The second round gets underway tonight with two games:
Wizards at Pacers
6:00 pm Central
TNT
The Wizards looked terrific in beating the Bulls in round one: quicker and stronger then the Bulls. Their shooting, however, can be a mixed bag, and they can have wild swings where they look pretty bad. Meanwhile, the Pacers barely escaped the Hawksin seven games, and will need to play much better if they want to continue. Roy Hibbert seemed to find a little bit of his game in game seven, and the Pacers will need him and their other bigs against a fairly potent offensive duo of Marcin Gortat and Nene up front.
It will be a size (Pacers) vs. quickness (Wizards) in the back court, and for the Wizards to win, they will have to take advantage in transition. John Wall will need to use his speed to get early opportunities before the Pacers defense can get set.
Randy Wittman coaching in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Will wonders never cease.
Clippers at Thunder
8:30 pm Central
TNT
A star-laden matchup, with Chris Paul going head to head against Russell Westbrook, while Blake Griffin will try to have his way underneath. Meanwhile,Kevin Durant finally heated up late in the Grizzlies series, and will look to carry that over. This is probably the headline matchup of the 2nd round, with the fact that the Clippers emerged from the Donald Sterling debacle adding spice. Looking forward to this one.
Enjoy the games. Chat about them here.