First, let's wrap up Round 1.
East
(1) Bulls - (8) Pacers
Indiana put up a damn good fight every game, and well could've won this series, but just too much Derrick Rose early on. The Pacers had him under wraps a couple games and did an excellent job stopping him, but at that point the Bulls had it won.
(2) Heat - (7) 76ers
Philly did the same thing and Indy. The young Sixers squad came out to play and never game up in any of the games. Lots of heart from those young folks, but not nearly enough to topple King James and Co.
(3) Celtics - (6) Knicks
Games 1 & 2 easily could've gone to NY and completely changed the complexion of the series, but Boston hit the big shots in both those games and left the Knicks demoralized in MSG. Boston finished them off their with ease.
(4) Magic - (5) Hawks
This was the most surprising series to me. Perhaps I completely overestimated the Magic. I still don't think the Hawks are a great team. I simply think Orlando played terribly during the series, aside from Dwight Howard, and no one could step up to help him out.
West
(1) Spurs - (8) Grizzlies
I anticipated a hard series for the Spurs, but I didn't think they'd lose it. I'm not too surprised, considering Memphis matches up phenomenally against San An. This was probably the one team SA didn't want to face in the playoffs. There were a couple games that could've gone either way in the series, one went to the Spurs and the other went to the Griz. Could've been a different story had SA taken the first tossup game. I'm sad to see the legends that are Tony Parkey, Manu Ginobili, and THE Tim Duncan go so early. Always a great team to watch and I hope they come back strong next year.
(2) Lakers - (7) Hornets
NO startled LA early on, but not even a tweaked ankle from Kobe was going to let them lose this series. LA was just the better team.
(3) Mavs - (6) Blazers
This was a more lopsided series than it showed. After a Game 4 Portland victory, I said the series was over. Dallas won. It took everything from their no name players and has-been superstar Brandon Roy to win that game. Not to mention Dirk and Terry shot terribly and you BARELY win the game. Portland needed everything to go right for them and everything to go wrong for Dallas to squeak by games. The Mavs came back the next two games and handled them to finish the job.
(4) Thunder - (5) Nuggets
Lots of firepower from both teams, but too much Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Both very fun teams to watch.
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