top seeded Spurs eliminated, LA has to be the heavy favorite to make it out of the West. First, they get Dallas, who may be without Caron Butler (who conveniently would be guarding Kobe.) Dallas has a better shot at keeping the Lakers in check down low with Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood, and of course, Dirk Nowitzki. However, their perimeter defense will struggle against Bryant, Artest, and Fisher. If nothing else, go with the Lakers just because betting against Kobe and Phil is never a good idea.

The other series out West pits Memphis and OKC against each other. The Thunder made headlines by trading for Kendrick Perkins in an attempt to bolster their frontcourt. It actually looked really good as they cruised past Denver in the first round. Memphis, however, is going to be much tougher as K-Mart and Nene aren't even worthy of holding Zach Randolph's jock the way he has been playing. Randolph put the team on his back with 31 points and 11 rebounds in the series clinching win over San Antonio. The Thunder better be ready to fight if they plan on shutting him down. Shane Battier is also going to be crucial with his perimeter defense against Durant. Kevin Durant has been lights out and is proving himself as an elite player in the league. Battier and Tony Allen are going to have their work cut out for them trying to put the clamps down.

On the other side of the bracket, Chicago came in to the playoffs as the consensus favorite to win the title, but now look very vulnerable after getting a tough battle from Indiana. One thing that Chicago has going for them is the best point guard in the league, Derrick Rose. The former number one pick averaged nearly 30 points a game while dominating the Pacers backcourt. The only concern seems to be shooting, as he shot 21% from behind the arc, looking awful in Game 1 (0-9) and Game 4 (1-9). Luckily, they have Kyle Korver for that. Chicago is going to have to exploit its rebounding advantage it has on paper with Atlanta 28th in the league. If Boozer and Noah control the boards again, the Bulls should have no problem here.

Finally, we have the main event, Celtics vs Heat. This is a perfect rivalry as it has blue-collar Boston taking on flashy South Beach. When these two teams take the court, they will have a combined 80 all star appearances between them. While he has taken a lot of criticism, LeBron will be the best player in the series. He has some unfinished business after being eliminated by the Celtics last year, and needs to execute better in crunch time, or they may end up looking like the Knicks. Kevin Garnett played a big part in the last series, and while he is definitely getting older, he is still the emotional leader of the team, and is capable of making a huge impact. Mike Bibby is a player who is going to need to step up for Miami, as his three point shooting could be a big factor. He struggled big time against Philly, and at the very least will need to knock down a few open jumpers.