The Silver Surfer & 2nd Round Predictions

Originally this was supposed to be a "Winners and Losers from Round 1" column. One guy was so far above the other guys, I decided to flip that into an introduction dedicated specifically to him.

Adam Silver destroyed all competition.

His response and discipline for the Donald Sterling situation was perfect. This ugly and unfortunate event placed the spotlight directly on the NBA. Luckily for Silver and the league, it shone smackdab in the middle of the craziest, most entertaining first round I can remember.The first round had five seven-game series, buzzer beaters, suspensions, locker room face offs, fresh faces, and legitimate concerns about "contenders" in OKC and Indy. I actually had a piece ready to go about the fall of the Thunder, but a Z-Bo punch to the jaw of Steven Adams changed my plans. All that, (plus a weird thing that happened with a headline in an Oklahoma City paper about Kevin Durant that blew up way bigger than it should have) let to a nice increase in ratings across the board for the first round. No one is smiling bigger than Silver in his first playoffs as commissioner.

Onto my 2nd round predictions.

West:
(3)Clippers vs. (2)Thunder
Both teams are coming off seven-game series. We watched OKC play crappy basketball for 5 of 7 games, but two smart(ish) performances by the MVP, Russell Westbrook and even Scott "My seat should still be on fire" Brooks, helped them escape round 1 by the skin of a Joey Crawford ball grab. *Pause*

The Clippers on the other hand were the center of attention in round 1. Their disgusting owner took eyes off the basketball court and onto his racist shenanigans. They were able to feed off of Sterling's ouster to beat the Warriors in 7. They have a better coach in Doc Rivers(it's going to be a bloodbath in this dept.), smarter PG, in Chris Paul, a KD irritant in Matt Barnes, outside shooting that'll make the Thunder pay for their shitty rotations, bench scoring, and I haven't even gotten to the vastly improved Blake Griffin. Throw in DeAndre Jordan who can be a handful when he's focused, and you have the ingredients for a team that can beat the Thunder and get the alarms sounding in OKC again.

The Thunder can win if...
1. KD has an MVP series.
2. Russ being Russ means more Good Russ than Bad Russ.
3. Scott Brooks gets his head out of his ass.
4. The OKC backcourt can play solid defense- In the first round, it took solid play from the OKC frontline to make life tough for the Memphis Bangerz. This round, LAC boasts a backcourt rotation of CP3, Jamal Crawford, Darren Collison(no relation to Nick da gawd), JJ Redick. If the OKC backcourt guys can play disciplined, pressure defense and make life hard for the Clips, they could advance.

(5)Blazers Vs. (1)Spurs
The Portland Trailblazers won their first playoff series in 14 years on the backs of Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge. They run up against the veteran San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs who destroyed the surprising Dallas Mavs in the seventh game of their series are looking to get back to the Finals after last year's heartbreaking defeat.San Antonio's experience(and they have a lot of it) will be too much for the young Blazers to handle. I think it'll go very similarly to the Spurs' second round matchup last year against Golden State; exciting games against a good young team, but ultimately the Spurs will win in 6.

The Blazers can win if...
1. Father Time catches up to San Antonio. Year after year we expect the Spurs to be a step slower. Coach Pop rests his players so well, he's managed to keep their aging stars in great shape for the playoffs.
2. Damian Lillard can take another step forward.
3. Nic Batum has a huge series.

East:

(1)Pacers vs (5)Wizards
I've watched the Indiana Pacers completely lose their basketball skill slowly but surely over the course of 3 months. Roy Hibbert has turned into Uwe Blab. Seriously, has there ever been a key clog lose all confidence as quickly as Hibbert? They looked as bad as you expected them to in the first round. They've showed nothing that would make me think they have turned it around.

The Wizards have savvy big men and two explosive young guards in John Wall and Bradley B3al. Washington also has a lot of playoff experience up and down their roster. Nene, Ariza, Gortat, Andre Miller are all battle tested. Wizards in 6.

The Pacers can win in if...

Nope.

(2)Heat vs (6)Nets
Brooklyn got the matchup they wanted in the second round. Paul Pierce and KG get one last crack at Lebron and Co. Unfortunately, Miami is well rested and ready for a battle. The only way Brooklyn can upset is if they get a couple of vintage performances from their older players. I just don't see that happening. Brooklyn will make them sweat a bit, but ultimately it'll be Miami in 6.

The Nets can win if...

Nah.