Well, Phil Mickelson just won another green jacket, Coach K has another title with Duke, the Rangers failed to qualify for the playoffs again, and we've got NBA playoff matchups to break down!! I'll do the East first round match ups first, then the West.


Cleveland (1) vs. Chicago (8)


As good as the Bulls were last year in pushing the Celtics to 7 games and playing in all those overtime games, this year is more than a little different. The Cavaliers are going to be out for blood and should put an inferior Chicago team down pretty quickly. The Bulls are not deep enough and the Cavs deadline addition of Antawn Jamison should make a big difference in this series. Bull forward Luol Deng can't guard both Jamison and LeBron James. Many would argue (probably correctly) than Deng can't guard either of them. I'm going to predict Cleveland wins it in 5. I figure Chicago star point guard Derrick Rose to carry the Bulls to one win. But the Cavs will come out of this series with confidence and with Shaquille O'Neal integrated comfortably in the lineup, assuming Shaq has gone light on the fork and knife. Here's a hint for Shaq, when you hit the white hard part, its the plate.

Orlando (2) vs. Charlotte (7)

Charlotte has had an outstanding season. Head coach Larry Brown has managed to squeeze water out of a rock. Charlotte won 44 games with 30 win talent. Stephen Jackson played like a true star and Raymond Felton developed into a legitimate NBA point guard. The Bobcats have been a real feel good story. But this ends right here. The Magic are better than last year's team that went to the finals. Point guard Jameer Nelson is healthy and playing great basketball. Vince Carter is an upgrade from Hedo Turkoglu on the wing. Dwight Howard is a better player than he was last year. He's learned how to kick the ball out well to shooters. And the Magic are significantly deeper. Head coach Stan Van Gundy has been preparing them all year for this tournament. The Bobcats are going to get punched in the mouth here. In the words of Clubber Lang, "Prediction? Pain....". Orlando in 4.

Atlanta (3) vs. Milwaukee (6)

As basketball fans, we got cheated with this series. If Milwaukee center Andrew Bogut was healthy and playing like he played all year, this would have been a great series that went 7 and easily could have gone either way. Then again, if Bogut had stayed healthy, Milwaukee would have been the fifth seed and would have definitely put down the ancient Celtics. Unfortunately, with Bogut out for the season, Milwaukee is not equipped to stay with the Hawks. Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles has done as good a job as anyone this year, including Larry Brown. Its very interesting to note that Buck forward John Salmons was disinterested at best and an absolute mutt at worst in the year and change he spent in Chicago. However, as soon as he got moved to Milwaukee at this year's deadline, he has played like a borderline franchise player. Milwaukee is deep, they defend well, and they play unselfish offense. Unfortunately, without Bogut, Atlanta bigs Al Horford and Josh Smith will eat Gogut's replacement, the geritol taking 72 year old Kurt Thomas, for lunch. Hawks in 5.

Boston (4) vs. Miami (5)

This will be the only real competitive series in the East in the first round. Miami has been very hot down the stretch. Carlos Arroyo has been a godsend at point guard and big man Jermaine O'Neal has had one of the better years no one has talked about. And they will help against Boston. But the whole key for Miami will be Dwyane Wade. Boston has no one who can guard Wade, and that is an enormous problem. Wade will feast on Boston like Shaq at a Vegas buffet. Boston won't go down without a fight. Their veterans are elderly, but they're proud. Garnett, Pierce, and Allen will win a few games just on sheer will. But in the end, they will not be able to overcome the chemistry issues created by Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins along with Father Time. And if head coach DOc Rivers continues to play Rasheed Wallace and his man boobs significant minutes, it will be easier for Miami than anyone thinks. Miami can put a unit of 5 on the court consisting of O'Neal, Udonis Haslem, Michael Beasley, Wade, and Arroyo that creates many more matchup problems than Boston can handle. That thud that you hear is the Celtics championship window closing on Rivers and GM Danny Ainge's fingers. Heat in 6. By the way, how good does that Rondo 5 year extension look right now. When Ainge floated the idea of trading Rondo last offseason, he had the right idea..


Time to make our way West


L.A. Lakers (1) vs. Oklahoma City (8)


The Lakers kind of limped their way through the end of the season, if you want to call home court advantage until the finals in a brutally difficult conference limping. And as much as critics want to denigrate their regular season, they are the champions until someone takes it from them. This is a more talented version of last year's team, but clearly not as deep. Where in past years, I've felt that the absence of Andrew Bynum was not a negative, I don't feel that way for these playoffs. Bynum has missed the final 13 games of the regular season. He's practiced and is supposedly ready to play. His health will go a long way towards a Lakerr repeat for the sole reason is that without him, they do not have enough rotation players. The guys they roll out to spell Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom when Bynum is out are guys that wouldn't make the Harlem Globetrotters. With all that said, Bynum's presence will not be a huge factor in this first series. The Lakers face a different challenge. For a long time, I've been describing Laker point guard Derek Fisher as the washed up Derek Fisher. The Lakers biggest problem down the stretch was the nightly beatings opposing guards were laying on Fisher. And the Thunder have a young good one in Russell Westbrook. If Westbrook can keep his turnovers and missed shots to a minimum, the Thunder could grab two in this series. Make no mistake, the Lakers will teach them a lesson or two about playoff basketball. Count on Ron Artest tossing Kevin Durant around like a rag doll. Phil Jackson took a $35,000 fine to guarantee it. Lakers in 5


