2009 NBA Western Conference Semifinals Preview
Two Great Match-Ups On Tap In The Second Round Of The NBA Playoffs
The top seeded Los Angeles Lakers will face the Houston Rockets while the second seeded Denver Nuggets will do battle with the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals. Both series are very compelling and figure to be very competitive.
1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. 5 Houston Rockets
Season Series - Los Angeles leads 4-0
The Los Angeles Lakers are big favorites in this series, coming off a convincing victory over the Jazz, but they better not look past a very strong Houston Rockets team. The Lakers have Kobe Bryant, who is the best player in the Conference. The Rockets, though, have two very good perimeter defenders in Ron Artest and Shane Battier who figure to make things tough on him. When Kobe is on, however, no one is going to stop him. At the point, Aaron Brooks has played well for Houston and he gets a slight edge over his aging counterpart, Derek Fisher.
Up front, expect Andrew Bynum to be back in the starting lineup. He was not much of a factor in the Utah series because he didn't have a match-up defensively. Here, he will have his hands full with Yao Ming. Ming is the best center in the West and his performance in game 1 against Portland set the tone for the entire series. Bynum is a quality center but his lack of experience could hurt him against the veteran Ming. At power forward, Luis Scola has made tremendous strides this year for Houston and was arguably their best player in the last round, but his counterpart Pau Gasol is a legitimate all-star and Gasol gets the edge in this match-up. At the small forward, Trevor Ariza had a big impact in the previous serious but with Battier and/or Artest guarding him here, don't expect him to be much of a factor.
The benches could be the difference in the series. The Rockets have a very weak bench which does not figure to be much of a factor. The Lakers bench has been disappointing this season and has not had the same impact that it had last season. However, with Bynum back in the starting lineup, Odom will come off the bench and he will be the x-factor in the series. He is a match-up nightmare with his height and athleticism. He will have a huge advantage when the second units are on the floor and that figures to be the difference in the series.
The Rockets will put up a very good fight and figure to make this a competitive series. They are especially great at home and will be tough to beat there. In the end, though, the Lakers are just too strong.
Prediction: Lakers in 7
2 Denver Nuggets vs. 6 Dallas Mavericks
Season Series - Denver leads 4-0
Both teams are coming off convincing victories in the Western Conference Quarterfinals and this figures to be a great series. These teams are both offensive juggernauts so expect this to be a very high scoring series. In the backcourt there is a very intriguing match-up at the point between Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd. Billups was great in the last series and Kidd was solid. At this point in their careers, though, Billups has more left in the tank than Kidd and he gets the edge here. The Nuggets will likely put Dhantay Jones, an excellent defender on Kidd and he will likely shut him down like he did to Chris Paul in the last round. That means Antoine Wright will likely guard Billups and Billups should get the better of that match-up.
Up front there is an interesting match-up at center between Nene Hilario and Eric Dampier. Dampier is a solid defender but not much of an offensive player, while Nene is a solid scorer as well as decent defender and should get the better of this match-up. At power forward, Kenyon Martin will be matched up with Dirk Nowitski. Martin is a very tough, physical defender and he figures to make things tough on Nowitski. Nowitski, though, is a much better offensive player and he gets the edge here. At small forward, Carmelo Anthony will face off Josh Howard. This is the best match-up in the series as these are arguably the two best players in the series. Howard was great in the last series but he will have to work much harder defensively here and that should slow him down offensively. Anthony is one of the best offensive players in the league and he gets a slight edge here.
Both teams have strong benches that played well in the last series. J.R. Smith is capable of exploding offensively, especially from three point land. Chris Anderson gives them great energy off the bench and is an elite shot-blocker. The Mavericks have the sixth man of the year on their bench in the person of Jason Terry. He is a threat to put up twenty plus every night. J.J. Barea has also played very well off the bench for the Mavericks. However, they have very little up front off the bench. Overall the benches are about a push and should both be a big factor in the series.
If you like scoring, you willl love this series. Both teams can put up big points and it is doubtful that any game will see a team under 100 points in this series. Overall though, the Nuggets have a little more punch, a little more depth, and a little more toughness.
Prediction: Nuggets in 6
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