** NBA Conference Finals **

[Vincent]

Mavs 5, Pistons 7

Edited to add:
Predictions for the lottery tonight.
1. Chicago (for the upset, Chicagoians worship Isiah)
2. Portland
3. Atlanta (0.1% upset over Bobcats)

Darkhorse dramatic upset: Houston - superstars are injured & they get high pick becoming a force next year a la Spurs in '98.

[Hornacek]

[ QUOTE ]
Anybody know what's up with Carlos Delfino? (Hornacek?) I remember he played excellent defense on Dwyane Wade during the regular season, but he seems to have dropped out of the rotation lately.

[/ QUOTE ]

Delfino gets no run in the playoffs. He wasn't even on the playoff roster last year. Expect a tight seven-man rotation with Dice and Hunter. DDavis will come in for Shaq duty, but that's prob as deep as it comes. Delk and Evans will only do mop up duty.

I'm kind of curious as to why Delk stopped playing though. I haven't completely figured out Flip's playoff rotation yet.

[LearnedfromTV]

Mavs in 5, Pistons in 7

Kenny Smith nailed the West - Mavs can out-Suns the Suns if they want to, but they don't need to. Dirk is going to toy with them. Spurs-Suns might have been a series. Mavs-Clippers might have been a series. This one is already over.

Pistons still have a psychological edge on Miami but after the Cavs series they really need to take Game 1 to maintain it. I think they do, in particular I think Rasheed has a big game now that the guarantee pressure is off his shoulders (you could practially see the wheels turning through the sunspot when he bricked the free throws at the end of Game 6 and then bricked the whole game in Game 7). If it's 3-1 after 4, Pistons in 5, if it's 2-2 after 4, Pistons in 7. I don't see them getting game 6 in Miami.

I kind of hope it goes 7. I went to Game 7 on Sunday and it was awesome. Not a great game, but a great atmosphere and a really fun second half. Game 7 is the only game I might be able to get to in the Miami series.

[LearnedfromTV]

[ QUOTE ]
Delfino gets no run in the playoffs. He wasn't even on the playoff roster last year. Expect a tight seven-man rotation with Dice and Hunter. DDavis will come in for Shaq duty, but that's prob as deep as it comes. Delk and Evans will only do mop up duty.

I'm kind of curious as to why Delk stopped playing though. I haven't completely figured out Flip's playoff rotation yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Playoff rotations are always shorter than regular season. The Piston starters don't need much rest, especially at guard. Plus you're always downgrading, for any situation, when you sit Rip or Chauncey. That isn't the case with the forwards, where McDyess and one Wallace often is the best look for the situation.

It's obvious that other than the starters he only trusts Lindsey to run the offense. Still, I bet there's a foul trouble situation or two in this series where Delk gets a few minutes to put up a scoring burst.

Don't forget the Shaq insurance. I'm looking forward to seeing Dale Davis get dusted off for a few minutes here and there.

[Fallen Hero]

Detroit in 5, Mavs in 6.

[lastchance]

The Heat have very little besides Shaq and D-Wade. If Detroit doesn't completely suck offensively, they should win fairly easily. That said, if the Pistons don't play well on at least one end of the court, Shaq and Wade could pull it out.

And the Suns barely survived 7 games against the Lakers and Clippers. The Mavs are much better than both. Mavs win, but if Phoenix gets bounces, they can make it close.

[Artdogg]

[ QUOTE ]

There is no way Detroit wins a Game Six in Miami. No matter what else you believe, you can't really believe that. I'd buy Detroit in five over Detroit in six, and I think Miami is going to win it.[ QUOTE ]




Game 7 last year was in Miami. What say you now?



[/ QUOTE ]

Also, I say you aren't very good at predicting the NBA!


[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

This coming from a guy who made a Lebron beat the Pistons and Hallways Series threads, good job!

It was actually proven last year that the Mavs can not run at a chaotic pace with the suns, they need to keep it in the low 110s and lower. They can do it with controlling the boards and getting to the line, but picking this series to go less then 6 games is nuts. Also its dumb to compare it to the old series' cause the Mavs dont have a dominant inside presence like the Clippers did and the Lakers made.

Mavs in 7

Pistons in 7- when this started I thought the Pistons were a lock to go to the finals but now im not so sure cause i think Flip Saunders isnt all that great a playoff coach. Even with that the Pistons are still equiped to take care of Miami's biggest weakness which is perimeter defense. I think Sheed's injury had its toll in the last series, but now they look healthy. Given all this Id be surprised if it wasnt a long drawn out series.

[Artdogg]

something I forgot to mention, if Nash isnt healthy then it could end in 5, otherwise its going at least 6

[CharlieDontSurf]

I love how people are like well the Suns barely survived the Lakers and Clippers so they will get destroyed.

Well the Pistons and Mavs barely got by the Cavs and Spurs...and one break here or there and neither team advances...so they are obviously now going to destroy both teams their playing...lol

Heat are playing better than anyone expected and have finally gelled with Walker becoming a solid #3 scorer. The Heat Pistons series will go 6 or 7 for sure.

Pistons are overrated.

Suns will have a tougher time against the Mavs but they would be better off facing the Mavs then the Spurs. Against the Mavs they have a real shot to beat them. The Spurs they would have no chance.

If you look at all of this seasons games the Suns didn't get demolished in any game against the Mavs...they lost by only 5-7 points...when they won it was by 5+ points.

The Mavs are obviously the better team but they are by no means a dominant team. Hence nearly blowing a Game 7 when you have a 20 point lead.

Mavs probably take it in 6 games. But if the Suns shoot hot in the 4th and get some bounces...they could win it in 7.

Either way. Whatever team wins the West will lose in 6 to the East.

[tdarko]

[ QUOTE ]
The Suns averaged 10+ more assists than Dallas in those games.


[/ QUOTE ]

This doesn't mean a whole lot since Dallas was second to last in the NBA in assists and second to last in the playoffs as well, this is b/c they run so many isolation plays b/c of their skill guys that they just don't tally the assists that a run and gun team (headed by a guy like Nash) like PHO will. It is kind of a trivial stat b/c those isolation plays are Dallas' bread and butter. This stat is meaningless.