Aside from the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks exiting quickly and the lowly-seeded Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks pushing the Pistons and Celtics to the limit, the opening round of the NBA Playoffs was rather predictable. Despite all the hype surrounding several marquee Western Conference match-ups, the inferior Eastern Conference had the more entertaining opening-round games. Dwight Howard and the Magic out-muscled the Toronto Raptors, and the Atlanta Hawks shockingly pushed the heavily favored Boston Celtics to a deciding game 7 before succumbing to the inevitable. Lebron James overcame the wounded Washington Wizards, while the Pistons took six games to close out the young, but talented Philadelphia 76ers.
In the West, the Phoenix Suns were dismantled in 5 games by the defending world champion San Antonio Spurs, and the Lakers swept the prideless Denver Nuggets. The Utah Jazz overcame a gutsy performance by Tracy McGrady, while the Mavericks appeared shell-shocked by the upstart New Orleans Hornets, going down in 5 games. The second round brings forth more exciting match-ups and will take four teams one step closer to the ultimate goal: An NBA Championship.
Lakers vs. Jazz - The Utah Jazz had the best home record in the NBA this season, but were woeful on the road. Salt Lake is the toughest place to play in the League, therefore the Jazz should take atleast two games from Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, but L.A. will ultimately prevail. Lakers in 6
Celtics vs. Cavaliers - After seeing Game 1 last night, this could be an ugly series. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce combined for 4 points for the Celtics, while Lebron was 2 for 18 from the field and had 10 turnovers. Lebron James will have to perform on a "Jordan-like" level for the Cavs to stand a chance. Boston's sharpshooters will get on track and should take this series fairly easily. Celtics in 5
Pistons vs. Magic - Already down two games to none, the Orlando Magic's big-game experience or lack thereof could hinder them from making this a competitive series. Detroit is battle-tested and woke-up half-way through their first round series with the Sixers. Pistons in 5
Hornets vs. Spurs - Despite spoting the Hornets a two-game lead, the Spurs are expected to bounce back. They are capable of pushing this series to 7 games, which will allow their championship vets to capitalize. Only the suddenly unstoppable Chris Paul stands in their way. Spurs in 7
