2010 NBA Playoffs Predictions

[PosImpos]

As much as I love the Celtics, this is what I think will most likely happen.


Western Conference:

Round 1
1 - LA Lakers vs 8 - OKC Thunder
Lakers win in 6 games
2 - Dallas Mavericks vs 7 - SA Spurs
Spurs win in 7
3 - PHX Suns vs 6 - POR Trailblazers
Suns win in 5
4 - DEN Nuggets vs 5 - UTA Jazz
Nuggets win in 7

Round 2
1 - LA Lakers vs 4 - DEN Nuggets
Nuggets win in 7
3 - PHX Suns vs 7 - SA Spurs
Suns win in 7

Round 3
3 - PHX Suns vs 4 - DEN Nuggets
Suns win in 6

PHX Suns advance to the NBA Finals.

Eastern Conference

Round 1
1 - CLE Cavaliers vs 8 - CHI Bulls
Cavs win in 5
2 - ORL Magic vs 7 - CHA Bobcats
Magic win in 6
3 - ATL Hawks vs 6 MIL Bucks
Hawks win in 5
4 - BOS Celtics vs MIA Heat
Celtics win in 7

Round 2
1 - CLE Cavaliers vs 4 - BOS Celtics
Cavs win in 6
2 - ORL Magic vs 3 - ATL Hawks
Magic win in 6

Round 3
1 - CLE Cavaliers vs 2 - ORL Magic
Magic win in 7

ORL Magic advance to the NBA Finals.


Finals
2 - ORL Magic vs 3 - PHX Suns
Magic win in 6

Orlando Magic win the NBA Finals.  
Finals MVP - Dwight Howard.



Suns in the Finals? Am I crazy?! Maybe?!

Note: The Suns are playing the best basketball in the West since the All-Star break and they are the healthiest of any of the top teams in the West. *knock on wood* I wouldn't pick the Suns to win a series against the Lakers but I think the Nuggets will match up well with LA and beat them in a hard fought second round series.

The Eastern Conference Finals are gonna be epic, but I think the Magic will win.

The better defensive team will win in the Finals.


What do you think?

[snively]

Interesting picks.

I agree with you until the semifinals, where I think the Spurs will dispatch the Suns in 6, the Lakers will take the Nuggets in 6, the Cavs will take the C's in 5, and the Magic will need 7 to beat the Hawks.  In the conference finals, the Lakers and Cavs will take their opponents in 6 and for the champeenship, Cavs will take the Lakers in 6.

The Cavs are too deep and flexible for the Magic to out-gimmick this year.  The Lakers are too well-built to fall to the deeply flawed Western pretenders. 

[PosImpos]

Interesting picks.

I agree with you until the semifinals, where I think the Spurs will dispatch the Suns in 6, the Lakers will take the Nuggets in 6, the Cavs will take the C's in 5, and the Magic will need 7 to beat the Hawks.  In the conference finals, the Lakers and Cavs will take their opponents in 6 and for the champeenship, Cavs will take the Lakers in 6.

The Cavs are too deep and flexible for the Magic to out-gimmick this year.  The Lakers are too well-built to fall to the deeply flawed Western pretenders. 

Eh...the Nuggets have looked good against the Lakers all year.  They clearly want it more.  If K-Mart is relatively healthy and Karl is back in some capacity by then, I like their chances against the Lakers, who haven't looked like a great team in quite some time.

I agree that the Spurs / Suns matchup is a difficult one to forecast; I could see that going the Spurs way, in which case it'd be hard to predict who wins the Western Conference Finals.

The Magic have been the best team in the league for the last few months, and they are deeper than any team in the league, too.  Having the best center / best rebounder / best shot blocker in the league also certainly gives you the edge when the game becomes more half-court oriented.

You may be right that it'll be Cavs vs Lakers, but I sure as heck hope not.  I'm hoping optimistically for the Finals to be watchable this year.

