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First Round1. LA Lakers (4-2) over 8. Denver: The Lakers are the better team. They swept Denver. Still, Denver has good enough players to take a couple of games. You don't win 50 games out of the blue. 2. New Orleans (4-3) over 7. Dallas: Before their final matchup I would have had no problems picking New Orleans. Dallas completely reversed a double-digit deficeit and went on to a convincing win. They might finally be coming together while New Orleans is struggling lately. Still, I don't trust Dallas's heart and New Orleans has game 7 at home. 3. San Antonio (4-3) over 6. Phoenix: I'd love for Phoenix to get over the hump and have a showdown with the Lakers in the conference finals. Phoenix is the hot pick and has actually beaten San Antonio on the road twice. That's why they have to lose. They are too much fun to watch. The tedious Spurs will wake up from their slumber and crush the hearts of Suns fans yet another year. =( 4. Utah (4-3) over 5. Houston: This is the least interesting first round series in the west for me. I really don't care who wins and taking this to 7 games is probably quite a stretch. McGrady goes home early again regardless of how many games it takes. 1. Boston (4-0) over 8. Atlanta: Yawn. Atlanta doesn't even deserve to be in the playoffs. I'm sure 99% of the country would rather see Golden State move east and take up that slot. The only way this series isn't a sweep is if Boston falls asleep from sheer boredom. 2. Detroit (4-2) over 7. Philadelphia: I'm giving Philly 2 wins just because Detroit has a bad habit of not trying against opponents they are clearly better than. They are capable of sweeping but they won't. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 2-2 tie going into game 5. 3. Orlando (4-2) over 6. Toronto: Who cares versus an even bigger who cares. I'll take the team that is over .500 in a very bad conference. 4. Cleveland (4-3) over 5. Washington: Cleveland doesn't have a lot going for it in this series. Washington is just itching to take some revenge but in the end the difference maker will be LeBron. Conference Semi-Finals 1. LA Lakers (4-2) over 4. Utah: I really haven't paid much attention to Utah this season. My confidence in the Lakers isn't overly strong but I think they can overcome Utah. This is the easiest path in the loaded west so they better not blow it. 3. San Antonio (4-2) over 2. New Orleans: Experience versus well, less experience. The Spurs know how to get the job done. 1. Boston (4-2) over 4. Cleveland: Boston is just too good and unless LeBron manages to clone himself, this series is over in 5 or 6 games. 2. Detroit (4-2) over 3. Orlando: Detroit will turn up the intensity a notch to overcome the Magic. Conference Finals 3. San Antonio (4-3) over 1. LA Lakers: I just don't trust the Lakers to make it to the finals. They don't play consistent basketball. 1. Boston (4-3) over 2. Detroit: Detroit just doesn't have the "stuff" anymore. They had a couple of good finals runs but now they are just a decent team that can make a run but never really finish. Boston in seven, although even five or six is reasonable. The Finals 1. Boston (4-3) over 3. San Antonio: Color me bored. This finals scenario will be tediously boring. I don't believe San Antonio can go all the way this year but I couldn't knock them out of the earlier rounds because I don't have faith in the teams that they would face. So I'll knock them out here against Boston. A seven game series with scores in the 80s. Yawn. Here's hoping the Suns or Lakers can pull it together long enough to bounce the Spurs sooner. Dream Scenario The next graphic is what I'd like to happen, but mostly likely won't. In the first round I gave Houston a pity win just so that McGrady can see the next round. I drop the Spurs and Hornets (7 games of fun each!) in favor of the always exciting Suns-Mavs matchup. I take the Suns to the conference finals where we can have the Shaq-Kobe showdown. Give me 7 games of that with Kobe hitting the series winner at the buzzer, and over Shaq no less. The east is virtually unchanged. Most of the teams are lousy and/or boring. A Lakers/Celtics finals would be nice to see. After 7 games I'll take the Lakers to win it. 
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