NBA Playoffs Round 1

I realize this is a day late, but I want to make my thoughts on the NBA playoffs known. I love the playoffs and these are shaping up to be the best in a very very very long time. The first round eastern conference matchups are not all that intriguing. However, the west is nuts.

Let’s get the (L)Eastern Conference out of the way quickly:

1. Boston vs. 8. Atlanta

The biggest question in this series is not who will win. It is will Atlanta even win a game? The next question is, will Atlanta even stay within 10 points in any of the games? I am looking for Boston to come out to make a huge statement early in these playoffs. The “Boston Three Party” (Garnett, Peirce and Allen) will want to serve notice to everyone else that they are the team to beat and that they can carry their regular season success to the post season. My prediction: Boston in 4

2. Detroit vs. 7. Philadelphia

Again, the big question is not who will win. Detroit should easily dominate this series. Big games from Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller could give the 76ers one victory. That just means that the Pistons will have to go home for game five, where they will be able to sit their starters for most of the fourth quarter, as they rest for round two. My prediction: Detroit in 5

3. Orlando vs. 6. Toronto

I don’t think that this series is going to be as interesting as people have made it out to be. I think that Orlando underperformed in the regular season, but they were playing a little better during the home stretch. Dwight Schrute Howard is going to abuse Chris Bosh down low. Hedo “Should have been an all-star” Turkoglu will also have a huge series. Orland will continue the theme thus far in the East and finish the Raptors off early. My prediction: Orlando in 5

4. Cleveland vs. 5. Washington

FINALLY an Eastern Conference matchup that is not sleep inducing. Anytime that Lebron “The King” James takes the court, you can’t help but be interested. The Wizard have almost their entire season without “Nacho”, “Hibachi”, “The East Coast Assasin”, “The Jester”, “Gil”, or “Agent Zero”. Whatever you want to call him Gilbert Arenas is good. His mouth running will wake up the Cavs though and they will bring it to the Wizards from the first tip off. Due to injuries to key players all season, the Wizards are quite a bit better than their record shows. My prediction: Cavs in 6

Now to the Western Conference:

1. L.A. Lakers vs. 8. Denver

This matchup is intriguing to me, because it combines the two teams that I hate the most in the NBA. The Nuggets are the new Portland “Jailblazers”. Crymelo can’t keep his butt out of prison and the rest of the team looks like they could belong in a police lineup of some sort. The Lakers are by far the smuggest team in the NBA. Anyone with a soul hates Kobe. (Sorry Lakers fans, you don’t have souls.) As for this series, the Lakers will skate on through. The Nuggets are good enough to win, but to volatile to be consistent. Kobe will finally get out of the first round since he forced Shaq out of town. My prediction: Lakers in 5

2. New Orleans vs. 7. Dallas

Dallas got bumped out of the playoffs as the one seed last season by the Warriors. This season, Dallas has the opportunity to pass the favor along to the Hornets. (I realize that 2 vs. 7 isn’t quite the same a 1 vs. 8.) Not many people are giving the Hornets much respect in these playoffs because of their lack of playoff experience. Chris Paul is the real deal and he has brought the team to a new level. The question is, can he continue the success in the playoffs? Deron Williams did it last season, so there is no reason to believe that Paul is incapable of doing the same. Jason Kidd gives the Mavericks extra experience in the playoffs. They hope that experience will win out and that trading half of their team to get Kidd will pan out. Jason Kidd has had a hard time guarding the up-and-coming point guards. I think that he will continue to prove ineffective of the defensive end, but this will be a close one. My prediction: New Orleans in 7

3. San Antonio vs. Phoenix

I thought that this would be, by far, the best opening round matchup. Last night’s game would have made me look like a genius, if I had posted this one day earlier. Clutch three pointers by Michael Finely, Steve Nash and freaking Tim Duncan sent the game to double overtime where it took a game winning layup from Manu Ginobli to close the game. Shaq’s addition was supposed to slow down Timmy D, but he was still able to go for 40 points and 15 rebounds. Like Mike D’Antoni said after the game, “If there are six more games like this one, then someone is getting their money’s worth”. I expect both teams to continue punching each other in the mouth until the end. Even with the Spurs taking the first game, I still have the feeling that this is finally the Suns’ year to throw this monkey off their back. It will come down to a game seven, but this time the Suns will dig deeper and throw off the defending champs. I realize this prediction could make me look bad, but… My prediction: Suns in 7

4. Utah vs. Houston

The Jazz got lucky to draw the Rockets as their opening opponent. Not only is Yao Ming out with a fractured foot, but Rafer Alston is out for at least the first two games. Tracy “The Sleepy Eyed Assassin” McGrady has been to the playoffs six times before, but he has yet advance any further than the first round. Without much of a supporting cast, it looks like he will soon be 0 for 7. The Jazz are just too much for them to handle, without Yao. Carlos Boozer can take it to the hole just about whenever he wants. Deron Williams will majorly outperform anyone that the Rockets match him up with. Memo has also learned how to take it inside. The rest of the supporting cast will overwhelm the Rockets depleted bench. As a Jazz fan, I am excited by the fact that the Jazz should make it to the next round, but I would have liked to see them beat someone that they weren’t necessarily supposed to beat. I guess they will have to save that for the second round matchup with the Lakers. It may be the homer in me, but I don’t see the Rockets being able to win any of these games. Prediction: Utah in 4

Feel free to post your comments and tell me how crazy I am. I will do this for the upcoming rounds as well. I think that this is one of the most exciting NBA Playoffs that I can remember. Who knows what will really happen?