Round Two NBA Playoffs Predictions: At least there's one must-see series

There were no perfect scores among any of the "experts" I tracked for the first round of predictions in the NBA playoffs—even though one person did, in fact, have Memphis knocking off the top-seeded Spurs. But nobody had Atlanta beating Orlando either, and that's of course because everybody's picks largely look the same in these early rounds of basketball postseason.

Now technically into the conference semifinals of the tournament, consensus once again sort of rules in three of the four series—the only exception being this round's obvious headliner matchup between the Celtics and the Heat. The opinion among my group tilts about 3:2 in favor of Miami, but it's probably by and large the series most every fan most wants to see as much of as they can.

No offense to the six other cities with teams also playing this round (including my hometown's nearby Bulls), but as the story everybody's most interested in typically involves The Nazgûl.

Unlike my performance in NHL prognosticating thus far this season, I ended up higher up on the leaderboard after the first round was over. Of course, the difference between first and last place is a whopping margin of one series:

1. Kelly Dwyer, Ball Don't Lie: 6-2 (3)

1. Marc J. Spears, Yahoo: 6-2 (3)

3. Ken Berger, CBS Sports: 6-2 (2)

3. Chris Broussard, ESPN: 6-2 (2)

3. Matt Moore, CBS Sports: 6-2 (2)

3. David Thorpe, ESPN: 6-2 (2)

3. YOURS TRULY: 6-2 (2)

8. J.A. Adande, ESPN: 6-2 (1)

8. Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Sports: 6-2 (1)

8. Ben Golliver, CBS Sports: 6-2 (1)

11. Greg Anthony, Yahoo: 5-3 (2)

11. Chad Ford, ESPN: 5-3 (2)

11. Sergio Gonzalez, CBS Sports: 5-3 (2)

11. John Hollinger, ESPN: 5-3 (2)

11. Tim Legler, ESPN: 5-3 (2)

11. Michael Wilbon, ESPN: 5-2 (2)

11. Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo: 5-3 (2)

11. Royce Young, CBS Sports: 5-3 (2)

19. Dan Devine, Ball Don't Lie: 5-3 (1)

19. Eric Freeman, Ball Don't Lie: 5-3 (1)

19. Marc Stein, Ball Don't Lie: 5-3 (1)

22. Henry Abbott, ESPN: 5-3 (0)

22. Johnny Ludden, Yahoo: 5-3 (0)

22. Chris Sheridan, Yahoo: 5-3 (0)

So there's that. Now let's see who's got Celtics and who's got the Heat—along with the Bulls, Lakers and Thunder, of course. We start with the gang from Yahoo:

Here's how the crew from ESPN breaks:

Wilbon's pick is conspicuously absent from that one big series. He did have the Heat in five last round, for the record, although I accidentally cropped out his predicted number. So far on the Mother Ship site, no pick from him yet.

Finally, here's how CBS Sports' staff has things:

I guess that my first three picks will come as no surprise, but for the sake of posterity:

Chicago Bulls over Atlanta Hawks in four games

You want to give Atlanta some credit for taking care of Orlando, but with Kirk Hinrich now likely to miss this entire series, it's hard to believe that the Hawks have anything to counter Derrick Rose—not to mention that they'll be facing some much stiffer defense on the perimeter this time around from the Bulls. And when you can consider Atlanta's reputation for getting swept out of this round as they have the past two seasons, it's hard to believe that they're equipped to make this much of a series. Carlos Boozer is in serious need of a strong series with scoring that should average closer to the twenties than single-digits—and a little better defense wouldn't hurt either. While I'm tempted to revert to last round's logic that the Bulls' opponent would surely take one of the two they'll host, Chicago has to know it's in their best interest to take care of business here as quickly as possible in order to get rested up for whichever team comes out of the other series in the East that will be getting far more attention.

Los Angeles Lakers over Dallas Mavericks in six games

Did I tell you how much I love my girlfriend? She's absolutely terrific and outrageously awesome. She even occasionally reads this here blog, maybe saying something nice or supportive every once in a while.

This probably isn't going to go over too well with her, but try as I might to even construct an argument as to how the Mavericks can pull this one off. I know Mark Cuban likes his team's chances, but I thought Kurt Helin's conclusion at the end of that article back in September hit the nail on the head about this series—and that was written before Caron Butler went down.

I'll root like hell for Dallas, keep telling my girlfriend I love her the entire time, but preparing myself the entire time for the less desirable outcome (in basketball, I mean). 

Oklahoma City Thunder over Memphis Grizzlies in six games

Oh, who doesn't love those scrappy underdog Grizzlies now? Well, lots of people, actually. Mostly because the Thunder bandwagon has been gaining steam for quite some time now. It got pretty charged up at the beginning of the season. If last year offered a glimpse of what many believed could be a very bright future for Oklahoma City, then the team's championship window just opened a little bit wider with the sudden disappearance of the Western Conference's top team. Memphis' defense could very well propose some problems. However, you simply have to doubt that the Grizz can not only keep up with the Thunder, but avoid sending them to the line as often as the Nuggets did last round. I thought those saying OKC could make a run at the Finals this season were guilty of jumping the gun, but apparently I was just slow at giving this group their due. 

Boston Celtics over Miami Heat in seven games

Because it just pains me too much to pick the Heat. Miami has finally began to resemble the team many had expected to steamroll the NBA this year at the same time Boston pretty much nosedived to conclude the season. The Celtics get some credit for sweeping away the Knicks when most people expected a bit stiffer of a challenge from New York, but there's still the doubts as there are every year for this Boston team and their "old age" and the oft-repeated question about whether they can "flip the switch" as they did last year. No series outside of the NBA Finals is going to get this much hype, so if the Celtics can't be compelled to get back into their championship groove with this opponent, then perhaps Miami deserves to move on. The inability of LeBron and D-Wade to close out games during the regular season was often mentioned, but who still wouldn't be a little nervous about either of those guys having the ball in their possession at the end of a close game? Still, if my assumption is that this all comes down to a deciding seventh game, then I can only assume Boston's experience (together) puts them over the top in the end this time around.