2014 NBA Playoff Preview Spectacular: Eastern Conference Edition!

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And now to the East, with some helpful GIFs along the way:

Indiana Pacers (1) vs. Atlanta Hawks (2):

The Pacers’ struggles have been well documented at this point. After a hot start, their team’s offense cratered in the second half of the season. Roy Hibbert couldn’t rebound and got in the way on O. David West looked old and slow. Paul George’s shot stopped falling and people wondered why he was ever even in the MVP conversation. Lance Stephenson pushed the boundaries of crazy a little too far with his one man fast breaks and fancy dribbles/passes. George Hill proved to be a below average point guard. CJ Watson was hurt. Luis Scola gave the team nothing off the bench, and Evan Turner hasn’t proved anything except that replacing an injury prone but useful locker room presence like Danny Granger was a huge mistake. But hey, you look up and Larry Bird’s squad is still sitting pretty with the #1 seed and homecourt in the Eastern conference, a top notch defense, and young playmakers with potential on offense.

Their early combatants will be the Atlanta Hawks, who outlasted the Knicks for the chance to known as easily the worst of all the 2014 NBA playoff teams. Many argue that a new postseason system should be implemented simply because the Phoenix Suns produced at a 50-win level and missed the playoffs while the Hawks dismally trudged along to a sub-.500 record and made it. The season started hopefully for the ATL, with the #3 seed (aka the team-that-is-not-Indy-or-Miami spot) a potential reality for the team. Unfortunately, another devastating injury to their best player Al Horford crippled their chances, and they free-falled to close the season in an acknowledged attempt at getting into the lottery. Sadly, their competition was the discombobulated New York Knickerbockers, so they were forced to get comfortable with the #8 seed. Atlanta shares the ball well under new head coach Mike Budenholzer (from the Popovich tree), and the team has some surprisingly accurate shooting on the floor (Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Pero Antic, Paul Millsap). These strengths may only rattle Indy’s cage a tiny bit, but to what extent the Hawks can unlock the Pacers’ defense and disrupt their vulnerable offense in this series will most likely be a determinant for how the media interprets Indy’s chances in later rounds, NOT an example of the Hawks’ quality. That’s a shame, but at 38-44, you can’t really complain.

  • X Factor: Roy Hibbert. Hibbert is the key for the entire Pacers postseason. Last year, he dominated his way through the playoffs with huge games against Miami. Can he continue his rim protection while upping his rebounding and shot making (while also staying out of Lance/George’s way)? He has a chance to seriously increase his confidence level and prove himself against the relatively small Atlanta frontcourt in the first round.
  • Prediction: Pacers in 4. I just can’t see Atlanta actually winning a game unless the Pacers really are as bad right now as the media makes it seem. I don’t really buy that, and Indy’s defense is still sharp enough to get the sweep.
  • Pop Culture Comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_qhLRUh66k — while certainly not as lovable as good ol’ Rocky, the Hawks have a chance to give the Pacers (Apollo Creed) a bit of a scare and expose some vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, sometimes the underdog will lose. Hopefully this series is as entertaining as the movie, because at the moment it seems like it will be stuck in NBA TV purgatory.

 

Miami Heat (2) vs. Charlotte Bobcats (7):

The back-to-back champs are looking to make their fourth straight Finals appearance after a relatively ho-hum, low key season, especially in comparison to the drama-filled days of the past few years. While he probably won’t win MVP, LeBron is still the best player in the league, and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are superstar-quality sidekicks whom Pat Riley brought together for a Miami dynasty. Resting Wade on-and-off for most of the season will hopefully give him enough juice to make a playoff run for yet another year, but it is obvious that LeBron has been worn down at least a small amount because of his playing almost a full season’s worth of extra games these past few years with the Olympics and years of deep playoff runs under his belt. Thankfully for the Heat, the East is relatively weak, and LeBron has shown that despite the occasional flaw, he has a supernatural ability to turn up the intensity when it matters most.

Miami’s first opponents will be the Charlotte Bobcats, a team that has come seemingly out of nowhere to boast a top 10 defense and serviceable offense to make the playoffs in 2014. Al Jefferson is an All-NBA candidate based on his consistently dominant production on the right block. Al Jeff is good for 20-10 almost every night and commands double- and triple-teams when he gets the ball late in games. He matches up very well against the vulnerable post defense/rebounding of the Heat’s front line, and he will be asked to put up huge stat lines as the Bobcats’ main offensive threat outside of point guard Kemba Walker. Defensively, Charlotte makes Al Jeff keep his slow-ass feet back in the paint, relying on athleticism on the wings from Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Josh McRoberts, and Gerald Henderson to limit opponents’ offensive abilities. Unfortunately, they’ll be matched up against LeBron James, who put up 61 points against mostly MKG earlier in the season. Good luck this time around, Charlotte.

  • X Factor: Chris Bosh. The trendy pick here would be Wade and his health and rest, but Bosh is arguably more important to the Heat’s offensive success with his perimeter shot-making and efficiency. Bosh has also shown that he can lead the team when LeBron sits, and his ability to stretch the floor, with extra space given Al Jefferson’s typical sucking into the pain, will certainly give Miami an important advantage in this series.
  • Prediction: Miami in 5. I really wished the Bobcats got a little bit better of a matchup and avoided the Indy/Miami duo because I really like their game. Sadly, they’re running into a matchup with one of the best players of all time (and two other potential Hall of Famers to boot). Look for Al Jefferson to put up HUGE stat lines in a relatively quick series.
  • Pop Culture Comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs7SIiRHQfs — Had some trouble finding the best comparison for the Heat’s impeccable trio of LeBron/Wade/Bosh, but came upon an early Harry Potter clip and tried that out. It kinda works! Basically, LeBron is the Chosen One/destined to win (not only this particular series, but in everything else in life) just like Harry, Wade is the know-it-all sassmaster Hermione, and Bosh is the one people look down on as “unmanly” just like Ron and his strange fear of spiders.

