39 replies to this topic

[RocketMan]

I'm a game late but....

 

Spurs in 6

Griz in 6

Rockets in 5

Warriors in 4

 

Cavs in 4

Raptors in 6

Bulls in 5

Hawks in 4

 

West Finals: Rockets vs Warriors

East Finals: Bulls and Cavs

[redfaithful]

East Finals: Bulls and Cavs

 

They meet in the 2nd round...

[RocketMan]

They meet in the 2nd round...

Thanks, just looked at a bracket... Cavs @ Hawks is a harder decision. I might go with Atlanta in that matchup.

[Sir Thursday]

Thought I'd have a quick check on my predictions so far:

- Monta Ellis will have a 35 point game at some point in the playoffs. [CLOSE! He had 34 in Game 3]

- One of the bottom four seeds in the Eastern Conference will win their first round series. [CORRECT - Washington does the deed]

- Memphis vs Portland will go to Game 7. [Looking unlikely at this point]

- Golden State will win at least 1 game by 15 points in every series they play. [INCORRECT - best victory was by 11 in game 4]

- Someone who wasn't in the Three Point Shooting contest at the All-Star game will lead the playoffs in 3pt% (minimum 25 attempts). [Current leader is Mike Dunleavy, with 52.0%]

- Anthony Davis will finish in the top three players in first round PER. [On track - he's currently #2 behind Kawhi Leonard]

 

ST

- At least one of Golden State, San Antonio, Atlanta and Cleveland will not make the conference finals. [Atlanta not looking great, San Antonio in a scrap...]

- Dwight Howard averages under 30 minutes in the first round (I think he's going to be in foul trouble a lot in subsequent games).[Looks likely I'm going to be wrong - he's at 31.3mpg at the moment]

- LaMarcus Aldridge will average the most points per game of anyone in the first round. [He's 10ppg behind Curry...doesn't look good]

- At some point in the postseason Isaiah Thomas will register a blocked shot. <---Outlandish! (He had 5 blocks on the year). [INCORRECT]

- The total number of regular season wins by the teams that lose in the first round in the west will be greater than the total number of wins by the teams that won in the East. [This will only happen if Brooklyn beat Atlanta]

 

ST

 

So a mixed bag. How's everyone else doing?

 

ST

[thejohnnygold]

I like it.  Let's see....

 

Golden State will lose 1 game to New Orleans.  (Close....so very, very close)

 

The Warriors will not win the Western Conference.  (Still waiting...)

 

Dwight Howard has been playing possum and is going to average 20 & 15 in the first round.  (Possum?  Yes.  20 & 15?  No, but he is averaging 16.3 & 12.5 in 31.3 mpg.  His per36 numbers are 18.7 & 14.4 which is close, but doesn't count.)

 

Josh Smith will hit a three pointer that seals a win for us. (Not yet...)

 

Clint Capela will play 15 mpg and post a positive +/-.  (Nope.  So far he is averaging 9.3 mpg with a net +/- of -11.  I had hope after game 1 when he played 16 minutes....oh well.  His potential is on full display though.  His per36 numbers are 23 & 11 with 4 blocks plus a PER of 26.3!)

 

West playoffs: GS beats NO, HOU beats DAL, SAS beats LAC, POR beats MEM.  2nd round, HOU beats SAS, GS beats POR.  3rd round, HOU beats GS.

 

(I tried to tell myself to change that Portland pick, but refused to listen....still waiting on SA and HOU)

 

East playoffs: ATL beats BRK, CLE beats BOS, CHI beats MIL, WAS beats TOR.  2nd round, ATL beats WAS, CLE beats CHI.  3rd round, ATL beats CLE.

 

(So far so good here...Cleveland beating Chicago just got a lot tougher)

 

FInals: HOU beats ATL 4-2    

[bernardo]

-At least there will be 2 sweeps in the first round.

-Houston will hold dallas to under 96 PPG through the series.

-Clippers don't win more than one game.

-Chicago x Milwaukee will be the series with the least amount of points (addition of PPG of the 2 teams is the criteria)

-Mark Cuban cries after a first round defeat to his "beloved" houston rockets (not sure if this one is verifiable )

 

-Done

-lol

-Wrong

-On track, right now it's the series with the lowest total

-I'm counting on this one to be correct. The media have to help me out on this one.

