Monday Observations

With the opening weekend of the playoffs in the books, some random observations about each series:

--The Lakers are ready.  The opening few minutes of game one against Utah went about as bad as it could for LA.  Kobe didn't take a shot--and made two turnovers in the first two minutes. Fisher picked up two quick fouls, while the Jazz hit their first three shots.  But when I looked up after five or six minutes, the Lakers led 17-10.  They ran that lead to 22 at halftime, and won by 13.  A lot of reports today are focusing on how the Lakers couldn't "put away" the Jazz in the second half, but I was there and never felt that Utah was in it.  Think about this, the Lakers won this game easily, and Andrew Bynum had his worst game since he returned fives games ago.  If Bynum shows up Tuesday night, the Lakers might win by a lot more than 13.

--Portland doesn't look ready--not even close--for the intensity of playoff basketball.  As I mentioned in my last blog, Houston is much better than most people think.  It's not a huge surprise that the Rockets won game one, but how they won it.  They were up by 30 at one point, in Portland.  Everybody who is expecting this big round two showdown between the Lakers and Blazers isn't paying attention.  Now that Houston has taken the home court, the Rockets are the favorites to move on to round two.

--New Orleans looks more beat up than I even thought they were.  Denver looks like a team of guys twenty years younger than New Orleans.  I picked the Nuggets to win this series, but if Tyson Chandler and some of the other bigs don't get healthy--this could be a sweep.

--Dallas might have won game one, but I still think the Spurs will give the Mavs a series--and maybe still win it.  The only thing I would worry about if I was a Spurs fan is that San Antonio isn't playing defense.  That's been Gregg Popovich's calling card throughout this decade, and it was nowhere to be found in game one.  If the scores in this series are high--in the hundreds--that means Dallas is controlliing the tempo.

--Detroit is no match for Cleveland.  That has sweep written all over it.

--I still think that Orlando beats Philadelphia, even though the Sixers took game one.  But if I knew that Andre Igoudola was going to take the last shot, how did Stan Van Gundy not know?  You don't double-team him there?  I may have overrated the Magic, but if they don't have any more coaching brain-cramps, they'll win the series.

--Atlanta surprised me with their defense.  I knew the Hawks would score, but there is no way I would have figured they could hold Miami to 64 points.  If they play defense like that, this series will be over a lot quicker than I predicted.  It's as if they've decided not to let D'Wayne Wade beat them, and they are taking their chances with everybody else.  The problem for Miami seems to be that they don't have anybody else.  Of course the problem for the Hawks is that even if they sweep the Heat, they get the Cavs next.

--Boston looks old and lost without Kevin Garnett.  But I still think they have enough to beat the Bulls--if they wake up and realize that they can't single-cover Derrick Rose.  The Bulls are young and athletic, while the Celtics look old and lazy.  But if they stop Rose--and they have to put two guys on him--the Bulls don't have enough scoring to win four games.  If this turns into a fast-paced track meet, Chicago could steal this.

I'll blog again after Lakers/Jazz game two....

Comments

[Mohammed]

Hey John
Can you give one game to Pistons? I hope they win atleast one game. I am adopting the slogan win one for dyess.

[Mohammed]

Hey John,
Is there any hope for the pistons at all or is it the year that I make my slow transition to a Lakers fan?
Mohammed