NBA Blog

Atlantic Division
New Jersey (2)
Philadelphia (8)
Toronto
Boston
New York (2nd worst team in the league)

Central Division
Cleveland (1)
Chicago (4)
Detroit (6) (thanks in part to the departure of Ben Wallace, and in part to Rasheed for missing 12 games for
suspensions as a result of too many technicals)
Milwaukee (one year away from being a playoff contender)
Indiana (time to shuffle things up)

Southeast Division
Washington (3)
Miami (5)
Orlando (7)
Charlotte
Atlanta (worst team in the league)

Eastern Conference Playoffs:

Round 1:

1. Cleveland defeats 8. Philadelphia 4-1 (the one win is the requisite Iverson going for 50+)

2. New Jersey defeats 7. Orlando 4-3 (the world will see how great Dwight Howard is, and how scary this Orlando team is going to be in the future. Unfortunately, Hedo Turkoglu will cost them two games when he disappears from the face of the earth in the postseason. I’ve seen it before.)

3. Washington defeats 6. Detroit 4-3 (once again Detroit will get burned by Rasheed’s antics, and Gilbert Arenas averages close to 35 per game.)

5. Miami defeats 4. Chicago 4-3 (Chicago just doesn’t have what it takes to be a winner in the postseason…yet.)

Round 2:

1. Cleveland defeats 5. Miami 4-3 in what will be one of the greatest postseason matchups in NBA history. LeBron and D-Wade will go back-and-forth like Larry v. ‘Nique or Jordan v. Isiah. It will be awesome.

3. Washington defeats 2. New Jersey 4-2 (Vince doesn’t care enough to stay tough for 82 games and two grueling postseason series. He’ll struggle against the vastly underrated defensive abilities of Deshawn Stephenson and Antonio Daniels)

Eastern Conference Finals:

1. Cleveland defeats 3. Washington 4-2 (in a rematch of the East’s best postseason series last year. Without Jared Jeffries size to fight LeBron, King James will torch the Wizards. Gilbert Arenas will keep it close, but it won’t be enough. And yes, I really think LeBron is that good.)

Northwest Division
Denver (3)
Minnesota (7) (my “see, I really did have these predictions set before the season started” team. You can pencil these guys out of it, and replace them with …)
Utah (vastly underrated, but I can’t trust Kirilenko to stay healthy. He’s one injury away from being dealt for young
gunners and picks to turn the keys over to Ronnie Brewer)
Seattle
Portland (much better than previously believed, but still too young to figure it out for 82 games. They’ll be exciting in the years to come)

Pacific
Los Angeles Clippers (2)
Phoenix (4)
Los Angeles Lakers (6)
Golden State (still on the outside looking in)
Sacramento (Brad Miller’s already hurt. Any question as to when Bibby goes down?)

Southwest
San Antonio (1)
Dallas (5) (too many roster moves yet again. I don’t like what they’ve done, and will get into that more in a separate piece)
New Orleans (8)
Houston (finishing just a game and a half out of the postseason. Injuries to McGrady and Yao, and a Bonzi goes crazy moment will absolutely kill this team)
Memphis (Rudy Gay may be the superstar to couple with Pau Gasol, but it will take a year. I don’t think Gasol will come back as tough as he was last year. It will take some time to mesh these guys together. Plus, I think Eddie Jones might actually turn to dust on the court this year.)

Western Conference Playoffs:

Round 1:

1. San Antonio over 8. New Orleans 4-1 (Tony Parker v. Chris Paul. I cannot wait for this matchup. Unfortunately, Paul’s assist numbers will take a huge hit when Peja stops making shots in the second quarter of game 1, and then sits for at least one game in the series.)

2. Los Angeles Clippers defeat 7. Minnesota 4-0 (Minny won’t even be here. But, nobody in the 7 spot will be able to compete with the Clippers.)

6. Los Angeles Lakers defeat 3. Denver 4-2 (Carmelo starting to assume the role of K.G. as “superstar who can’t get out of first round” or “superstar who can’t win in postseason” according to the media despite the fact that he carried a group of freshman to the national championship at Syracuse. How quickly they forget.)

4. Phoenix defeats 5. Dallas (in a series where the teams may score 120 per game.)

Round 2:

1. San Antonio defeats 4. Phoenix 4-3 (Steve Nash just breaks down by the end of this series. The guy’s motor has logged a ton of miles in the past 2 years. He just won’t be able to withstand it. However, this will be a close series.)

2. Los Angeles Clippers defeat 6. Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 (Kobe and nobody else, including a broken Lamar Odom won’t be able to defeat this loaded Clippers group.)

Western Conference Finals:

2. Los Angeles Clippers defeat 1. San Antonio Spurs 4-3 (partly as a way to show that I’m not completely biased towards San Antonio, only 98% biased. Also, I wanted to get crazy with these picks to break up the monotony that I’ve seen EVERYWHERE.)