Dallas (2) vs. San Antonio (7)


These are two very good teams playing in the first round. Dallas certainly has been the better team in the regular season. But Gregg Popovich's San Antonio Spurs have never been about the regular season. This is Dalls' worst nightmare in the first round. A team with a championship pedigree that happens to be difficult to match up with. Dallas has a few problems in this series, but the biggest is that they've encountered one of the few teams in the league that matches up very well with their small lineup. As great an addition as Brendan Haywood has been for the Mavericks, their best lineup is still Nowitzki, Marion, Kidd, and two of the small guards (Terry, Beaubois, or Barea). San Antonio can match that lineup with a small one of their own that is actually more athletic with Duncan, Jefferson, Ginobili, Hill, and Parker. They force Kidd to guard Ginobili and end up with a match up advantage, because none of Dalls' three little guards can guard Parker. But the key is George Hill. Hill is a very good wing defender for a guy his size and functions well on the wing or at the point offensively. He is a big time athlete who can guard bigger stronger wing players well. Ot will be intriguing to see how Popovich and Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle play it. San Antonio will match up pretty well going big as well. San Antonio has a unique combination of championship experience and young legs. And kudos to Popovich for riding Richard Jefferson until he went back to being the hard working gritty player he was with the Nets. Lots of driving to the basket, very few perimeter jumpers and physical defense. Maybe I'm not giving Dallas enough respect, but they're prone to scoring droughts and I just don't think their halfcourt defense is where it needs to be to beat a team like the Spurs. San Antonio in 7.


Phoenix (3) vs. Portland (6)


It would be very easy to say that Phoenix caught a break by drawing Portland with Brandon Roy out for the playoffs with a torn meniscus. But it wouldn't be fair to Phoenix. The Suns played tremendously well, especially down the stretch, and put themselves in a position to do some damage in the West. Amare Stoudemire played like a franchise big man after the trade deadline and because of this, the Suns play a much more well rounded brand of basketball since the seven seconds or less Mike D'Antoni days. Stoudemire has become somewhat of a force in the half court offensively and is protecting the rim defensively. The Suns should not have a problem in this round. Without Roy, Phoenix's guards are going to bee too much for the Blazers. And thats a good thing for the Suns, because if they can get starting center Robin Lopez back healthy for the second round, they would have a chance to knock off Dallas or San Antonio. in the meantime, I would look for the Suns to make short work of the Blazers. Suns in 5.


Denver (4) vs. Utah (5)


This is a series that has so many questions about players health, you could simultaneoulsy run it as a medical drama. Denver is just getting Kenyon Martin and Ty Lawson back healthy and playing regular minutes. Additionally, their head coach George Karl has an uncertain return as he gets treated for cancer. Utah has lost forward Andrei Kirilenko for this round, is just getting back center Mehmet Okur, and is dealing with Carlos Boozer and his strained oblique. It had to be a heartwarmimg moment for Boozer's agent with free agency pending to see Carlos sustain an in jury on the eve of the playoffs simply raising his arm, but I digress. This series is going to come down to one simple factor. If Martin is healthy, Denver wins. Martin represents their entire defensive identity. There seems to be a mindset within the Nuggets that dictates if you dog it on defense, Martin will get into you. And Kenyon can be a pretty scary guy, even to his peers. If you want to say Kenyon intimidates his teammates into defending harder when he's on the court, well that would probably be a fair statement. Additionally, without Kirilenko, Utah is going to have to cover Carmelo Anthony with C.J. Miles. Miles is not a bad athlete, but defending Anthony is on another level. If Denver wants to get through their most likely opponent in the next round, the Lakers, they're going to need Karl back. I've made plenty of jokes about Karl in the past, and I obviously wish him well personally, but the Nuggets cannot beat the Lakers without him. The personality of their team is the personality of their coach, extremely talented with a penchant for stupid mistakes. With all that said, a team coached by Jerry Sloan does not lie down and Denver is undisciplined enough to keep them around...so I'll pick the Nuggets in 7.


As long as I'm in the prediction business, I'll pick the rest of the playoffs, but I'll keep posting after every round to remind my loyal readers what an utter moron I can be.


East

Cavs over Heat
Magic over Hawks

Magic over Cavs


West

Lakers over Denver
San Antonio over Phoenix

Lakers over San Antonio

NBA Finals

Lakers over Magic... the same way I felt back in late October. Hiddyap. Y'all be cool.