Mavs<Spurs
05-02-2010, 01:24 PM
Lakers in 5. Without Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko, Lakers have a massive advantage inside, especially in height. Boozer can strip the ball, but is only 6'9" and not a great defender.
Over the last month or so, Lakers have not been playing top flight basketball.
Deron Williams is the best pg in basketball right now (per Magic). Jazz have a great pick and roll with Deron and Carlos. And Lakers have an inconsistent bench and are defensively vulnerable with Derek Fisher at the point. If the Jazz were healthy, I would still pick the Lakers, but I would think that it would be more competitive. Lakers will win their first two games at home. It is not easy to win in Utah. Probably Utah will win 1 game in Utah (game 3) convincingly. Lakers will squeak out their third win of the series in Utah in game 4. Lakers close out Utah easily in game 5.
The West which looked so formidable with so many 50 win teams now lacks an obvious frontrunner since it is now far from obvious that the Lakers are the best in the West. If Timmy had put together a more consistent and impressive offensive series, I would say that that it would appear that the Spurs are the slightly better team. As it is, I think it is a coin toss between the Lakers and the Spurs to see which team will go to the NBA Finals. (Spurs are a nightmare match up for the Suns - Spurs can make Nash miserable with George Hill, Spurs can run with the Suns - Hill, Parker, Jefferson, and Ginobili, and Spurs have a big time post presence in Tim Duncan).
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Over the last month or so, Lakers have not been playing top flight basketball.
Deron Williams is the best pg in basketball right now (per Magic). Jazz have a great pick and roll with Deron and Carlos. And Lakers have an inconsistent bench and are defensively vulnerable with Derek Fisher at the point. If the Jazz were healthy, I would still pick the Lakers, but I would think that it would be more competitive. Lakers will win their first two games at home. It is not easy to win in Utah. Probably Utah will win 1 game in Utah (game 3) convincingly. Lakers will squeak out their third win of the series in Utah in game 4. Lakers close out Utah easily in game 5.
The West which looked so formidable with so many 50 win teams now lacks an obvious frontrunner since it is now far from obvious that the Lakers are the best in the West. If Timmy had put together a more consistent and impressive offensive series, I would say that that it would appear that the Spurs are the slightly better team. As it is, I think it is a coin toss between the Lakers and the Spurs to see which team will go to the NBA Finals. (Spurs are a nightmare match up for the Suns - Spurs can make Nash miserable with George Hill, Spurs can run with the Suns - Hill, Parker, Jefferson, and Ginobili, and Spurs have a big time post presence in Tim Duncan).
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