3 of these second round series are just great.
Knicks struggle and rally to beat an undermanned Heat team at home. If Jimmy comes back for game 3, I think the Heat win this going away and sweep at home, putting all the pressure squarely on the Knicks who have no idea how to succeed. Jimmy, Bam and Lowry have all been tested and know what it takes. Heat in 6, with an outside shot at 5.
76ers were much more competitive on the road than I thought they would be, even stealing home court, minus the MVP Embiid. Showed they are capable of not just winning the series, but the East. It's impressive how many players the 6ers have that I just love to hate. Harden, Embiid, Tucker and Doc are all really high on my I hope they never win list. Luckily for them they are playing the team that is cemented in at 1, so LETS GO 6ERS!! Some questionable decisions from a young coach led to the loss, and as much as I dislike the Beard, he played really well. Early prediction, this goes 7 and I think the dirty c-bags escape, and a lot of fans will complain about poor officiating costing the 6ers and going full conspiracy theory saying the league wanted that other team to win.
Lakers v Warriors. Absolute shame this is just the semi-finals in the West. This has all the ear-markings to be a series people will be talking about for years to come. An absolute epic first game showcasing two completely different styles of play. This is like Ali-Frazier. No idea who wins this series, and not sure I can handle a 7 game series between these two (my fitbit registered strenuous activity late in the 4th when the Warriors went on that 14-0 run in like 90 seconds :lol: ), so I'm hoping for Lakers in 5. Most likely this goes 7, and a very slight edge to the home team there.
Suns are done. Zero depth, just getting manhandled by a tougher, deeper and more cohesive team. If CP3 is indeed out, I don't see this series making it past 5 games. And even then, that's too many games for this one.