East
Boston vs. Atlanta
Everyone is expecting Boston to take this series and expect no different from me. Atlanta just cannot guard the big three. Rajon Rondo’s play has made it seem more like a big four with a pretty good supporting cast coming from Perkins, Davis, etc. Another problem Atlanta has, is with themselves. They are a very inconsistent team and you can never expect what you will see from them. They were swept in their season series by the Celtics 3-0 and expect this one to be quick with 4-0. How exciting will it be to see KG? There is truly no one who is more excited about this than him. The crazy thing is they can use this season as a foundation because they got their core for a couple of more years.

Boston in 4

Philly vs. Detroit

Philly has gone on a great run lead by the new era of A.I. This one is over though. Philly is a decent team but Detroit is great. They have too strong of a starting line up and bench (who alone could probably win this series in 7). Andre Miller has had a great season also in Philly but he will have a tough time matching up with experience of Chauncey Billups. Come on??? Reggie Evans vs. Rasheed??? This is a pre-game shit talk:

Reggie: Hey man I hope this series is great and good luck.
Rasheed: You freaking kidding me?? You gotta understand, I’m Miss America, you are Miss Teen America.

Now midway through the game:
Rasheed (like he always tells his teammates): HE CAN’T GUARD ME!!! HE CAN’T GUARD MEEE!!!!
Reggie: shit guys, I can’t guard him and I think he knows now

Detroit in 5

Toronto vs. Orlando
The key for this series offensively for the Raptors will be shooting percentage. Who shot near .475 in January but in April a horrible .307. The key defensively will be shutting down Hedo and Rashard. Howard is going to get his points and Rasho will do a great job on him. Nelson and Arroyo will be held pretty well by Jose and TJ. Bosh cancels Howards points and does his own damage. Inconsistencies from Carlos Delfino and Andrea Bargnani will not be acceptable. Both of them need to step up and do what they do best. Il Mago has had a rough time and has done well offensively attacking the basket which he should continue. Delfino and Moon fell in love with their perimeter game here in Toronto. They must realize they gotta attack the rim. For Moon, it’s simply about taking those two steps up and then taking the shot, which he has done with a good percentage. Raptors will be out-coached by Stan Van Gundy who is miles ahead of Sam Mitchell but as long as the players hold their own this effect will be minimal. If Raptors continue their shooting woes, expect a quick series. If they step up and shoot well this could be a big one. I heard it all night from my buddy Harm and I couldn’t agree more, Raptors need at least one in Orlando. Sounds obvious but it has to be one of the first two there.

Raptors in 7

Washington vs. Cleveland
Washington is the lower-seeded teams that actually can beat Cleveland. But never, ever, ever, ever, ever underestimate The King. The King is freaking Miss Universe. When Rasheed tried that shit on him last season, he shat back on him and said check Vogue in about a year. Overall, Washington has a better team than Cleveland except at small forward and centre. Miss Universe averaged 30-8-7 and his opponent Caron Butler put up a very respectable 20-6-5. Ilgauskas is just much more experienced than Brandon Haywood. He knows where he can get baskets from and Z is just gonna kill Haywood from those high percentage areas of his. But Deshawn Stevenson and Antawn Jamison really are much better than Devin Brown and Ben Wallace. I think that’s what it will come down to. Oh, and don’t forget Gilbert comes off the BENCH!!

Washington in 7, get off Ovie’s bandwagon Washington because there’s still room on the Wizards’

Seriously now what everyone really cares about WEST

Denver vs. LA Lakers

This will come down to defense. LA will win this because they will play the same kind of gritty D that they shut down the Spurs with in the second last game of the season. Realistically, LA is going to get their points. All they really have to do is stop Denver from getting theres. Kobe will do a great job on Iverson and Lamar will hold his on on Melo. Wade and LBJ have taken their teams to the finals. Can Bosh and Melo do the same for theirs??

Lakers in 5

Dallas vs. New Orleans

I heard Chris Paul in an interview. They asked if his team will suffer a little due to lack of playoff experience. He kindly pointed out that Mo Pete, Peja, West, and Chandler all have experience in the post-season. I was thinking, MAN YOU ARE THIS FREAKING TEAM. If he feels the jitters during the playoffs they are done. Might I also add, Disco Dirk is back, he’s feeling it. It will be a great experience for Paul, but that’s it. It’s Dirk’s time, embrace it.

Dallas in 6

Houston vs. Utah
People really, really need to start given Deron Williams some credit. It isn’t really easy to put up 18.8 and 10.5. He makes it look easy though. Watch him play, Paul may be the greatest all-round point guard right now, Deron is a better player in my mind though. Paul makes his teammates better. Having Boozer on your team is pretty nice too. Jazz are going to outscore Houston and they will do it with a great percentage having gone .500 during the season. Alston, who is having a great comeback season, won’t be in till game 2 which is a pretty big loss for them.

Utah in 4, believe it people, Deron will have at least 2 games with more than 15 assists

Phoenix vs. San Antonio

This series is a tough one to call. Papovich has to decide how to handle Shaq and Amare. D’Antoni needs to figure out how to handle Ginobili, who is the best sixth man. Duncan will find it much harder to do his low-post work with Shaq and Amare in there. If Ginobili can be limited to a decent game of only about 15 points, Phoenix could take this with ease. Shaq and Amare are the biggest factors offensively and defensively because they crowd the paint and the vertical area between the paint and the net.

Phoenix in 6