Ladies and Gentlemen, the 2007 NBA Playoffs are now among us.  After last year?s amazing playoffs that included the Phoenix Suns rallying from a 3-1 deficit to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, a devastating dethroning of the defending Champion San Antonio Spurs by the cross-state Dallas Mavericks, and the new-look Miami Heat rebounding from an 2-0 hole in the NBA Finals to steal the title from Dirk Nowitzki?s grasp, how can we expect more in this year?s edition of the NBA?s second season?  

There are some great first round match-ups, and some familiar foes getting together to do battle early on.  We have players going back to face the cities they disgraced, and former coaches looking to get revenge on their former students.  We have veteran teams, inexperienced teams, surprise teams, lucky teams, and even injury-depleted teams.  This 2007 NBA postseason is primed to start this Saturday in Toronto.  But before then, here?s what we expect will happen in this year?s Sweet Sixteen.  

Eastern Conference

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (8) Orlando Magic

Season series:  Detroit leads 4-0.

Key Storylines:  Grant Hill and Darko Milicic return to the Palace, where they were once the superstar of the franchise (Hill) and once the next star of the franchise (Milicic).  Of course, Milicic never panned out for the Pistons and was eventually shipped off to Orlando in an attempt to save cap room to resign Ben Wallace.  Neither their draft day selection of Darko nor the bid to retain Big Ben worked out, yet the Pistons still find themselves atop the conference, not only with home court advantage throughout the East, but also with the most adept four member core of playoff savvy veterans for the fourth straight year.  The Magic come into this as a team with extremely limited playoff experience.  The core of their team is still playing out their rookie contracts and it will take huge games from veterans like Tony Battie and Hedo Turkoglu to provide Orlando with a chance to win a game in the series.

Prediction:  Detroit in four.

(2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (7) Washington Wizards

Season series:  Cleveland leads 2-1

Key Storylines:  This series takes a serious hit with the major injuries to two main components of the Washington Wizards power trio.  With Gilbert Arenas and Caron Bulter missing from this series, LeBron and Co. should roll over Washington with ease.  The Cavs are fortunate that Chicago faltered in their finale and now will not have to face the Bulls, Heat, or Pistons until the Eastern Conference Finals.  That was a huge break for the team and they are expecting the same big things out of Anderson Varejao that he provided last postseason.  Expect him to earn his money in this series, as he is up for a new contract this summer.

Prediction:  Cavs in four.

(3) Toronto Raptors vs. (6) New Jersey Nets

Season series:  Series tied 2-2

Key Storylines:  What could be better than Vince Carter returning to Toronto for the playoffs?  His dishonorable discharge from the Raptors organization last season has left a bad taste in the sharp jaws of the Raptors and their fans.  Expect a very hostile environment with an abundance of boos whenever Carter has the ball in the Air Canada Centre.  However, the experience of the Nets, along with their 8-2 surge to finish the season, will prove too much for the Raps to overcome.  The threesome of Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, and Carter are three guys capable of taking over a game and dominating both sides of the ball, and newfound journeymen jewels, Bostjan Nachbar and Mikki Moore, will be crucial to the success of the Nets.  For this reason, it appears this dream season for the Raptor organization will fall just short.  For Toronto to have a chance to win this series, Chris Bosh will have to get a lot of unexpected help from Joey Graham at the wing position, since key starter Jorge Garbajosa will be out for this series.

Prediction:  Nets in six.

(4) Miami Heat vs. (5) Chicago Bulls

Season series:  Chicago leads 3-1

Key Storylines:  A rematch of last year?s first round where the Bulls provided Miami with one of its toughest series of their championship run.  With the same Bulls team with Ben Wallace, PJ Brown, Thabo Sefalosha and Tyrus Thomas taking the place of basically Tyson Chandler, this year?s Bulls team seems poised to take on the mighty Heat.  Also remember that the Bulls have home-court advantage in this series, despite being the lower seed.  The Heat, however, have the championship experience and the hard-nosed mentality now that Pat Riley has been rallying his troops since the start of the second half of the season.  You also can?t forget that Shaquille O?Neal and a healthy Dwayne Wade will be on this squad.  Throw in the defense of Eddie Jones and Alonzo Mourning and the outside touch of Jason Kapono, and it will be very difficult for these still young and inexperienced Bulls to take down the defending champs.  

