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No. 1 vs. No. 9
No. 1:
| Quarterfinal Matchups | |
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No. 1 vs. No. 9 No. 5 vs. No. 13 No. 3 vs. No. 11 No. 2 vs. No. 10 |
No. 9:
Best 3 (Tracy McGrady, Dirk Nowitzki, Amare Stoudemire)
Worst 3 (Brad Sellers; Rodney White; Tom Hammonds)
The Pick: Against any other draft slot, the top-heavy No. 9s would have a great chance of moving on to the Final Four. But it takes more than three great players to knock off the No. 1 juggernaut, whose second-best 3 could go to the Final Four in this comp.
No. 13:
Best 3 (Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone,
Richard Jefferson)
Worst 3 (Michael Smith;
Dwayne Washington; Terry Dehere)
The Pick: The 13s were an early Cinderella surprise on the strength of Kobe and the Mailman, but the 5s match them tit-for-tat at the top, plus add all that depth. And Michael Smith wasn't drafted at the 5th spot (though if the Celtics had that pick...)
No. 11:
Best 3 (Reggie Miller, Allan
Houston, Robert Horry)
Worst 3 (Trajan
Langdon, Carlos Rogers, Todd Fuller)
The Pick: No. 3, begrudgingly. Could the road be any easier for this underwhelming group at No. 3?
No. 10:
Best 3 (Paul Pierce, Horace
Grant, Caron Butler)
Worst 3 (Adam Keefe, Johnny Dawkins, Rumeal
Robinson)
The Pick: No. 2 Hard to argue with their Best 3, who will all end their careers in NBA's All-Time Top 50.
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