Playoff results

West
1. Lakers vs. 8. Thunder. Destruction. Kobe runs by the half decent defense and lights up Durant. Sorry, K-Dazzle - you've got a little bit of a way to go. Lakers in 4.

4. Mavs vs. 5. Blaze. The Mavs are too deep. That's hard to say against the Blaze, but it's true. They're very similar teams. They both play great defense. They both have point guards who like to slow up. They both have versatile scorers at the 2. They both have 8/8 defensive powerhouses in the middle. The Mavs just do it better. They're older. They've had more experience. The Blaze will have it's turn. Mavs in 7.

3. Nugs vs. 6. Hornets. I like the Hornets, but this is a rematch of last year, with the exception of Emeka Okafor and an improved JR Smith. That pretty much evens up talent-wise. Nugs in 5.

2. Spurs vs. 7. Clippers. Blake Griffin runs Tim Duncan up the wall, and goes over. The greatest defensive player in history is Duncan. Griffin takes Duncan to the hole. A tall feat? Not when Baron Davis is making Tony Parker look soft, Eric Gordon is out-Manu'ing Manu at a younger age, Al Thornton is outscoring RJ at a younger age, and Camby is limiting Duncan when worst comes to worse with Duncan, allowing Griffin to dominate. It sounds crazy, but Clips in 6.

East
1. Magic vs. 8. Raptors. The Magic are way too talented. Old Carter kicks undeveloped Carter's butt. Nelson is very Calderon'y, but from three there's no question who wins. Hedo is a point of controversy, but Lewis shoots Bosh out of a big contract in 2010. And then there's Dwight. Magic in 4.

4. Wiz vs. 5. Heat. These are two different teams. Arenas and Wade are both very flashy scorers, both almost as effective. When Arenas/Foye goes up against Chalmers/Wade, though, Wade shuts Arenas down on the defensive end and Arenas and Foye can't do anything about Wade on the offensive end. The frontcourt, however, is a clear victory for the Wiz. Butler/Jamison/Haywood is balanced, defensively sound and .offensively dangerous. Beasley/Haslem/O'Neal is not. Wiz in 5.

3. Cavs vs. 6. Bulls. The Cavs take the Bulls to school. The Bulls have no answer for the King, nor Shaq. Derrick Rose will probably be a match for Mo, but that's about all she wrote. Cavs in 5.

2. Celts vs. 7. Bobcats. Two of the best defensive teams in the league go at it. The difference is that Boston can score, period. Charlotte can't, not without AI. Wrong move, MJ, again. Celts in 4.

West
1. Lakers vs. 4. Mavs. The Lakers are still really good. The Mavs are good. The Lakers are better. Gasol and Dirk match up pretty evenly defensively. Dirk would be able outscore Gasol if this were taking places a couple years ago, but not by much by this season. Kobe is Kobe, and Josh Howard can defend him to a point before he gets schooled. Artest and Marion is a battle, but Marion's not the Marion he used to be. Dampier can't defend a new and improved Bynum. Lakers in 6.

3. Nugs vs. 7. Clips. It's hard to say that the Clips are in contention for the Western conference finals, but they very well may be. Chauncey can contain Baron. Gordon and JR fight it out on very similar playing fields. If TD can't completely contain the Griffin, then Kenyon Martin certainly can't. Conversely, Thornton can't even come close to containing Melo. Melo, in the end, makes the indomitable Griffin overstretch his bounds defense-wise. It'll be close, believe it or not. The Nugs just defend better. Nugs in 7. The Griffin will be back.

East
1. Magic vs. 4. Wiz. This is pretty interesting. The Magic are way too good for the Wiz in the end, but don't tell Gil Arenas. He'll fight to the end to keep that team afloat. In the end, Nelson contains Arenas and Carter blows by everyone in his last incredible series. Magic in 5

2. Celts vs. 3. Cavs. A rematch of the '08 playoffs, but with Shaq and Mo now in the picture. KG and Ray are tired, and Paul Pierce does everything he can to contain LeBron, but it's not good enough. He's LeBron, after all. Cavs in 6


West
1. Lakers and 3. Nugs. The Lakers destroy the Nugs, all due respect to the Nugs. Artest makes Melo look ridiculous, Kobe runs by Chauncey, Bynum completely posterizes Nene a couple times. Lakers in 5

East
1. Magic and 3. Cavs. Tough. Shaq and Dwight go at it. Dwight is superior. It's a rematch, save for Carter, who destroys. Magic in 7

Finals
Magic vs. Lakers. I got the Magic. Carter is the difference. Bass is the difference, and he probably shuts Gasol down given a few games with him. Howard obliterates Bynum. It's still really hard, because Artest's perimeter defense will shut Lewis down from time to time and kill Orlando's whole game. In the end, the Magic wanted to win a championship and they get it. Magic in 6