G covered the Western Conference Semifinals, and I will be covering the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Both have a feeling of unimportance when you consider that we already know who’s playing who in the Finals. At this point in the East (game 1 of Cleveland/Atlanta was played last night) it seems pretty obvious that nobody is going to be able to keep up with Team King. The coronation was last night, and this has a feeling of destiny for Lebron. It just feels like it’s his trophy to lose right now. The other series in the East features the Magic and Celtics. While this series will be competitive and more interesting than the Cleveland series, at the end of the day it’s all just to see who can be runner-up in the East. The only teams that can hang with Cleveland are Los Angeles and Boston when they were at full strength. Without Garnett, that Boston team loses its elite status, and I think that will become very apparent in this series with Orlando. It’s Dwight’s time to shine right now. If he is the elite center that he is supposed to be, now would be the time for him to show it. We’ve been waiting for his offensive game to come along, and while he has made great strides he still isn’t fully there and has a long way to go in developing a consistent form. He shows great low post footwork sometimes, and you can tell he knows what he’s doing, he just needs to learn to do it all the time. Again none of it matters at the end of the day because the King is here.
Cleveland v. Atlanta
This series will be an exhibition in raw athleticism and youth. The Hawks are one of my favorite young teams in the league, and I couldn’t be happier for them having won their first playoff series in a decade. They are making good strides towards developing a serious core of talent. With all that said they would need an absolute miracle to beat Lebron. I know they pushed Boston seven last year, and I know they just knocked out a tough Miami Heat team along with their superstar Dwayne Wade. As good as Wade is, he doesn’t bring the complete all-around game that Lebron does. More importantly, he does not affect the game of his teammates in the manner that Lebron does. In order for Atlanta to win they need to complete an entire list of objectives. Joe Johnson absolutely has to shoot over 50%. He cannot have games where he’s off, he has to shoot early, often, and accurately. Beating Cleveland requires that you outscore them, particularly by spreading the floor and hitting your jumpers. That leaves the inside a little more open, and the Hawks can attack that space with Josh Smith and Al Horford. If Bibby and Johnson aren’t hitting their shots, the paint won’t open up, and that will drive down the Hawks shooting percentages fast. Once you fall behind this Cleveland team, it’s over.
Defensively, Atlanta has to force bad shots from Mo Williams, Delonte West, and Wally. This isn’t hard to do. Those guys rarely see a shot they don’t love. The only thing is that Cleveland’s ability to drive and kick, especially when King is doing the driving and kicking, tends to give them a ton of open shots along the perimeter. If I’m Mike Woodson, I’m conceding that Josh Smith is going to get steamrolled by King. Control the perimeter shooting, and don’t allow a second scorer to crop up out of Cleveland. Slow the game down, use the clock on both ends of the court, and Atlanta could have a legitimate chance of beating Cleveland.
Now even if they are able to do all of those things, they still need to force the Cleveland guards into bad decisions. Bibby and Johnson Atlanta a serious edge in guard play over Cleveland. They should be able to hassle Mo Williams, Delonte West, and whomever else the Cavaliers want to trot out there. If they can force a few turnovers out of those guys, keep the tempo high, make their open jumpers, attack the rim when they have the opportunity, and keep Z playing away from the basket….they have a chance. With all that said, I don’t think they will be able to do any of that.
Cleveland in 5
Orlando v. Boston
Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, wait, it’s just some phony dude pretending to be Superman. Where did Dwight Howard go? Some consistency is all we are looking for Dwight. Just show us you can be the same guy a few nights in a row. You seem like you’d be one of the most fun guys in the NBA to hang out with. You’re down to Earth, seem like a nice dude, and you’re always laughing and having a good time. But this issue with your consistency is starting to bug me. First, you completely disappear for the last month of the season when you guys are fighting for the two seed. I mean completely, absolutely disappear. For every two steps forward your offensive game takes, you take another step backwards. It’s been incredibly frustrating, and I’m sure your teammates feel the same. I knew the Sixers would give your team trouble, but you?! You were supposed to make Sammy Dalembert run back to Seton Hall. It’s time to step it up. If the Magic are going to win this series it rests completely on Dwight Howard. Yes, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu have to take and make shots too, but Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are going to outscore them no matter what is going on. It’s going to come down to Dwight Howard absolutely dominating the paint.
If I’m a Celtics fan, I’m not cocky, but I’m not scared either. Rondo should be able to absolutely torch Rafer Alston. If Boston can exploit that aspect of Orlando, they should be able to force the Magic to run. That’s not Orlando’s game. Rondo, Allen, and Pierce should be trying to turn this into a track meet. That will help neutralize Dwight, and force Alston into some turnovers. I’d also play hack-a-Dwight if I was Doc Rivers. He has plenty of fouls sitting on the bench, and Howard is terrible from the charity stripe. Dwight also showed a tendency to lose his cool a little bit with that bad foul he had in Game 5 against the Sixers. If Boston gets Dwight out of the game, and frustrates him by making him run and fouling him, they have a serious opportunity to sneak away with the series. The whole series comes down to the big man though. It’s his coming-out party if he wants it to be. I give the advantage to Orlando because I believe Stan Van Gundy will outcoach Doc Rivers when push comes to shove. Not that Doc isn’t a good coach, he is, he just seems to make a few more mistakes than Stan Van does. Dwight, we’re ready.
Orlando in 7
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