FanHouse's Round Two previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Or know what the hell an Ilgauskus is.
Biggest Reason You Should Watch: LeBron James versus Kevin Garnett. No, the two don't guard each other, but the fact is that, for all intents and purposes, LeBron is the Cavs' offense and KG is the Celtics' defense. Oh, and the two teams split their four games this season, with each winning their two at home. We saw how that went for Boston in the first round, and if this thing somehow goes seven, I highly doubt LeBron allows his team to get dropped by 30-something in the deciding game.
Cleveland Can Win If: LeBron can dominate a road game and steal one in Boston. As good as the Celtics were in the regular season, something isn't right with this team yet in the playoffs if they're dropping three games on the road to a 37-regular-season-win Hawks team.
Boston Can Win If: They can hold LeBron to reasonable numbers -- say, less than 30 points per game -- and don't let Cleveland's outside shooters get loose. Delonte West and Daniel Gibson (I'm so over that "Boobie" thing) killed the Wizards in round one, so if the Celtics stay at home on those guys they should be in good shape.
Video Clip to Get You Pumped: All I'm saying is, if LeBron hits from distance like this, Boston has absolutely no chance.
FanHouse's Round Two previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Or know what the hell a Radmanovic is.
Biggest Reason You Should Watch: Because ... are you kidding me? According to the numbers (err point differential), these were the best two Western Conference teams this season. Both boast insane offenses, built on the backs of insane offensive talents. The fans are rabid (well, at least through 42 minutes of playing time for one of these teams). These two squads share strengths and weaknesses, which should portend a see-saw battle. And hey! it's the Western Conference semifinals! These games are good!
(The rest of The Riot can be found after the jump.)
FanHouse's Round Two previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Or know what the hell a Hedo is.
Biggest Reason You Should Watch: Because we're all dying to find out how Detroit intends on matching up with Dwight Howard. Oh, and Detroit so conveniently "flipped" their on switch recently, but Orlando presents a significantly more difficult task to overcome while on cruise control.
The Magic Can Win If: The shooters can hit from the outside. Howard is going to get his 20-15 (which is a scary thought), but Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis have to post similar numbers at minimum, to what they put up against Toronto. Which, yes, will be vastly more difficult to pull off with Tayshaun Prince extending out against them. Jameer Nelson averaging 17 and five for the second straight series wouldn't hurt either.
The Pistons Can Win If:Rasheed Wallace keeps his head together. Detroit can't afford anything like the two point stinker the put up against Philly in the third game of that series. With Antonio McDyess dealing with a busted grille, the Pistons Need4Sheed is strong right now. Jason Maxiell and Dice will help out on guarding D-Ho, but Sheed has to stay hot and bring the only size Detroit has, Howard, to the perimeter to guard him.
Video Clip to Get You Pumped: I get the feeling FanHouse may stop putting me in charge of "pump you up" videos.
FanHouse's Round Two previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Or know what the hell an Udoka is.
Biggest Reason You Should Watch: Because Chris Paul v. Tony Parker is just like Chris Paul v. Jason Kidd, except this time CP3's opponent can shoot and play defense. Oh, and if you really ever wanted a "new - old" rivalry that you could wax all philosophical about by the water cooler, this is it. The Spurs have championships galore. The Hornets won the first divisional championship in the history of New Orleans this year. Plus, we're all a little sick of Manu at his point, no?
New Orleans Can Win If: Well, they can't, if you listen to most of the hating. Paul is going to be otherworldly. Peja Stojakovic has to do what he did last round, which is shoot lights out. It will be tougher this time against Bruce Bowen, who cheats plays hard nosed defense, but CP3 is so good at manipulating defenses that it's entirely possible. Tyson Chandler needs to come up with a little more offense (7.2 against Dallas) to take some of Tim Duncan's heat off of David West too.
San Antonio Can Win If: Tim Duncan can stop the X-man. West averaged 22 plus against Dallas and while Paul makes this team go, if they can't score in the post, it becomes a heck of a lot harder to hit from the perimeter. Duncan's defense is actually still pretty underrated, but then again so is West. Or is he overrated now? I can never remember. Whatever. This is the Spurs. They can't ever not win.
