A lot has changed since I've last talked to you guys about the 2013 NBA Playoffs. The (8)Milwaukee Bucks and (7)Los Angeles Lakers had their seasons end at the hands of the (1)Miami Heat and the (2)San Antonio Spurs. For the Lakers, their biggest off-season in a long, long time is just now starting as General Manager Mitch Kupchak is going to faced with several franchise-altering decisions.
For the other six teams who remain in the Playoffs, two of them are on life support heading in to tonight's game five being down 3-1. The (7)Boston Celtics are returning back to Madison Square Garden to try and stage off elimination by the (2)New York Knicks and send the series back to Boston on Friday. I know it might sound a little insane, but I am going down with the ship. By now, most people know I took Boston to not only win this series, but to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. I am not going to change that prediction now.
Following that game, the (1)Oklahoma City Thunder look to knock out the (8)Houston Rockets without their All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook. Despite losing game one by almost 30 points, the last three games in this series have been extremely close. While I do think tonight's game is going to be highly contest, I would be mildly surprised if OKC doesn't end this series in their house tonight.
The real question for Oklahoma City and their fans is how this team is going to be able to stack up against Memphis or the Los Angeles Clippers without Westbrook? And if they are able to get through that series, will they have enough to make it through the Western Conference Finals?
The other game tonight, which to the surprise of no one, can be seen on NBA TV is the (3)Indiana Pacers returning home to take on the (6)Atlanta Hawks. After Atlanta has won the last two games of this series in Atlanta, they have yet to beat the Pacers at home. I don't see that trend changing tonight. The real drama is going to come in to play on Friday when the teams return to Atlanta. I am still confident in my prediction of Indiana before this series started.
One of the biggest stories in the Playoffs at the moment is what Mark Jackson had to say about the (3)Denver Nuggets defense on his (6)Golden State Warriors and star point guard Stephen Curry. After Denver won game game five to pull within a game, at 3-2, Jackson said Denver sent a "hit man" after Steph and even claimed that he had "inside info" from a Denver source who told him such things were going to happen. You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried. Game six in Oakland is going to be crazy, if you're a fan of old school NBA, don't miss it!
The other series that has already went five games is the (4)Los Angeles Clippers versus the (5)Memphis Grizzlies. After winning the first two games in LA, the Clippers have lost the last three games in this series, and will be facing elimination in Memphis on Friday. Not only do they face a win-or-go-home game, the availability of their exciting power forward Blake Griffin is in question after he hurt his ankle in practice on Monday and was not able to play in the second half of game five.
I predicted LA to win this series before it started, but unfortunately, I just don't see that happening. Memphis' half-court offense is too good and LA's offense is almost non-existent when Chris Paul isn't able to carry the team.
Another team staging off elimination tomorrow night is the (4)Brooklyn Nets at the hands of the (5)Chicago Bulls. Despite Chicago playing without it's Superstar point guard in Derrick Rose and despite their energize-filled foward Joakim Noah, they were able to go up three games to two. I took the Nets before this season started, and I don't see any reason why they can't win game six on the road and force a game seven in Chicago.