Feature Presentation

#1 Detroit vs. #8 Milwaukee

Regular Season Series- Detroit 3-1
The one loss came on April 17th when the Pistons already had the number 1 seed throughout the entire playoffs wrapped up. The Pistons, through a starting line- up of Dale Davis, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, and Maurice Evans on the court with the 3 regular starters only logging a combined 54 minutes the entire game. Carlos Deflino dropped 18 points and Jason Maxiell had a double double against all 5 regular starters for the Bucks. I’m sorry but I can't give a team that allows this to happen, any glimmer of hope in a series. Here are some numbers for you to chew on Milwaukee in the three games you lost; Rasheed Wallace - 18.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, RIP Hamilton - 26.7 PPG, Chauncey Billups - 17.3 PPG 11 APG. Michael Redd is averaging 30 points a game in the 4 regular season games, but he is going to need a lot of help from others to even make this a competitive series.
The Verdict: Detroit in 5

#2 Miami vs. #7 Chicago

Regular Season Series- Miami 2-1
Similar to the Pistons, the only win that the Bulls got was when they needed to win at the end of the season while the Heat already had their spot in the playoffs locked up. I’m tired of hearing the so called NBA “experts” say Dwayne Wade “struggled” in the 2 games that were in Chicago. I almost broke my TV when Bill Walton said, and I quote, “There is just too much pressure on Wade’s shoulders to excel when playing in front of friends and familyin Chicago”. Hey Bill, newsflash for you. Wade has had the pressure of leading his team basically the entire season with Shaq’s injuries. The man can’t score 30 plus points night in and night out. The bottom line is, he puts his team in a position to win almost every game. He’s a stud, and just to shut Walton’s mouth I’m going to go out on a limb here. In the three games that Wade will play in Chicago, he’s going to average 30 points a game and even drops one 50 point performance in their just for you Bill. Take that for pressure pal.
The Verdict: Heat in 6

#3 Nets vs. #6 Pacers

Regular Season Series- Pacers 2-1
This series, to me, will be the best in the first round. The season series is a bit skewed here since in the sixth game of the season the Pacers got the W, but with Ron Artest in the lineup. He dropped 30 on the nets, and keep in mind, this was before Vince Carter decided to wake up for the Nets and start playing ball to his capabilities. Nobody knows what Indiana team is going to show up in this series, which makes it tough to predict. The Pacers could come out and take the first two games in the series in New Jersey, or the team that got blown out by 30 by the Memphis Grizzlies and 32 by the Charlotte Bobcats. If they can steal at least one from the Nets at home, I think they’ll be in good shape going back home to Indy. Nenad Krstic will be the deciding factor when this series comes to an end. Yeah, that’s right people, I said it. So when he hits the game winner in game 6 to bring the series back to New Jersey you can say I told you so.
The Verdict: Nets in 7

#4 Cavs vs. #5 Wizards

Regular Season Series- Wizards 3-1
Word on the street is when the seedings came out last week, the Wizards already started to look at who they would be playing in the second round. In all seriousness, Washington has owned the Cavaliers in recent years, which has continued even with Bron Bron on Cleveland. The bottom line is the Cavs struggle with the run and gun offense that the Wizards like to play, and they will continue to struggle with it in this series. Since TNT likes to put Cleveland on every other night in my area, I’ve watched them play a lot throughout the season. Donyell Marshall has just struggled with his outside shooting this season, which was the main reason why the Cavs brought him in. The Wizards are not a deep team and will have to contend with the 9 player rotation that Mike Brown uses. This won’t be a problem and Cleveland will struggle to guard Caron Butler in the post with whoever they place out their to defend him. With all this said you can also throw into the mix that Washington is something like 372-4 in the last 300 plus meetings (I might have exaggerated a little here) head to head with the Cavs. Sorry LeBron, this wasn’t the team that you wanted to see in your first playoff series.
The Verdict: Wizards in 6