[kw10]

Personally, I like Dallas' chances out west to make the finals. They have been playing well post trade-deadline and Lakers not as well I think (I don't have much to base on, but that's just what I feel). Looks like Butler can really be an x-factor here. Not to forget Brendan Hayward, he looks better than Dampier and those 2 look good enough to offset the Lakers big with Dirk an unstoppable force on offence.

[MMacOH]

If you are going to pick Orlando to beat the Cavs, which I admit could be possible even though the Cavs are a much better team this year, you should do it in 6.  No way Orlando beats the Cavs in a game 7 in Cleveland.

And I will take the Jazz from the West

[rav123]

I can't predict how long each series will be. But I'll try predict the winners:

Western Conference:

Round 1
1 - LA Lakers vs 8 - OKC Thunder
Lakers win
2 - Dallas Mavericks vs 7 - SA Spurs
Mavs win
3 - PHX Suns vs 6 - POR Trailblazers
Suns win
4 - DEN Nuggets vs 5 - UTA Jazz
Nuggets win

Round 2
1 - LA Lakers vs 4 - DEN Nuggets
Nuggets win
2 - Dallas Mavericks vs 3 - PHX Suns
Mavs win

Round 3
2 - Dallas Mavericks vs 4 - DEN Nuggets
Mavericks win and advance to the NBA Finals.

Eastern Conference

Round 1
1 - CLE Cavaliers vs 8 - CHI Bulls
Cavs win
2 - ORL Magic vs 7 - CHA Bobcats
Magic win
3 - ATL Hawks vs 6 MIL Bucks
Hawks win
4 - BOS Celtics vs MIA Heat
Celtics win

Round 2
1 - CLE Cavaliers vs 4 - BOS Celtics
Celts win
2 - ORL Magic vs 3 - ATL Hawks
Magic win

Round 3
2 - ORL Magic vs 4 - BOS Celtics
Celtics win and advance to the NBA Finals.


Finals
2 - Dallas Mavericks vs 4 - Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics win and are NBA Champions. 


Non-homer? Cavs defeat Celtics, defeat Magic, and win 2010 NBA Finals against the Mavericks. We are the team that stand between the King and a ring.

[PosImpos]

Personally, I like Dallas' chances out west to make the finals. They have been playing well post trade-deadline and Lakers not as well I think (I don't have much to base on, but that's just what I feel). Looks like Butler can really be an x-factor here. Not to forget Brendan Hayward, he looks better than Dampier and those 2 look good enough to offset the Lakers big with Dirk an unstoppable force on offence.

The Mavs have won quite a few games but they've never looked like a dominant team at any point this year; they've had very few big wins with a large margin of victory.  I've read that margin of victory tends to be a good indicator of post-season success (often better than regular season record), so take that for what it's worth.  I like the Spurs' chances.

[misha]

Personally, I like Dallas' chances out west to make the finals. They have been playing well post trade-deadline and Lakers not as well I think (I don't have much to base on, but that's just what I feel). Looks like Butler can really be an x-factor here. Not to forget Brendan Hayward, he looks better than Dampier and those 2 look good enough to offset the Lakers big with Dirk an unstoppable force on offence.

I don't care Mavs or Nuggets. As long as Lakers are at home. But you forgot about the L factor which Mavs shoved in the past (vs Miami a nd vs Golden State). Until proven otherwise they are:
 

[houseonfire09]

OK, I'll try...

EAST Round 1:
Cavs def. Bulls in 6
Magic def. Bobcats in 5
Hawks def. Bucks in 5
Celts def. Heat in 5

WEST Round 1:
Lakers def. exSonics in 7
Mavs def. Spurs in 6
Suns def. Blazers in 4
Nuggets def. Jazz in 6

EAST Round 2:
Cavs def. Celts in 7
Magic def. Hawks in 4

WEST Round 2:
Nuggets def. Lakers in 7
Mavs def. Suns in 6

ECF/WCF:
Magic def. Cavs in  7
Nuggets def. Mavs in 5

FINALS:
Nuggets def. Magic in 7

[greg_kite]

I'm so pumped about this year's matchups!  So many good ones.  I'm also mentioning the individual matchups I'm looking forward to.

