THE BIG THREE VS THE CHOSEN ONE

Three perennial All Stars versus the Anointed One.

The Big Ticket, The Truth and the Baby Faced Assassin versus The King.

Who will win? Boston will win in 6 games. I think.

But it won't be easy, oh no. They'll have to bring their A-Game every night (unlike the Hawks series, when the decided to send stunt doubles to play the games in Atlanta)

This is going to be real hard. Ilgauskas will body up Garnett and when he's done, Wallace will harrass KG. Lebron will run Pierce ragged while dominating both sides of the court (Pierce averaged like 13pts a game vs the Cavs in the regular season while Lebron logged in around 30pts)

So Boston will win because of Rajon Rondo (Boobie Gibson, hand him your "Surprise of the Playoffs" trophy, please), Sam Cassell and PJ Brown, not to mention Tony Allen and Glen Davis. Cavs have Pavlovic, Joe Smith and...well...Donyell Marshall.

Now all the Celtics have to do is make me a soothsayer instead of a liar.

DEEEEE-TROIT BASKETBALL!

Did you really expect something else?

I know Philly shocked the Pistons twice. I know they Pistons seem more vulnerable than ever. I know they aren't the same dominating team they were from 3 years ago.

But they're up against a young Superman, a what-am-I-doing-in-the-limelight Turk and a 6'10" small forward with a reputation for being "un-tough".

Still, I expect the Magic to put up a hell of a fight in Games 3 and 4. That's when they learn what it takes to be a playoff team. If they win a game there, that's gonna go a long way in building confidence to take that even bigger step.

But not this year. This year, the Pistons will still reign supreme.

My pick, Pistons in 5 games.

STUNG AGAIN!

I knew it was going to happen but I didn't know it was going to be this bad.

Game 2 was supposed to be the game where the Spurs start feeling their way back into the series. And for about 24minutes, they did.

Too bad it was the first 24minutes of the game. As soon as the second half started, it went back to being the Hornets' game to lose...so they didn't lose.

The Hornets may be young but they have CP3, who is one of the two best young point guards in the NBA right now (Deron Williams is the other), David West, who is fast becoming the premiere power forward of the Western Conference, as well as Peja Stojakovich, still as deadly as ever from the perimeter. Add to that Tyson Chandler and you have a pretty potent team.

Of course, you can't ever count out a team with TD, Parker, Manu and Pop in it. You just can't do it. The Spurs are just like that movie monster that gets shot, incinerated, crushed by a ten wheeler and then decapitated...and still stands up to go after the hero.

I'll believe the Spurs are dead once the Hornets win 4games...not one game too soon.

CAN THE SPURS STEAL GAME 2?

They can but they probably won't.

The Hornets' biggest advantage is that they are an unknown playoff team. No one really knows their identity and character, things like who steps up, who chokes, who passes up his normal shots and stuff like that.

I think the Spurs need another game to determine how to attack the Hornets...then the fun begins for them.

Popovich is among the best coaches in the game (in fact, second only to Jerry Sloan, in my humble opinion). He'll figure out how to take West away, maybe with Robert Horry or with Kurt Thomas. He'll figure out how to tire CP3 out and maybe get Bowen to shut down Peja.

All in all, I think it'll come down to championship experience...and the Hornets just don't have the bling to bring down the defending champions...yet.

Spurs in 6games.

THAT'S THE WAY, A-HA A-HA!

The real Boston Celtics play only on their homecourt.

They hire stunt doubles to play in Atlanta, which is why this particular series went to 7 games.

Jeff Van Gundy said it best during halftime when he commented "This game is already over. Too bad we don't have a mercy rule."

I have to agree with JVG on this one. There is nothing more boring than 24 minutes of meaningless basketball, when the subs are playing for more playing time next year and the fringe players are showing off in the hopes of landing another 10day contract.

I mean, come on! Glen "Big Baby" Davis passed up two open teammates in the paint just so he could run to the three point line and launch one. How pathetic is that?

But thank God this one is in the books already. Now we can move on to a more intriguing match up: Boston versus Cleveland.

My pick. Lebron's gonna have a great series but would I really pick LBJ over KG, the Truth and the Baby Faced Assassin? No, I don't think so. I think it'll be Boston in 6.

WHAT'S UP WITH THE CELTICS?

Or maybe I should have said...what's down with the Celtics?

I mean, they were doing everything right...they went out and traded a high draft pick for a sharpshooting All Star (experience over potential), got perennial MVP candidate for blooming MVP candidate (again, experience over potential), signed on two proven and playoff tested vets (need I say experience over potential again?), won 65 plus games, got the number 1 seed throughout the playoffs and did it with superb offense and unrelenting defense...All that was left was for their 8th seeded opponent to throw in the towel.

And yet, here we are, gearing up for Game 7 of the Celtics vs the Hawks. What the hell happened?

Garnett, Pierce and Allen are all still playing at around the same level as they were during the regular season so there's no drop off there...Rondo is improving steadily and Cassell and PJ Brown are great additions.

So what's wrong? Pressure getting to the Big Three? Or is it that they are still in that regular season level of play while the Hawks have gone on to playoff mode?

Well, I still think the Celtics got the guns to outbombard the Hawks so I'm going with them for tomorrow.

Hopefully, I don't jinx the Celtics the way I did the Suns.

SO I WAS WRONG ABOUT THE SUNS...

Yeah, I thought they would win Game 5. (didn't happen)

Thought Amare and Nash would have double doubles (Amare responded with a weak double-double while Nash failed to even come close while making three crucial turnovers in the last few minutes or so.)

Diaw started out hot and strong then faded in the late going. But then again, the Suns weren't really expecting Diaw to be the go-to guy, were they? That was supposed to be the arrogrant Amare, he who wouldn't even vote for Nash as the league MVP.

Maybe this is the way it should have worked out for the Suns. For Shaq to realize how good it was to have cold blooded, ball hogging Kobe on his side, for childish Amare to realize he isn't a bonafide star yet, for play-his-heart-out Nash to realize the window HAS closed (which makes me really sad) and for Marion to realize what an idiot he was.

So let's move on to he Hornets versus the Spurs. That shold be a doozy.

PS My analysis and predictions in the next entry.