2008 Woodie Awards
First Round NBA Playoff Predictions
Charlie Danoff
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: Sports
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It is all about California, as the Lakers, Warriors and Clippers compete for the two final invitations to the only dance that matters, the NBA playoffs. By the time you're reading this, the playoffs will have been decided. I am writing before that happens, because I already know the outcomes. As such, I will explain Wednesday night and then move on to precisely predict the first round.
The stakes for Wednesday are as follows, East: two and six seeds, West: seventh and eighth seeds. Cleveland will beat Milwaukee, but unfortunately for them the Bulls will also beat the Nets to secure the second spot. New Jersey's loss won't keep them out of the sixth spot, though, because Washington will lose every game from here on out, including to Indiana on Wednesday. In the West, the Clippers will win again, but for nothing. They will miss the playoffs, as the Warriors will beat Portland, helping Portland get a better chance at Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. Meanwhile, the Lakers will lose to state rival Sacramento, but will hold onto the 7th seed as they swept their season series with Golden State. The two teams will have identical records, but head-to-head matchups is the first tiebreaker. Now that I've proved I'm the second coming of Nostradamus; here is what will happen in the first round.
I am going to evaluate teams based on their "alpha dog," "lieutenants," and "pawns." Talent is what wins in a seven game series, and this is my completely objective way to compare teams. "Alpha Dogs" are the best players on a given team; "lieutenants" are the #2 and #3 guys, while "pawns" are the remaining role players. Playoff teams need all three playing at their highest level right now to reach their own potential, whatever that may be.
I will begin out East with the top seeded Pistons and their opponents, the eighth seeded Magic. Alphas: Chauncey Billups vs. Dwight Howard. Lieutenants: Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton vs. Jameer Nelson and Grant Hill. Pawns: edge to Detroit. Detroit is tough to break down this way, because they are the definition of a "team," but that's really immaterial because this series is already over.
The stakes for Wednesday are as follows, East: two and six seeds, West: seventh and eighth seeds. Cleveland will beat Milwaukee, but unfortunately for them the Bulls will also beat the Nets to secure the second spot. New Jersey's loss won't keep them out of the sixth spot, though, because Washington will lose every game from here on out, including to Indiana on Wednesday. In the West, the Clippers will win again, but for nothing. They will miss the playoffs, as the Warriors will beat Portland, helping Portland get a better chance at Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. Meanwhile, the Lakers will lose to state rival Sacramento, but will hold onto the 7th seed as they swept their season series with Golden State. The two teams will have identical records, but head-to-head matchups is the first tiebreaker. Now that I've proved I'm the second coming of Nostradamus; here is what will happen in the first round.
I am going to evaluate teams based on their "alpha dog," "lieutenants," and "pawns." Talent is what wins in a seven game series, and this is my completely objective way to compare teams. "Alpha Dogs" are the best players on a given team; "lieutenants" are the #2 and #3 guys, while "pawns" are the remaining role players. Playoff teams need all three playing at their highest level right now to reach their own potential, whatever that may be.
I will begin out East with the top seeded Pistons and their opponents, the eighth seeded Magic. Alphas: Chauncey Billups vs. Dwight Howard. Lieutenants: Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton vs. Jameer Nelson and Grant Hill. Pawns: edge to Detroit. Detroit is tough to break down this way, because they are the definition of a "team," but that's really immaterial because this series is already over.
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