The word of the day for the NBA conference semi-finals is BROOM! Three of the four series have already ended in sweeps. The 2 teams who met in the NBA finals last year, the Lakers and the Orlando Magic, made quick work of their opponents. The Lakers’ opponents – the Utah Jazz – are perennial bridesmaids in the NBA so the result of that series is no surprise, but the sweep is surprising. The Magic, who look like a better team this year than last, totally dismantled the Atlanta Hawks in a series that wasn’t even close. They now await the winner of the Cleveland / Boston series. The Cavaliers should clearly be the better team in this series, but they have fallen into the habit of only playing hard when they absolutely have to. The Cavs lost to Orlando in the Eastern finals last season but unless they get their act together on a consistent basis, they won’t even get past the Celtics, who are aging but are a proud team only a year removed from being NBA champs. The team that is looking really scary is the Phoenix Suns, who also swept their West semifinal series, over San Antonio. The Suns are normally in the same category as Utah, a good team that fades in the playoffs every season. But they are clicking on all cylinders this year, and their series win over the 4-time champion Spurs was impressive. I like the Lakers to beat them in a long hard-fought series, and I also feel that Orlando will defeat either the Cavs or Celtics, setting up a repeat of last year’s final series.
NBA – Brooms for everyone!
11
May