2005 NBA Second Round Playoff Preview: Detroit versus Indiana and Phoenix versus Dallas
Saturday night's two climactic game sevens turned out to be, well, anticlimactic. As TNT analyst Kenny Smith noted-playing off the network's "We know drama" slogan-the games were not "dramatic" but rather "traumatic," at least for the viewers (other than those in Indiana and Dallas, of course). Houston joined this year's Chicago Bulls by "accomplishing" the relatively rare feat of losing a playoff series after winning the first two games. Thanks to the collapses by the Bulls and Rockets, I went 4-4 instead of 6-2 in first round predictions.
Speaking of drama, it does not get any more dramatic than Detroit versus Indiana in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Finals. That series was hotly contested and the teams split their four regular season games this year. All of that will be pushed to the side in favor of endless rehashing of the incident that occurred last November 19 at Auburn Hills, when fans threw objects on the court and Pacer forward Ron Artest bolted into the stands, soon followed by his teammate Stephen Jackson. The ensuing mayhem resulted in NBA Commissioner David Stern suspending Artest for the rest of the season, handing out lengthy suspensions to Jackson and Pacers' star power forward Jermaine O'Neal and shorter suspensions for several other Pacers and Pistons. Other than increased security at the games, the main direct impact that this will have on the upcoming playoff series will be the absence of Artest, a vital player for the Pacers on offense and defense.
While the Pacers and Pistons can be expected to have another grind it out, defensive minded series, Dallas and Phoenix will engage in a 1980s style fast break shootout; the halftime scores in this series may approach the final scores in some of the Pacers-Pistons games. Here are previews of both of these series:
Eastern Conference Second Round:
Detroit (2) vs. Indiana (6)
Regular season records: Detroit, 54-28; Indiana, 44-38
First Round Result: Detroit def. Philadelphia, 4-1; Indiana def. Boston, 4-3
Head to Head: Tied, 2-2
Team Playoff Leaders:
Scoring--Detroit: Rip Hamilton (21.4 ppg); Indiana: Stephen Jackson (18.9 ppg).
Rebounding-Detroit: Ben Wallace (12.2 rpg); Indiana: Jermaine O'Neal (7.7 rpg).
Assists-Detroit: Billups (6.8 apg); Indiana: Anthony Johnson (5.4 apg).
Analysis/Prediction: Before the "Malice at the Palace" incident on November 19, the Pacers were handily beating the defending world champions. That is irrelevant now-Detroit has recovered splendidly from its slow, dreary start to the season and the Artest suspension and numerous injuries have weakened the Pacers. The fact that Indiana has even made it this far is a tremendous tribute to the coaching of Rick Carlisle and the resiliency and determination of the Pacer players. They simply refused to give up on their season and they will not be an easy out. Nevertheless, the task that they face is daunting. The Pistons are hitting on all cylinders now (couldn't resist that one...)-the starters are playing excellently and Antonio McDyess provides good production off the bench. Detroit does not have as much depth as it did last year, but that is not likely to be a factor considering Artest's absence and the injury problems plaguing O'Neal and point guard Jamaal Tinsley. Detroit will beat Indiana in six hard fought games.
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