The second-round playoff entrants have been determined and the second set of game ones are ready to tip off Monday May 6. The two teams who clinched their first-round series the quickest; the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, are finally getting around to playing ball again.
To no ones surprise both the Heat and Spurs cruised through their opponents and while they each made quick work of their opening round the path to the second-round was not so smooth for their opponents.
For the Chicago Bulls they grinded out a game seven victory in Brooklyn despite missing their entire starting backcourt and team’s leading scorer. The Golden State Warriors basically shot lights-out against the Denver Nuggets and that hot shooting is taking them right into San Antonio for the next round.
Can the Bulls keep their intensity and momentum going against the buzzsaw that is the Heat or will the injuries finally take their toll? Do the Spurs have an answer for Stephen Curry or will the Warriors bombers continue to find their mark from long-range? Let’s get down to it and take a look at the second set of Conference semifinal matchups.
(1) Miami Heat vs. (5) Chicago Bulls
The Bulls are fresh off their impressive game seven victory in Brooklyn and now they face the unenviable task of dethroning the defending NBA Champs. One has to love the enthusiasm and heart that the Bulls showed in their first-round series. There weren’t many folks who gave the Bulls much of a chance and even fewer still who thought it could be done once Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich went down. Despite this, the Bulls pulled through as Joakim Noah provided the inspiration and the troops rallied behind him to secure the win.
It appears as though Hinrich will be available for the entire series while Deng might miss the first two games as he didn’t travel with the team to Miami on Sunday night. Both of these guys are fundamental to the Bulls success, without either one for any duration the Bulls will be in tough against the well-balanced Heat squad.
The Heat haven’t played since April 28 and they could potentially come out flat against a jacked up Bulls squad. The good news out of that lengthy break was that it gave Dwyane Wade time to rest and heal. Wade did participate in a full-contact practise on Sunday night so he should be good to go for the opener on Monday night.
PREDICTION: The Heat are simply too good to let up here. Even with the lengthy layoff the guys should stay sharp and focused; they have been here before and know how to handle the situation. If the Bulls can put forth a full complement of their starting-five then they have a legitimate chance to win a couple games. They simply do not however have the luxury of losing anyone to injury and they can ill afford to miss Hinrich and Deng for any period of time. The Heat will close this series out in Chicago. I’ll be generous here and say the series goes six games.
FANTASY IMPACT: Aside from Noah on the Bulls, I do like Nate Robinson to have an impactful series as he will be called upon to change the tempo and push the offense. Robinson is very capable of putting up decent numbers coming off the bench and should Hinrich re-aggravate his injury then Robinson could find himself back in a starter’s role. Also from the Bulls I like Marco Belinelli. If Deng ends up missing significant time then watch for Belinelli to put up similar like numbers to his game six and game seven performances against Brooklyn.
(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Golden State Warriors
The Warriors are the lowest remaining seed in the playoffs, but I don’t think for one minute that the Spurs nor coach Gregg Popovich are taking these guys lightly. The up-start Warriors offense is geared towards their back-court strengths. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Jarrett Jack will let the rock fly from pretty much anywhere and defenses must spread out if they want to defend.
For the Spurs this kind of basketball is nothing new. They are extremely well coached and Popovich won’t allow his guys to lose focus and start giving up points en-masse to the Warriors. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are an aging pair; however, they can still keep up with the younger Warriors backcourt. I’d expect the Spurs to play some trapping basketball and force the ball away from Curry. If the Spurs can limit Curry’s touches and force offense out of everyone else then they will cruise through to the Conference Championship.
Good news for Warriors fans is that David Lee will be available for this series although his workload has yet to be determined he will be in uniform and is likely to see some game action. With Andrew Bogut’s ankle injury, the status of Lee and his limitations in this series could be pivotal.
PREDICTION: As exciting as the Warriors are they lack the experience and savvy that the Spurs carry. Tim Duncan should dominate the Warriors front-court while Parker steers the Spurs ship to another playoff series victory. The well-oiled machine that ripped through the Los Angeles Lakers in four games will be looking to stifle the Warriors from the get go. The Spurs will take this series in only five games as the Warriors will win one on their on court to avoid the sweep.
FANTASY IMPACT: So goes Curry so goes the Warriors. If Curry can keep the hot hand then the the Warriors will look to him early and often to get points on the board. Bogut needs to have a big series as his experience and height can be used to negate Duncan’s down low. Duncan should put up better numbers in this series than he did against the Lakers so I expect at least a 18 ppg and 10 rpg series average out of him.