NBA Playoffs

As we begin to approach the end of April no other sports event is attracting more attention than the NBA playoffs. Most of the teams that have entered the post-season are no surprises, with the Bulls leading the Eastern Conference and the San Antonio Spurs on top in the West.

West

Spurs-Grizzlies (Series tied 1-1):

Although the Spurs are the number 1 seed in the west, they have been playing badly throughout the 2nd half of the season, losing their best-record-in-the-league to the Chicago Bulls. The Grizzlies, on the other hand, fought through a tough competition against the Houston Rockets and the Phoenix Suns to get to the playoffs, and many believe that they will give the Spurs lots of trouble. 

Lakers-Hornets (Series tied 1-1):
The two time defending-champs are in the playoffs again, sitting comfortably near the top of the conference. The Lakers had been playing while after the All-Star break, and managed to put together some big win streaks throughout the 2nd half of the season. Although at the end of the Regular Season they had slipped a little, this is the exact same team that had won the championship last year, and they will fight strong and hard to make it to the finals again. On the other hand, the hornets, having suffered a somewhat disappointing season, are not going down without giving their best against this very big Lakers team. This team lead by Chris Paul could just surprise you the the things they can achieve.
Mavericks-TrailBlazers (Mavs Lead Series 2-1):
This is one of the close match-ups of the first round, with an experienced Dallas Mavericks team containing Dirk Nowitzski and Jason Kidd facing against a high-scoring Portland TrailBlazers team, lead by LaMarcus Aldridge. This will be a very difficult series, and it might just be one of those that will not get decided until Game 7.
Thunder-Nuggets (OKC Lead Series 2-0):
Even if this is a 4-seed vs 5-seed match-up many believe that it won't be very close, since the Nuggets had traded their star player, Carmelo Anthony, along with the Veteran, Chauncy Billups.
But this Nuggets team have surprised a lot of people. With the team's leading scorer traded away, the rest of the squad have seemed to pull something together, and won many games after the Melo-trade. Overall though, this seemed like it will be a overpowering series by the young Thunders team, with Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook being the leaders, each scoring over 20 pts a game.

East
Bulls-Pacers (Bulls Lead Series 3-0):
This seems like an easy match-up for the Bulls, who had a terrific second half of the season and claimed the number-1 seed in the East against other tough teams such as the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics. Although the Pacers have put up a fight throughout the series, it looks like the Bulls will be finishing them off rather quickly.
Heat-76ers (Heat Lead Series 3-0):
With all the talk throughout the regular season about the Big-3 of the Heat not being able to play cooperatively together, nonetheless they have made the playoffs in rather good position, and it looks like their star players have each found their role in the team. With Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, it seems like the Heat will defeat the hard fighting 76ers and move on to the 2nd round.
Celtics-Knicks (Celtics Lead Series 2-0):
This is a match-up the many considers as the toughest one in the first round. The Celtics seems to be getting old, but players are stepping up towards the end of the season, and the 3 main pieces of the team, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett, have been playing well, and added to that is Rajon Rondo, who, having been playing worse and worse after the magnificent start of the season, will have to play really well for the Celtics to make it to the finals again. The Knicks, however, will not be going down easily either. Having acquired Carmelo Anthony through the big trade, the team is determined to compete in this very competitive Eastern Conference. But after the first two games of the series, Amar'e Stoudamire, along with Chauncy Billups are both injured, and it seems like Carmelo will have to carry this team by himself and try to defeat Doc Rivers and the Celtics.
Magic-Hawks (Series Tied 1-1):
Dwight Howard and the 3-point shooting Magic team will be taking on a really tough Atlanta Hawks team, who seems to be doing quite well in both the offense and the defense. With a deep bench including Jamal Crawford, this Hawks team might just surprise everyone and defeat this Magic team that falls and rises according to their 3-point shooting.

-Brian Chen