Column: You want to talk playoffs?

By Patrick Daugherty
April 18, 2008

First, I must pay my respects: Rest in peace, Golden State Warriors. Without your presence, the playoffs promise to be a far too cool-headed and consistent field-goal-shooting affair. We will remember you fondly.

So, the NBA’s even longer second season begins with the big question: Who will hoist that championship trophy come December?

And while we’re busy R.I.P.ing things, we might as well also do it for interesting Eastern Conference matchups. Celtics/Hawks? Celtics sweep. Pistons/76ers? Pistons in five.

The Raptors/Magic should be competitive, if not interesting. It’s hard to imagine Dwight Howard not winning in his second playoff go-round, let alone getting swept again. He should continue his emergence as the NBA’s preeminent big man and lead the Magic to the second round.

The Wizards/Cavaliers promises to be the most interesting East series. Gilbert Arenas has attempted to stir things up — both by coming back to the court and talking lots of trash recently — but the Cavs should be more than able to dispatch the Wizards for the third straight year. Playoff time is LeBron James time, and somehow, some way, the Cavs should overcome the loss of Sasha Pavlovic and win in six, if not five, games.

Now on to the good part. Out west, the one-seeded Los Angeles Lakers could have gotten very unlucky with whom they got in the first round. It could have been far better than a seven-seed Mavericks, or the eternally exciting and unpredictable Warriors. Instead, they get the Nuggets, who are limping into the playoffs after some bad late losses and yet another Carmelo Anthony distraction. It won’t be a sweep — the Nuggets have way too many good players for that — but the Lakers should never be threatened. Five or six games max.

The two/seven, Hornets/Mavericks series, on the other hand, should be much more interesting. The Mavericks are only one year removed from a 67-win season, but they slumbered through an inconsistent and often shockingly mediocre season this year. Big addition Jason Kidd didn’t come up too large when the opponents were the biggest, either. But lately the Mavs have finally started beating winning teams and look like maybe the best seven-seed in NBA history. The series will surely come down to the point guards. Hornets phenom Chris Paul has many anointing him the NBA’s best point guard, but he will go up against one of the greatest of all time in Kidd, who also has extensive, extensive playoff experience compared to Paul’s none. But everyone starts somewhere, and this might be where Paul and the young Hornets start to force people to take more than a cursory notice. Still, it doesn’t appear that the Mavericks window has quite slammed itself shut yet, and they should play like a team on a mission. Mavs in six.

At three/six, this should be the year the Suns finally beat the Spurs. San Antonio appears vulnerable for the first time in ages, and have never before won back-to-back championships. Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire should be pick ‘n rolling into the second round. Suns in five.

And what about the Jazz and Rockets? Well, I’ll find out how many times you have to hit snooze if you want to oversleep by two weeks, and there will still be no Tracy McGrady in the second round. Jazz in six.

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