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The NBA Playoffs are finally here. There are four games on tap today and the East starts things off with the West closing out the night. The Bulls and Celtics will kick things off on ESPN at 12:30 followed by the Pistons and Cavaliers, once intense rivals, who will square off at 3:30pm today on ABC. The West gets things started tonight with two games: Dallas @ San Antonio at 8:00pm and the second game on tap is the Rockets vs. the Blazers at 10:30.

As for the brackets, here are the teams in this year’s postseason, each with an eye on getting to June 4th, when the NBA Finals begin:

Overall there are some interesting matchups. The question is, where will the upset be? There surely will be one. Let’s take a look at each series in the first round:

Cavaliers vs. Pistons
This was an intense rival recently as the Pistons were the playoff tested vets who kept finding ways to win in the postseason. Now, the team has been virtually exploded with the trade of Chauncey Billups and Allen Iverson, but the Pistons play the Cavaliers close – holding the Cavs to under 90 points per game in their regular season matchups. Speaking of, it will come down to matchups and the most important will be Rodney Stuckey vs. Mo Williams. If Stuckey can show the potential that the Pistons see in him, which lead to the trade of Billups, it might pay off in a huge upset – factoring in that the Pistons contain Lebron James. Still, expect a Cavs win in 5-6 games.

Bulls vs. Celtics
The Bulls have been playing some pretty good basketball of late and with KG trying to get healthy in time for the postseason, there may be some questions about the Celtics. Last time the Bulls were in the playoffs and faced the champions was in 2007 when they swept the Heat out of the first round. It was the deathknell of that Heat team, and essentially lead to an overhaul of the roster. This year’s Bulls team has talent, but will it be enough to upset the Celtics? Probably not – the Celtics are primed and ready even with a tenative KG and should win this series in 5-6 games.

Sixers vs. Magic
Let’s face it, this is a feel good series for the Sixers. They lost Elton Brand but continued to play strong basketball which got them into the postseason. The reward for all of that hard work was a first round matchup against one of the best teams in the East – the Orlando Magic. The Magic have it all, a great young player (probably the best center in the game) and a high-powered offense that can shoot the three and run. They are well-coached, by ex-Heat coach Stan Van Gundy, and will not lose their focus. But they are young, which means they will be prone to mistakes. The Sixers, in order to win, will have to play mistake free basketball. Can they keep it up enough for 4 wins? Possibly. I like the Sixers in this matchup but the Magic should win in a tough series: it’s going 6-7 games but the Magic prevail.

Heat vs. Hawks
We will review this series in more detail in a future article, but I see the Heat winning this series behind Dwyane Wade’s laser-like focus and fusion-powered will in 6 games.

Lakers vs. Jazz
Last year’s Finalists from the Western Conference continue to build upon their claim for the crown. They are the best team in the West despite suffering a major injury with Andrew Bynum during the season. They face a scrappy Jazz team but there is little reason to look for an upset here. That said, never underestimate a Jerry Sloan coached team lead by quality players like Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. The Jazz have plenty of talent to give the Lakers fits, the question is can they exploit enough mismatches – and keep Kobe from getting hot – to command 4 games this series? I don’t see it; Lakers in 5-6 games.

Nuggets vs. Hornets
CP3 might be the closest thing to Dwyane Wade that the league has right now and also could be considered an MVP candidate. Except the Hornets are the #7 seed and the Nuggets are the #2. With Chauncey Billups manning the point, the Nuggets may have pulled off the perfect trade to upgrade their chances in the postseason. Look for Billups to smooth this team out and lead them with confidence against the young Hornets. Denver in 6; even with David West and Tyson Chandler, the Nuggets front court is just too deep.

Spurs vs. Mavericks
Ho hum. Another postseason, another Spurs team. All they did was quietly grab the 3rd seed and win a matchup with rival Dallas. This should be an easy series to gauge, with the Spurs playing their usual heady, conservative basketball but the Mavericks have really started to turn things around a bit and the Spurs also are without Manu Ginobili. If the Mavericks can expose the Spurs and use their athleticism in Dirk Nowitzski (and his indefensible sky jumper and ability to get the refs to call fouls for him) and Josh Howard, things can swing the other way. Don’t look at the records, look at the matchups. I think San Antonio is in trouble, but they survive: Spurs in 6-7 games.

Trailblazers vs. Rockets
This is a very interesting matchup. The Blazers have long been touted the team of the future and we may see some of that bear fruit this postseason. That said, the Rockets just won’t seem to die. They fell to a 5 seed, but the Blazers have home court advantage. Will Brandon Roy finally shed the “poor man’s DWade” label and show how great he is? Can the Blazers young frontcourt, including Greg Oden, be able to contain Yao Ming? If the Blazers can hold serve and win at home, I think they will take this series. But it’s a close one, folks and could go either way – edge, Blazers; I give it to them in 7 games.

Join us in the Playoff Playhouse and talk about the postseason with us! We have polls for each series and you can discuss about each game there as well.