Playoff Predictions

I'm running a little late on these but so far nothing has changed my thoughts, so here it is.

I'll take Cavs over Hawks in 6. I think the Hawks can squeeze out wins in Games 3 and 4 making the series look close. And then the Cavs shut the door.

I'll take Heat over Raptors in 6. My gut is that the Raptors are the better team...in the regular season. But when the refs let the game play, I think there will be fewer free throws to go around which will cut into Derozan and Lowry's scoring efficiency more than the Heat's. If Lowry gets his shooting stroke back this could go 7, maybe even with Toronto moving on; but, unless that happens, I think the Heat are just too deep for the Raptors to deal with.

I'll take Spurs over Thunder in 7. I was kinda shocked by the home loss in Game Two but I expect the Spurs to take one of those games back and finish the Thunder in 7. (BTW: I think if the refs blow the whistle on that now infamous in-bounds play, they call the foul on Ginobli...which is why they let it play. Spurs still had their chance to win and came up short, not worth blaming the refs)

I'll take the Warriors in 5. I'll give the Blazers one crazy shooting night back home but otherwise I don't see the Warriors letting the Blazers even get close. And as for Steph: I wouldn't play him until the Blazers win 3 or the Spurs win 4, whichever comes first. Until then, I'd even ride out a loss or two just to give Steph all the time he needs.