Playoff Predictions

East
Cavs in 4
If the Raptors play their best and get lucky, they could possibly steal a game back home in Toronto. Why is it that the conference finals reminds me of the Spurs-Grizzlies series? That shouldn't happen. The Raptors are going to be without Valenciunas at the beginning of the series, Lowry hasn't been right since he dinged his elbow, Derozan is playing hard but not shooting particularly well (feels like he's just killing time til he hits free agency), Caroll's offense should disappear as he focuses on marking Lebron, Ross has played well, should probably get more opportunity (he will next year when he's filling Derozan's lost minutes), Biyombo is playing with great spirit and energy but hard to imagine that he gets much done against Thompson, Joseph is a nice player off the bench but he isn't much more than that, Powell is nice (MVP of the Pacer series IMHO) but he's not gonna slow down Kyrie, Scola is...rested...can't remember the last time he played but he'll get some time in this series. The Raptors are a rambling wreck right now, dealing with injuries and struggling putting together a consistent game plan. I just don't see how the Raptors stop the Cavs attack and I don't see how they possibly score enough points to keep up. As long as nothing catastrophic happens, the Cavs are gonna fo-fo-fo through the East.

West
Thunder in 6
Keep an eye on the Thunder to sneak away with Game One. I thought the Thunder's performance against the Mavs was sloppy and ridiculous but against the Spurs they stuck to their guns, played hard and did it their way. They made the Spurs make decisions, they put it on the Spurs and they're gunning for the Warriors next. Westbrook-Roberson-Durant-Kanter-Adams is suddenly a serious lineup driven by anger and grit. I think they can win. No one has really touched the Warriors this year: are they truly unbeatable or have they luckily avoided any real challenges? The Warriors kinda remind me of last year's (almost) undefeated Kentucky squad: that team didn't run everyone out the gym, they were deep enough to wear down most everyone the played...until the end when the level of competition got serious. Hey, man, Cavs and Thunder are both playing really good right now, the idea that the Warriors are just gonna sneeze them aside because they won 73 games during the regular season, I ain't buying it. I just watched a supposedly unbeatable team get beat (and it hurt). The Warriors are good and they can win in a variety of ways but I don't think they're overwhelmingly better than the Thunder. The Warriors have had time off, they weren't tested by the Rockets, the Blazers had some nice moments but not enough to win (Warriors over Blazers was a classic Serena performance), and Curry is still playing his way back into shape. Meanwhile the Thunder just whooped the team everyone penciled in to the Conference Finals. The Warriors haven't been punched in the face this year and the Thunder are gonna come in swinging. I think OKC starts off on a roll, the Warriors start tentative and OKC takes Game One. After that I'll take the home teams, which means OKC in 6.