2011 NBA Playoffs

The 2011 NBA Playoffs tip off on Saturday afternoon. Familiar faces will be all over the court this year. There are headlines galore. The Lakers will try to 3-Peat. LeBron and "The Heatles" begin their quest for an NBA title. Boston will try to prove they have yet another run in them. San Antonio goes for their 5th title since 1999. And the new kid on the block, Derrick Rose, leads the NBA's top regular season team into the postseason. Don't count out the likes of Dallas, Orlando, or Oklahoma City either. The oddsmakers have pegged the Bulls and the Lakers as co-favorites to take down the crown. Now let's take a look at how I see the Playoffs shaking up.

For the opening round I have listed all of the individual matchups in each series with the player/team I give the advantage to in bold.

East Quarterfinals

1 Chicago (-3500) vs. 8 Indiana (+1900)

PG - Derrick Rose vs. Darren Collison
SG - Keith Bogans vs. Paul George
SF - Luol Deng vs. Danny Granger
PF - Carlos Boozer vs. Tyler Hansbrough
C - Joakim Noah vs. Roy Hibbert
Bench - Chicago vs. Indiana
Coach - Tom Thibodeau vs. Frank Vogel

The Bulls are clearly the better team in this one. Derrick Rose is the likely MVP, and will prove it in the First Round matchup. The Pacers are just too young and inexperienced to compete with this team. The Bulls play tremendous team defense and will make it very difficult for Indiana to score. Chicago takes this series rather easily.

Prediction - Chicago over Indiana 4-1

4 Orlando (-600) vs. 5 Atlanta (+400)

PG - Jameer Nelson vs. Kirk Hinrich
SG - Jason Richardson vs. Joe Johnson
SF - Hedo Turkoglu vs. Marvin Williams
PF - Brandon Bass vs. Josh Smith
C - Dwight Howard vs. Al Horford
Bench - Orlando vs. Atlanta
Coach - Stan Van Gundy vs. Larry Drew

This should be the most evenly matched series in the East Quarterfinals. The Hawks actually took 3 out of 4 from the Magic in the regular season. I view the Magic as very comparable to the 2008 Cavaliers that completely overhauled their team at the trading deadline. They too struggled through the regular season only to scare the living day lights out of teams in the playoffs. Look for the Magic to turn things on and make a run.

Prediction - Orlando over Atlanta 4-2

3 Boston (-400) vs. 6 New York (+300)

PG - Rajon Rondo vs. Chauncey Billups
SG - Ray Allen vs. Landry Fields
SF - Paul Pierce vs. Carmelo Anthony
PF - Kevin Garnett vs. Amare Stoudamire
C - Jermaine O'Neal vs. Jared Jefferies
Bench - Boston vs. New York
Coach - Doc Rivers vs. Mike D'Antoni

It is always entertaining when these two cities square off in any sport. This should be no different. Both teams have had plenty of ups and downs throughout the season, especially since they each made trades at the deadline. The Celtics have not been the same without Kendrick Perkins, but have a veteran squad who knows how to win in the Playoffs. The Knicks struggled at first, but have come on of late since acquiring Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks will fight, but ultimately defense prevails in this one.

Prediction - Boston over New York 4-1

2 Miami (-2000) vs. 7 Philadelphia (+1200)

PG - Mike Bibby vs. Jrue Holiday
SG - Dwayne Wade vs. Jodie Meeks
SF - LeBron James vs. Andre Iguodala
PF - Chris Bosh vs. Elton Brand
C - Erik Dampier vs. Spencer Hawes
Bench - Miami vs. Philadelphia
Coach - Erik Spoelstra vs. Doug Collins

The 76ers have had a nice season, but it is about to come crashing to an end. Though LeBron James-led teams have always been viewed as underachievers, he has never lost a 1st Round playoff series. And now he has much more help than ever before. The Heat are just much too talented for the 76ers to be able to compete in this series. Miami will overwhelm Philly and face little adversity on their way to the East Semis.

