NBA Playoff Preview

One of my favorite sports days of the year is today, the beginning of the NBA Playoffs. For the next two months, pure basketball excitement will occur on a nightly basis. Although upsets rarely occur this time of year, but when they do, it is memorable. Each year I make my predictions and they are usually wrong. Here it goes for the 2010 playoffs.

Eastern Conference: It's very rare for an eighth seed to beat a number one in the NBA. That's the task that awaits my beloved Chicago Bulls as they begin their series against the league's best Cleveland Cavaliers. Although I will be rooting hard for the underdogs, they have little chance of winning this series. I'll be surprised if they even win a game. Despite the recent turmoil between coach Vinny Del Negro and GM John Paxson, I will give them one win. Cavs in Five. The Charlotte Bobcats make their first playoff appearance, but will be severely over matched by Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. Magic in Five. One of the most underrated series this year will be between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks have been gradually improving for the last four years and Milwaukee is one of the league's surprises this year. Don't count out the Bucks, John Salmons has been on fire. But experience will win out. Hawks in Seven. My upset special is the Miami Heat, who will prevail over the Boston Celtics in seven games. The Celtics tend to take first round teams lightly and you really can't do that against Dwyane Wade and the Heat. Wade is the best player in this series and will dominate. The Heat's run will end quickly after though, as they will have to play the Cavs and lose in five in the second round. I can foresee another upset in the second round, as the Hawks may finally have what it takes to reach the conference finals. They will beat the Magic in six. I like Atlanta and if they do advance to play Cleveland, I will be a huge Hawks fan. But not against LeBron and the best supporting cast he has ever had. The Cavs will reach the finals with a six-game beat down of the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Western Conference: The top seeded Lakers are the prohibitive favorite to win the conference, but will be tested by the young Oklahoma City Thunder in Round One. Kevin Durant will establish himself and one of the game's best with a huge series, but the Lakers will avoid the upset by winning in seven. The Mavericks and Spurs may provide the first round's most interesting series because the two Texas teams know each other so well and have taken turns eliminating each other from previous years' playoffs. As much playoff magic that the Spurs have had over the years, Dallas is going to be too much for them. I think it will go seven games, but Dallas is just too deep. The hard-luck Portland Trail Blazers will have to take on the Phoenix Suns without leading scorer Brandon Roy. LaMarcus Aldridge is a beast, but Phoenix is playing extremely well right now and will be motivated to erase previous playoff failures. They are also more healthy than Portland. Suns in Five. The Utah Jazz ended the season on a sour note with a humiliating loss to the Phoenix Suns, but still will have enough to upset the Denver Nuggets. If they do, it will be without leading shot blocker Andrei Kirilenko. This is the toughest first round pick because Chauncey Billups always manages to get his team past the first round, but not having their coach is going to hurt the Nuggets. Jazz in Six. The Jazz will get Kirilenko back for Round Two and give L.A. all they can handle, but Kobe Bryant will be too clutch in a seven game Laker victory. I think the Mavericks will be worn out by Round Two after their tough test with the Spurs. Phoenix should get by them in Five. The Suns' luck will run out though in a six game loss to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

NBA Finals Prediction: Cleveland gets their first major pro-sports championship since 1964 with a five-game victory over the tired Los Angeles Lakers.