It's that time of year again, the time of year we all sit down and listen to Kanye West sing "Amazing" over a highlight reel of NBA playoff contenders. In a matter of 12 hours, sixteen playoff teams will take the stage to begin the quest for NBA supremacy. This year's bracket was a lot tougher to analyze compared to last year. Think of it, the first round alone is hard over at the Western Conference. You can see the Spurs and the Mavericks squaring off in Texas, the Nuggets and the Jazz at the fourth and fifth seeds, while the Suns take on the red hot Trailblazers. If you aren't very well versed with the statistics and probabilities between these teams, you could very well find all your picks to be eliminated in the first round. I hope you have all locked in your brackets but if you haven't it's not too late, you have about 12 hours left. First you can take a look at mine, so go ahead study it as much as you want then we will discuss the analysis in the paragraph below it.
West
1. Lakers-4
Lakers-4
8. Thunder-1Lakers-4
4. Nuggets-4 Nuggets-2
5. Jazz-33. Suns-4
Suns-2
6. Trailblazers-1Mavericks-3
2. Mavericks-4 Mavericks-4
7. Spurs-2East
1. Cavaliers-4
Cavaliers-3
8. Bulls-2Celtics-3
4. Celtics-4Celtics-4
5. Heat-2Hawks-2
6. Bucks-1Magic-4
2. Magic-4Magic-4
7. Bobcats-1Finals
Lakers-4 2-Magic
-NBA Champions-
Los Angeles Lakers
Lakers-4 2-Magic
-NBA Champions-
Los Angeles Lakers
Western breakdown: In filling out this bracket I took into consideration the injuries, fatigue and vulnerability of the teams. Unlike last year, it was tougher to push the Lakers past the conference finals, I understand that they will likely extinguish the Thunder and Nuggets easily, but analysts are split when it comes to the potential Mavericks and Lakers series that may take place in the third round. Take a look at it closely, the Mavericks will be in deep trouble in the first round against the Spurs to begin with, if that's not enough you have Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire who are ready to give them a run for their money. The Lakers on the other side of the bracket just need to withstand a run and gun offense from Oklahoma and focus on taking out Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony, which I doubt will be a problem considering Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant are going to be leading the front court defense. All they need to do now is make sure to neutralize J.R. Smith's shooting from three-point range, and I hope Shannon Brown can step up to that call. With the Lakers and Mavericks going head to head, I am sure it will be a tough series, it might go seven games but I am confident that Mark Cuban won't be able to take any of that championship cash from Jerry Buss. Lakers in the West for the third year in a row.
Eastern breakdown: The Eastern conference was divided into two parts, the easy calls and the difficult calls. The first round was entirely common sense, no person in his/her right mind would say that the Bobcats, Bucks or Bulls would advance into the second round of a seven game series playoff format. The Heat and Celtics are the closest to a tough first round match-up, but I seriously doubt Dwyane Wade can withstand Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce all at once, that's already after inferring that Jermaine O'neal will play up to Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins and Rasheed Wallace, six-on-one much? Anyway as much as I personally favor the Atlanta Hawks, they may not survive a healthy Orlando Magic unit. Really, you have Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, Al Horford and all these balanced guys, but they have some freak called Dwight Howard on their team, he's freaking superman! If only they had some Kryptonite on their team. The next prediction will be the most contested among readers, I advanced the Boston Celtics over Lebron and the Cavaliers in a seven game series. Look, I know very well the statistics favor Lebron James, I mean, the Cavaliers to win. All that is actually a given, they're the number one seed for goodness sake. The reason why I have them going home in the second round is because of an old saying, "Basketball is a team sport." that certainly does not apply to the Cavs compared to the Celtics. The Cavaliers aren't a team, they're Lebron's personal puppets.They should just change the franchise's name to "Cleveland Lebrons" to get it over with, who are we kidding? The Celtics just need to push past their fatigue from the Miami series though, if that starts coming well into play, those green colored bastards will be having some problems taking the crown off a certain self-proclaimed king. On to the last chapter of the East, both of the best Eastern team based units will be playing according to my analysis. Most of you might say that the Celtics and the Magic are pretty evenly matched, but keep in mind the fatigue factor. The Magic will just need to pass the Bobcats and the Hawks while Boston already took on Miami and Cleveland. If that's not enough to convince you, keep in mind that the "Boston Three Party" have all showed signs of slowing down, maybe it's not that visible on Paul Pierce, but Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are two steps slower than they were when they first won the title. Oh yes, even a little Kryptonite can't do the job alone, especially if he has to come off the bench for this clutch guy. Magic in the East for the second year in a row.
Finals breakdown: Same story, Dwight Howard drowning in between Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, Ron Artest fends off the forwards while Kobe Bryant is left alone to dominate the series, this equation is easier than 15+1, which will be the number of banners hanging on the rafters of the Staples Center come June. I believe in a Laker dynasty, I bleed purple and gold. I rest my case.
I'm accepting any challenges you guys might want to dish out, so feel free to contact me. Also for those on the same boat as myself in the whole Lakers winning the championship thing, you can surely find some friends over at The Lakeshow Express, purely purple and gold environment at your service right there. More coverage can also be found at The Bleacher Report, which is the web's best source for anything that has to do with sports. A fun fact here, this is my 97th blog which means we're closing in on a hundred, but before that, the next blog will be about the Philippine national elections where I'll be talking the smack and wack about all these candidates. Finally as usual, follow me on Twitter, @CarloHerrera.
Betting offers? Hatemail? Think I'm crazy? Fanmail? mailto; thecarlochronicles@yahoo.com
