Brunch: Reheat Round 1/Recipe for Round 2

Reheat Round 1

LeBron finished his breakfast, though it didn’t go down without a fight. Perhaps Chris Bosh took some Tums with his milk.

Is your food fighting you?

The Heat however have gone through in 5 and now face Boston. While I did manage to pick the winner of both these series… well, anyone could have done that. How did the rest of my picks go? (Bold is for correct picks)

Magic in 5, Nuggets in 6, Mavericks in 5, Bulls in 4, Heat in 6, Celtics in 6, Spurs in 7, Lakers in 4.

That’s not real great. In fact it was a kitchen catastrophe. But I’ve washed the dishes now and am ready to cook up the next course. Here’s my…

Recipe for Round 2

Sometimes you need to save a recipe: the sauce reduced too much, the dough is breaking up, and so on. And sometimes you need to save your picks: the Magic can’t shoot, you just liked watching the Nuggets play, officiating errors swung the game winning basket in multiple Game 1s…

But is a drastic change needed? Let’s dig in.

3 Celtics at 2 Heat

While the Heat’s inconsistency gave the Sixers hope and allowed them to steal a game, the Celtics slammed the door on the Kincks. But what is that saying? I’m staying the course. Heat in 6. Heat to win the Eastern Conference.

8 Memphis at 4 OKC

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The Heat aren’t the only team with crunch-time issues caused by multiple crunch-time scoring options. Pat wrote about Westbrook’s endgame decisions and in particular how those don’t always line up nicely with his and Durant’s shooting percentages. And since points per game is the path to pay, that tension may always stick around. The Grizzlies big men were too much for the aging Spurs, with the Gasol/Randolph combo putting up a combined 35-21 for the series. But the Thunder bigs are getting it done with defense, including Ibaka’s improbable (questionable?) 4.8 blocks per game in the first round. The difference in the series of course will be OKC’s superstar scorers, and I believe Durant will get it done. I’m flip-flopping on the Thunder, but in my defense, I picked against both teams in round 1 so bad prognostication left me no choice. Thunder in 6.

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5 Atlanta at 1 Chicago

The Hawks knocked out the cold-shooting Magic while the Bulls let the Pacers take a game before closing out. I’m still not in love with the offensive plan for the Bulls–Rose penetrates like Westbrook, but without a Kevin Durant around. The Hawks just don’t seem good enough to do anything about it. Bulls in 5.

3 Dallas at 2 Los Angeles

I thought the Lakers would have an easier time than they did with the Hornets. The Mavs meanwhile blew a ridiculous lead to the Blazers in round 1, but managed to close out the series and advance.

I’m sticking to my guns, like Ron Artest.

Lakers in 6. Lakers to win the NBA Food Network Challenge.