NBA Playoff Predictions

First Round

Miami v. New Jersey

Miami in five. Jason Kidd and Vince Carter are bound to break out at least once during the series. For one night-- and one night only-- it will be enough to beat Shaq, Wade, and Co.

Detroit v. Philedelphia

Detroit in five. Expect Allen Iverson to have one god-like game where he will be unstoppable. That will be Philly's only win.

Boston v. Indiana

Boston in seven. A depleted and (comparitively) old lineup has a chance of winning against a young, talented squad like the Celtics in a five-game series. In seven? Unlikely. By the sixth and seventh game, the Pacers will be too worn and too tired to run with Boston's young guns.

Chicago v. Washington

Chicago in six. Chicago relies on a system predicated on tough defense and a system all its players have bought into. Washington relies on its Big Three-- Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes, and Antawn Jamison. As shown in Game 1, you can shut people down, but you can't beat a great system.

Phoenix v. Memphis

Phoenix in four. No contest. The Suns will run and shoot the Grizzlies off the court.

San Antonio v. Denver

San Antonio in six. Game one was a fluke. Popovich is too good a coach--and Duncan is too great a player-- to repeat the mistakes they made in the opener.

Seattle v. Sacramento

Seattle in six. Seattle shoots and defends better, on a regular basis, than Sacramento.

Dallas v. Houston

Houston in five. It took a whole season, but the Rockets have finally found a way to make the best post Shaq-and-Kobe duo work. After his last, forgettable year in Orlando, T-Mac is playing like someone who wants to prove he's a winner. He will, at the expense of Avery Johnson's Mavericks.

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

Miami v. Chicago

Miami in six. The Bulls will not be intimidated. Expect a war. Expect Nocioni to get under Shaq's skin. And expect Dwayne Wade to carry this team into the conference finals.

Detroit v. Boston

Detroit in six. Reminiscent of the Celtics-Pistons battles of the late 80s, with the tables turned. This time, it will be the defending champs who will school Boston's newest Celtics.

Phoenix v. Houston

Houston in six. If there's a team that can exploit the Suns lack of size at the center position, the Rockets are it. Both Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo will give Stoudemire fits. The Rockets also play excellent D and rebound the ball well-- which will limit the effectiveness of the Suns' running game.

San Antonio v. Seattle

San Antonio in five. The Sonics will be lucky to grab one game in this series.

CONFERENCE FINALS

Miami v. Detroit

Detroit in seven. Tough call. Miami can win it if Damon and Eddie Jones hit their shots consistently. Detroit, however, is more than capable of keeping up with the Joneses. The result? A return to the Finals.

San Antonio v. Houston

San Antonio in six. San Antonio's guards-- Parker and Manu-- will be a tough matchup for Houston's older guards. Unless T-Mac can play four perfect games-- unlikely given San Antonio's excellent D-- this is where the Rockets' foray into the postseason ends.

FINALS

San Antonio v. Detroit

Detroit in seven. Clash of the Titans. From coach, to star players, to the bench, everyone in both teams knows their roles. Expect the two teams to play, as Larry Brown says, the "right way." This means great defense, great teamwork, and, as a consequence, low game scores. All things being equal, in the end, it will boil down to who has more offensive options. Here, Detroit has the slight edge. This, coupled with a less-than-100% Tim Duncan, will mean a second straight title for the Detroit Pistons.