Inside the Paint

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Predictions for the 2004 Playoffs

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Wow, I'm glad I got the finals wrong! Phil didn't seem to have an answer for a Piston team that was younger, stronger, deeper, and hungrier than his Fakers. Great day for the sport! Final score: 10-5.

The Finals
Pistons (E-2) vs. Lakers (W-2): Unfortunately, both of my picks were correct last round, for a total of 10-4. Now it's the finals and we're stuck with Phil "I Invented the Game" Jackson vs. Larry "Backstabber" Brown. This will be hard to endure! While I'm rooting for somebody to stop the evil empire, my head tells me to pick:
Lakers in 6. WRONG ! ! ! ! !

Round 2 officially ended my chances, since I only went 1-3, for a total of 8-4. But I guess I have to play this through to a conclusion, so here is Round 3, the Conference Finals:

East
Pacers (1) vs. Pistons (2): We can only hope that Rick Carlisle can motivate the Pacers to get it done against the team that booted him out after he reached the conference finals last year. But I think the Pistons have the big, ugly defensive presence in the middle that will make it just as difficult for Jermaine O'Neal as it did for Kenyon Martin. Artest will help, but Indiana's guards don't look up to the task at hand.
Pistons in 6. Painfully correct!

West
Timberwolves (1) vs. Lakers (2): Last round, I violated one of my cardinal rules of playoff picking: Never pick against the Lakers (unless Shaq is really banged up). The Lakers are firing on all cylinders, having dispatched the Spurs in 4 straight games (after losing the first 2). Since the T-Wolves have the homecourt advantage and this year's MVP, I'll give them one game.
Lakers in 5. T-Wolves showed some heart.

Well I had a great first round, going 7-1, with only the Mavs letting me down. No upsets at all is definitely something of an upset itself. It's on to Round 2!

East
Pacers (1) vs. Heat (4): This is an easy one. The Heat have overachieved this year, and they have a nice young nucleus for the future. But the playoffs are about "now", and Indiana is primed for a big run this year with coach Carlisle and the boys.
Pacers in 5. Much harder than expected.

Nets (2) vs. Pistons (3): We've heard all the talk about Sheed and Larry Brown, blah blah blah. It's been unanimous among the so called experts that the Pistons will advance here. Am I missing something, or is New Jersey (the two-time Eastern Conference champs) getting no respect? Nets will show the Pistons the door.
Nets in 5. Painful loss ends my interest in the season.

West
Timberwolves (1) vs. Kings (4): At the end of the regular season, the T-Wolves were cruising and the Kings were imploding. Somehow, the boys in Sac Town have turned things around in the playoffs, convincingly knocking out the Mavs in Round 1. And the T-Wolves looked mighty shaky in some of the games against the upstart Nuggets. I'm calling for the Kings, who've been flying under the radar, to take care of business here.
Kings in 6. Foolish pick.

Lakers (2) vs. Spurs (3): The fab four in La La land have been a dysfunctional group all year.They had enough talent to get by the Rockets, but the Spurs are firing on all cylinders.
Spurs in 6. What was I thinking?

We're back for another exciting season of NBA playoff basketball!

Here are my picks for the first round:

East
Pacers (1) vs. Celtics (8): The Pacers have been the class of the East all year. All you need to know about the mess in Boston is that they activated Dana Barros for the playoffs.
Pacers in 4. Exactly!

Nets (2) vs. Knicks (7): The battle for the Hudson! The banged up Nets have been fairly inconsistent down the stretch, after they set a record in team sports with 14 consecutive wins for the new coach Lawrence Franks. But this is playoff time, boys! The Knicks HAVE NO SHOT ! ! !
Nets in 4. Exactly!

Pistons (3) vs. Bucks (6): The Pistons are everybody's darlings after getting Sheed at the trading deadline in a trade that would have been vetoed if the league had a commissioner with any backbone. Still, Detroit has too much for the Bucks, who are happy to be back in the playoffs.
Pistons in 5. Exactly!

Heat (4) vs. Hornets (5): The Heat have been on fire (I had to say that) since about the All-Star break, and New Orleans has been dreadful over the same stretch of games. There's practically a mutiny on the team against Tim Floyd. Two teams going in opposite directions don't usually go the other way once they meet in the playoffs.
Heat in 6. Okay, it went 7.

West
Timberwolves (1) vs. Nuggets (8): MVP Kevin Garnett finally has home court advantage against a team not the Lakers (like last year). With the help of playoff veterans Sprewell and Cassell, the T-Wolves will have their way with the young Nuggets.
Timberwolves in 5. Exactly!

Lakers (2) vs. Rockets (7): The Lakers are on a mission over the last month. The Rockets with Yao are the only team that has a chance to handle Shaq, but who matches up with Kobe? With the Glove? With the Mailman? Gonna be hard to stop. I'll give Van Gundy one game because he's a great coach.
Lakers in 5. Exactly!

Spurs (3) vs. Grizzlies (6): I would like to pick the Grizz here, but I won't. The Spurs have come together down the stretch with an eleven game winning streak heading into the playoffs. They're on a collision course with the Lakers in Round 2.
Spurs in 6. Much easier than I expected.

Kings (4) vs. Mavericks (5): About a month ago, I thought the Kings were the favorites to win it all. They had the league's best record, and Webber had yet to return from injury. Then Webber returned from injury and the team disintegrated. The Mavs have been playing excellent basketball over the last few weeks, and they're hungry.
Mavericks in 6. Ouch! Mark Cuban must get a "big".

— The Commissioner