EASTERN CONFERENCE

Round 1

The Chicago Bulls, one of only two teams to win 60 games this year, will face the Indiana Pacers in Round 1.  Presumptive MVP Derrick Rose carried the Bulls while the team’s starting frontcourt duo of Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer missed a combined 59 games due to injury.  Indiana has looked better after firing former coach Jim O’Brien and putting forward Tyler Hansbrough in the starting lineup, but they will be no match for the Bulls’ defensive prowess.  Bulls in four games.

The 4-5 matchup in the East will feature the Orlando Magic playing the Atlanta Hawks.  Even though the Magic won their fewest games since the 2007-2008 season, they are in much better shape than Atlanta, which has lost its past five games to stumble into the playoffs.  Even worse for the Hawks, their last playoff series was against the Magic, and they were swept in four games by an average of 25 points.  The Magic will triumph over Atlanta yet again to advance to the conference semifinals against the Bulls.  Magic in four games.

Perhaps the most intriguing first-round playoff matchup is between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks.  The Celtics have struggled since trading defensive stalwart Kendrick Perkins, while the Knicks won eight straight down the stretch to clinch the sixth seed after initially struggling following their acquisition of Carmelo Anthony.  Many have picked the Knicks to upset the Celtics in this series, and it will be a close one, possibly even going seven games, but the Celtics’ playoff experience and home court advantage will hold them over.  Celtics in six games.

The final Eastern Conference first round matchup pits the Miami Heat against the Philadelphia 76ers.  While the 76ers have improved vastly from last year’s 27-win season, earning the seventh seed in the East this year, the Heat added two-time reigning MVP LeBron James and high-scoring forward Chris Bosh.  Although the Heat’s new collection of stars struggled early in the year, they have figured it out enough to win fifteen of their last 18 games and clinch the East’s second seed.  They will decimate the undermanned 76ers on their way to the conference semifinals. Heat in five games.

 

Conference Semifinals:

Chicago has replaced Orlando in the “Eastern Conference squad who built around a young superstar and became a championship contender” category, and the aforementioned Boozer and Noah will refuse to let Magic star Dwight Howard push them around inside the paint.  The Bulls will reach their first Eastern Conference Finals since some dude named Michael Jordan left town in 1998.  Bulls in six games.

Their opponents will be the Miami Heat, who will end the Celtics’ playoff run despite dropping three of four to them during the regular season.  The Heat beat Boston soundly in the only game they played after the Perkins trade, and the Celtics are no longer the same team that last year eliminated Dwyane Wade’s Heat in the first round and James’ Cavaliers in the second round.  Heat in six games.

 

Conference Finals

In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls will have home court advantage over the Heat.  However, the Heat’s s superb duo of James and Wade have both been to the NBA Finals, and although only Wade’s 2006 Heat won, no one in the Bulls’ regular rotation (other than backup big man Kurt Thomas) has that kind of experience.  The Heat should be able to harness their star power, and their vastly-improved bench, to advance to the NBA Finals.  Heat in seven games.

 

 

WESTERN CONFERENCE

 

Round 1

The eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies will take on the San Antonio Spurs, who had the league’s best record from mid-November until the final night of the regular season, when the Bulls finally overtook them.  The Spurs have faltered of late, and they split the season series against the Grizzlies.  Still, the Spurs’ 61 wins are their most since 2005-2006, coach Gregg Popovich won’t let his experienced team lose to youthful Memphis, and the Spurs will advance in a surprisingly close series.  Spurs in six games.

Oklahoma City and Denver will clash in the Western Conference’s most attractive first-round contest.  The Nuggets have flourished as a fast-breaking, high-octane team since getting rid of Anthony, who often clogged up the offense to take defenders one-on-one.  Denver has gone 18-7 since the trade after going just 32-25 before it.  The Thunder, meanwhile, with new center Perkins, is much tougher than last year’s squad, which was eliminated in the first round.  Oklahoma City has mirrored the meteoric rise of young stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who will lead their team to the second round for the first time.  Thunder in six games.

The Dallas Mavericks are faced with the ever-dangerous Portland Trail Blazers in the first round.  Portland added the dynamic Gerald Wallace at the trade deadline, and he has given the Blazers a spark with his energetic, all-around outstanding play.  Dallas has a reputation around the league for being soft, and for good reason.  The younger, more physical Blazers will be able to score in bunches against the older Mavericks, and they will provide our first upset of the opening round.  Blazers in six games.

Finally, the Los Angeles Lakers will begin their quest for a third straight title against the New Orleans Hornets.  New Orleans lost their leading scorer, All-Star forward David West, to a torn ACL just last month.  Even though the Lakers have swooned heading into the playoffs, losing five of their last seven, they beat the Hornets in all four meetings this season by an average of 11 points. New Orleans’ superstar point guard, Chris Paul, will give the Hornets a shot, but the Lakers won’t be eliminated by a team with so little depth. Lakers in five games.

 

Conference Semifinals:

Both Western Conference Semifinals will feature members of the West’s old guard against two of the best up-and-comers in the league.  The Spurs, winners of four of the last 12 NBA titles, will try to steal Oklahoma City’s young Thunder.  San Antonio is 3-0 against the Thunder this year; look for this trend to continue and the Spurs to advance to their eighth Conference Finals in the last 18 years.  Spurs in six games.

On the other side of the bracket, the Lakers will face the Trail Blazers.  Despite Portland’s improvement since adding Wallace, and Los Angeles’ recent troubles, the Lakers are still the two-time defending champs, and they know how to turn it on and win in the playoffs.  They will advance to the Western Conference Finals for the fourth straight year.  Lakers in seven games.

 

Conference Finals

The Lakers’ opponent will be a familiar foe, the San Antonio Spurs.  Los Angeles has won all four of the Western Conference Finals battles between the two rivals, winning 16 games while letting the Spurs win just three.  However, the Spurs will finally shake this trend, riding the best power forward ever, Tim Duncan, to the fifth NBA Finals of his career.  Spurs in seven games.

 

NBA Finals

The San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat will clash in the NBA Finals for the first time.  The last, and only, time LeBron James made the NBA Finals was 2007, when his Cavaliers got swept easily by the Spurs in perhaps the most lopsided championship series ever.  This time, though, he will have a lot more help, and the Spurs will be a good deal older.  It will be a thrilling, back-and-forth series, but the Spurs will have the home court advantage, and Duncan is simply going to punish Miami’s Bosh.  The Heat are certainly the sexier pick, but those who have followed the NBA over the past 10 years know that the Spurs have what it takes to win.  We can’t say that about the Heat.  I really think Miami will win multiple championships in the coming years, but I can’t hand the league title to them just yet.  Spurs in six games.