Heading into Round 2 (West Edition)

Kobe Bryant's Lakers were dominate against the Utah Jazz, advancing to the Western Semi-conference finals after a relatively short 5 game series. They will face a much tougher team in the Houston Rockets, who beat the Portland Trailblazers in 6 games.

At one point this season, the Rockets looked as if they would be primed to challenge the Lakers for the top spot in the West but as the playoffs neared, the Rockets cooled and fell to fourth in a tightly contested battle for the 2nd seed in the West. The most impressive aspect of the Rockets this season? Winning without star shooting guard Tracy McGrady. The Rockets lost McGrady after he was sidelined with an ailing knee and forced to have surgery. Most expected the team to flop and fall well below the fourth seed in the West, but the Rockets rebounded and quickly became title contenders.

The Lakers will need to show tenacity and bring effort to the court against a physical Rockets team who have been led by stellar play from their bigman, Yao Ming, and the backcourt of Rogers and Lowry, who have stepped up since the trade with Orlando sent the Rockets starting point guard, Alston to the Magic.

Unfortunately for all the Rockets fans, I'm picking the Lakers to win in 6 games, with a possibility of a win in 7 games. Although, the Lakers have not shown that they will constistantly bring the effort and defensive tenacity to win a title every night, I expect them to do so in the games that count. They are the better team and although I always love rooting for the underdogs, I have to go with the better team in this match up.


Moving on to the Denver Nuggets, who completely thrashed the New Orleans Hornets in their first round match up. I'm expecting them to do the same against the undersized and notably soft Dallas Mavericks, alhough I doubt the Mavericks will lose by 58 points like the Hornets managed to do.

I think the Nuggets are much too deep and are playing the best basketball of the playoffs right now and they are doing so as a team. Yes, they have the big names in Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony, but it is the overall contribution from every player on the team, that has the Nuggets playing so well right now.

I think this series will be over quickly, with the Nuggets sweeping the series. The Mavericks will need to add a post up player in the off-season and more depth to their bench if they want to make a deep run in the playoffs next season. As for now, nice series against the San Antonio Spurs but unfortunately your season will be coming to an end very shortly.


That's all for this installment everyone. Enjoy the Western conference Semis.

Heading into Round 2 (East Edition)

After a dominate performance against the Detroit Pistons, the Cleveland Cavaliers will continue their quest for a NBA title against the Atlanta Hawks, who limped past the Miami Heat after a game 7 win.Although the front office of the Hawks has done an outstanding job in free agency and the NBA draft the last few seasons, the young and talented Hawks will undoubtedly struggle against a much more experienced and talented team in the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers are obviously anchored by MVP candidate Lebron James but their talent goes beyond the All-Star small forward sensation. Mo Williams and Delonte West spur the back court for Cleveland and all year, this dynamic duo has provided much offensive help for James. The front court of Ilgauskas and Varejao isn't as stellar as most, but they are very solid role players who bring energy and effort. The bench for the Cavaliers is the only striking weakness. Ben Wallace, once a feared defender in the league, has fallen off, mostly in part to due injuries. Daniel Gibson, known for his heroics against the Detroit Pistons two years ago, does not see very much time off the bench. Also, Aleksander Pavlovic, a sharp-shooter from Serbia, like Gibson, is also seeing his minutes dwindle as the season progresses. Former No. 1 overall pick, Joe Smith, is the only bright spot off the bench for the Cavaliers. Since his signing late in the season, Smith has provided much needed shot blocking off the bench and also a savvy array of offensive versatility that has greatly given James more room to maneuver around the basket.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, they will be lucky to win one game against the Cavaliers. They are thoroughly outmatched in this series but Hawks fans can still expect their team to go out and give it their all. I'm picking Cleveland in four games, five at the most.

Onto the most exciting match ups of the Eastern semi-conference finals, the showdown between the No. 2 seeded Boston Celtics and the No. 3 seeded Orlando Magic. These two teams have been on a colision course all year as they continually swapped places below the Cavaliers for the fight for second in the East. Even though, the Celtics are wthout Kevin Garnett and will undoubtedly face some type of fatigue due to their 7 game series against the Chicago Bulls, do not expect the Celtics to lay over and let the Magic run all over them.

The Magic will need solid play from Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. Also, at this point in his career, Dwight Howard is going to have to show that he is indeed the unstoppable force he dubbed himself a few seasons ago. Howard has the opportunity to reap the benefits of the short-handed front court of the Celtics. I'm expecting this series to go at least 6 games. I want to pick the Celtics because of the resiliency they have shown since losing Garnett but at this point, the Magic are the better team and it would be surprising if they found a way to lose to the Celtics.

That's it for this installment! Enjoy the Eastern semis everyone!