Prediction - Miami over Philadelphia 4-1

West Quarterfinals

1 San Antonio (-2000) vs. 8 Memphis (+1400)

PG - Tony Parker vs. Mike Conley
SG - Manu Ginoboli vs. Sam Young
SF - Richard Jefferson vs. Tony Allen
PF - Tim Duncan vs. Zach Randolph
C - Antonio McDyess vs. Marc Gasol
Bench - San Antonio vs. Memphis
Coach - Greg Popovich vs. Lionel Hollins

It isn't every day that you see a 1-seed enter a series struggling while the 8-seed has been hot; but that is the case as the Spurs get ready to meet up with the Grizzlies. San Antonio had one of the all-time great starts in NBA history as they began the season 44-8 before finishing 17-13. Meanwhile Memphis was 19-22 at the half way point and went 27-14 in the 2nd half of the year. despite the way these two team finished the year, San Antonio has had too much success with this corps of players to bow out this early., but it won't be easy.

Prediction - San Antonio over Memphis 4-2

4 Oklahoma City (-220) vs. 5 Denver (+180)

PG - Russell Westbrook  vs. Ty Lawson
SG - Thabo Sefolosha vs. Aaron Afflalo
SF - Kevin Durant vs. Wilson Chandler
PF - Serge Ibaka vs. Kenyon Martin
C - Kendrick Perkins vs. Nene
Bench - Oklahoma City vs. Denver
Coach - Scott Brooks vs. George Karl

I felt like this was my one shot to not go chalk, so I'm taking it. There is no questioning the talent the Thunder have, particularly Durant and Westbrook. But from top to bottom the Nuggets have a complete team. Denver's backups are just as good as their starting 5, and their starters have been solid. It is hard to believe that the Nuggets have been better without Melo, but it's true. This series is a toss up for me so I'm going to take one upset and go with Denver.

Prediction - Denver over Oklahoma City 4-3

3 Dallas (-220) vs. 6 Portland (+180)

PG - Jason Kidd vs. Andre Miller
SG - Roddy Beaubois vs. Wesley Matthews
SF - Shawn Marion vs. Gerald Wallace
PF - Dirk Nowitzki vs. LeMarcus Aldridge
C - Tyson Chandler vs. Marcus Camby
Bench - Dallas vs. Portland
Coach - Rick Carlisle vs. Nate McMillan

This is a very intriguing series. Dallas has garnered the reputation of underachievers over the last decade. They always win 50 games but never do much in the postseason. Well they won 57 this year and are looking to make some noise. On the other hand, Portland overachieved. When Brandon Roy went down early they were not even expected to make the playoffs. Well here they are, led by LeMarcus Aldridge. I expect this series to go back and forth, with Dallas using their experience and homecourt advantage to win it in the end.

Predcition - Dallas over Portland 4-3

2 LA Lakers (-2200) vs. 7 New Orleans (+1300)

PG - Derek Fisher vs. Chris Paul
SG - Kobe Bryant vs. Marco Bellanelli
SF - Ron Artest vs. Trevor Ariza
PF - Pau Gasol vs. Carl Landry
C - Andrew Bynum vs. Emeka Okafor
Bench - LA Lakers vs. New Orleans
Coach - Phil Jackson vs. Monty Williams

The Lakers begin their quest for a 3-Peat against CP3 and the New Orleans Hornets. The Lakers struggled immensely down the stretch, losing 5 in a row at one point. I'm actually going to chalk it up to boredom. This team has all the tools to make another run at the Larry O'Brien Trophy. The Hornets put together a nice season amid all of the early season distractions of Paul's contract; but it comes to an end here. The Lakers should disarm of the Hornets fairly easy.

Prediction - LA Lakers over New Orleans 4-1

Here are my picks for the remainder of the NBA Playoffs (bold team the winner):

East Semifinals

1 Chicago over 4 Orlando 4-3
3 Boston over 2 Miami 4-2

West Semifinals
1 San Antonio over 5 Denver 4-2
2 LA Lakers over 3 Dallas 4-2

East Finals
3 Boston over 1 Chicago 4-2

West Finals
2 LA Lakers over 1 San Antonio 4-2

NBA Finals
3 Boston over 2 LA Lakers 4-2

It could be one hell of a party in Boston this summer. While the Red Sox struggle, I am picking the Celtics and Bruins to both win titles. I'm not going to lie, I am plenty nervous about picking the Celtics to win it all based on the way they have played of late. But then again, I though they had no prayer to get past Cleveland or Orlando in last year's playoffs and they proved me wrong. I picked them to win in the preseason and I am sticking with that. Boston is filled with veterans who have won a ring together. They are fully aware that this could be their last go-round and will put forth everything they got. I think that their everything is better than any other team's. No Kendrick Perkins hurts them but if they can get consistent play from Jermaine O'Neal and get some contributions from Shaq, I think they will walk away as the 2010-2011 NBA Champions.