Monday, April 27, 2009

Bring on the Heat (or Hawks)

The Cavaliers made mincemeat out of the remnants of the Detroit Pistons over the last 10 days or whatever. And that's what's supposed to happen when the team with the NBA's best record plays the team with the worst playoff-qualifying record. The only time the Pistons made it remotely interesting was Friday night, when they briefly pulled ahead in the third quarter of Game 3 before getting smoked the rest of the way. Yesterday's Game 4 was never in any doubt. And so our Cavs become the only team to sweep a first-round series in this year's playoffs, and only the third team in NBA history to sweep a series while winning each game by double digits.

Next up: the winner of the Heat-Hawks series, which Miami currently leads 2-1 going into tonight's Game 4 in Florida. If the Calories were to win tonight, they could close it out Wednesday in Atlanta. But more likely, the series will go six or seven games, which would have the series ending as late as Sunday, leaving the Cavs resting for over a week. I don't think it matters much who we're playing. The Cavaliers went 3-1 each against Miami and Atlanta this year, and I don't see this series going longer than five games. Maybe six.

1 comment:

Jeff Brown said...

You got it, Steve -- the Cavs win their second-round series against either team in 5 games, 6 if a remarkable set of circumstances present themselves. They are a lead-pipe cinch to advance to the NBA finals. The only team with a chance to beat them is the Minneapolis Lakers, and I believe they will defeat Kobe in 6 or 7. (get in line now for your NBA finals tickets).