The seeds are as follows. Who do ya got?

Eastern Conference
(1) Boston
(8) Atlanta

(4) Cleveland
(5) Washington

(3) Orlando
(6) Toronto

(2) Detroit
(7) Philadelphia

Western Conference
(1) LA Lakers
(8) Denver

(4) Utah
(5) Houston

(3) San Antonio
(6) Phoenix

(2) New Orleans
(7) Dallas

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For my first round selections I'll take:
-Boston over Atlanta
-Cleveland over Washington
-Orlando over Toronto
-Detroit over Philadelphia
-Los Angeles over Denver
-Utah over Houston
-San Antonio over Phoenix (tough match-up but I just can't see the defending NBA Champs losing in the first round)
-Dallas over New Orleans

Boston, Cleveland, Orlando and Detroit in the first round in the East.

LA, Utah, San Antonio, and in a bit of a surprise, Dallas over NO. I have the same as you.

Boston will beat Detroit and the Lakers will be SA.

In the finals,I'll go with the Celtics in 6 or 7.

I was going to take Phoenix over SA in the first round but again, I just can't see the Spurs losing in the first round. It'll be a great series. I agree, I take the Celtics and the Lakers in the Finals but I'm not sure how that'll pan out just yet. I'll reserve my pick until then to see how both teams are playing and if the Lakers get Bydum back

I think I will throw up if three major sports teams from Boston make it to their league championship round in the same season.

Not a whole lot of love out there for the Spurs. I think they'll be there in the end from the West and I think the Pistons have one last run in them. Their postseason experience should play a role in beating either Orlando or Boston.

Finals: Spurs over Pistons

I can easily see the Cavs getting bounced in the first round. Not that Washington is that good, but Cleveland has been playing inconsistently all year and LeBron is really beat up right now.

Well, as far as I'm concerned, forget about the NBA Playoffs, the NBA Finals start on Saturday in San Antonio. And I'll take Phoenix.

I like the Raptors chances of advancing against the Magic. Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard pretty much cancel each other out so it'll be up to Anthony Parker to shut down Hedo Turkoglu and T.J. Ford/Jose Calderon to stop Rashard Lewis. Should be an exciting series hopefully with the Raptors coming out on top and advancing to the second round.

I agree. The best series of the first round. Hopefully the league doesn't intervene again like they did last year that cost Stoudemire his suspension and the Suns the series.

I think PHX/SA is an attractive matchup, but I expect the Spurs to handle PHX without too much difficulty. Shaq is a non-factor for the most part and SA's defense will clamp down on Stoudimire & Nash.

It's starting to look like a familar refrain: Tracy McGrady getting bounced out in the first round.

The Spurs made it look easy in the 4th quarter against the Suns last night. Phoenix had a double digit lead at one point. The thing about the Spurs that makes them so great is that just when the defense stops one Spur, they make the pass to the open man for an easy bucket.

Well if Dwight Howard is gonna continue to average 20 pts. 20 rebs. for the duration of the series the Raptors are gonna get swept. We have to find a way to contain Howard on defence and mix up our perimeter and inside game effectively on offence. We lost game 2 by one point on a missed Chris Bosh jump shot and being down 2 - 0 is definitely not an ideal situation, but going back to the Air Canada Centre the Raptors are not out of it.

I got this one right, but never expected that the Hawks & 76ers would give such a battle to Boston & Detroit. My initial prediction of the Pistons making the Finals from the East is wrong. They are looking very, very old. Any of the 3 other Eastern teams that advance should send Detroit home in the next round.

I'm still annoyed with the Cavs giving Game 5 away at home last night. They went ahead by 5 with 1 minute and change. Then everyone, from LeBron to the last assistant coach, acted as if the game was over and played poorly. They'll still win the series most likely, but the Cavs will be bounced in the next round quite convincingly.

Boy, wouldn't it be some shit if the Hawks beat the Celtics?

I mean, as I've posted here before, the NBA lost me long ago, around the time when full body tattoos and baggy shorts took the place of MJ and Magic. But a Celtic loss (to an 8th seed), would go a loooooong way in bringing me back.

I agree Pizzaboy, that the NBA is a shell of what it was in the mid-80s to late 90s. Although, I much prefer the baggy shorts than the Daisy Dukes they previously wore.

I think it's wishful to expect the Hawks to win Game 7, but I think they deserve credit for taking it this far as a sub-.500 playoff team vs. the team with the best record in the NBA. Will this wake up Boston or has it shown a fatal flaw? Time will tell.

Didn't MJ start the baggy shorts trend?

