2011 NBA Playoff Predictions: Projecting Winners for Each First Round Series
It only took all 82 regular season games and an overtime in Sacramento to finally set the 2011 NBA Playoff matchups. With that in mind, we're going to take a look at all 8 playoff matchups and predict the winner in each one, along with the number of games. We feel pretty confident in six of the eight matchups, but are completely torn on what we consider to be the top two matchups of the first round, and both involve the mighty West. Let's take a look...
Eastern Conference: No. 1 Seed Chicago Bulls vs No. 8 Seed Indiana Pacers
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The Chicago Bulls finished the NBA's regular season with the best overall record in the league at 62-20. On the other end of the spectrum, the Pacers enter the playoffs as the team with by far the worst record of any playoff team at 37-45. Predictions anyone?
I do have to point out one bright spot for the Pacers, in their most recent matchup on March 18th at Conseco Fieldhouse, the Pacers actually beat the Bulls 115-108. So what does that mean for Pacers fans? Absolutely nothing. Look for Danny Granger to score plenty of points (and take plenty of shots) in this one, but Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah will prove to be way too much for this young Pacers team.
Prediction: Bulls in 4
Eastern Conference: No. 2 Seed Miami Heat vs No. 7 Seed Philadelphia 76ers
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The Heat swept the season series from Philadelphia in 3 games, but don't let that fool you, this extremely young 76ers team has been gradually improving under head coach of the year candidate Doug Collins, and will be playing with a "we have nothing to lose" attitude in this series. Sometimes being a really young team can be a good thing because the players simply don't realize the enormity of the situation they are in.
The Heat beat Philadelphia by an average of 10 points per game and expect this playoff series to be a bit closer as a result of less possessions, but also expect a similar outcome.
The 76ers have some nice pieces in Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holiday, Louis Williams, Thaddeus Young, and Jodie Meeks. All 5 average in double figures, resulting in one of the most balanced scoring attacks in the NBA. With that said, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade are two of the five best players in the world.
Prediction: Heat in 4
Eastern Conference: No. 3 Seed Boston Celtics vs No. 6 Seed New York Knicks
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Upset alert? Possibly...the Knicks definitely have the offensive firepower with their own "Big Three" in Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Chauncey Billups. Unfortunately, in the playoffs, the possessions are limited and it usually comes down to defense and rebounding.
With that in mind, the Celtics swept the Knicks this season, four games to zero and I would expect a similar result in the playoffs, as the Celtics are a veteran group that will undoubtedly turn it up for the postseason. They were the 4 seed in the East last year and still came within a few minutes of winning the title. Once again Doc Rivers used the same strategy by resting his starters down the stretch in order to have them peaking at the right time.
I expect the Knicks to get at least one game in this one, but in the end, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jeff Green will prove to be too much for the Knicks to handle.
Prediction: Boston in 5
Eastern Conference: No. 4 Seed Orlando Magic vs No. 5 Seed Atlanta Hawks
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Now this is kind of a tricky one, the Hawks won three out of four from the Magic in the regular season, but Orlando still finished 8 games ahead of Atlanta in the standings. Personally, I like this Orlando team a lot, I love the strategy of surrounding the best big man in the world in Dwight Howard with deadly shooters such as Jammer Nelson, Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu, J.J. Reddick, and Gilbert Arenas. Orlando also has some depth inside with Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson.
The Hawks have a very balanced offensive attack led once again by Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, and Al Horford. They also can bring proven scorers Jamal Crawford and Marvin Williams off the bench. Add in their newly acquired point guard Kirk Hinrich and backup guard Jeff Teague and you can see why this team has so much potential.
With that in mind, the Hawks lost their last six games of the season and finished nine games off of last year's pace which is why I like Orlando to prevail in this one.
Prediction: Orlando in 6
Western Conference: No. 1 Seed San Antonio Spurs vs No. 8 Seed Memphis Grizzlies
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Boy, if the Grizzlies had Rudy Gay, I MIGHT pick the upset here...however, they are without their best player and the Spurs are too good to lose in the first round. With that said, this will be MUCH closer than people think, especially when you consider Manu Ginobili's pending MRI results on his right elbow.
The Spurs are not very deep inside, and Tim Duncan is not the Tim Duncan of old. Meanwhile, Zach Randolph is an absolute beast and should be an All-Star every year. He is one of four players in the league to average at least 20 points and 12 rebounds per game, the other three are Kevin Love, Dwight Howard, and Blake Griffin.
The Grizzlies also have a physical center in Marc Gasol who matches up very well with Duncan, a solid point guard in Conley who can reasonably hang with Tony Parker, and a decent shooting guard in O.J. Mayo who is nowhere near the caliber of player as Ginobili, but has picked up his play as of late. The Grizzlies desperately miss Rudy Gay in this series but they have the firepower to keep it close.
Prediction: Spurs in 6
Western Conference: No. 2 Seed Los Angeles Lakers vs No. 7 Seed New Orleans Hornets
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This one is just not fair, especially with the Hornets not having the services of David West, their leading scorer and second leading rebounder. As good as Chris Paul is, he can't do it all himself and the Lakers easily swept the Hornets in the season series four games to none.
The Lakers have a borderline ridiculous advantage inside with Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom, and although Trevor Ariza will do an admirable job on Kobe Bryant, he simply won't have any energy left to find his offense, giving the Lakers a huge advantage in this one on one matchup.
This one will be over quick folks...
Prediction: Lakers in 4
Western Conference: No. 3 Seed Dallas Mavericks vs No. 6 Seed Portland Trail Blazers
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And this is where it gets tough folks, these last two matchups in the West are DEAD even. The Mavericks won nine more games than the Trail Blazers in the regular season, thus, they are rewarded with home court advantage. However, the teams split the season series two games to two, and Portland won the last two games, both with the newly acquired Gerald Wallace, easily the best trade of the season for any team in the NBA.
We have lots of stars in this one, it's Dirk, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, and Jason Kidd with J.J. Barea, Peja Stojakovic, Rodrigue Beaubois, DeShawn Stevenson, Corey Brewer, and Brendan Haywood coming off the bench to form arguably the deepest team in the league.
Meanwhile, we have one of the rising stars in the NBA in LaMarcus Aldridge to go along with Wesley Matthews, Wallace, Andre Miller, Nicolas Batum, and the oft-injured former superstar, Brandon Roy. I think Roy is the X-factor in this one, if he shows up, the Blazers can pull the upset...
Prediction: Mavericks in 7
Western Conference: No. 4 Seed Oklahoma City Thunder vs No. 5 Seed Denver Nuggets
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Buckle up, because this is going to be a wild ride! The NBA's leading scoring team, the Denver Nuggets vs the 5th leading scoring team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's Durant and Westbrook vs the New York Knicks of the West...Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, and Al Harrington have joined forces with Nene Hilario, Arron Afflalo, J.R. Smith, Ty Lawson, and Kenyon Martin.
With all of those weapons, it should come as a surprise to no one that the Nuggets are quite simply, a better basketball team without Carmelo Anthony. It's much more difficult for opposing teams to guard five guys instead of one.
In my opinion, this will be the most exciting matchup in the first round of the playoffs and I think NBA fans around the world will be treated to the maximum number of games.
Prediction: Oklahoma City in 7
