----UPDATE--- Heat lose Game 1 vs. Chicago Bulls 93-86.
Warriors beating Spurs with 2 minutes remaining 104-96
These are NBA Playoff Predictions for Monday's Game 1 matchups of the second round of the postseason. It will be the Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs vs. Golden State Warriors. Which team will take the first game of the series?
The Heat and the Spurs will walk out from their Game 1's victorious as they are facing weaker foes.
First of all, for the Heat, they are healthier and have a deeper roster than the Bulls. How the Brooklyn Nets weren't able to win Saturday's Game 7 is inexcusable. They already had two straight victories as Nate Robinson was an efficient defender and Kirk Hinrich was unable to start for Chicago. Forget that Mario Chalmers has a height advantage and can pop threes for days, even Norris Cole can have a field day with his offensive abilities versus Robinson.
Also, the Bulls are without their outside threat in Luol Deng as he was barely able to get out of bed before Game 7. Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer should give the Heat a tough time with mid-range shots and trouble in the paint, but the Heat have the advantage everywhere else.
All in all, this series could finish in five games. However, if the Bulls take advantage of Heat struggles and can shoot at a high percentage, they might extend it to six games.
Game 1 Final Score: Heat Win 101-88
The Spurs might be the oldes team in this matchup, but yes, they will be keeping up with the Warriors in Game 1 of the series. How they do it? Who knows, but the Spurs are able to win against the younger teams. When the physical game fails, the Spurs' mental make up is strong and gives them confidence since they've been in the playoffs multiple times.
The Warriors almost lost to the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 as they saw an 18-point dwindle down to almost nothing. The Spurs aren't the Nuggets, which is a good and bad thing for the Warriors. On one end, the Spurs are a smarter team than the Nuggets, so when it comes to the crunch, if they had the opportunity Denver had to win the game, there would have been a Game 7 deciding that series. On the other end, the Spurs look like they might have a hard time matching up with the Warriors speed and perimeter shooting. The Warriors aren't the Los Angeles Lakers and will create matchup issues on the outside throughout the series.
Game 1 Final Score: The Spurs are at home, though they haven't been active in a while, look for it to be a sluggish game. The win 91-82.