Western Conference

#1 San Antonio vs. #8 Sacramento

Regular Season Series- 2-1 San Antonio
There is a lot of excitement building up for this 1 vs 8 match-up and it all revolves around the Kings turn-around once Ron Artest came to the squad. The one win versus the Spurs came right before the playoffs started and it's no secret to anyone that the Spurs are coming into this post-season more banged up than any other year. The Kings have lowered their points allowed a game in the 2nd half of the season and come into the playoffs winning 8 out of their last 10. Sacramento still has no answer to Tim Duncan and are going to have to play their best basketball of the season to get past San Antonio. Artest does enough to take one game in the series but also finds a way to get thrown out of game 5 in San Antonio. He does have an image to uphold here people.
The Verdict: Spurs in 6

#2 Phoenix vs. #7 Los Angeles Lakers

Regular Season Series- Phoenix 3-1
I was reading an article online in a local Phoenix newspaper the other day and the columnist that was previewing the series said it best when he stated the Suns play at the fastest pace in the league, while the Lakers play at any pace that Kobe Bryant wants to play at. I give Kobe credit where credit is due. He single-handedly brought his team to the playoffs and no one can argue that. Without Kobe, the Lakers might have been looking at a 20 win season. Nobody on the Lakers roster can stop the scorers that the Suns have down in the post, which will be a problem throughout the series. Kobe did average 42.5 PPG in the four games played against Phoenix and I think he has it in him to drop 67 points in one of the games played at the Staples Center, giving LA their only win in the series. He does have 15 technical fouls this season, which puts him 2nd in the league behind, well yeah, Rasheed Wallace. This shows that at points he has been a tad frustrated with play, or lack of there of, from his teammates throughout the season. One more technical and Mr. Bryant will have to sit out a game with the NBA’s new rule of 16 technical fouls. Once the 16th is picked up, the player is automatically suspended the next game. The Lakers do not want to see this happen. I do hope the front office of the Lakers do another good promotional night such as they did against the Suns on April 16th. The fans were all given free taco’s since they held the Suns under 90 points. The chant of “We want tacos” with seconds left in the game with Phoenix stuck at 89 points was genius. Tacos are good, but winning more than one game in the series is about as real as the meat they use at Taco Bell.
The Verdict: Suns in 5

#3 Los Angeles Clippers vs. #6 Denver

Regular Season Series- Clippers 3-1
Yes NBA fans, the Clips have made it back to the playoffs. I look at them as one of the more dangerous teams in the West, especially if Corey Maggette is healthy enough to put up productive numbers. The Nuggets will use all the media hype to get themselves ready for this match-up, because believe me, they are tired of hearing about how the Clippers should have no problem with them in the first round. This is going to be one of the longer first round series and it may come down to home court advantage which Los Angeles has. The Nuggets are going to have to get big contributions from their bench players, which I think they will but it just won’t be enough. With this said, the Clippers have all the pressure on their shoulders to prove that all the hype is true, and they can take care of Denver in the first round.
The Verdict: Clippers in 6

#4 Dallas vs. #5 Memphis

Regular Season Series- Dallas 3-1
We could sit here and write pages about how the NBA needs to fix the way that the playoffs are set up with what happened to the Mavericks this season. They are the 3rd best team in the league record-wise, matched up against the 9th best team in the NBA in the Grizzlies. This should be a very exciting first series, especially with the Gasol, Nowitzki match-up. Gasol is the prime scorer for the Grizzlies, and with the added assignment of chasing Dirk around the court, every sign points to the edge being with Dallas. Jason Terry should dominate Chucky Atkins, and the fact that the Mavericks can go ten, even 11 deep in any given night, will be a problem for Memphis. I’m going to blame Mark Cuban’s antics and wardrobe for not sweeping the Grizzlies in the first round because I can. Buy a suite pal, you’re a billionaire.
The Verdict: Mavericks in 6

You can reach Rocky Parrish @ raparrish@featurepresentationonline.com.