2008 NBA Playoffs: 1st Round Prediction Results

Well...for those of you who read my 2008 NBA playoffs picks, they generally fell into 3 distinctly different categories: the ones I got entirely correct, the ones I got mostly correct, and the ones I got completely wrong. With that, let's have a little recap.

Predictions that were entirely correct:

East

#3 Orlando vs. #6 Toronto
Prediction: Orlando in 5
Result: Orlando in 5

Orlando took the first two games with ease, as expected. After those first two games, I thought perhaps that Orlando might sweep, but the Raptors came back in Toronto as expected with a good effort due to home court advantage. However, Orlando easily took the next two, as the combined strength of Dwight Howard and the Magic's 3-point shooting were too much for the streaky-shooting Raptors (despite a monster 39 point, 15 rebound game from Chris Bosh in game 4.).

West

#1 Los Angeles vs. #8 Denver
Prediction: LA in 4
Result: LA in 4

Many of ESPN's experts picked this one to be the Lakers in 5 or 6 games, but I knew better. The Lakers simply had too many offensive weapons, with both Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol having a monster series. Plus, the Lakers ability to play occasional defense made all the difference between them and high-scoring Nuggets. Of course, the Nuggets basically imploding in a couple games helped, but that was sort of expected given their team make-up and abundance of tattoos.

#4 Utah vs. #5 Houston
Prediction: Utah in 6
Result: Utah leads 3-2 as of 11:45, 05-02-08 (*Update*: Utah won pretty big, building a huge lead going into the 4th quarter. So Utah takes the series in6, as I predicted ;) ).

Game 6 is going as I'm typing this, but the Jazz are up by 16 now with less than 6 minutes to go in the first half, and they're at home, so I'll just assume they're going to win (sorry Houston). Now that I think about it, I really shouldn't have given the Rockets two wins, given my analysis of their only play (Tracy McGrady dribble/turnover). But, the return of Rafer Alston really helped T-Mac, and the Rockets were able to pull out two wins, one extremely impressive victory in Utah, and an enormous 95-69 beatdown in Game 5 when down 3-1. But, T-Mac is basically alone in this series, and him carrying them this far has been an amazing achievement. I feel bad for the guy, because he's infamous for going out in the first round of the playoffs, but most of the time it really hasn't been his fault. (UPDATE: wow, in the two minutes I've used to type this, the Rockets have managed to pull within 9, and T-Mac already has 24 points with 4 minutes to go in the 1st half! I may have to change this prediction later...)

Predictions that were mostly correct:

East

#2 Detroit vs. #7 Philadelphia
Prediction: Detroit in 5
Result: Detroit in 6

I expected Philadelphia to have at least one solid game on their home floor, but I didn't expect them to take the first game in Detroit, at all. But, the Pistons finally came alive after Game 3, and took it to the 76ers with 2 impressive wins, one in Philadelphia, the other at home winning by 17. Detroit was simply too good for the overachieving 76ers. Sorry Philly, better luck next year...

West

#2 New Orleans vs. #7 Dallas
Prediction: New Orleans in 6
Result: New Orleans in 5

I'm quite proud of this one, mostly because many of ESPN's "experts" picked Dallas to win, most attributing it to their "playoff experience." But, all the smart analysts (aka those that don't appear on TV), actually know enough about basketball to realize that playoff experience is a joke when matching up against a quicker, smarter, better coached, more efficient basketball team. And as I predicted, Chris Paul made Jason Kidd look like a retiree, averaging 24 points, 12 assists, and 2 steals a game, including a monster 32 point, 17 assist Game 2 and a triple-double in the decisive Game 5.

Predictions that I got completely wrong:

East

#1 Boston vs. #8 Atlanta
Prediction: Boston in 4
Result: Tied 3-3 as of 05-02-08

I completely did not see this coming. Atlanta has played with so much heart, and Al Horford, Joe Johnson, and Josh Smith have all been amazing for the Hawks in this series. Plus, Boston has played with a lot less intensity than I expected, and this causes me to seriously doubt their potential to win the championship this year (or even beat Cleveland in the 2nd round). I predict that Boston will win Game 7, simply because of their home court advantage, where they've pretty much taken it to the Hawks at home. But still, great series from Atlanta. Their future looks very bright indeed.

#4 Cleveland vs. #5 Washington
Prediction: Washington in 6
Result: Cleveland in 6

I bet against Lebron James, and I paid the price. Washington didn't show half the toughness or defensive intensity that I expected out of them, and they allowed James to basically beat the crap out of them all by himself. Plus, the return of Gilbert Arenas seemed to hurt a lot of players chemistry, especially Caron Butler, who had a couple good games, but also a couple of real stinkers. Antawn Jamison was also extremely quiet in this series, not being nearly as dominating as he needed to be for the Wizards to win.

West

#3 San Antonio vs. #6 Phoenix
Prediction: Phoenix in 6
Result: San Antonio in 5

Man, the Spurs are such a-holes. They lie in wait, biding their time until the playoffs, then they just magically turn it on. It's almost as if the regular season is just their stretching and warm-ups, and the playoffs are the actual game. Game 1 was amazing, with the game going to double OT on threes by Michael Finley, and of all people, Tim Duncan. After that, it was all down-hill for the Suns, who couldn't hold a lead nor keep a rhythm. Some blame this on Hack-a-Shaq, used by Greg Popovich (coach of the Spurs) to discombobulate Phoenix's highly rhythm oriented offense. But man, I can't believe the Spurs are this good despite being so old. Maybe it's the return of Robert Horry? ;)

...

I'll save my revised second round picks for tomorrow, just because I'm tired and need some time to think about my predictions before actually explaining them :P.