EAST Round 1:
Cavs def. Bulls in 5, Deng's size will be good vs Lebron but not good enough, Varajao vs Noah will out annoy each other
Magic def. Bobcats in 6, Jackson&Wallace vs Carter&Pietrus, good athletic wings should make an entertaining series
Hawks def. Bucks in 4, Bucks sucks without Bogut
Celts def. Heat in 5, Hopefully Pierce covers Wade some and Perk beats up on J.O.

WEST Round 1:
Lakers def. Thunder in 6, love Westbrook&Durant, Gasol should dominate
Mavs def. Spurs in 7, Haywood&Damp will keep Duncan in check, sad because the old Manu is back, Dirk should dominate
Suns def. Blazers in 5, Rudy will have breakout games, but not good enough
Nuggets def. Jazz in 6, Billups vs Williams, nobody will stop Melo unless AK47 can have rebirth

EAST Round 2:
Cavs def. Celts in 6, we will hate them more after this series, especially Varajao
Magic def. Hawks in 6, Vince vs, JJ, Horford will play Howard well, but not good enough, could be a great series with lots of speed and defense
Lakers def. Nuggest in 5, Bynum and Gasol will be too much for Nene and Anderson to handle, Martin prob won't be 100%, and is too short even if he is
Mavs def. Suns in 6, another awesome matchup, Nash vs Kidd, Amare vs Dirk, Hill vs Marion, I hope this matchup actually happens, size will be the difference and Mavs will win

Conference Finals
Cavs def. Magic in  6, Jamison can matchup with Lewis now, Shaq will slow Howard just enough to make a difference between last year and this year, Lebron will take OVER
Lakers def. Mavs in 7, Gasol vs Dirk, best Euro playoff matchup ever, Kobe will be the difference maker

FINALS:
Cavs def. Lakers in 6, Lebron will outplay Kobe and Varajao will play good enough D on Gasol to get him out of his comfort zone, Artest will also have a meltdown or two

I love this game!!!

[Drucci]

Western Conference:

Round 1
1 - LA Lakers vs 8 - OKC Thunder
Lakers win 4-2
2 - Dallas Mavericks vs 7 - SA Spurs
Spurs win 4-3
3 - PHX Suns vs 6 - POR Trailblazers
Suns win 4-2
4 - DEN Nuggets vs 5 - UTA Jazz
Nuggets win 4-2

Round 2
1 - LA Lakers vs 4 - DEN Nuggets
Nuggets win 4-1
7 - San Antonio Spurs vs 3 - PHX Suns
Spurs win 4-1

Round 3
7 - San Antonio Spurs vs 4 - DEN Nuggets
Spurs win 4-2

Eastern Conference

Round 1
1 - CLE Cavaliers vs 8 - CHI Bulls
Cavs win 4-2
2 - ORL Magic vs 7 - CHA Bobcats
Magic win 4-1
3 - ATL Hawks vs 6 MIL Bucks
Hawks win 4-2
4 - BOS Celtics vs MIA Heat
Celtics win 4-1

Round 2
1 - CLE Cavaliers vs 4 - BOS Celtics
Celtics win 4-2
2 - ORL Magic vs 3 - ATL Hawks
Magic win 4-0 (sweep indeed)

Round 3
2 - ORL Magic vs 4 - BOS Celtics
Celtics win 4-2

Finals
7 - San Antonio Spurs vs 4 - Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics win 4-2 and are NBA Champions.

[D Dub]

It would be kind of fun to make a Game out of these predictions.  My buddy and I setup this scoring system last year that was pretty fun.  Here's how it worked:

1 pt awarded for picking any series winner
2 pts awarded for picking eventual NBA champ
1 addtional pt awarded for picking the correct # of games along with a series winner

Thus, a perfect score of 31 is very hard to get; and getting close to 20 is very respectable...

Kind of a fun way to measure your NBA ESP, anyone want to get down? 

[D Dub]

Suns in the Finals? Am I crazy?! Maybe?!

