Whomever coming out of West will need a serious grind, probably a couple of minor injuries along the way.
Heat can easily walk to the finals. I was really hoping for the Pacers to give them a serious run for the money but it looks like they may not even make it to the eastern finals at this stage.
Gotta hope Nets or Bulls can hurt a few players on the Heat or at least wear out LeBron. Health/fatigue is such a huge factor. Last year Spurs serious lucked out with only 14 games played before they faced Heat. It was clear Duncan/Parker were worn down by game 6 and 7. If they have to go through a grueling 7 game series against Thunder and Heat sweeps through their series, the finals would be over before it started.
Heat Pacers won't be a sweep, I know that the heart looks out of the pacers at the moment but the play-offs are a different story.
What happened to the Pacers though they were pretty awesome early in the year then it looked like the heart and team cohesion just fell out of them about 4 weeks after the trade deadline. It wasn't soon enough after for me to blame it on the loss of Granger but I would for sure consider the idea that one of the new players was a serious problem.
Least sucks, if the Heat were in the West this would be another story, I dont have too much hope on the Gaycers.
Just means the West will be that much better in the Finals.
The road to the Finals never really plays a part in the result, tbh..
wishing players get hurt is weak..gtfo
team talent really says nothing about their physical play, i doubt miami can go past chicago and indiana without some sort of fight.. injuries don't come because the game is intense.
The same thing was said last year before the playoff
And the spurs only lost 2 games on their way to the finals while the heat had to go to a game 7 in ECF. You never know
Pacers can still get into a rhythm for the playoffs.. ECF could still be a battle..
If Spurs play at their best no series should go past 6 until the WCF with OKC..
Agree, and I still believe Pop will unveil "Operation Post Up" in the playoffs to add a few more wrinkles to the offense.
Welcome to the last 15 years. The East has been garbage ever since Jordan retired from the Bulls.
It is amazing that Jordan retired and the powers of the west all stepped up and have not come down really since. East teams have won chips but the conference has just been for 16 years basically. Lots of teams drafting players or busts over the years..
It's always been unfair.
Miami in 2011 played:
(7) Philadelphia 76ers (41-41)
(3) Boston Celtics (56-26)
(1) Chicago Bulls (62-20)
Miami in 2012 played:
(7) New York Knicks (36-30)
(3) Indiana Pacers (42-24)
(4) Boston Celtics (39-27)
Miami in 2013 played:
(8) Milwaukee Bucks (38-44)
(5) Chicago Bulls (45-37)
(3) Indiana Pacers (49-32)
I mean seriously, every year their first round opponent was an absolute joke, and the teams that 'challenged' them were the OLD Boston Celtics and the talent-less Indiana Pacers. Their only legitimate opponent in this past 3 year span in the East was the Chicago Bulls back in 2011.
The East has always been a joke for as long as I've watched the NBA (since 1999). It's kind of unbelievable to me that people have only really started to notice how bad the East really is. It took a historically awful season for heads to finally start turning, but it's always been this way. As far as I'm concerned Miami only has to beat one team in a series every year: the Western Conference Champion. Which is patently unfair as the West champ has to go through 3 good to great teams to even get there. First thing I'm going to tell my kids one day when they ask about how great Lebron was winning all of those championships I'm going to say: "Yeah, but he played in the East. He only had to beat one legitimate and very tired team in the Finals every year. Otherwise his compe ion was a joke--so ignore most of what he accomplished."
Great post! Lebroom doesn't get my respect as he wins in a crappy conference and doesn't have to battle like the Spurs against the West teams! Of course he can break records in scoring etc. but he plays against the weak east teams so there should be an * next to his records!
If they Heat were in the West they'd be a 4 or 5 seed.
Miami was 44-16 vs. the West during their 2 le years, tbh..
Whoever comes out of the East goes through a much tougher grind. Eastern conference teams, although lacking in talent, play the type of grind-it-out game that feeds into a battle of attrition. The cute little notion that Miami's path to the le is weak is something the generally re ed NBA fan has subscribed to in a way to downplay a championship.
Pacers are done. I've watched them play 3 times in the past couple weeks and they look beyond awful. Like they've already mentally quit. Hibbert is a s of himself and George Hill gives them nothing. I'd honestly be surprised if they even make it to the ECF at this tbh. Miami cake walks to the Finals.
Spurs will get thrashed by OKC
they should add another round to the east playoffs if the conference doesn't meet a certain overall win % at the end of the reg season.
Miami basically gets a bye in the first round, but after that it gets tougher. Either Toronto, Chicago, or Brooklyn are comparable to Houston/Portland at this point. Brooklyn even swept Miami in the regular season, and could present match up problems for the Heat in a 7 game series. If Indiana can find their mojo, they are an elite team as well.
All that being said, I think fatigue, both mental and physical, will be Miami's biggest problem this year. Reaching the Finals four straight times is a monumental task.
I think Toronto, Bkn and Chicago will surprise this year.
I don't know about Chicago, but Toronto and Brooklyn have my attention.
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