Video Clip to Get You Pumped: Well, I was going to use French disc jockey DJ Hornet (get it?) but I wasn't sure if it was safe for work, and well, frankly it sucked. Instead, a quite possibly irrelevant South Park clip about distinct styles. If Randy Marsh's wail at the end doesn't get you stoked, I don't know what will.
It's playoff time, and FanHouse has got you covered. Our previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Which you probably haven't.
Biggest Reason You Should Watch: Because Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh are the league's most talented big men not yet household names. Winning the Slam Dunk Contest certainly helped raise Howard's image, but the playoffs are where reputations are really created, and for the first time ever, one of these two are guaranteed to advance to the second round.
Orlando Can Win If:Hedu Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis stay hot from long distance. With Howard dominating the paint, Turk and 'Shard have been hitting 43.5% and 45.1% of their three-point attempts, respectively, since the All-Star break. The Raptors know a thing or two about hitting the long ball, but they don't have anyone as locked as those two.
Toronto Can Win If: Bryan Colangelo puts out a hit on Howard? Okay, that's a bit extreme, but at the very least they'll need Bosh to play a near perfect series. In the Raptors' only win against the Magic this year, Bosh scored 40 points by going 14-16 from the field and 11-11 from the line. Obviously he's not going to be able to do that every night, so he'll need steady contributions from their supporting cast, not to mention cohesive play from their two-headed point guard monster, T.Jose Forderon.
It's playoff time, and FanHouse has got you covered. Our previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Which you probably haven't.
Biggest Reason You Should Watch: (***Warning -- Please watch your step, there's a large, bloody horse in front of you***) Because Tracy McGrady still has to win a playoff series. It seemed like we'd moved on, accepted T-Mac's career for what it was (a superb athlete and near-MVP candidate but a guy who just wouldn't advance in the postseason), then the Rockets started playing well. And then Yao Ming got KO'd for the season. And then they played better. Like 22 consecutive games better. Then they finished out 9-7 and here we are again. Rockets. Jazz. A chance to change history. Only team can suuuuuuurvive. (/movie preview voice) Or something like that. Feel free to kick the horse on your way out. Everyone else in America already has.
Houston Can Win if: If Luis Scola can justify his v. UTA and April splits. Scola averaged nearly 16 points and 10 boards a game (sample size!) in three contest against the Jazz this year and posted 14 points and nine boards for the month of April. He and Dikembe Mutumbo have to nullify the post presence of Carlos Boozer; the Rockets already play stupendous perimeter defense (43 eFG%) but they need to take the paint too.
Utah Can Win If: Mehmet Okur can get hot they'll run away with it. If Okur hits his threes and draws a big body to the perimeter to guard him, Boozer is going to go absolutely apesmell down low. And judging by their late season matchup, Rick Adelman is probably concerned about how much Deke will factor into the Rockets' ability to control the paint. And possibly his age. Rumor is he's older than Tejada.
Video Clip to Get You Pumped:Bill. Shatner. (I'm rolling with the obvious Rocket theme here and if you ask, some convoluted Elton John>piano>Jazz type of stretch.)
It's playoff time, and FanHouse has got you covered. Our previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Which you probably haven't.
Biggest Reason You Should Watch: The Pistons' veteran core spends the entire season rounding into shape for this moment: the beginning of the playoffs. Consider watching them an advance scouting opportunity for what is likely to be an epic Conference Finals battle with the Celtics in a few weeks.
Philadelphia Can Win If: They believe that their two wins over the Pistons in their last two meetings were for real, and not a result of Detroit looking past them or not playing their starters for their usual minutes. If they can force turnovers they way they did in the last two meetings (Detroit had 12 and 15, respectively) they can get a game or two.
Detroit Can Win If: They don't take this team too lightly, and cut down on their turnovers. The Pistons are built for the playoffs, so this should be their time to shine. But even with the Sixers winning the last two meetings, it may be hard to give their complete attention to a sub-.500 team in the postseason.
