…a day late. Before we get to the next round, can we talk for a sec about the two series that wrapped up this past weekend? The Bulls/Celts was phenomenal; to get the casual hoops fan to watch a first round series that doesn’t involve their favorite team, you gotta have a super competitive series that probably needs to go 7 games with multiple story lines, a few OTs, emerging young superstars matched up with big name veterans, etc. Check, check, check, check, check…Meanwhile, the Hawks/Heat series also went 7 which should usually generate national interest on it’s own. We love game 7s of course, with everything on the line. But as Tim Cowlishaw said on “Around The Horn”, the Hawks/Heat series was the bizzarro Celts/Bulls- perhaps the least compelling 7 game series of all time. Every game was a blowout, with game 4 being the closest thing to a “nail-biter” when the Hawks beat the Heat in Miami by 10 points. Average point differential was about 19 points. Typically the playoffs is all about adjustments, but obviously neither team could make any adjustments to learn from previous games. Signs of two young teams not ready for prime time. Which brings us to the semis.

Cavs/Hawks I can’t figure out how the Hawks win a game in this series. The Cavs are focused, determined and have the MVP in LeBron James. Maurice Evans has about as much chance of slowing down the king as me stopping a Ford F-150 driving down the highway with my bare hands. Maybe if Josh Smith guards him and bodies him up, oh, who am I kidding? Cavs in 4.
Magic/Celtics The least predictable series of the 4. The Celts showed grit by prevailing the Bulls but I feel like a few days from now that performance will be diminished when we see them go up against a true big man in Dwight Howard. The Bulls had nothing inside, nothing. This is where they really will miss KG. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict the Magic win the series, easier than expected. I would say 5 games but that would mean they’d have to eliminate the Celtics in Boston. Magic in 6.
Lakers/Rockets Going into the playoffs, Laker Nation was most worried about facing Portland in the 2nd round since they had their troubs playing in the Rose Garden. Despite the fact that the Rockets didn’t win a game vs the Lakers this year, I think they’ll be tougher than leather. The Rockets two best assets are their ability to play defense oriented, playoff style basketball which you wouldn’t see during the regular season, and Yao Ming going up against a suddenly regressing Andrew Bynum. The Lakes should prevail, but if Artest & Battier (Art-Bat?) control Kobe like the Celtics did last year, we could witness the second coming of the Rockets’ shocking upset of the Lakers in 1981. That was a three game series. I think this one is going the distance with the Lakers surviving in 7.
Nuggets/Mavericks The least interesting of the 4 series. If I wrote this prior to yesterday’s game 1 I would’ve predicted the Mavs in 6 since they played amazingly well against the Spurs and match up decently to the Nuggets with J-Kidd on Chauncey. However, I’m writing this today. Nuggets in 5.

Footnote: if I’m making predictions strictly based on the teams’ cheerleaders, based on this post on Coed Magazine, I would say somehow the Hornets prevail despite losing the first round with the Cavs getting swept…