With the NBA playoffs having begun, Editor Adam Adkins and News Editor Taurin Hickman are here to give you some opinions on who\u2019ll win and why.<\/p>\n
<\/em><\/p>\n Are there any potential upsets in the first round?<\/em><\/p>\n Taurin: I really wish Memphis had a healthy Rudy Gay.\u00a0\u00a0 If so, I would pick them over San Antonio.\u00a0 I also think New York has a chance over Boston.<\/p>\n Adam: We all agree that the Kendrick Perkins trade hurt, but I don\u2019t see the Celtics losing to a team that is allergic to defense.\u00a0 I\u2019d watch out for the Portland-Dallas series.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n What would be the most exciting second round matchup?<\/em><\/p>\n Adam: How does the Miami Heat playing the Boston Celtics grab you?<\/p>\n Taurin: Star-studded.\u00a0 You could have seven All-Stars on the court at once.\u00a0 The Lakers-Blazers series would be exciting.\u00a0 If I\u2019m a Laker fan, I\u2019m scared of Portland.\u00a0 They can definitely give Kobe fits.<\/p>\n Adam: The Gerald Wallace trade might cost the Lakers a fourth straight trip to the Finals and a third ring.\u00a0 In the end, I\u2019d take the Lakers, but it won\u2019t be easy.\u00a0 I think Thunder-Spurs could be neat, too.\u00a0 Old Guard versus New Guard?<\/p>\n Taurin: Russell Westbrook versus Tony Parker would be interesting.\u00a0 But Kevin Durant would go crazy.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Can anyone stop the Chicago Bulls?<\/em><\/p>\n Taurin:\u00a0 The Pacers can!<\/p>\n Adam: Maybe if you make the Bulls play with only their bench, but even with that bench the Pacers would be taken to a seventh game.<\/p>\n Taurin: Sigh.\u00a0 I know, I know.\u00a0 But seriously, I think Miami can.\u00a0 I think the Bulls are somewhat like the 2001 Philadelphia 76ers when it was Allen Iverson doing it all.<\/p>\n Adam: But, unlike Iverson, I think Derrick Rose wants to get more people involved.\u00a0 A Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer pick and roll is pretty good.\u00a0 But, if the Heat start running a Dwayne Wade\/LeBron James pick and roll, how do you stop that?<\/p>\n Taurin: You don\u2019t.\u00a0 You pray.\u00a0 Hopefully, the Heat will give the ball to Chris Bosh in the post.\u00a0 He can play down there.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Are the Lakers the team to beat in the West?<\/em><\/p>\n Adam:\u00a0 They absolutely are.\u00a0 They are deep, and they have a relatively healthy Kobe Bryant.\u00a0 Still, if he gets in one of his funks, can they survive?<\/p>\n Taurin: I believe they are, I think the Lakers play the best when they go inside-out.\u00a0 Hopefully Kobe realizes that and doesn\u2019t jack up random threes.<\/p>\n Adam: Back in January, I\u2019d have said the San Antonio Spurs were the favorite.\u00a0 Are you buying them at all?<\/p>\n Taurin: One word, two letters: no.\u00a0 They don\u2019t play defense.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t the defensive team they used to be.\u00a0 Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili aren\u2019t what they used to be.\u00a0 This is Tony Parker\u2019s team; can he lead you to a championship?<\/p>\n Adam: I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Who wins it all and why?<\/em><\/p>\n Adam: I am taking the Chicago Bulls to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in 6, with that point guard of theirs as MVP.\u00a0 I think the Bulls\u2019 defense and Rose making plays will be enough.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think the Lakers are good enough to win 3 straight.<\/p>\n Taurin: I\u2019m going to pick what David Stern wants: Heat versus Lakers.\u00a0 I\u2019ll take the Lakers in 6, and Kobe is the MVP (by default).\u00a0 So, bring back the Kobe and LeBron puppet commercials!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the NBA playoffs having begun, Editor Adam Adkins and News Editor Taurin Hickman are here to give you some opinions on who\u2019ll win and why. Are there any potential upsets in the first round? Taurin: I really wish Memphis had a healthy Rudy Gay.\u00a0\u00a0 If so, I would pick them over San Antonio.\u00a0 I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tartan-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-1Ef","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6339"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6343,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6339\/revisions\/6343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}