NBA Playoffs 2012: 3 Teams That Will Sweep 1st-Round Opponents
The 2012 NBA Playoffs have begun and drama has already highlighted the playoffs.
The top-seeded Chicago Bulls have officially seen their championship hopes go down the drain after one game. Reigning MVP Derrick Rose tore his ACL in the fourth quarter of Game 1 and will miss the remainder of the season.
Chicago has a deep team and did surprisingly well in the regular season when Rose missed time, but these are the playoffs, and winning a championship without your star player is nearly impossible.
To add to the drama, Kevin Durant hit a game-winning jumper with 1.5 seconds left to beat the reigning champion Dallas Mavericks in Game 1.
The Mavericks may have came close to the Thunder in Game 1, but last year's champs will be swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in Round 1.
The young Thunder are simply too good for the old Mavericks. Oklahoma City can be unstoppable in the open court with Russell Westbrook pushing the ball down the court and finding Durant or James Harden on the wings.
If Harden stays healthy, he can be a major factor in the Thunder's playoff run. Harden can shoot from anywhere on the floor and takes the pressure off of Durant and Westbrook.
The Mavericks simply are not the same team that won a championship in 2011. Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea, DeShawn Stevenson and Caron Butler definitely were missed in 2012. Chandler's defensive presence will greatly be missed against the scary Thunder offense.
Dallas better hope that Dirk Nowitzki can be an absolute stud, or else the team is in serious trouble of getting swept.
The other team in the West that will sweep their opponent is the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs have turned back time this year, and have been a great story in the NBA. Everybody on their team got older but there is no showing of age as the Spurs were the best team in the West in 2012.
Tony Parker played like an MVP by averaging 18.3 points per game to go along with 7.7 assists per game. Parker manned the floor with ease in his best season of his career.
The resurrection of Tim Duncan showed that he has enough left in the tank to win another championship. The big man averaged 15.4 points, nine rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
San Antonio can shoot, rebound and play stellar defense. Utah will be lucky to come close in any game, and Round 1 will end in a sweep.
The only sweep in the East will be Miami sweeping New York.
Game 1 was a nightmare for New York, and any Knicks fan had to be in disbelief. Miami pounded New York 100-67 and dominated them in every way possible.
To add insult to injury, no pun intended, the Knicks lost Iman Shumpert to a torn ACL, and he will miss the remainder of the season. The rookie guard added speed, scoring and defense to the Knicks, and he will be greatly missed.
Even "Linsanity" can't fix the Knicks right now. The team had an up-and-down season, and now find themselves way down when playing the Heat in the playoffs.
There may be no way of stopping LeBron James. After having an unreal season by averaging 27.1 points, 6.2 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game, "The King" was unstoppable in Game 1.
Hopefully the Knicks are not completely embarrassed in every game of the series, but Miami will be too much for New York as they will get swept.
These three teams have great chances of reaching the finals, and their road will begin with sweeping their opponent in Round 1.