[jorgeaam]

Most of my predictions are ahead in the run, but the ones defined already were:

 

Let's see: 

 

Golden State will drop at least 2 games to the Pelicans, powered by Anthony Davis scoring 30+ PPG, 10+ RPG and 2+ BPG [One half of this was correct, Davis is a beast]

 

Rockets will sweep Dallas and make it all the way to the finals [Half of this prediction is pending, the other half was 1 game shy of being correct]

 

Atlanta will sweep it's first two series [Probably the one I didn't expect to be broken up so early]

 

 

 

I might make new ones when the matchups are defined for next round, though my crystal ball seems to be broken.

[RocketMan]

Did NOT see the Hawks having this much trouble with the Nets. No way in hell, especially considering how awful the Nets were at the end of the season.

[Jatman20]

I checked out for the playoffs because I'm too passionate when it comes to the Rockets.....don't want to regret pressing "Send", or in this case, "Post", while emotional. I did return and noticed this thread. Reason I come to these forums is to play GM/and or coach.

1) GSW vs Grizz.....Warriors in 4 (each by 10+ points). Easier matchup than the Pelicans due to Grizz inability to go small. Asik was -36 for the playoff series vs GSW, while Ryan Anderson was +10 and Cunningham was +8 for the series. Marc Gasol was -55 vs GSW during the 3 season games and Z-Bo was -48 in the 3 season games vs GSW. Even with a healthy Connely they will lose.

2) Spurs vs Rockets.....tough one for me. I don't like the Spurs. Series of the decade would be a healthy (Beverley/DMo)Houston vs a healthy SA.
Parker has averaged about 6 points per game thru the first four because of heel cord trouble. Danny Green will defend Harden until crunch time....then Leonard will guard him. Easy points inside the paint will be reduced by Spurs. Leonard shot over Ariza pretty easily from 10 feet in the final games of the season. D12 was in limited minutes in the final games vs the Spurs of the season.....but I believe D12/Rockets had a good +/- in those games while Howard was on the court. D12 on Duncan and TJ will need to keep Splitter off the boards. Two seasons ago the Rockets swept the Spurs for the season series 4-0. TJ played well vs Duncan......again that was season.
Spurs 3 point shooters were like 36% from 3 point-land during this entire season while Houston was about 34% for the season. Home court to Houston which means more games for our role players to be comfortable hitting their 3's. Houston in 7....I'm slightly biased. Hack-a-player will back fire in at least three games.

3). Bucks win series vs the Bulls. Currently 3-2 with Bulls leading.

4) Cleveland wins vs Bucks even with Love out and JR a Smith suspended for first two games.....due to LeBron playing the 4 the rest of the playoffs.

5) Beverley comes back to play vs the Warriors in game 3......if Houston plays small lineup from game one. Rockets in 6 (Papa will need to be a factor). Other-wise Warriors in 5. Spurs and Rockets are the only teams in the West that can stop GSW.....because they can go small and still play defense.

6). Rockets or Warriors beat Cavs in 5 or 6 games.

Edited by Jatman20, 30 April 2015 - 04:22 PM.

[Jatman20]

You can round up Rockets season 3 point % to 35% and the Spurs slightly over 36%. Spurs were about 36.7% prior to that last game of season going 3/10 from 3

Edited by Jatman20, 30 April 2015 - 04:35 PM.

[cointurtlemoose]

Did NOT see the Hawks having this much trouble with the Nets. No way in hell, especially considering how awful the Nets were at the end of the season.

 

Yeah it's weird. They'll go full Hawks mode for a couple minutes, then drop into a lull for the rest of the quarter. Part of me wonders how much of it is nagging injuries with their top three guys, as I think I've heard that Millsap, Horford, and maybe even Teague aren't 100% physically

[Jatman20]

Yes I left off the Hawks/Nets and Washington. Nets have exposed Lopez defensively in high PnR with Horford. Nets close out in game 6.

Hawks vs Wiz......Millsap has had problems against the PF's or defense of the Nets (may have been solved by pulling Lopez away from basket).
....................Wiz went small vs Raptors by using Paul Pierce at the 4, creating more room for wall to shine. Hawks in 6.

Cavs vs Hawks.....Cavs in 5 after beating Bucks (Round 2)

Edited by Jatman20, 30 April 2015 - 06:17 PM.

[Jatman20]

Bulls woke up....bombed on that one. Bulls beat the Cavs, as Gasol proves to tall for LeBron and T. Thompson at PF. Bulls beat the Hawks for same reason.

Warriors or Rockets beat the Bulls in 7 games.