 

Toronto Raptors (3) vs. Brooklyn Nets (6):

Led by superstar hip-hop artist Aubrey “Drake” Graham, the Raptors should consider a renaming campaign to be called the RAP-tors–sorry, I’ll stop right there, that was terrible, I won’t blame you if you stop reading. Anyway, Toronto has surprised everyone and won the race for the best-East-team-not-in-Miami-or-Indiana. GM Masai Ujiri shipped away shot-taking (and not necessarily shot-making) forward Rudy Gay and the team instantly became more efficient. Bulldog point guard Kyle Lowry can do it all–defend, shoot threes, drive to the rim–and DeMar DeRozan has come on strong as a capable scorer at the other guard position. The Raps also get an unacclaimed dose of toughness and defense from power forward Amir Johnson, who can set some gnarly screens on offense.

T-Dot’s matchup will be with an interesting Brooklyn Nets squad. The Nets have three distinct routes they can take in this postseason. First, they can ride their veteran leadership and postseason experience (Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Andrei Kirilenko) and smallball scoring attack into a matchup with the Heat, whom they’ve beaten 4 out of 4 times this year, surging past them and into, perhaps, the NBA Finals. Another route they can take is the one where the Raptors expose the Nets’ old age and slow feet with their youth and explosiveness, and Jason Kidd shows his relative inexperience as a head coach as Brooklyn falls in the first round. The third and final route is one of a balance of the first two, and this route is far more likely. Brooklyn has the size at guard (especially the previously unmentioned Shaun Livingston) to nullify the Raptors’ strengths on the perimeter while also having the cagey vets to beat back the fresh-faced Raptors. Eventually, the Nets will probably bow out against LeBron and the Heat, but at least owner Mikhail Prokhorov will still have paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to get there!

  • X Factor: Drake. This is a semi-serious X Factor. Drizzy has become the unofficial spokesperson for Raptors, urging Toronto and Canada to get behind their basketball team while bringing some national exposure to the team from the Great North. If Toronto can get a rollicking home crowd desperate for a positive postseason Raptors experience (which hasn’t really ever happened), that would be huge for the squad’s confidence. Additonally, with Drake inspiring his favorite team with some locker room bars like “Last name ever/first name greatest/like a sprained ankle/boy, I ain’t nothing to play with,” maybe T Dot can make a run into the second round.
  • Prediction: Brooklyn in 6. Nah, sorry Drake, you may win most of the time, but you’re not winning this one. Too much talent on the Nets, who seem destined to take on Miami in the next round and rekindle that old Pierce/KG vs. LeBron/Wade rivalry.

 

Chicago Bulls (4) vs. Washington Wizards (5):

The Bulls have been one of the most saddening franchises of the past few years. Two devastating knee injuries to one of the most exciting and lovable players in Derrick Rose, uncomfortable stinginess financially that prevents them from bringing in other max free agents, and an obvious attempt at a late push for the lottery in the Luol Deng trade all make Chicago a martyr to what it means to watch and enjoy the NBA and sports in general. The Bulls have died for our sins. The fact that they’ve even gotten a #4 seed shows how committed and competitive head coach Tom Thibodeau and star center Joakim Noah are to the game. Noah, in particular, is one of the most thrilling players to watch–his hustle, his floppy hair, his passing, his defense, his everything–and he embodies the  philosophy of his head coach unlike any other duo (except for maybe Tim Duncan and Pop). The re-emergence of point guard DJ Augustin out of NBA oblivion has been the savior for the Bulls, who would create a tough matchup with Miami or Indiana based on their defensive ruggedness alone.

The Bulls’ first round matchup is with the Washington Wizards, in their first playoff appearance since the days of Gilbert Arenas and Antawwwwwn Jamison. The Wiz are led by an ultratalented backcourt made up of John Wall and Bradley Beal, who combine to provide some high quality penetration, shooting, defense, length, and athleticism. That combo has a bright future, but they’ve both produced admirably this season to go along with the team’s talented bigs in Nene and Marcin Gortat. Martell Webster and Trevor Ariza provide a bevy of spot up threes from the corners, and Andre Miller brings some veteran savvy and quality passing off the bench. Unfortunately for the Wizards, their head coach Randy Wittman has been, at times, a bumbling fool, and he pales in comparison to Coach of the Year candidate Thibodeau.

  • X Factor: Taj Gibson. Gibson, a leader in the race for the Sixth Man of the Year award, will be important in limiting the offensive capability of whichever big Joakim Noah is swallowing up (either Gortat, Nene, or Trevor Booker off the bench). Gibson will also be tasked with protecting the paint from the elite speed and quickness of John Wall, while also boxing out and rebounding misses so that the Bulls can work to get some easy buckets in transition.
  • Prediction: Bulls in 7. Each battle between the #4/#5 seeds has been incredibly tough to predict, and I have gone back and forth in my prediction the most for them. I don’t think the Bulls have the firepower to blow away the talented Wiz, but their stingy D, playoff experience, otherworldly hustle, and dominant coaching will most likely give them the series victory against a green Wizards squad.
  • Pop Culture Comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLx11xq6X7Q — Kanye West reps the Chi like no other, and his song “Black Skinhead” has just the right amount of intensity and anger in both its beat and lyrics to match the ferocious hustle of Joakim, Taj, Jimmy, Thibs, and the rest. They might not beat the Wizards, but they have the confidence and the little bit of crazy necessary to make them devilishly entertaining and immensely fun to watch.

SCHW4RTZ

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