Round Two NBA Playoffs Predictions: Suddenly less fun than previous round

The first round of the NBA Playoffs is not yet over, but the second round has already gotten underway. So I'll have to take a moment off from moping about the Bulls' bad fortune (and uncertain future) to begin making predictions for that next round.

No sense in being all salty, as surely I'll get some solid basketball viewing enjoyment from some other city's teams at some point here in the next couple weeks. In all honesty, it seems logical to assume that only another pair of catastrophic injuries to critical players can stop the Miami Heat from once again representing the Eastern Conference in this year's Finals. As for the West, well ... I'm still not so sure. Essentially between the top two seeds, but the possibility of that Western Conference Finals matchup is enticing.

Still, who's to say what can happen now? The eighth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers advanced despite being a pretty bad basketball team with a half-full arena, so maybe the clock has not yet struck midnight for that Cinderella (albeit one pretty ugly Cinderella). Maybe something in this round will have me less bitter come the start of the next one.

While I am able to use the computer this round, I have not yet compiled the picks of others, so instead, I'll be sticking strictly to my own for now. Recap of others picks and my scores might be forthcoming in the recap at the end. For now, here's my series picks, with the East being first because right now those are the only two series that we know. West will be added to this same post later:

Boston Celtics over Philadelphia 76ers in five games
Boston is banged up, but not so badly that it makes them as beatable as the Bulls. This is will be the last series this year where the experience might provide the Celtics with a real edge, as ultimately, I expect Boston to be better-equipped to win close games late. The one thing I'm not expecting is a high-scoring series, but the Sixers could be pesky enough to make the Celtics have to work harder than they might be anticipating. Still, I do not see much reason to doubt that even an aching and aging Boston group gets by this Philadelphia group fairly quickly. Sure, I remember how an unlikely eighth-seed went all the way to the Finals the last time there was an NBA lockout, but the Sixers barely displayed enough last round to beat the severely wounded top-seed in Chicago. Philly's feel-good story ends here, as Doc Rivers and his Big Three know that it is in their best interest to take care of things as quickly as possible if they are to have any chance in the following round against the ...

Miami Heat over Indiana Pacers in five games

As much as I would like for the Pacers to really make a series of this and make the Heat really have to sweat this one out, I'm anticipating that Indiana steals the opener before LeBron just kicks it into gear and closes this one out by himself as Miami wins the next four. I would like to think I've given the Pacers some credit during the year, and while it will be intriguing to see how well Indiana is able to protect the ball against a Heat defense that thrives on creating turnovers, Miami will ultimately get the supporting help it needs to overpower Indiana. Or maybe overrun is a better term. Either way, while I think the Pacers the Pacers can hang with a number of teams, they're going to be lucky if they're able to force a sixth game here. Even then, it's just hard to imagine that there's a point where the Heat ever find their playoff hopes really in any sort of danger.

San Antonio Spurs over Los Angeles Clippers in five games
Nope, still no love for the Clipper here. Not as long as ol' Vinny's still in charge there. And definitely not when his team's up against Gregg Popvich. I realize that pounding on Del Negro too much simply makes this Bulls fan look bitter that Vinny's rah-rah act is in the second round while Chicago's top seed is already gone, so I'll move along to other reasons San Antonio should wrap this up fairly quickly. First off, it sounds like the Clippers will be having to keep their fingers crossed about both Blake Griffin and Chris Paul possibly having to play through a lot of pain, while the Spurs are pretty healthy (so far ... this being these playoffs, who's really to say how long that holds up?). Oh, and they're kinda sorta white hot, with their last loss coming more than month ago on April 11. Being well-rested might help too, and San Antonio will have had more than a week off since they finished sweeping the Jazz. There is the possibility that the Spurs come out of the gates a little slow because of the time off, but ultimately, they look sharp, focused and ready to be representing the West.

Oklahoma City Thunder over Los Angeles Lakers in six games
If Ron Artest's suspension had been, say, one game longer, this could very well be the Nuggets getting to lose to O-K-C. Instead, Kobe and company will have the Herculean task of trying to dismantle basically the only other team most people have been willing to consider as possible champions this year other than the Heat. The Lakers did a lot of things right, defensively, against the Thunder in the head-to-head meetings this year, but Oklahoma City still won two out of three. And more importantly, the Thunder were able to make Bryant throw up some awful shooting numbers in those games, while having their own bigs to keep Gasol and Bynum from waltzing right to the hoop. In the end, L.A. can only go as far as Kobe can carry them. Unlike years past, the Lakers are the third best team in the conference right now, and the question we'll get answered later on is whether the team they lose to is really the second-best or the champion of the West.