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NBA Playoff Predictions
2008 Washington Wizards v. Cleveland Cavs Playoff Predictions
The Cleveland Cavaliers
versus the Washington Wizards is expected to be
the most hotly contested series in round one of
the Eastern Conference Playoffs, just as one
might expect from a 4 vs. 5 seed matchup. This
is the third straight year that these two teams
will meet in the first round. The Cavs have
taken each of the two previous series, but will
the Wizards be able to break through in 2008?
Jimmy Boyd's Wizards/Cavs round one NBA
Playoff predictions provide his take.
The Arguments:
The Cavs may have defeated the Wizards in each of the
past two postseasons, and they may have made it to the
NBA Finals last season, but if you think they're running
away with this series, you've got another thing coming
as it will be anything but a picnic for the Cavs.
Last season, the Wizards went into the playoffs without
All-Star guards Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler. Expect
both of these players to be very hungry after having to
sit back and watch their teammates get swept by
Cleveland last year. I expect this series to look much
more like the one we saw in 2006. The Cavs took the
series in six games, but three of those games were
decided by one point and games 5 and 6 went into
overtime. Also, Lebron won't have Larry Hughes or Drew
Gooden as his supporting cast this time around. They
were traded in a deal for Ben Wallace to bring in a
dominant defensive presence, but Big Ben has looked like
anything but the player that used to rack up Defensive
Player of the Year awards left and right. But the Cavs
still do have one thing going for them that has treated
them pretty well, and that's Lebron James. Lebron
carried the Cavs to the NBA Finals last season so we are
all well aware of what he's capable of. He has been
brilliant all year long, joining an elite group of
players as one of the few in history to average at least
30 points, 7 boards, and 7 assists.
One of the biggest things the Cavs have going for them
is home court advantage. In the past two years, the Cavs
have only lost one home game in their opening round
matchups with the Wizards. History has also been fairly
kind to the number four seeds. Over the past five
seasons, only two number four seeds have gone down in
the first round (Miami in 2007 and Chicago in 2005).
While the Wizards are talented, they won't have an
answer for Lebron defensively. Also, with Arenas and
Butler missing a lot of action due to injury again this
season, the Wizards have never completely jelled.
Prediction:
Cavs in 7
Make sure you check out all of Jimmy Boyd's 2008 NBA
playoff predictions to help you break down each and
every series through the NBA Finals. And Sign up for one
of our low-cost NBA picks
packages for the most winners this postseason.
Cavs Celtics
predictions
We now have all of the first round
games broken down series by series:
Updated April 17th, 2008
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