2009 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals Review
Cavaliers, Magic Advance To Meet In The Third Round
The Eastern Conference Semifinals featured one very short series and one very long series. Here is a look back.
1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 4 Atlanta Hawks
Cavaliers win series 4-0
Lebron James has left little doubt in these playoffs as to who the best basketball player in the world is. He has led the Cavaliers to back to back sweeps, winning all eight games by double figures. He has been unstoppable and has dominated every playoff game. Mo WIlliams has been excellent as the second option and the rest of the supporting cast has done its job. It appears that the only thing this team has to guard against at this point is overconfidence. They will be well rested heading into their match-up with the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals.
As for the Hawks, they were overmatched in this series especially considering that they had a couple guys banged up.However, they had a breakthrough year making it to the second round of the playoffs and they are a team on the rise. Their young core of Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Marvin Williams is very good. Mike Bibby, though, is getting old and they should let him go. With the recent success of young point guards, they should consider possibly drafting a point guard. This team is only one or two pieces away from being a legitamate championship contender.
2 Boston Celtics vs. 3 Orlando Magic
Magic win series 4-3
The Orlando Magic appeared to be in big trouble after game 5. They had just blown a 14 point fourth quarter lead and gone down 3-2 to a team which has never blown a 3-2 lead in the playoffs. On top of that, their star player Dwight Howard publicly criticized his head coach. The Magic bounced back in a big way, though. Howard was great in game 6 and Hedo Turkoglu was great in game 7 as the Magic came back to win the series. Rashard Lewis was solid throughout the series and exploited his quickness advantage over the Celtics big men. The bench was also solid led by Pietrus and Gortat. The Magic will now face a very tough Cleveland Cavaliers team in the Eastern Conference Finals.
As for the Celtics, they put forth a valiant effort playing shorthanded, most notably without Kevin Garnett. Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Glen Davis led the way and kept them in the series. Ray Allen, though, was a big disappointment and struggled mightily outside of game 7. The Celtics core is getting old and the window to win another championship is closing. They should try to make one more run with this group next year but if it doesn't happen they must look to get younger and look toward the future.
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