Well, after round one I'm 7-1. My second round selections are:

-Boston over Cleveland
-Detroit over Orlando
-Los Angeles over Utah
-San Antonio over New Orleans

I heard this on the radio over the weekend and had not realized this important point beforehand. The Spurs are the #3 seed and to get to the Finals will not have home court in their current series vs. New Orleans, or if they were to advance and play the Lakers. That's a heck of a road to travel for the defending champs.

With the exception if Utah were to advance, either of the possible Western Conference Finals matchups (LA vs. SA or LA vs. NO) looks to be better than the NBA Finals.

Well, after round two I'm 11-1. My third round selections are:

-Detroit over Boston (Boston hasn't won a road playoff game yet)
-San Antonio over Los Angeles (until someone beats the Spurs, I'm picking them)

I'll pick Boston and LA. True, Boston hasn't won on the road during the play-offs, but they haven't lost at home either.

I like SA a lot. They certainly know how to get things done in the postseason, but the Lakers look very strong. They will be tough to beat. Kobe Bryant amazes me more than any other player in the game...maybe in all of team sports.

I'd love to see a Lakers/Celtics Finals since their hasn't been one in 20 some years. I'd watch every games of the Finals then. In the East, I think it'll come down to how healthy Chaunce Billups is and in the West it'll come down to how healthy Kobe Bryant is.

I'm FINALLY back in town after business trip and what do I see?
The Detroit Pistons are on the verge of another trip to the finals.


I'm picking Detroit in six. Hopefully Flip will show SOME faith in his bench and not wear out the starters. And I certainly hope that Ray Allen continues his current shooting streak...

Hope you're right, Lilo. The thought of the Lakers or, God forbid, the Celtics, winning a championship is too much for this New York City boy to take.

Welcome back!

I feel the same way about the Spurs

Since the days of Magic & Kareem, I have enjoyed following the Lakers as my 2nd team. I am hoping they win it all because I do not care for any of the three remaining teams. I was surprised that the Spurs blew such a big lead last night in Game 1 of the Conferene Finals.

Well that didn't go well for Detroit.

They were trying but just looked off defensively all night. Hopefully tonight Flip will a) have everyone on the same page and b) decide to give Tayshaun more than 4 minutes of rest.

Otherwise this series could be over more quickly than I thought.
And I hope that someone on the team realizes that it might be a good idea to at least try to box out Perkins.

Flip is an idiot. Joe should have fired him last year after he let Lebron and Lebron only beat us. Joe just needs to take this team over and coach it.

And Sheed, you need to step it up on both sides of the court.

Glad to see the Pistons get one on the road. Not that I like them, but I just cringe at the thought of all the Boston teams going to their sports title game/series.

I am looking forward to the second game b/w LA & SA tonight. I think it will go back to Texas even at one apiece.

I'm no Flip fan. But I wonder if this team really has the mental and physical stamina left to compete at the highest level.

I don't understand why Flip refuses to play Hayes, Affalo or Amir. Detroit is actually more athletic than Boston. We are having shooting problems but Flip just won't play Hayes. If there's ONE thing Hayes should be able to do it's shoot. I hate the three guard lineup Flip uses. I wonder if Hayes said something to Flip and Flip is just showing him who's the boss.

I think Sheed is just not really capable of bringing it 40 minutes a game any more. That's no knock on him. Age catches everyone. But Flip has to be able to see when these guys aren't moving their feet on defense or boxing out and either get them to do so or get someone from the bench who wants to.

That said, Detroit is certainly capable of winning and winning big tonight. I just don't know which Pistons team will show up.

Wow, the Spurs are on the brink. I didn't see much of the game because it was on so late, but from the highlights, it sure looked like Derek Fischer fouled the Spurs player at the end of the game. And it was behind the 3 point arc, so I think he should have been awarded 3 free throws. But kudos to the refs for a) not giving into the home team on a close call and b) for not letting a foul directly impact the end of the game. I think they did blow the call, but the Spurs didn't look good for many more reasons than just that play. Where was Ginobli last night compared to Game 3?

I've seen the play a number of times since last night. My original reaction was foul by Fisher, no call by the refs. However, upon further review there is no question that Fisher makes contact. However, Barry doesn't go up when Fisher does to make initial contact. It looks like he got confused because he wanted to dribble around Fisher (he still had some time) but then decided at the last minute to chuck it up. I'm also glad the refs didn't give into the indecision by Barry.

The League stepped up an admitted that Barry should have been given two foul shots because he was fouled while not in the act of shooting and the Lakers were over their limit. I admire the League for doing this.