Western Conference Playoff Picks

Take a look down if you want information on the East but on to the Western Conference.. you will probably see a couple posts a week about the NBA Playoffs.

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Utah Jazz- These two teams played a pretty good series last year and without Andrew Bynum, they were able to take care of business against Utah. Now they have Bynum back for this playoffs and the Lakers have to be the favorites out of the West. Kobe Bryant has been doing what he needs to do all year long and according to NBA sources, the Jazz are a complete mess right now. Even if with the tough atmosphere in Utah, I think there is no reason to think that the Lakers can take this pretty easily. LOS ANGELES in five.

(4) Portland Trailblazers vs. (5) Houston Rockets- If you didnt know, the Rockets have lost seven straight playoff series pretty much thanks to Tracy McGrady and I have been big on Blazers all year long because I think of them like the Milwaukee Brewers of the NBA with so much great young talent. I love to watch Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez, and Greg Oden despite his fouls. Heres the thing that could make this series a quick one is the fact Yao Ming will get beat up by the combination of Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Joel (the Vanilla Gorilla) Pyrsbilla. PORTLAND in five.

(3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Dallas Mavericks- The Spurs are a complete different team than a year before being without Manu Ginobili and I truly believe that Tim Duncan is headed into "Patrick Ewing" range, he looks run down on defense but there is no one to guard Tony Parker on the Mavericks. Although I have hated the Mavs all year long after watching them lose by thirty-one against the Milwaukee Bucks in mid-January and I saw them as a lazy team on defense. Now I watched some of the game on Wednesday night while running and was thoroughly impressed by what I saw out of Dallas. The Mavs score the uspet in a good fashion. DALLAS in six.

(2) Denver Nuggets vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets- The Nuggets have been a completely different team since Chauncey Billups has been on the team and I think Carmelo Anthony is one of the best offensive player in the NBA plus he needs big performances out of J.R. Smith or Kenyon Martin. New Orleans has some injury issues but no one can stop Chris Paul on the Nuggets plus they have James Posey who is one of the most clutch playoff performers. Also not to mention that George Karl has been known to absolutely fall apart as a coach in the playoffs equals a recipe for trouble for Denver fans. This game will head to seven and I will take the underdog once again. NEW ORLEANS in seven.

-Charlie.