The top seeded Indiana Pacers struggled with the smaller line up of Atlanta and surprisingly Atlanta pushed the series to seven games before falling in to the Pacers. Atlanta's point guard, Jeff Teague has a big part of this averaging 20 points and 5 assists a game during the series. Indiana overcame their star center playing terribly during the first six games of the series averaging only 4 points per games during the series including zero points in games 5 and 6 before having his best game of the series in game 7, scoring 13 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Atlanta's smaller faster lineup gave Indiana's larger slower lineup fits during the series until Indiana prevailed in game 7. Moving on Indiana will have to deal with one of the best backcourts in the NBA when they struggle with controlling Atlanta's less powerful backcourt. Their front court will have to come back and have a great series as well especially Hibbert, who had a less then spectacular series against the smaller Hawks, who he should have been able to dominate. The front court matchup will be tougher for the Pacers, and their fans will have to hope that the tougher matchup helps them to play better in this series.
WIZARDS
The 5th seeded Wizards made quick work of the Chicago Bulls, winning the series in five games. I thought that this series would be a closer one than this, but the Wizards proved me wrong. The Wizards and their offense proved to be to much for the Bulls great defense as the Bulls offense just could not keep up to the superior Wizards offense. In the first four games of the series, the Wizards scored around 100 points per game against one of the best defenses in the NBA. Their front court players will have to show that they truly can play well against one of the better front courts in the NBA when they are playing good in the Pacers.
BACKCOURTS
INDIANA
Indiana's backcourt is not the best in the NBA but is improving. Their point guard is a serviceable point guard that runs the game and keeps the offense moving and running the correct plays. He passes the ball decently for a starting point guard but still is not the greatest at it. Their shooting guard is improving every year and getting better in many areas of the game. Lance Stephenson is very athletic and likes to attack the basket for rebounds, layups, and dunks. His shooting has been an improving part of his game as well as his defense. Their backcourt will have to show up especially on the defensing end of the court because they are facing one of the better backcourts in all of the NBA in the Wizards.
WIZARDS
Their back court is one of their strengths and as the Pacers struggled in their last series against a lesser back court, unless the Pacers change how they defended and improve all of a sudden. The Wizards starting point guard, John Wall, is once of the up and coming point guards in the league and in a year or two he will be one of the best in the league if he is not already. What is scary is that the Wizards backcourt is already good and they will just continue to get better over the next few years. Their shooting guard Beal has a good jump shot especially from deep shooting 45% in the series with the Bulls.
ADVANTAGE: Wizards
FRONTCOURTS:
INDIANA
Indiana has one of the best front courts when they are playing at their best. When their small forward, Paul George, is playing at the top of his game he is one of the best players in the NBA. Though the Pacers had a bad series collectively against the Pacers, George still averaged 24 points per game on 46% shooting so it was not much of his fault. He should be able to dominate his matchup because the Wizards starting small forward is not that good of a player. The Pacers power forward as a lot of NBA experience and is one of the glue pieces that brings the Pacers together. When he is doing well the Pacers usually do well. Though he did not have a great series against the Hawks, he will have to come up big against the Wizards who have a taller, stronger, and better front court. Another player that will have to preform considerably better than he did the last series is Roy Hibbert, their starting center. He basically did not show up in the last series against the Hawks only averaging 4 points in games 1-6 and scoring 0 points in games 5 and 6. Hibbert will have to show that he is one of the best centers in the NBA against the Wizards if the Pacers want to win this series. He has to opportunity to prove that the last series was a fluke and show that he is a great center in this league.
ADVANTAGE: Pacers
BENCH:
INDIANA
The Pacers bench has improved over last year where there was a great difference between the quality of their starters and their reserves. This year they got better players on their bench and it helped them get the top seed in the East. They have an underrated back up center in Mahinmi. They have four to five quality players off of their bench who can come in and contribute at any time.
WIZARDS
The Wizards do not have as deep of a bench as Indiana. The Wizards has basically three players that their bench is consisted of that play. Their backup guard, Andre Miller, has a ton of experience which is extremely beneficially with the inexperienced Wizards. Overall the Wizards next year should improve their bench if they want to go farther on in the playoffs then they already are right now.
ADVANTAGE: Pacers
PREDICTION:
This depends on which Pacers team shows up. If the team that showed up in the beginning of the regular season shows up, then this could be a series that they win in 5 or 6 games. However, If the Pacers that showed up in the Hawks series shows up, then they could lose this series in 6 games and have an unwanted early exit from these playoffs. I think that the Pacers will have more of the team that they were in the beginning of the year instead of the team that we saw in the Hawks series with the Pacers winning in 6 or 7 games. Pacers in 7.
ADVANTAGE: Wizards
FRONTCOURTS:
INDIANA
Indiana has one of the best front courts when they are playing at their best. When their small forward, Paul George, is playing at the top of his game he is one of the best players in the NBA. Though the Pacers had a bad series collectively against the Pacers, George still averaged 24 points per game on 46% shooting so it was not much of his fault. He should be able to dominate his matchup because the Wizards starting small forward is not that good of a player. The Pacers power forward as a lot of NBA experience and is one of the glue pieces that brings the Pacers together. When he is doing well the Pacers usually do well. Though he did not have a great series against the Hawks, he will have to come up big against the Wizards who have a taller, stronger, and better front court. Another player that will have to preform considerably better than he did the last series is Roy Hibbert, their starting center. He basically did not show up in the last series against the Hawks only averaging 4 points in games 1-6 and scoring 0 points in games 5 and 6. Hibbert will have to show that he is one of the best centers in the NBA against the Wizards if the Pacers want to win this series. He has to opportunity to prove that the last series was a fluke and show that he is a great center in this league.
ADVANTAGE: Pacers
BENCH:
INDIANA
The Pacers bench has improved over last year where there was a great difference between the quality of their starters and their reserves. This year they got better players on their bench and it helped them get the top seed in the East. They have an underrated back up center in Mahinmi. They have four to five quality players off of their bench who can come in and contribute at any time.
WIZARDS
The Wizards do not have as deep of a bench as Indiana. The Wizards has basically three players that their bench is consisted of that play. Their backup guard, Andre Miller, has a ton of experience which is extremely beneficially with the inexperienced Wizards. Overall the Wizards next year should improve their bench if they want to go farther on in the playoffs then they already are right now.
ADVANTAGE: Pacers
PREDICTION:
This depends on which Pacers team shows up. If the team that showed up in the beginning of the regular season shows up, then this could be a series that they win in 5 or 6 games. However, If the Pacers that showed up in the Hawks series shows up, then they could lose this series in 6 games and have an unwanted early exit from these playoffs. I think that the Pacers will have more of the team that they were in the beginning of the year instead of the team that we saw in the Hawks series with the Pacers winning in 6 or 7 games. Pacers in 7.
No comments:
Post a Comment