NBA Playoffs, Round Two

Update forthcoming with experts' scores from the first round and the usual additional thoughts, but in the interest of getting predictions up before any game actually begins, here's how I'm seeing the Western Conference semifinals that are locked in so far (I'll get to the East later):

Yeah, so my finish atop the NHL predictions (admittedly only because of the "correct winner and number of games" bonus) didn't carry over to the NBA, where my opening round was tied for the lowest score among the experts I'm tracking:

Chris Sheridan, ESPN: 7-1 (5)
John Hollinger, ESPN: 7-1 (4)
Marc Stein, ESPN: 7-1 (3)
David Thorpe, ESPN: 7-1 (3)
Ball Don't Lie, Yahoo!: 7-1 (2)
Jalen Rose, ESPN: 7-1 (2)
Kenny Smith, Yahoo!: 7-1 (1)
Chris Broussard, ESPN: 6-2 (5)
Henry Abbott, ESPN: 6-2 (3)
Chad Ford, ESPN: 6-2 (3)
Tim Legler, ESPN: 6-2 (3)
J.A. Adande, ESPN: 6-2 (2)
Johnny Ludden, Yahoo!: 6-2 (2)
Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo!: 5-3 (2)
YOURS TRULY: 5-3 (2)

As you can see, a bit stronger showing here among the group as a whole as opposed to the NHL, but big ups are in order for ESPN's Chris Sheridan for hitting five of his seven correct picks on the nose. And that guy also is the only one of the bunch actually picking the Rockets to get to the Western Conference Finals. Marc Stein and Kenny Smith are the only two going with Dallas to to advance over Denver, nobody's got Atlanta winning more than a pair of their games against Cleveland, and of the 15 guys I've got listed there, we've got 60 percent in favor of the Magic and the other 40 percent with the Celtics for at least one series that doesn't seem like a forgone conclusion.

As for where my picks fall, well, nothing too shocking this round (in my humble opinion):

Cleveland Cavaliers over Atlanta Hawks in four games

LeBron and the boys have been resting while Atlanta had to wait all the way until a seventh game to decide whether they wanted to kick somebody's ass or have their own ass thoroughly kicked.

They won't be afforded the same luxury against Cleveland, who will likely give the young Hawks a rude welcome to the conference semifinals in Ohio and then promptly take the air out of the arena in Georgia before any series can ever really begin.

Denver Nuggets over Dallas Mavericks in five games

Do you remember that turd of a Nuggets team you saw last year? You know, the one that more or less couldn't have been bothered to play defense against the Lakers in their opening round series? Yeah, well, this Denver team is not that Denver team. And beyond the widely accepted idea that the Nuggets clearly got the better of the trade with the Pistons that brought Chauncey Billups to the Rocky Mountains, Denver made quick work of the Hornets because this year's squad actually complements its versatile scoring threat with some pretty solid D. If Chris-freaking-Paul can't jump-start a pick-and-roll against these guys, do you really think the Mavericks are going to fare any better?

I'm not ready to say that fans in La-La Land should be shaking in their boots, but Billups was on that Detroit squad that stunned a heavily favored Lakers team in a five-game NBA Finals just a few years ago (I was thinking of that squad when I picked the Mavericks to win the NBA Championship in seven games a couple of years ago). Might want to take the guys this dude rolls with pretty seriously is all I'm sayin'.

Los Angeles Lakers over Houston Rockets in six games

Fans in Houston feel overly accomplished this season, having finally made it out of the first round in something like seven tries. Whew, that was fun. Now you get the Lakers. Yep, that sure was a fun, accomplished season of Houston Rockets basketball.

In all seriousness, I'm admittedly the fool for underestimating how well the Rockets have played without T. Mac. After McGrady went down, the Rockets went 22-8 and now they polished off a Blazers squad with only a few irritations. And since Ron Artest is actually providing more on-court presence than off-court drama, who's to say where Houston's limits are?

Well, if we're to judge by how the Rockets played L.A. this season, then the supposedly tougher defenders Houston was to blanket Kobe with didn't do all that much to slow him or the Lakers down: L.A. won all four meetings and outscored the Rockets by an average of 15 points in the second halves of those games.

Boston Celtics over Orlando Magic in seven games

The epic battle to see which team gets to be the last one from the East stepped on as King James nears the throne. That said, after that batshit crazy opening round the Celtics just had, who's to say what the champs—or what's left of them—can or can't do?

And while Orlando was a team that I spent most of the regular season warning about stealing a series just like this one we are about to have, I am actually going to go with the team that has the home court here to advance. The Magic really didn't impress me against the Sixers as I had expected them to do, and while I think they've certainly got the talent on paper to still take this series, I still feel that it's just going to take a team at one level higher to finally end the Boston reign.