NBA Playoff Predictions.....

The NBA Playoffs kicks off this weekend and all eyes seemed to be focused on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. They come into the post-season with the league's best record and the favorite to take home the Larry O'Brien championship trophy. Over in the west, Kobe and the Lakers are looking to defend their championship, but they will first have to escape a conference playoff where each team won at least 50 games.

Eastern Conference - First Round:
Cleveland Cavaliers (#1) over Chicago Bulls (#8) - Cleveland is too strong, while Chicago is a mess. Making the playoffs just delays the Vinny Del Negro firing until after the series is over.
Orlando Magic (#2) over Charlotte Bobcats (#7) - The defending Eastern Conference champions get the new kids and the Michael Jordan owned Bobcats. Michael is not expected to suit up, so this will be easy for the Magic.
Atlanta Hawks (#3) over Milwaukee Bucks (#6) - The Andrew Bogut is a huge loss for the Bucks, who really played well during the second half of the season. The Hawks move on to the second round.
Miami Heat (#5) over Boston Celtics (#4) - This one was very tough for me and it should be as this is a matchup of the #4 & #5 seeds. Neither team will probably get past the second round, but the Celtic age and injuries during the season makes me wary in picking them here. Maybe the Big Three can scrape together enough to win the series, but I'll take Dwyane Wade to lead the Heat to the next round.

Western Conference - First Round:
Los Angeles Lakers (#1) over Oklahoma City Thunder (#8) - The Thunder have NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant and a nice compliment of teammates, but it will not be enough to upset Kobe and the Lakers. Phil Jackson already tried to get into Durant's head with his referee/foul remarks (which ended up costing him $35K), but the kid shot back at the coach. Should be fun, but the Lakers move on.
Dallas Mavericks (#2) over San Antonio Spurs (#7) - It is hard for me to go against Tim Duncan and the Spurs, but the Mavericks come into the playoffs as perhaps the hottest team in the conference, along with the Phoenix Suns. It is a shame one of these teams will be losing in the first round, but the Mavs are just the better team, so it will be a short playoff for the Spurs.
Phoenix Suns (#3) over Portland Trail Blazers (#6) - This could have been the best series of the whole first round, but the injury to Brandon Roy now makes this possibly the biggest mismatch. Suns move on easily.
Utah Jazz (#5) over Denver Nuggets (#4) - A month ago I thought Denver could come out of the west, but the cancer diagnosis for Coach George Karl has really seemed to taken its toll on the team. The Jazz hope to have a healthy Carlos Boozer back and will move on to the next round.

Eastern Conference - Semi Finals:
Cleveland Cavaliers over Miami Heat - Too much LeBron and not enough Wade in this match up of great players. It will be fun watching these two on the court together. Now if Shaq was back on the Heat...
Orlando Magic over Atlanta Hawks - Orlando is a very talented team and while the Hawks are improved, it will not be enough to stop Dwight Howard and Magic.

Western Conference - Semi Finals:
Los Angeles Lakers over Utah Jazz - This probably goes the distance, but the Lakers have just a little too much with Kobe and will their way to the conference finals.
Phoenix Suns over Dallas Mavericks - This is another series that seems destined to go the full seven games. Ever since Amare Stoudemire's "non-trade" this team has seemed to take it up a notch. A hard fought series that could be comprised of seven great games.

Eastern Conference Finals:
Orlando Magic over Cleveland Cavaliers - Rematch of last year's conference finals and I think we get the same results. Shaq is supposed to neutralize Dwight Howard but I'm not sure that will be the case over a long series. LeBron needs his teammates to step up and not look to him to do it all, but so far in prior playoffs that has not happened and I think that might be the case again this year.

Western Conference Finals:
Phoenix Suns over Los Angeles Lakers - Kobe has seemed "old" at times and I think after the first two series that will happen again against Steve Nash and the Suns. Phoenix takes advantage of their quickness and I think Stoudemire is going to have a monster series against the Lakers' front line.

NBA Finals:
Phoenix Suns over Orlando Magic - The Magic will be the "bridesmaid" again this year as Nash and Stoudemire are just a bit better than Jameer Nelson and Howard and will bring the championship home to the desert. The series will allow the general public who don't follow the NBA too closely will get to see the true talent of Steve Nash and it will make many wonder what the Suns were doing in even thinking about trading Stoudemire.