~*~*~*~ 2014 NBA Playoffs: Road to the Championship ~*~*~*~

[MediaArtist]

"Will against will." - Kevin Durant

So here are the playoff matchups as they stand today (and shouldn't change much in the next week unless something dramatic happens).

2014 NBA Playoffs 1st round matchups

Indiana Pacers vs. Atlanta Hawks
Miami Heat vs. Charlotte Bobcats
Chicago Bulls vs. Washington Wizards
Toronto Raptors vs. Brooklyn Nets
San Antonio Spurs vs. Memphis Grizzlies
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets vs. Portland Trailblazers

My picks for the 1st round:
Pacers
Heat
Bulls
Nets
Spurs
Thunder
Clippers
Rockets

What are yours?

[MediaArtist]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...-time/7660189/

First time the big 3 have missed the playoffs in the same year (Knicks, Celtics, Lakers), ever.

This only the 6th time the Lakers have missed the playoffs since moving to Los Angeles (60 appearances out of 65 tries, 92.3%, best in the league).

You know next year is going to be a huge rebuild year for the LakeShow. We don't experience failure very often.

[Caspita]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

My picks for the 1st round:
Pacers
Heat
Bulls
Nets
Spurs
Thunder
Clippers
Rockets

Chicago plays Brooklyn...

Outside of that I expect the other teams you mentioned to cruise through the first round.

[TXSTYLE]

So much for Miami getting #1 seed. They getting smoked like a fat ass blunt buy Wizards! #doh

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

So much for Miami getting #1 seed. They getting smoked like a fat ass blunt buy Wizards! #doh

Home court advantage is ours.

[MediaArtist]

Damn, can't believe Pacers actually took the #1 seed. This could spell doom for Miami, but then again, so could the Nets.

[MediaArtist]

Originally Posted by Caspita

Chicago plays Brooklyn...

Outside of that I expect the other teams you mentioned to cruise through the first round.

I could see Chicago out gutting an older worn Nets.

[JohnSprm69]

east 1st round

pacers vs hawks - pacers

heat vs bobcats - heat

raptors vs wizards - raptors

bulls vs nets - bulls

east 2nd round

pacers vs bulls - either one

heat vs raptors - heat

ECF

pacers/bulls vs heat - heat

[JohnSprm69]

west 1st round

spurs vs grizz - spurs (won't be surprised if they get upset tho)

thunder vs mavs - thunder

clippers vs warriors - clippers

rockets vs blazers - rockets

west 2nd round

spurs vs rockets - rockets

thunder vs clippers - thunder

WCF

rockets vs thunder - rockets

[JohnSprm69]

2013-2014 championship

heat vs rockets - heat

[MediaArtist]

I'd be shocked if the Rockets get past the 1st round missing their best perimeter defender, and having a gimpy center.

Harden had what... 33 points, and Rockets still couldn't out shoot the Wolves. Defense wins championships.

[Caspita]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

Damn, can't believe Pacers actually took the #1 seed. This could spell doom for Miami, but then again, so could the Nets.

Only way Miami plays the Nets is if the Nets beat the Pacers in the second round, and that means getting through Chicago first. Miami should have an easier rode to the ECF, and I think a rested not so injured Wade, was easily worth sacrificing the 1 seed.

[MediaArtist]

I agree, I think Miami has the far easier route to take to the Finals. Whether that was "planned" or not, who knows. But they managed to keep their two best rivals on the other side of the bracket for now.

[Litos]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

I'd be shocked if the Rockets get past the Defense wins championships.

that's why we got Dwight and PatBev back...

Dwight only played 31 minutes due to this being his first game back...

dumped 20 and 17 all over the Spurs interior defense...

PatBev had a good game going 5-11 with 12 points......

all Rockets starters scored in double figures again....

[TrevorM3]

fuck all this jibber jabber, who's winning the championship?

I'm going with OKC.

[MediaArtist]

Originally Posted by Litos

that's why we got Dwight and PatBev back...

Dwight only played 31 minutes due to this being his first game back...

dumped 20 and 17 all over the Spurs interior defense...

PatBev had a good game going 5-11 with 12 points......

all Rockets starters scored in double figures again....

Good. Bev and D12 are the defensive anchors of that team.

btw, I heard Lin and Parsons may be getting dumped next year as a pair to make Jeremy Lin's poison pill contract less hard to swallow... what do you think about that one?

[Clippers_FTW]

Originally Posted by TrevorM3

fuck all this jibber jabber, who's winning the championship?

I'm going with OKC.

I'm going with the Los Angeles Clippers... Without Crawford and Granger OKC bairly won.

Clippers own rockets... No contest there. Just need someone to take care of the spurs for us..(Houston can you please do this for us)... Then homecourt advantage in the finals vs the Heat... Just no spurs.. they are a matchup nightmare for us.

[Red Bread]

I kind of enjoyed getting to see the Spurs lose last year, I'd be up for the Heat beating the Spurs again.

At the same time, for the Mavs, I'd really rather play SA than OKC, so sort of routing for Memphis to beat us tonight.

[MediaArtist]

The reason why Spurs can beat LobCity most of the time is because their half court game is so much better, and they rarely give up the ball. Clippers thrive on points after turn overs. We do have a much deeper bench this year, and we also have Doc.

I think a Doc vs Popovich coaching duel would be great to watch, I consider them 1A and 1B when it comes to best coaches in the game right now.

[oma3710]

Eastern Finals: Heat vs Pacers

Western Finals: San Antonio vs Thunder

[Bingobimmer]

Originally Posted by oma3710

Eastern Finals: Heat vs Pacers

Western Finals: San Antonio vs Thunder

+1 Heat will probably win the championship because of the easy road there and all the players around the big three

[Inspired]

Originally Posted by oma3710

Eastern Finals: Heat vs Pacers

Western Finals: San Antonio vs Thunder

Anyone saying otherwise is just bias and wants their own team to win.