And we are down to four teams ladies and gentlemen. Finally, the Eastern and Western Conference finals are just around the corner and what’s better to have before them than to have a roundtable breakdown of both matchups?
Here, I’ll have two celebrated bloggers by my side to break down the finals in the East and the West. I’ll have Unblogged and NBA.com Philippine’s weekly blogger, Pio Garcia, and Don Manganar to help me call the shots as we head to twilight of the post season. Let’s get to work, shall we?
Miami vs. Boston, what story line/angle are you looking forward to heading to the series?
Christian Jacinto: How will the Heat stop Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo? For as awesome as Dwyane Wade and Lebron James have played over the past three games, the Celtics have legit advantages on the point guard position and in the paint. This matchup has turned from a Miami walk-in-the-park a couple of months ago to a totally intriguing series with the Celts holding legit advantages over the favored Heat. If the Heat can’t stop KG and Rondo, look out.
Pio Garcia: Well for one, like out in the West, it’s old versus young. But what I would really fish for is how LeBron will respond to the Celtics this time around. Not that he looked scared when they met before (as a Cav before, and a Heat last year), it’s like, he’s very tentative driving down that lane ever since he got booted out by the Celts back when he was a Cav. But with Chris Bosh not being able to suit up for the rest of the playoffs, there’s no more excuse for ‘Bron to stay out of the shaded lane and avoid being slapped up all over the place. For the Celts, Boston has been able to beat Miami in the regular season, but this is the playoffs. With their bench as thin as that of Miami, the old Big Three plus Rondo have to be bring their A games all the time. It is a definite must.
Don Manganar: In this series, there is one storyline I'm intrigued with that determines how the rest of the playoffs will play out – Are we finally seeing the LeBron-Wade connection come to fruition? Have they finally figured out that this is how they have to play to win a championship? The road to LeBron's first championship is still a hard one – he has to go through these tired, grizzled veteran Celtics. And they're always gonna show up. This is going to be a great series.
San Antonio vs Oklahoma City what story line/angle are you looking forward to heading to the series?
Christian Jacinto: The Thunder are the new bosses up West. The Spurs are so old, they got Alzheimer's, they forgot to lose, what gives? The Thunder swept through the Mavs in the first round and ran through the Lakers in the second. The Spurs, on the other hand, have yet to lose in the post season, barely breaking a sweat against the Jazz and the Clips. It’s the immovable object versus the unstoppable force. What gives?
Pio Garcia: What am I looking at here? Two franchises built the same way, have three stars where one of them come off the bench for that scoring punch in the second unit, have big men who are rugged, versatile and defend well, explosive point guards, heady veterans, you name it they got it. This will be a sort of validation for Kevin Durant if he can really carry his team past the juggernauts. They’ve beaten two champions already. Will they be able to beat the super team of the decade?
Don Manganar: Here's the story for this series – is it Durant's time, or is Tim Duncan riding off into the twilight of his career with a chance for one more ring? Duncan's Spurs have been the best basketball team in the NBA – having gone almost two months since losing a game and have gone 38-5 since March 2. The young Thunder haven't been doing that bad either – sweeping the defending champions Mavericks and disposing of the Lakers in five games. That's an 8-1 playoff record. This is going to be an epic matchup between the young guns and the grizzled veterans.
Who do you think will be the X factor for every team in both matchups?
Christian Jacinto: Up East, I think its KG for Boston and Udonis Haslem for Miami. KG, for his part, has been wonderful this postseason. The question now is, can he maintain it? With Bosh still not available for the Heat, expect the men in green to attack through Garnett. The Heat, on the other hand, need extra effort from Udonis should Bosh be out for good in this series. Defensively, he's the only guy who can guard Garnett and offensively, he's the only big that Miami can rely on right now so Udonis' game would be critical for Miami
Up West, it has to be the two super subs for both teams: James Harden and Manu Ginobili. Harden's consistency will make the Thunder offense almost unstoppable with 20-point productions from Westbrook and Durant almost a lock, and we are yet to see the Spurs playing with the Manu Ginobili of old. Should Ginobili get his game back, look out.
