NBA First Round preview

The Jazz were trounced at home by the Suns 100-86 last night to finish the regular season. The game was never in doubt and the Jazz just looked bad. Even with Carlos Boozer out of the lineup, I felt that the Jazz should have won that game. However, they didn't even show up. As a result Phoenix (54-28) gets the three seed while Utah (53-29) slips all the way to fifth. Here are the playoff matchups by conference:
Eastern Conference:
(1)Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8)Chicago Bulls
(2)Orlando Magic vs. (7)Charlotte Bobcats
(3)Atlanta Hawks vs. (6)Milwaukee Bucks
(4)Boston Celtics vs. (5)Miami Heat

Western Conference:
(1)Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8)Oklahoma City Thunder
(2)Dallas Mavericks vs. (7)San Antonio Spurs
(3)Phoenix Suns vs. (6)Portland Trail Blazers
(4)Denver Nuggets vs. (5)Utah Jazz

And now for a new feature in which I fearlessly forecast the winners of each series as well as the best and worst series.
First round predictions:
Cleveland over Chicago 4-0
Orlando over Charlotte 4-1
Atlanta over Milwaukee 4-2
Boston over Miami 4-3
LA Lakers over Oklahoma City 4-2
Dallas over San Antonio 4-3
Phoenix over Portland 4-1
Denver over Utah 4-3

Sorry everyone, I just don't see any upsets occuring in the first round. I hope I'm wrong about at least a couple of these, though, particularly the Jazz.

Most exciting series: This is a tough call, but I think I'm going to have to say the Lakers vs. the Thunder. Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant should make for a lot of exciting moments throughout this series and I think Durant has enough talent and firepower around him to win a couple of games in this series. However, as much as it pains me to say it, I think the Lakers are the more talented team and will win with their depth which includes Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest. I don't think the Thunder have as many talented players as the Lakers do and as I've said many times before, there's nobody I'd take over Kobe Bryant in crunch time with the game on the line. I am excited to check out this series, though.

Least exciting series: Cleveland vs. Chicago. Chicago needed until the last night just to qualify for the playoffs in the weaker Eastern Conference and didn't even finish above .500 at 41-41. I think the Cavaliers will roll over the Bulls behind LeBron James and his talented supporting cast which includes Antawn Jamison. Derrick Rose could make a game or two interesting but I just don't think he is as good as James nor do I think his supporting cast is as talented.

Here are the matchups for the opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs with television networks in parentheses.
Saturday:
Game 1 -- Chicago at Cleveland, 1 p.m. MT (ABC)
Game 1 -- Milwaukee at Atlanta, 3:30 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com)
Game 1 -- Miami at Boston, 6 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com)
Game 1 -- Utah at Denver, 8:30 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com, FSN-Utah)

Sunday:
Game 1 -- Oklahoma City at LA Lakers, 1 p.m. (ABC)
Game 1 -- Charlotte at Orlando, 3:30 p.m. (TNT)
Game 1 -- San Antonio at Dallas, 6 p.m. (TNT)
Game 1 -- Portland at Phoenix, 8:30 p.m. (TNT)