NBA Playoffs: Eastern Conference Second Round Outlook

The NBA Playoffs retake center stage today beginning with the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards. Eight teams are left standing after the Los Angeles Clippers needed a last-second shot by Chris Paul to eliminate the defending champion, the San Antonio Spurs. All of the second round matchups are set.

Yesterday, the focus was placed on the teams out west, today the attention will go to the east. Pairings of division rivals set the tone while serving as the backdrop in the battle to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA finals.

Atlanta is not your ordinary title contender. Typically, when you think of teams that can win the whole thing, you can point to the stars on the team. Who are the stars on the Hawks? Center-Forward Al Horford, when healthy, is their best player. He is a three-time NBA all-star, yet he does not strike the consciousness as a bona-fide star. He is a solid player on a team of solid players.

Four Atlanta Hawks were named to the NBA All-Star team. The list included Horford, forward Paul Millsap and guards Kyle Korver, and Jeff Teague. Neither of them have a sexy name, each player on this team does what they are supposed to do, which is a great thing. Looking at the history of the NBA Playoffs this Atlanta Hawks team should remind you of the 2004 Detroit Pistons team that won the championship over a star-laden Los Angeles Lakers’ team.

The Hawks opponents, the Wizards have some star power.

Guard John Wall is one of the most tantalizing players in the league. He, along with backcourt mate, were called out by grizzled veteran Paul Pierce in a Jackie MacMullan interview in ESPN a few weeks ago.

Pierce challenged his Wizards, daring them to be great.

“I talk to them a lot about mental preparation and consistency. I keep telling Wall and Beal, ‘You’ve got to make up your mind. Do you want to be good, or do you want to be great? Because if you want to be great, you gotta do it every single night, not just when you feel like it.”

“Both of those guys have the potential to be great. I love them. But sometimes I’m not sure they realize what it takes.”

How did Wall and Beal respond – by sweeping a Toronto Raptors team that had home court advantage in impressive fashion.

They went 1-3 against the Hawks, but that is revisionist history now. This motivated group is ready to ignore the fact that 14 games separated them from the Hawks in the standings.

What is the NBA Playoffs without LeBron James playing a team that hates him?

Throw out conventional wisdom when the Cleveland Cavaliers play the Chicago Bulls in this series. Nothing that happened in the regular season will continue to take place in the NBA Playoffs.

Versus LeBron, the Bulls are 3-12 in the postseason. That could change as they are facing a team that is no longer stacked up. Sure, any team with LeBron always has a chance to win, but other than guard Kyrie Irving, who else can be relied upon?

Kevin Love will miss 4-6 months after having surgery to repair a dislocated shoulder and torn labrum. Cleveland will not have his services, evening the playing field for once, perhaps giving the keys to the Bulls to run them off the court in this series.

For the last three years, LeBron-led teams have had to deal with injury-riddled Bulls’ teams and now the roles are reversed.

This is the healthiest that the Bulls have been all season long. Derrick Rose is beginning to play like Derrick Rose. Jimmy Butler is as good on offense as he is on defense, and Pau Gasol is having a career year. Do not worry about Joakim Noah getting up for this series, he told reporters that he is “very excited to go to Cleveland.”

This will be a drag ’em out, break ’em down series that will excite the fans.

The second round of the NBA Playoffs are here and it appears that the Eastern Conference will not disappoint.

[Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images Sport]