Pio Garcia: Boston, it will be KG and Brandon Bass. If it’s vintage KG and Super Bass, Miami would be hard-pressed to deal with the Celtics. Why? They have no frontline! Joel Anthony and who? Udonis Haslem, Dexter Pittman and Shane Battier plus Juwan Howard? Good luck.
For Miami, it’s LeBron James for me. If it’s the 2007 LeBron James that’s going to play, I’ll call it a night. That version of LeBron is a runaway one-man wrecking crew.
San Antonio has lots of X factors. Boris Diaw will always be there and so is DeJuan Blair, who up until now, is a solid steal of the Spurs.
For OKC, it rests on the magic of The Beard. Since the Spurs have a second unit that is as potent as its starting five, that’s what the Thunder have to match. It falls on Sixth Man of the Year James Harden to do just that.
Don Manganar: Boston – Rajon Rondo. When he's engaged, the Celtics have a chance. Simple as that.
Miami – LeBron/Wade. They should give us a glimpse of how well they can play together in Games 5 and 6, to the point that you'd have to think they can read each other's minds. Right now, it doesn't matter who plays with LeBron and Wade. Just get out of their way.
San Antonio – Their role players. Russell Westbrook and Tony Parker just might even each other out. Duncan's resurgence will keep the OKC bigs busy, but we all know how well they played against Bynum and Gasol. So this series looks to be determined by the likes of Boris Diaw, Stephen Jackson, Kahwi Leonard, Danny Green, et al.
OKC – Kevin Durant. He is the Thunder's best player, and probably the best player in these West playoffs. No one on the Spurs will be able to match up with him. This series is a chance for him to define the next few years of his career, and will determine how special he really is. Russell Westbrook will usually lay the groundwork during the first 40 minutes of the game. Durant usually decides who wins.
Miami vs Boston, call it.
Christian Jacinto: Tough. Two months ago, I would have said Miami in a blink of an eye. But now, I'm not so sure. Rondo has been the best point guard in the NBA during the post season, KG has been playing like its 2004 all over again and Bass has given them that “youth factor” they need. Miami has looked unstoppable in the past three games, but if you've looked closely at their past games, you'll see that they're far from unbeatable. Unlike the Pacers, Boston won’t break and unlike the Pacers, the Celtics will pounce on every opportunity they can get. I say the loss of Chris Bosh will eventually take its toll on the Heat and Boston pulls out an upset here. LeBron and Wade have been awesome but Boston's just too deep and Rondo's just too good. Boston in six.
Pio Garcia: If the Celtics establish KG and Bass early down low, and with Rondo eating Chalmers for lunch, put this one in the books for the guys in green. This will be a seven-game stunner at most. But if LeBron decides to put on a runaway freight train show, just have to salute the bravery of the Celtics in six games.
Don Manganar: Boston will definitely put up a fight. It is a wounded team, and they are really limping into this series. But they are a prideful bunch. They will give Miami a good series, and then lose in five games.
SA vs OKC, call it.
Christian Jacinto: This one's tougher to call. The Spurs have yet to lose in the playoffs, while the Thunder have shown dents in their game, especially against the Lakers. However, people will argue that the Thunder have faced the tougher opponents and have taken care of them with relative ease. If the Lakers series taught me anything, it’s the fact that the Thunder will jump on every single lapse that they can see given their very good offense. But they are far from unbeatable. In this series, the Spurs won’t make the same mistakes the Lakers had in Games 2, 3 and 4. The Spurs' half court execution and stability will allow them to go through the young and deadly Thunder. The Thunder is the future of this conference, but this is San Antonio's year. San Antonio in seven.
Pio Garcia: Ah this one is tough. On paper, it seems even and they cancel each other out. It will be decided on the hard court where Popovich is a genius in making adjustments and exploiting mismatches. Scott Brooks has been questionable on that end, but if the young Thunder start to run, everyone will see how much mileage those old tires of the Spurs have. But with experience and undeniable control, Spurs will deal the Thunder a blow in six games.
Don Manganar: This is going to be the defining series of the 2012 playoffs. The two best teams this year fight for the right to represent the West. Two great offenses. Two franchise guys – one looking to start a legacy, and another looking for one more ring to round up a Hall of Fame career. It's really too close to call. It will go seven games. And it will be the Spurs left standing.