The second round of the playoffs is just about to begin, with no major upsets in the first round.
In the east we've got 1v4 and 2v3, although two series did go to seven.
In the west, we've got 1v5 and 2v6, with only one series even making it to six games, the 4v5.
Cleveland 4 - Atlanta 0
Surely only insane people would pick anything besides 4-0 or 4-1, the question is simply which one. The Cavaliers dominated the Pistons, and have their clear best three players (James, Williams, Ilgauskas) all healthy. The Hawks, on the other hand, just scraped in over the Heat, who were without Jermaine O'Neal for the last two games, and have injury concerns of their own -- Marvin Williams and Al Horford played little to none towards the end of the series.
If Atlanta had their full lineup, I'd definitely give them one win, but since they don't, it's another 4-0 for Cleveland.
Orlando 4 - Boston 2
I think this is the toughest one to pick in this round, since both teams are a little unknown with regards to injury and form. Boston had all kinds of trouble dealing with the Rose and Gordon combination, and to a lesser extend Noah and Miller at centre. Glen Davis has played quite well, but Rondo seemed strangely down in the last two games of this series, and almost was avoiding taking any shots. Having the benefit of actually watching parts of games five, six and seven (mostly the overtimes!) I also think Paul Pierce is definitely not at 100% either. When there's a cloud over your best players, and you've got such poor players in reserve, generally bad things happen -- see Spurs, round one.
Orlando surprisingly went into Philadelphia, without Dwight Howard, and got the win in game six. I'm not sure if that's more because of Orlando's play of Philadelphia's.
This is either Orlando in 6 or Boston in 7 for me, and I'm just slightly going with Orlando.
LA Lakers 4 - Houston 1
I don't see how the Lakers lose the series, it's just a matter of how hard they have to work, like in the first round. I think that Houston definitely gets one win at home, and maybe even a second. The previews I read often talk about the combination of Artest and Battier shutting down Kobe, but since I've never seen this first hand (by which I mean on television) I'm not sure how much impact this will have. What I do think is as important though, is if Bynum can have an impact. With both Gasol and Bynum doing well, I see the games going much more in LA's favour.
Denver 4 - Dallas 1
Another tough one to predict, since Dallas had an easy time in round one, but so did Denver. I think Denver are the more legitimate contender though, and seem to have got their defense in order this year, finally. They've both got a good bench too, featuring the top two in this years sixth man of the year award (Jason Terry and J.R. Smith). With that said, I think Denver should be good enough to steal one away. That could make this a 4-1 or a 4-2 result.
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