NBA Playoffs begin this weekend

The 2009 edition of the NBA playoffs kick off this weekend. It came down to the final day of the season but with several furious finishes the NBA bracket is finally set. Most of the fighting for playoff positions occurred in the Western Conference while the seeds in the Eastern Conference saw only a few changes. The Lakers locked up the No. 1 seed along time ago thanks to the stellar play of the of Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson's steady hand as the head coach. Thanks to a loss by the Houston Rockets the Denver Nuggets wrapped up the No. 2 spot before taking the floor against the Portland Trailblazers.

In the East, the 76ers locked up the No. 6 seed Wednesday night by beating the Cavs 111-110 in overtime. While the Bulls lost at home 109-98 to the Raptors to settle for the No. 7 seed. The No. 1 seeded Cavs and Labron "King" James will be facing the weary but battle tested No. 8 seeded Detroit Pistons without the aging Allen Iverson. Prediction: Cavs

The Bulls will face the second-seeded, defending champion Celtics in the first-round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, for the Celtics they maybe heading into their title defense without their on and off court leader K.G. who has been sidelined nursing a knee injury, though they will still bring in two All-stars forward Paul Pierce and guard Ray Allen A*K*A "Jesus Shuttlesworth". The champs will be tested but will ultimately prevail easily. Prediction: Celtics

The high-flying No. 3 seeded Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard will face Andre Iguodala and Philadelphia. Orlando has been playoff ready for most of the season as they challenged early for the No. 1 seed but without point-guard Jameer Nelson who is out nursing his shoulder. Prediction: Magic

D. Wade and the No. 5 seed Miami Heat will look to get back into the NBA elite conversation when they face off against the Josh Smith and the No. 6 seeded Atlanta Hawks. D. Wade has been torching the league of late wooing MVP voters away from the perennial favorites Labron James and Kobe "Bean" Bryant. He will need help from his surrounding cast if he is to deliver wins and reclaim his rightful place in the superstar playoff stratosphere. Prediction: Heat

Back out West, amiss the chaos the sure but short-handed Spurs won the Southwest Division and earned the No. 3 seed with a 105-98 overtime victory against Chris Paul and the Hornets to close out the regular season. The loss dropped the Hornets into the No. 7 seed and a first-round match-up against the Northwest Division champion Nuggets. Prediction: Nuggets

The Utah Jazz and head coach Jerry Sloan will be served up as the No. 8 seed against the tenaciously offensive Los Angeles Lakers. Prediction: Lakers

The Blazers' big win in their season finale against Denver helped them earn the fourth seed and home-court advantage in a first-round series against Houston. Playing without their injured leader Tracy McGrady, the Rockets and Coach Adelman will have to rely heavily on the play of center Yao Ming if they are to advance. Prediction: Blazers

Houston had a chance to be seeded as high as second in the West, but lost 95-84 to the Mavericks and fell all the way to No. 5.


The sixth-seeded Mavericks, who climbed out of the No. 8 seed and avoided a match-up with the top-seeded Lakers, will play the Spurs in the first round. This intense fierce in-state rivalry will be without the slick and slippery Argentine Manu Ginobili but will nonetheless thrill and delight fans. Prediction: Mavs

Without a doubt the long 82-game regular season has served as quite a warm-up for the coaches, players and fans. This year's playoffs offer so many compelling and intriguing 1st round games that true NBA fans will enjoy and remember for years to come. I'm taking Phil Jackson the Lakers to win this year's title. The Lakers are simply a well oiled machine and will only get tougher adding the services of a resurgent A. Bynum who has been stellar in his limited action since returning from an early season re-aggravation of the right knee injury which had him watching the playoffs last season. The Lakers will most likely face the winner of the seventh and deciding Eastern Conference final between No. 1 and No. 2 seeds Boston and Cleveland. Although, his coach Doc Rivers is skeptical about his chances of playing I believe that K. G. will not only make an appearance in the playoffs but play big minutes and be very effective, though it will not be enough to surpass the Cavs and Lebron in the conference finals.

The playoffs officially begin tomorrow afternoon when the Bulls and Celtics square off. Check NBA.com and your local listings for more details then check back here for the latest updates from the playoffs.