THE PRIZE
EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND PLAYOFFS
Sunday April 22, 2007
12.30ET
TV: TNT
Quicken Loans Arena
Head Coaches
Mike Brown / Eddie Jordan
Probable Starters
Larry Hughes / Antonio Daniels
Sasha Pavlovic / DeShawn Stevenson
LeBron James / Jarvis Hayes
Drew Gooden / Antawn Jamison
Zydrunas Ilgauskas / Etan Thomas
Cavaliers Bench
Damon Jones/Eric Snow/Anderson Varejao/Donyell Marshall/Daniel Gibson/Ira Newble/Scott Pollard
Wizards Bench
Darius Songaila/Roger Mason/Calvin Booth/Brendan Haywood/Michael Ruffin/Andray Blatche/Donell Taylor
**Doors open 2hr prior to tip for home games**
Game 1: Sunday April 22nd 12:30 p.m.
Wizards at Cavaliers (Quicken Loans Arena)
TV: FSN Ohio, WUAB, TNT
Game 2: Wednesday, April 25th at 8:00 p.m.
Wizards at Cavaliers (Quicken Loans Arena)
TV: FSN Ohio, NBA TV
Game 3: Saturday, April 28th 5:30 p.m.
Cavaliers at Wizards (Verizon Center)
TV: FSN Ohio, WUAB, TNT
Game 4: Monday, April 30th at TBD
Cavaliers at Wizards (Verizon Center)
TV: FSN Ohio, National TV is TBD
Game 5: Wed., May 2nd at TBD *If Needed
Wizards at Cavaliers (Quicken Loans Arena)
TV: FSN Ohio, WUAB, National TV is TBD
Game 6: Friday, May 4th at TBD *If Needed
Cavaliers at Wizards (Verizon Center)
TV: FSN Ohio, National TV is TBD
Game 7: Sunday, May 6th at TBD *If Needed
Wizards at Cavaliers (Quicken Loans Arena)
TV: TBD
KARMA'S GAME NOTES
The finals are finally here, with our Cleveland Cavalier's, buoyed with their securing of the second seed, coming up against the injury ravaged Washington Wizards. Although the Cavalier's have little respect with the national media, nobody expects anything but a comfortable series win for Cleveland. This is a repeat of last years first round matchup, however this one will not include Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, whilst the healthy Cavalier's will have a full roster to choose from including Larry Hughes who missed much of last post season due to a family tragedy.
Washington, with little options, will continue to use the same lineup they have the past two weeks which has gone 2-6. The Cavalier's, riding a 4 game win streak, will be extremely confident, utilising the same lineup through the past 22 games.
KARMA'S KEYS
* Game 1 will be very important. The crowd will be hyped, as should be the Cavalier's players who can see Conference Finals not too far down the track. However this presents some dangers. Washington have nothing to lose, and will play that way. Any complacency from Cleveland will be taken as disrespect from the Wizards players, coachs and media. They will use this to spur themselves on in hard times.
If Cleveland can come out and execute immediately, the Wizards will quickly suffer from self doubt, knowing they dont have Arenas and Butler to bail them out. A strong start on Sunday should translate into a comfortable series.
* We all know Antawn Jamison will be their goto guy. He is a a talent who has always had his way with Gooden. The Cavaliers should suck it up and allow Jamison to do his thing. He is not a player who can win it on his own. Just this past week Antawn put up a near 50 point performance, however it was in a loss. Force Stevenson, Daniels and Hayes to come up with some big plays. None of those guys have proven in their career that they can step up and consistently come up with some big plays. Even Antawn hasn't won too much in his career. Feed of their self doubt.
* The Cavalier's should have their way offensively. Look down the rosters and we have mismatches galore. Down low Ilgauskas has a massive size and skill advantage over Etan Thomas. Drew should score well with Jamison never been mistaken as a stopper. Varejao has had some success previosuly and Marshall can be used to mix it up.
As per usual we will all be calling for LeBron to get into the post. No matter who they throw at LeBron he can have his way with them. Nobody on the Wizrads active roster has the speed, the power or the defensive smarts to inhibit James. On the perimeter, Sasha and Hughes will be asked to chip away with some baskets, feed off LeBron and Ilgauskas, and limit turnovers. They are matched up against players who will be forced into a role they are not comfortable with. Attack these guys (Daniels and Stevenson) as they have nobody behind them worthwhile.
KARMA'S CALL
If the Cavaliers start strong, this game can be over very early. The Wizards will come into this all guns blazing, but if Cleveland not only withstand the onslaught, but pull away, the Wizards wont have any to counter with. I can see a comfortable win which will set up an early finishing series.