[majik19]

West Playoffs: 

Golden State

Memphis                     Golden State

                                                                    Golden State

Houston                      Houston

San Antonio

                                                                                              Golden State

East Playoffs

Atlanta

Washington                   Atlanta

                                                                    Cleveland

Cleveland                      Cleveland

Chicago

 

7 Game First Round Series: Bucks & Bulls, Portland and Memphis

 

Finals MVP: Stephen Curry

 

Best Player in the 1st Round: Kawhi Leonard, who averages 20+ pts per game and plays lockdown defense in the crucial moments of the 4th quarter against Chris Paul (as well as stellar defense the rest of the games). 

 

Star that Struggles in the 1st Round: Anthony Davis. The Warriors are going to throw a variety of looks at him (Bogut, Green, Iguodala even) and focus on stopping him. The Pelicans will pull off at least 1 game (in New Orleans), but it will be because someone else on the Pellies steps up. Davis may still score 20+ a game, but he will finish with a sub-20 PER. 

 

Player that People will Finally Realize is a top-10 player in the league: Al Horford, who will average 20+-10+ throughout the playoffs. 

 

Most Exciting 1st Round Series: Spurs & Clippers

 

Least Exciting 1st Round Series: Hawks & Nets

 

Whelp, I was wrong on everything except my picks. 

[RocketMan]

You weren't wrong about most exciting series. That Spurs and Clips series is ridonkulous.

[jorgeaam]

Let's see: 

 

 

 

The Spurs will lose to the Clips, showing the world they are human too.

 

 

 

 

 

CALLED IT 

[blakecouey]

-Washington will beat Toronto in the 1st round;

-Houston in 5 in the 1st round;

-Brooklyn will not cover the spread in any of their games against Atlanta; -WRONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

-Clippers will overtake the Spurs in the 1st round, winning AT LEAST one in San Antonio;

-There will be a player that tears their ACL; ---CROWDER WAS JUST A SPRAIN, RIGHT?

-Memphis/Portland will have 2+ OT games; -WRONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

-The Finals will go 7 games, the series underdog will be victorious;

-STOLE THIS ONE FROM STEVEN...BECAUSE IT IS BOUND TO HAPPEN, Cleveland/Chicago will have a brawl in the 4th quarter of game 7.

[thejohnnygold]

 

I like it.  Let's see....

 

Golden State will lose 1 game to New Orleans.  (Close....so very, very close)

 

The Warriors will not win the Western Conference.  (Still waiting...)

 

Dwight Howard has been playing possum and is going to average 20 & 15 in the first round.  (Possum?  Yes.  20 & 15?  No, but he is averaging 16.3 & 12.5 in 31.3 mpg.  His per36 numbers are 18.7 & 14.4 which is close, but doesn't count.)

 

Josh Smith will hit a three pointer that seals a win for us. (Not yet...)

 

Clint Capela will play 15 mpg and post a positive +/-.  (Nope.  So far he is averaging 9.3 mpg with a net +/- of -11.  I had hope after game 1 when he played 16 minutes....oh well.  His potential is on full display though.  His per36 numbers are 23 & 11 with 4 blocks plus a PER of 26.3!)

 

West playoffs: GS beats NO, HOU beats DAL, SAS beats LAC, POR beats MEM.  2nd round, HOU beats SAS, GS beats POR.  3rd round, HOU beats GS.

 

(I tried to tell myself to change that Portland pick, but refused to listen....still waiting on SA and HOU)

 

East playoffs: ATL beats BRK, CLE beats BOS, CHI beats MIL, WAS beats TOR.  2nd round, ATL beats WAS, CLE beats CHI.  3rd round, ATL beats CLE.

 

(So far so good here...Cleveland beating Chicago just got a lot tougher)

 

FInals: HOU beats ATL 4-2    

 

 

So, do I get credit for that Josh Smith 3 last night?......I'm gonna take it 

[jorgeaam]

Let's see: 

 

Memphis will Grit & Grind it's way to the Western Conference Finals        (Nope)

 

Lebron and the Cavs will lose against the Bulls in the semis, with D Rose scoring 25+ PPG and being clutch when needed. (Got the matchup right, the result wrong and D Rose scored 22PPG and did hit that game winning bank shot, so it was ok)

 

Rockets will end up falling just short against Atlanta, falling in 6 games.             (This one is still alive)

 

Conclusion: Good thing I didn't go to Vegas with this ones

[RocketMan]

Looks like I'm doing ok on the big picture. Picked Rockets vs Warriors and Cavs vs Atl (Had original bracket wrong w/ Bulls vs Cavs in ECF). 

Let's hope my winners prediction is wrong. I picked Warriors and Hawks to advance (2 best records in the league). I am thinking that I want the Cavs to win only because that would give home-court to the west.