Game Ones of the Conference Finals Thoughts

Wanted to give some of my thoughts after the first games of the conference finals.

Let's start with the Bulls and Heat. They will play game 2 tonight, and we'll see if the Bulls can keep up their dominance on the boards. They overall outplayed the Miami Heat. The Heat just never looked that into it. I was wondering what kind of letdown would the Heat have after beating Boston. They really took a lot into that series, and we will see if they can bring it back tonight. Derek Rose led the way like an MVP should for the Bulls with 28 points. Taj Gibson had two highlight dunks that you will probably keep seeing this playoffs season and probably in later highlight reels. The Bulls just dominated that fourth quarter putting up 31 points in it. They took over with about 7:00 minutes left in the third quarter when it was tied, and never looked back. I'm a bit surprised the Bulls took over the game as much as they did, but the depth of Chicago is better than Miami's depth, so maybe it's not that big of a surprise. Bosh was able to FINALLY step up and he led the Heat in scoring. So if the Heat can get Wade, Lebron, and Bosh all putting up points, they will have a chance to steal game two, and then it's all even in Miami.

The other side of the bracket was the Thunder and the Mavs. Dirk was perfect from the free throw line shooting 24-24. I don't even think I could go perfect from the free throw line in my front yard shooting by myself. He was able to do it in his home arena in a game one of the conference finals. He also put up 48 points cancelling out Kevin Durant's effort of 40 points. I didn't think the Thunder had anyone to really match up with Dirk, so it won't surprise me if he puts up 40 points again. He's got such a long wingspan that he can shoot over just about anyone. Durant tried to will his Thunder to a win, but it wasn't happening this night. The Thunder weren't totally out of it, but they never felt that close. Hopefully the Thunder can pull it together since they are my pick to make it to the NBA Finals. But this Mavs team really looks good especially after taking out the dreaded Lakers and really showing up in this game one. I won't change my pick, but something tells me this Mavs team will end up taking this series, and it might not be that close.