Cavs 2012/13 Playoff Update - cgalligan's Dynasty

cgalligan's Dynasty Blog

Cavs 2012/13 Playoff Update

Posted on June 18, 2011 at 06:09 AM.

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Last time I left you I posted the Playoff seedings for Season 3 (2012/13) Just to refresh your memory, here they are again.

WEST
1) Grizzlies
2) Thunder
3) Lakers
4) Warriors
5) Nuggets
6) Rockets
7) Trailblazers
8) Clippers

EAST
1) Heat
2) Cavs
3) Knicks
4) Bulls
5) Nets
6) Pacers
7) Celtics
8) Raptors

Here are the results for the 1st round of the playoffs. No real upsets, although, in the West the #1 seed Grizzlies were pushed to Game 7 by an up and coming Clippers team. Also, the #2 seed Thunder were pushed to the limit, 7 games vs the 7th seeded Blazers... The 1 and 2 seeded Grizzlies and Thunder would eventually finish off their 1st round opponents, but it wasn't easy.

In the East, the Bulls and Nets played an **** series which ended with Chicago winning in Game 7.

Here are the results from the rest of the 1st round playoff matchups...

WEST
(1)Grizzlies over (8)Clippers 4-3
(5)Nuggets over (4)Warriors 4-2
(3)Lakers over (6) Rockets 4-1
(2)Thunder over (7)Blazers 4-3

EAST
(1)Heat over (8)Raptors 4-2
(4)Bulls over (5)Nets 4-3
(3)Knicks over (6)Pacers 4-0
(2)Cavs over (7)Celtics 4-1

2nd ROUND MATCHUPS

After an exciting 1st round that saw 3 game 7's, we move onto the 2nd round, the Conference Semi Finals...

In the West we have...
(1)Grizzlies vs (5)Nuggets
(2)Thunder vs (3)Lakers

In the East we have...
(1)Heat vs (4)Bulls
(2)Cavs vs (3)Knicks

WEST - BREAKDOWN

The Grizzlies vs the Nuggets are two complete teams, with no real superstars on either side. The Grizzlies were led in scoring by OJ Mayo, who averaged 20.5ppg during the regular season and Rudy Gay who was right on his heals averaging 19.2... The Nuggets were led by 2nd year big man Enes Kanter who averaged 21.8ppg and 10.8reb during the regular season. The Nuggets got all around effort from everyone on their roster all season long, as you can see by their leading scorers. After Kanter, their next leading scorers are Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, and Danilo Gallinari who averaged 13.2, 13.1 and 13.0ppg respectively.

The marque matchup in the 2nd round of the Western Conference Semi-Finals is the (2)Thunder vs the (3)Lakers. This series is full of superstars on both teams... Kevin Durant the back to back NBA Scoring Champ, along with Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Kendrick Perkins go up against a Laker squad that has Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. It should be a battle.

The key matchup of course will be between Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant. I think the winner of that matchup will win the series.

EAST - BREAKDOWN

There are two "sexy" matchups in the Eastern Conference Semi Finals... The 1st one is:

LeBron, DWade, CBosh vs DRose and the rest of the Bulls great role players. We've seen this matchup before, in the 2011 NBA Playoffs and it didn't work out well for Chicago. During the regular season the Bulls were led by their All NBA Point Guard Derrick Rose who averaged 24.0ppg, 8.9ast, 2.5reb and 1.3spg. Their 2nd leading scorer was Boozer at 175ppg and 8.8rpg...

Miami was led by none other than LeBron James who won his 4th consecutive MVP Award during the regular season. LeBron averaged 27.3ppg, 8.6rpg, 5.9apg, 1.7spg 1.5blkpg, and was unreal in the 1st round of the playoff vs the Raptors, averaging over 30ppg. Don't forget about the other two guys, DWade and CBosh and the Heat have some solid depth coming off the bench now, with veteran point guard Baron Davis throwing in 6.1ppg...

I look for the Heat to take out the Bulls simply because they have too much talent on the floor at any given time.

The upstart Cavaliers have finally made their return to the playoffs. During the regular season the Cavs won 50 games and were led in scoring by SF Harrison Barnes who averaged 21.4ppg along with 7.1reb, 3.2ast and 1.6stl. Their 2nd leading scorer was PG Kyrie Irving, at 18.2ppg, 3.0reb, 8.8ast, and 1.3stl.

After signing a 6yr $100m dollar contract last offseason. The 24yr old Hickson averaged 15.1ppg, 8.7reb and 1.0blk.

The road to the top has taken a little bit longer than anticipated but, the Cavs are back with a great young core of PG Kyrie Irving, SF Harrison Barnes and PF JJ Hickson and the blockbuster move the made at the trade deadline bringing in solid veterans Chauncey Billups, Trevor Ariza and Greg Oden, the Cavs appear to be legit NBA Championsip Contenders right now.

They may have gotten a raw deal however, as they have drawn the 2011/12 NBA Champion New York Knicks in their 2nd round matchup. Since the "big 3" was assembled down in South Beach, the Knicks have been able to put together their own NYC Version...

With Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. The Knicks rode those 3 Superstars to the NBA Title last year, and they are looking to repeat. This past season Carmelo led the team in scoring at 26.2ppg followed by Amare at 21.9ppg and then Paul with 19.8ppg. Paul also led the league in assists with 11.0apg and led the league in steals with 2.4stl per game. Some would argue that he was the real league MVP and not LeBron James in Miami.

The Knicks have big time firepower coming off their bench with PG/SG Jimmer Fredette and PF Kenyon Martin. Also, starting SG Landry Fields is a solid 10ppg 5reb per game player for them...

I look for the Cavs to give it all they got, but, in the end I think the Knicks have too much talent. I think the Cavs are at least one more year away but, I expect this series to go the full seven games.

Stay tuned as my next update with review the Conference Semi Finals and give you a preview of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals...