More NBA Playoffs!

I was supposed to update my previous (and first) NBA Playoffs post but I thought I would spare everyone ration out my wondrous bball wisdom. The real reason is that I was lame and went with the lazy pick of the Mavs over the Warriors (the Bay Area team!) and then quickly (okay, okay, midway through the series, but after I actually watched a game) jumped upon the Golden State bandwagon. So why did I not post anything on this? Because if I had I would have jinxed the Warriors into losing the series. Some may call this a bit superstitious, we sports fans call it hard science. Now that the amazing Warriors have pulled off the greatest upset in NBA history, I will be posting a bit more about them. I think they will make the Conference Finals, beating either Houston or Utah. But first let's check how my predictions did:

Eastern Conference:

#4 Miami vs #5 Chicago (Chicago in 7)

I was right about Chicago winning, but they swept the defending champs (Miami) in 4 games. I think the Baby Bulls will go very far. More on that later.

#8 Orlando vs #1 Detroit (Detroit in 5)

I did much better here. Detroit won in 4.

#7 Washington vs #2 Cleveland (Cleveland in 5)

Cleveland also swept in 4, though the deeply injured Washington Wizards went down fighting. I know the Cavs swept, but things don't look good for Bron-Bron.

#6 New Jersey vs #3 Toronto (Toronto in 6)

I got this series wrong. New Jersey actually won in 6. I should have known something was up when the Nets beat the Bulls in a very important final game of the regular season. But I thought Bosh would be big, and he was a bit iffy. In all fairness, it was his first playoff series ever and he is still a young player. New Jersey was simply the better team.

Western Conference:

#7 Los Angeles vs #2 Phoenix (Phoenix in 6)

Once again I was close, Phoenix actually won in 5.

#6 Denver vs #3 San Antonio (San Antonio in 5)

I actually got this right on the money. I'm a bit torn about A.I. and I think if he focuses on a more all-around (facilitator) game, then Denver will be very tough next year. That said, I truly believe he shot Denver out of at least 2 games. But to be fair, he took two big shots down the stretch in game 4 and both were in and out types, had they fallen maybe it's San Antonio in 6 instead of 5.

*Seriously, if you read this far you are a trooper and a good buddy! I thank you kindly.

#8 Golden State vs #1 Dallas (Dallas in 6)

Boy was I wrong on this one. It turned out that Golden State completed the greatest NBA playoff upset in 6 games. All I have to say is this: GO WARRIORS!!!!!!! Whoooo!!!!!

#4 Utah vs #5 Houston (Houston in 6)

This series is still active with game 7 scheduled for Saturday evening. I had a feeling it was going to go 7 games but I'm a big Houston (T-Mac and Yao) fan and I don't like their chances in a game 7. Yes they have home court and only the home team has won in the series, but I still think game 7 is 50/50 which isn't such a good thing for Houston who was favored at the start of the series.

So here's the wrap up:

Out of 8 total series, 7 have been completed. I picked the winners in 5 out of the 7. And I picked the correct winner and number of games in 1 of the 5. Even if the remaining game goes against my prediction, I'll be above 50% which isn't so bad. In any case, the predictions will be a bit more difficult in the next round. More on that in my next post.