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Printer-Friendly ModeEditors give their NBA Playoffs predictions
April 23, 2007 —
Alex Baumgardner: The NBA's second season always has some compelling matchups, and this year's has proven no different.
As usual, the field in the East looks weak. The Pistons and the Heat are the only two battle-tested teams in a crop of young up-starts. Most interesting about this scenario is that if the Pistons and Heat win their respective first round series (which I expect they will) they'll have to play each other in the second round. Expect the winner to march to the Finals.
The West is bottlenecked with talent, making it much harder to call. There are three top teams that are legitimate title contenders (Mavericks, Suns, and Spurs) with a few teams who could score an upset if not taken seriously. Of that latter category, the Rockets and the Jazz stand out the most, but they will beat up on each other in the first round, leaving only one tired team left to face the winner of the Mavericks-Warriors series - which in itself in an interesting matchup, because although the Mavs sport the league's best regular season record, the Warriors swept the season series 3-0. However, the Mavs are hungry to get back to the Finals, so I expect them to take out the Warriors early and inevitably make it past the Suns in the Western Conference Finals in a tough seven-game series.
In the end, I expect the Pistons and the Mavs to square off in the Finals, with the Pistons pushing the series to six games before losing out to the Mavs.
Andy Hoag: It's pretty safe to say that the winner of this year's NBA Playoffs is going to come from the Western Conference. You look at that bracket, and there are six teams - definitely three - that could conceivably make the Finals and, more importantly, have a relatively easy time beating whoever the East puts up.
That said, just like my compadre to the left, I see the winner of the Pistons and Heat series in the second round making it to the Finals. That series, like the other three second round matchups, should go seven games. I see the Heat winning that series, along with the Raptors beating the Cavs, the Mavs over the Rockets, and the Suns (barely) over the Spurs.
The Eastern Conference Finals should be an easy matchup for the Heat (or the Pistons if they were to make it), but the Suns and Mavs series will be one of the best ever. The Suns hold a 12-11 edge over Dallas the last two years, so the series figures to be a long one. The Suns have been one of the best road teams the last three years, and I don't see that trend stopping at the hands of the Mavs.
In the Finals, the Heat simply don't match up well with the Suns. I don't see the tough battles with the Spurs and Mavs being a problem for the Suns, because all of the Heat's rotation players, with the exception of Jason Williams, Dwyane Wade, and Udonis Haslem, are too slow and old to run with Phoenix. Steve Nash will finally get the MVP he really covets: Finals MVP. Suns in 5.