D'oh! 2nd round, not so good, hope springs eternal though, I'm going to bat 1.000 on which teams advance, and in how many games, I'll even pick which games are won and lost by each team, just to get tricky.
But first, the 2nd round results:
Eastern Conference Semis
Pick, Boston in 5, Result Boston in 7
Who knew Boston is completely incapable of winning on the road. Thought the tribulations in Atlanta would have cured them of that fault, but no. At least I picked the right team.
Pick, Orlando in 5, Result Detroit in 5
Got the number of games right, that has to count for something. Orlando had a chance, if they had won game 2 in Detroit (and they should have), this series would have turned out completely differently. The Dwight Howard show isn't quite ready for primetime, and Detroit advances to their sixth consecutive Conference Finals.
Western Conference Semis
Pick, LA in 4, Result LA in 6
It took LA till the third try to win in Utah, though they had a real chance to win the first two (and if Kobe hadn't tweaked his back, probably would have at least finished this series in 5 games, instead of 6). LA looks like the best team in basketball right now, and I'm not saying that just cause I'm a homer.
Pick, San Antonio in 6, Result San Antonio in 7
It was a good series, as predicted, San Antonio were their usual boring selves, and managed to win all their home games and outplayed a young Hornets squad that wasn't ready for the pressure of a game seven at home.
On to the Conference Final picks:
Eastern Conference Finals (1) Boston v (2) Detroit
The two teams with the best record in basketball face off in this series. Haven't seen too many basketball experts call these the two teams playing the best lately, but they both made it here. Detroit got a ton of rest, while Boston had to hold off a hard charging LeBron to cling to their championship hopes. Here's how this series is going to play out;
Game 1) Detroit is rested, not rusted, Boston is weary from a tough 2nd round series and come out flat in this game, and trail by more than 20 points at halftime. They climb back late, but never fully recover and lose their first home game in the playoffs. Detroit leads series 1-0
Game 2) Boston bounces back, blows out Detroit at home. Series tied 1-1
Game 3) Boston has their first solid road game of the playoffs and shocks a lackadaisical Pistons squad in Detroit. Boston leads series 2-1
Game 4) After building the confidence to win on the road, they do it once again, though it takes OT to do it. Boston leads series 3-1
Game 5) Detroit, facing elimination, play their best game of the season and keep the Boston fans from being able to celebrate a return to the Finals. Boston leads series 3-2
Game 6) Detroit, back home, feeling good, roll to an easy victory. Series tied 3-3
Game 7) After losing 2 games at home against the Pistons, the home crowd is nervous, and tentative, as are the Celtics. Low scoring throughout, both teams shoot less than 40% from the field, and less than 80% from the free throw line. Detroit's experience in the playoffs is the deciding factor, and they bounce back from a 3-1 deficit to win a game seven in Boston. Series Detroit 4-3
Western Conference Finals (1) Los Angeles (2) San Antonio
The two teams with the best record in the West face off, it's their sixth meeting in the playoffs since the strike shortened 98-99 season (the first year San Antonio won it all). Only Kobe, Fisher, and Duncan were around for that series where the Lakers were swept in the semis, and Rambis was demoted to Assistant Coach and Phil Jackson was brought in as head coach. Since then, no other Western Conference team has won a title, and only Dallas has appeared in the Finals. In other words, there's some history here.
Game 1) LA Lakers, rested, ready, they roll. LA leads 1-0
Game 2) LA Lakers, tested, testy, they triumph. LA leads 2-0
Game 3) San Antonio at home, pull out all the tricks, win a close one. LA leads 2-1
Game 4) Kobe goes insane scores 50, but the team only scores 95, they still win by 2. LA leads 3-1
Game 5) LA Lakers, control this game from start to finish, San Antonio luck suddenly very, very old, and the Lakers look very young, and very good. LA Lakers take series 4-1
There, that should be specific enough to make the wrongness of how wrong I end up being very humiliating.
No comments:
Post a Comment