Video Clip to Get You Pumped: This is from the 2005 series between these teams, and is worth watching for Charles Barkley's description of Willie Green at the free throw line late in the game, at about the 1:00 mark of the clip.
It's playoff time, and FanHouse has got you covered. Our previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Which you probably haven't.
Biggest Reason You Should Watch: If you like playoff mismatches where one team has absolutely no chance of defeating the other, then this one's for you. The Celtics won all three meetings this season by an average of 14 points per game, and it will probably be more of the same for a Hawks team that snuck into the playoffs with a record of just 37-45.
Atlanta Can Win If: Two of the Celtics' big three go down with injuries and miss the series. Honestly, I don't see much of a shot for the Hawks, but I'll play along. These two teams met less than a week ago, and apparently the Celtics were really whooping it up during their victory. So maybe if the Hawks players take it personally, and are determined not to be just a joke to the team with the league's best record, maybe they can steal a game in this series.
Boston Can Win If: They simply play their game, which means defensive pressure and rebounding for 48 minutes, and don't take this Hawks team that they've had little trouble with this season too lightly.
Video Clip to Get You Pumped: Hopefully with all off the money the Hawks are receiving from their first playoff appearance in nine years, they can get their mascot some more reliable transportation to the game.
It's playoff time, and FanHouse has got you covered. Our previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Which you probably haven't.
Biggest Reason You Should Watch: Third times the charm, right? The Wizards hope so after losing to the Cavs in the first round each of the last two years. Last year's series was a snoozer as both Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler watched from the sidelines due to injury, but the 2006 series was epic. This one should be as good as the original with the Wiz ostensibly at full strength and already waging a war of words through the press. Will LeBron James make DeShawn Stevenson pay for calling him overrated? Will Arenas come through with some of his once-trademark game-winners? Watch and see. Cavaliers Can Win If: LeBron James doesn't take Washington's barbs personally. Charles Barkley thinks an angry LeBron is a dangerous LeBron, but he'll be playing right into Washington's hands if he tries to do too much himself. The Cavs need a strong effort by the supporting cast to defeat the Wizards, who are not only deeper but also more balanced. Whether it's Wally Szczerbiak or Daniel Gibson catching fire or Ben Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas turning back the clock, someone needs to help pick up the slack.
Wizards Can Win If: Their Big 3 stays healthy and Agent Zero re-discovers his swag. After missing most of the season recovering from knee surgery, Arenas played in just five games down the stretch, coming off the bench in all of them. His performance has been understandably uneven, but he'll need to get back to being an elite scoring option for the Wiz to counter LeBron.
It's playoff time, and FanHouse has got you covered. Our previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Which you probably haven't.
Biggest Reason You Should Watch: In a rematch of what was arguably last season's most compelling playoff series, the Suns try to exact revenge on a Spurs team that eliminated them with some questionable tactics on their way to winning the title. And with things heating up between these teams recently, this might be one of the most hard fought first round match-ups in the history of the NBA. (Too much?)
Phoenix Can Win If: Shaq can stay out of foul trouble, and the Suns can use him to let Amare continue to get loose. Stoudemire has been an absolute beast since Shaq's arrival, mainly because for some inexplicable reason teams still prefer to double team the Big Cactus instead of Stoudemire. With Amare and Shaq in the fold, it's going to make things very tough on Tim Duncan.
San Antonio Can Win If: Manu Ginobili is healthy, and the Spurs' defense can contain the Shaq-Amare combo. Ginobili (Sixth Man or not) has really been the Spurs' most consistent player all season. If he's over the groin injury that sidelined him recently for three games, the Spurs should be in good shape. As long as they can defend Amare Stoudemire, who has historically more than held his own against Tim Duncan.
Video Clip to Get You Pumped: Is there really any question? This was the defining play of last year's battle, and the one that ended up getting Amare suspended for Game 5, which ultimately cost Phoenix the series.