Note: The Suns are playing the best basketball in the West since the All-Star break and they are the healthiest of any of the top teams in the West. *knock on wood* I wouldn't pick the Suns to win a series against the Lakers but I think the Nuggets will match up well with LA and beat them in a hard fought second round series.


What do you think?

I like the bold picks, but I can't decide what's a shakier limb; picking Suns to the Finals or knocking Dallas out in the 1st round. 

I think Portland's front line will dominate a Robin Lopez-less PHX.  And I also think too many people are sleeping on Dallas.  Factoring in the nagging injuries on Kobe's shooting hand - I'd make the claim that Dirk is the best player in the Western Conference right now.  You could also argue that he's got the deepest team as well. 

One thing is for sure, it's shaping up to be another great playoff season.

[FallGuy]

Might as well get this down now so it can come back to haunt me later. TP for the person I stole the formatting from.

Western Conference:

Round 1
1 - LA Lakers vs 8 - OKC Thunder
Lakers in 6

2 - Dallas Mavericks vs 7 - SA Spurs
Mavs in 5

3 - PHX Suns vs 6 - POR Trailblazers
Suns in 6

4 - DEN Nuggets vs 5 - UTA Jazz
Jazz in 7

Round 2

1 - LA Lakers vs 5 - UTA Jazz
Jazz in 7

2 - Dallas Mavericks vs 3 - PHX Suns
Mavs in 7

Round 3

2 - Dallas Mavericks vs 5 - UTA Jazz
Mavs in 6

Eastern Conference

Round 1
1 - CLE Cavaliers vs 8 - CHI Bulls
Cavs in 4

2 - ORL Magic vs 7 - CHA Bobcats
Magic in 5

3 - ATL Hawks vs 6 MIL Bucks
Hawks in 5

4 - BOS Celtics vs MIA Heat
Celtics in 5

Round 2

1 - CLE Cavaliers vs 4 - BOS Celtics
Cavs in 6

2 - ORL Magic vs 3 - ATL Hawks
Magic in 6

Round 3

2 - ORL Magic vs 1 - CLE Cavaliers

Cavs in 7.


Finals

Cavs in 7 over Mavs.

I'd be higher on the Lakers but with Kobe's health (and dare I say, decline), Bynum's questions and periodically indifferent play from Odom, I feel like they're ripe for an upset. Celtics don't look as hungry or as good as either ORL or CLE. Would be wonderful to see UTA or PHX in the finals but I think DAL takes it.

[D Dub]

Here are my picks:

Western Conference:

Round 1
1 - LA Lakers vs 8 - OKC Thunder
LA in 5 games

2 - DAL Mavericks vs 7 - SA Spurs
Dallas in 6 games

3 - PHX Suns vs 6 - POR Trailblazers
Portland in 6 games

4 - DEN Nuggets vs 5 - UTA Jazz
Utah in 6 games

Round 2
1 - LA Lakers vs 5 – UTA Jazz
LA in 6 games

6 – POR Trailblazers vs 2 – DAL Mavericks
DAL in 4 games


Round 3
1 – LA Lakers vs 2 - DAL Mavericks
DAL in 7 games


Eastern Conference

Round 1
1 - CLE Cavaliers vs 8 - CHI Bulls
CLE in 4 games

2 - ORL Magic vs 7 - CHA Bobcats
ORL in 6 games

3 - ATL Hawks vs 6 MIL Bucks
ATL in 5 games

4 - BOS Celtics vs MIA Heat
BOS in 6 games


Round 2
1 - CLE Cavaliers vs 4 - BOS Celtics
BOS in 7 games

2 - ORL Magic vs 3 - ATL Hawks
ORL in 7 games

Round 3
4 – BOS Celtics vs 2 - ORL Magic
BOS in 6 games


Finals
4 – BOS Celtics vs 2 – DAL Mavericks
DAL in seven games


Dirk bests KG with fresher legs, gets his Finals MVP trophy in an epic battle between two of the greatest PF’s of All Time.