- SEMIFINAL PREDICTIONS -
WRITTEN BY: STEPHEN A. KELLERMAN
The last 4 standing. Not a huge suprise as we have four of the top 5 seeds left. You play well in the regular season and you probably will play well in the playoffs. Win or go home and I will be glad to tell you who is going on vacation Sunday. It will be golf season soon anyhow so not a big deal. Before that though we will have the All-Star Fest on Sunday April 16th (830pm) at Playground Durham...so please show some support and drop by! Lots of prizes, giveaways, music, and more so you do not want to miss it.
3:30PM CLIPPERS vs PACERS - (PACERS +5)
After witnessing two of the best postseason performances by two former league MVP’s...I legitimately cannot predict who will take this one. Season 5 MVP Duzan put on a monster performance and was a HUGE REASON why the Pacers were able to take out the Sixers. On the flip side, Season 4 MVP Kris was THE REASON why the Clippers took out the reigning ETBL World Champions. Kris literally went Game 6 LeBron mode and single handily dismantled the Bobcats! It is important to bring up that the Pacers have the edge in this one due to the fact the Pacers beat the Clippers in the regular season. So who will make the most adjustments from that game? Duzan had 31 that game and noone on the Clippers had an answer for him. Pacers are the bigger team, the overall smarter team, the better defensive team and so I will go with the all Tamil squad. Just a ton of experience and they know Kris and Javed very well. Being able to throw a defender like Duzan at their guards is going to be a nightmare situation for the Clips and they will have to lean on their previous championship experience but that team had much better defence. Ajahmo has to play like the superstar he is or else they are going home on Sunday.
4:30PM PISTONS vs THUNDER - (THUNDER +20)
Janath and the Thunder continue their undefeated season as they look to get that elusive ETBL championship. In the regular season, these two teams matched up and the Thunder were able to secure a ten-point win. I predict the Thunder to win by at least double that margin to make a direct statement to the winner of the Pacers/Clippers. The big three of Janath, Nabil and Hashi will be too much for the Pistons. Kendall and Big Mike will need to play even bigger and better than they have thus far and that will be asking for a lot. My message to the Pistons is simple, this isn’t a lottery team in the Magic or an injury-riddled team in the Rockets...this is the team that went to the finals and lost by a single basket a season ago. I am rooting for GM Shaun and the Pistons to make some noise and take out the Thunder but even if they get some breaks...I just don't see it. The Thunder train is riding along smoothly and noone is going to be able to stop them. The Pistons are going to play their damn zone and the Thunder are going to exploit it by hitting timely corner 3s. Even if they go cold for a bit...they will have a stretch where they drop the hammer like they have all season. O-K-C-ya in the finals.