Story Of My Life

So it’s pretty much set now that the Heat will be playing the Knicks in the 1st round of the playoffs. While it’s conceivably possible that they could lose tomorrow, giving the 76ers a chance to take the #7 seed, the Knicks would have to lose to the Bobcats. Which won’t happen since the Bobcats are absolute trash. So it’s Heat-Knicks in round one. I’ll save my deeper thoughts on the matchup for when the schedule comes out and everything is set. While I obviously would have much preferred to play the 76ers in round 1, I will say now that I’m not worried about losing at all. Miami will beat the Knicks easily. 

In addition, the Thunder lost their final game of the season leaving them with a record of 47-19. This means that if the Heat can win tomorrow, they will have homecourt should they meet the Thunder in the Finals. Yes, homecourt doesn’t guarantee, as the Heat showed perfectly last season, but it can still be key in the Finals (see 2010 NBA Finals). 

Well, the end of the season is upon us. This years playoffs have the makings to be some amazing basketball, and I can’t wait. 

With the Heat losing to the Celtics tonight in Boston, the Bulls have (finally) wrapped up the #1 seed. I’m seriously surprised that they didn’t do it earlier. They have now, though, and frankly, I couldn’t be any happier. Now I know that may seem like a weird attitude for the casual observer of the NBA, so lemme break this down. As the #1 seed, the Bulls will now have to face the Celtics in the 2nd round of the playoffs. The Heat, at #2, will most likely face the Pacers, since it’s highly unlikely they will lose to the Howard-less Magic in the 1st round. The Celtics, consider to be old and irrelevant before the All-Star break, have emerged as a legitimate threat in the East. While I do believe that the Heat would be able to beat the Celtics just like they did last year, it would be a much tougher series than playing the Pacers will be. So avoiding the Celtics is the best thing that could have happened to the Heat this postseason. That’s reason #1 for not wanting the top seed in the East. 

Second reason is that it’s very possible that the Knicks could slip to the #8 seed, putting the 76ers as the #7 seed, just like last year. This would mean that the Bulls would face the Knicks in the opening round, which would be great news for the Heat. As with the Celtics, even more in this case, I do believe the Heat would easily defeat the Knicks, it’s much easier to face the 76ers. The Knicks have key players that could make a BIG difference in the playoffs. 76ers would be a relative pushover. Not only did the Heat dominate them in the 1st round last year, but they’re also 4-0 against Philly this season. They just don’t have enough (or any) weapons that can stop the Heat. 

So the Heat should be very happy about not being the #1 seed, as weird as that may sound. Their road to the Eastern Conference Finals just got A LOT easier. It should be a relative cake walk to get there facing the 76ers and Pacers. 76ers could easily be a sweep. Pacers would probably be 4-1. Even if they have to face the Knicks, I think Miami could take that 4-1 as well. This route will mean the Heat wil be relatively rested going into the ECF. At least they would be more rested than the Bulls. The 1st round will be easy for them regardless. The 2nd round, however, will be a test for them. I could easily see that series going at least 6 games. Just think back to the Bulls-Celtics series from a few years back that went into about a million overtimes. Needless to say, that would be a grueling series. Very physical. That’s gonna take a lot out of the Bulls going into the ECF against Miami. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Maybe we should get to the playoffs first before I start previewing series. :) 

I just cannot WAIT for the playoffs to start this weekend. It’s been a long time coming. I think I’m gonna make an effort to blog about games during the playoffs. I’m gonna need somewhere to get all these thoughts off my chest. So check back often (even though I doubt anyone is really reading this haha). 

P.S. I’m calling it now. The Miami Heat will be the 2012 NBA Champions.