Eastern Conference Picks

Looking over my picks for where teams would finish, my glaring mistake of the year was thinking the Washington Wizards would be in the playoffs and the Bobcats would finish close to dead last in the Eastern Conference, whooops.

1. Cleveland vs. 8. Chicago- I am watching this game right now and it realy doesn't sway my opinion either way really.  I believe this will just be your classic 1-8 matchup where you have a team far superior than the other one. The Bulls do not have the bench to keep up with the Cavs right now and the fact Cleveland gets Shaq back is huge, that will be a big time difference maker.  I think the Bulls get one in the Windy City but that's it.  CLEV in 5

4. Boston vs. 5. Miami- I also picked the Celtics back to the NBA Finals, once again not one of my best moments. I really like this series with the matchups of Paul Pierce-Dwyane Wade, a young Michael Beasley versus an old Kevin Garnett.  I have no idea what Boston team will we see, the one who looks tired and there is a sort of unwillingness?  Or the KG-curse laden teams who act like the biggest bullies on the court? I think the Heat do not have enough to keep up with the Celtics for a full series plus the inexperience of Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra could run them into big time trouble.  BOS in 7

3. Atlanta vs. 6. Milwaukee- It feels good to have the Bucks back and I know most of you think the Bucks will not do much in the playoffs without Andrew Bogut but I am a firm believer they can at least win one game in Milwaukee, with some distant hope they can do something in Atlanta.  I think they need to cut off Joe Johnson as much as possible especially in late games and they do have a good matchup for Josh Smith in the Prince of Cameroon. Fear the Deer, but they come up short this year with high hopes next year. ATL in 6

2. Orlando vs. 7. Charlotte- A very enticing series with a Charlotte team making their first trip to the playoffs but they have some veterans who have been there before like Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw, and Tyson Chandler.  Also they have the Larry Brown card and he always seem to make the right decisions in the playoffs. People also need to remember how bad Vince Carter has been in the playoffs, he is never been that guy who ends game like Bryant, Johnson, Melo, LeBron, and Wade do. I think the Magic win but this will be the equivalent of the Lakers/Thunder series, a dogfight with the better team winning game seven.  ORL in 7

-Charlie