Who would you rather play in First Round? Philly or NY?

[Kane3387]

I say Philly. Lack of game changers. Billups, Amare, and Melo would be tougher for our guys and I think challenge the cHeat much more then Philly. I don't look at the three seed as that bad. Miami is not a tough place to play.

I also think the cHeat will experience chemistry issues in the playoffs much like we did in 2008. It's all about matchups in the playoffs and NY matches up well with Miami - Amare owns Bosh -since they lack size. Philly doesn't match up well with them.

Call me crazy but I can see Orlando upsetting the Bulls and I could see NY having a chance of upsetting Miami. Thus we could still have HCA in the east.

Who do you want? Knicks or Sixers. Assume Knicks are the seventh seed and Philly is the sixth seed. Part of your answer should be based on miami playing the other.

[PosImpos]

I'd much rather play NYK.  They can't play defense to safe their lives, and we have good defenders at their positions of strength.

The Sixers have always played us close, and they are exactly the kind of team we have a difficult time defeating - athletic and fast with tenacious defense and good offensive rebounding.

The Knicks are a fast break team with very little inside game and a poor half court offense that depends too much on outside shooting and lacks in size and rebounding ability.  That's a good matchup for us.

[Chris]

NY.  

They don't play defense, their PG is horrible, but most importantly, playing them would get the Big 3 jacked to completely humiliate them, and frankly, I think this team needs to use the first round of the playoffs to get a rhythm going, and really get locked in to the playoff mentality.

Plus, I am not sure when the next time we are going to see a team of this caliber in Boston (who knows with the potential lockout next year), so, the pure entertainment value of a C's/Knicks series is much more enticing, because I think we need to enjoy every minute of these playoffs we can, and these teams always bring out the best in each other.

[Kane3387]

I see where you are coming from. Still Billups, Melo and Amare are a tougher matchup for Rondo, Pierce, and Kg in the first round then Holiday, Igoudala, and Brand. That's why I like us playing the sixers. None of the sixers players know how to succeed in the playoffs and the big three of the Knicks have.

[Kane3387]

NY.  

They don't play defense, their PG is horrible, but most importantly, playing them would get the Big 3 jacked to completely humiliate them, and frankly, I think this team needs to use the first round of the playoffs to get a rhythm going, and really get locked in to the playoff mentality.

Plus, I am not sure when the next time we are going to see a team of this caliber in Boston (who knows with the potential lockout next year), so, the pure entertainment value of a C's/Knicks series is much more enticing, because I think we need to enjoy every minute of these playoffs we can, and these teams always bring out the best in each other.

I agree with the entertainment factor and the motivation for our key players is interesting but I think if we see Miami in the second round we will be jacked for that series either way.

Billups is a very good PG too.

[chambers]

Either team is good for us.
Reason being they don't have dangerous big men. Amare is great, but we can control him quite easily with KG and JO. Even Baby can guard Amare and force him to shoot away from the rim.
2nd big reason is that we can rest Shaq longer until the time comes when we play either the Bulls and then Lakers/Spurs.
This run might be easier for our big men because we'll avoid the Magic and only come up against elite big men vs the Bulls.
(I don't consider Chris Bosh an elite big man- he's playing more of a forward/jumpshooter position in Miami).

So basically I'm not fussed who we play first round. We will murder whoever it is. NYK would be a fun series to watch though and I think it would be good for them to get the competitive juices going in front of a national audience. (alot more people would watch BOS vs NYK than a 76ers series.)
I think playing NYK would be better test for guarding key offensive players like Melo and Amare before playing Lebron and Wade.

[samantha28]

Please NYC!! Philly's too athletic and forces us to play their type of bball. Plus I hate 'Melo and would love to see PP beat him. I actually like the 76ers, and I think they are the kind of team that could pull off an upset.

[Chris]

NY.  

They don't play defense, their PG is horrible, but most importantly, playing them would get the Big 3 jacked to completely humiliate them, and frankly, I think this team needs to use the first round of the playoffs to get a rhythm going, and really get locked in to the playoff mentality.

Plus, I am not sure when the next time we are going to see a team of this caliber in Boston (who knows with the potential lockout next year), so, the pure entertainment value of a C's/Knicks series is much more enticing, because I think we need to enjoy every minute of these playoffs we can, and these teams always bring out the best in each other.

I agree with the entertainment factor and the motivation for our key players is interesting but I think if we see Miami in the second round we will be jacked for that series either way.

Billups is a very good PG too.

Oh yeah, they will absolutely be jacked for the Miami series.  I am talking about being in sync though.  I think they can still work on their timing, and overall chemistry to get on a real role, and I think to be rolling at full tilt at the beginning of the Miami series (and I think knocking down Miami early is key), it would be very beneficial to be hitting that extra gear in the first round as well.  

As for Billups, while he is still dangerous late in games, overall, I think he is now a below average PG, particularly in their system.  He just is not anywhere near the player he was a few years ago, and even when he was at his best, he was a terrible fit for D'Antoni ball.  

[Boris Badenov]

The Knicks seem destined for a meltdown, to me. Philly is the kind of scrappy underrated team that could play above their level in a first round series.

Billups is the only wild card. If he emerges as the mental leader of the team, the Knicks could play very well.

[CelticSooner]

I think the C's would beat either team in 5 or less. Philly is probably more dangerous but I have no doubts the C's will crank up the energy in two weeks.

[dtrader]

I'd definitely prefer to face NY.  Despite their superior talent, they're still just a group of individuals, while Philly is starting to really come together, with players sacrificing individual stats to win.

[Tai]

Gotta say NY, considering our size advantage over them in the paint. Green can matchup to Carmelo, too, if need be.

[JSD]

NY = A stress and anxiety free sweep.

Philly might actually win a game and keep another one close.

[ManUp]

Philly, I can see a serious Celtics team totally putting the clamps on their offense. New York has too much clutch star power not to squeeze a game or two. Both have a high probability of a sweep.

[jdpapa3]

Knicks...but Lou Williams going down indefinitely is making me waver on that opinion.

D'Antoniball in the playoffs isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Those old Suns were not far off from going to the Finals. I do see the potential for a few blowout wins in Boston to open up the series and take the wind out of their sails, though.