2012 NBA Playoffs - Eastern Conference Finals

The Eastern Conference looked to open up for the Miami Heat to breeze into the NBA Finals when Derrick Rose went down with a torn ACL. Then they lost a star of their own, as Chris Bosh was sidelined with a strained ab. Miami was down in their series with Indiana 2-1 at one point. Then LeBron James and Dwayne Wade absolutely went off carried the Heat into their second straight Eastern Conference Finals. This is where they will meet the Boston Celtics. Rose's injury also opened things up for the Celtics a bit. Now the Big 4 get one more chance to chase a title. It will be interesting to see how much is left in their tank after a grinding 7 game series with Philly. Here is how I see it shaking out, with a breakdown of who holds the advantage in some positional matchups.



2 Miami (-225) vs. 4 Boston (+185)

PG - Mario Chalmers vs. Rajon Rondo
SG - Dwayne Wade vs. Ray Allen
SF - LeBron James vs. Paul Pierce
PF - Shane Battier vs. Brandon Bass
C - Ronnie Turiaf vs. Kevin Garnett
Bench - Miami vs. Boston
Coach - Erik Spoelstra vs. Doc Rivers

There were doubts about Miami in the minds of many when Chris Bosh was injured and the Pacers took a 2-1 lead in their Semifinals series. LeBron James and Dwayne Wade each decided to average 33 points a game and dominate the final 3 games of the series. Boston must find a way to limit James and Wade and make someone else beat them. That is much easier said than done. For Boston, they are going to need Kevin Garnett to come up big. Miami's weakness is inside. That means KG needs to be aggressive and play physical down low. I think Boston can beat up Miami, but I don't think they can beat them in a series. Miami will march on to their second straight NBA Finals.

Prediction - Miami over Boston 4-2