At the beginning of the season, I picked San Antonio and Detroit to play for the championship. What will happen?
Eastern Conference
1 Boston v 8 Atlanta...The Celtics built this team to win the title and now the quest begins. Round 1 should be easy as Atlanta doesn't have the team to test the Cs. Boston 4-1
4 Cleveland v 5 Washington...The Wizards have brought back Gilbert Arenas and that gives them a chance in this series. The midseason trade that brought Ben Wallace and Wally to town was meant to help the Cavs in the playoffs. Ben needs to be the force he was while in Detroit. LeBron is just too good, so I like the Cavs here. Cleveland 4-2
2 Detroit v & Philadelphia...The Pistons have a lot to prove. The Sixers were one of the East's best teams down the stretch. Detroit has too much for the Sixers. Detroit 4-1
3 Orlando v 6 Toronto...This is an intriguing match up. I think it comes down to one player. If Dwight Howard dominates the middle, I like Orlando's chances of moving on. Hedo is one of my favorite players and could create issues for Toronto's defenders. Orlando 4-2
Western Conference
1 LA Lakers v 8 Denver...The Lakers have had an interesting season to say the least. They started with Kobe demanding a trade. The Lakers role players stepped up, Andrew Bynum continued to develop into the player the Lakers thought he could be when they drafted him. The midseason trade for Pau Gasol has helped the Lakers move into the West's elite teams. Denver has been a jeckyl and hyde team all year long and LA dominated them in the regular season. I just don't see Denver's D holding the Lakers to less than 110 points. LA 4-1
4 Utah v 5 Houston...Utah holds the 4 seed, but Houston has home court advantage because of a better record. These two teams played to 7 games last season. Rick Adelman has changed this Rockets team for the better, but I think Utah has better players and I like them to move on. Utah 4-3
2 New Orleans v 7 Dallas...What a good series this will be. Both teams have great players. The Jason Kidd-Chris Paul match up should be very entertaining. New Orleans has lost a step down the stretch. I think their lack of playoff experience will hurt them. Dallas 4-2
3 San Antonio v 6 Phoenix...I cannot believe that one of these teams will be gone after round one. It isn't fair and shows how deep the west is and how badly the league needs to re format the playoffs to a 1-16 seeding. Anyway, I digress...Spurs-Suns. This was one of the most hotly contested series last year. Phoenix felt they were jobbed in the series and want payback. They went out and traded for Shaquille O'Neal, who seems to be motivated. His presence has done wonders for Amare's game. Tim Duncan is the most consistent player on either team. He is so good, but I think Phoenix's frontcourt will be the key to the series. Shaq might be able to body up Duncan and make him expel alot of energy. I expect Stoudamire to have a huge series and be the difference. The Spurs are getting older and have never repeated as champs. Even though I have a rule of never picking against San Antonio, I am picking the upset here. Phoenix 4-3
That said...i will probably get every one of the iffy ones wrong.