Prediction:  Heat in seven.

Western Conference

(1) Dallas Mavericks vs. (8) Golden State Warriors

Season series:  Golden State leads 3-0.

Key Storylines:  Despite the misleading fact that the Warriors took all three tilts between these two teams this season, the Mavericks are the superior team.  However, the main story in this series will be whether or not the prot?g? can defeat the mentor.  Avery Johnson was an assistant to head coach Don Nelson in Dallas before Nelson threw in the towel and eventually resurfaced in Golden State.  The Mavericks put together one of the best seasons in NBA history and figure to be the outright favorite perhaps not only for this series, but for the entire postseason.  However, don?t count out Don Nelson?s troops who have reached their first playoff series in 13 years.  He knows how to coach against his understudy?s style and knows how to get into Dirk Nowitzki?s head.  But the determination of the Big D will be too much to overcome following last season?s NBA Finals collapse.

Prediction:  Dallas in six.

(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (7) Los Angeles Lakers

Season series:  Phoenix leads 3-1.

Key Storylines:  This is a rematch of last year?s first round match up that saw the Lakers jump out to a 3-1 series lead, only to falter down the stretch and succumb to Tim Thomas? annual playoff heroics en route to a slaughter in Game 7.  Phoenix returns this season with a healthy Kurt Thomas and a dominant Amare Stoudemire back in the middle.  This year, Kobe will have to put up 50+ just to hope to have a chance to extend this series back to Los Angeles so fans with ?Lakers Round 1 Home Game 3? on their tickets will have a chance to utilize them, rather than drive back to Staples Center for a refund.

Prediction:  Phoenix in five.

(3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Denver Nuggets

Season series:  San Antonio leads 2-1.

Key Storylines:  This series will feature a team who has virtually been together for most of this decade and a team with two superstars that are finally learning to play with one another.  The Spurs have continued their excellence this season and have been among the league?s elite throughout the second half.  They are a strong favorite to challenge the likes of Dallas for the championship of the conference.  However, both Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony have the talent and ability to take over a game.  Marcus Camby and Nene will be have to play major roles by getting Tim Duncan in foul trouble while frustrating him with their superb defensive play.  If George Karl can assemble his talented squad and get them to perform flawlessly, perhaps they can outwork the Spurs in this series.  However, the talent, drive, depth, and experience of the Spurs will likely prevail as we?ve all come to expect from this dynasty that Gregg Popovich has seen over for years.

Prediction:  San Antonio in six.

(4) Houston Rockets vs. (5) Utah Jazz

Season series:  Utah leads 3-1.

Key Storylines:  This shapes up as the most exciting first round match up of this year?s playoff season.  These are two similar teams who were both in the lottery last year (due largely to key injuries to Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Carlos Boozer), both are led by great playoff experienced head coaches in Jeff Van Gundy and Jerry Sloan, both rely on glue guys like Shane Battier and Andrei Kirilenko, and both have two players who can be considered for Most Improved Player of the Year (Boozer and Deron Williams for Utah and Chuck Hayes and Luther Head for Houston).  Despite the fact that Utah has shown significant improvement this season, the Rockets are equipped with the two best players in the series, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.  Both possess the ability to be completely unstoppable, both are yearning for an opportunity to get Houston past the first round of the playoffs since 1997, and since they hold the home court advantage in this series, they should find a way to meet up with their fellow Texans up in Dallas in the second round.

Prediction:  Houston in seven.

This first round is shaping up to be great for the fans and the league.  The two (4) vs. (5) games are unbelievable and could both not only go to seven games, but also become instant classics.  Only time will tell which teams will advance and which teams will be upset, but you can bet that Commissioner David Stern is pleased with the match ups the 2006-07 NBA season provided for this year?s playoffs.

Agree?  Disagree?  Feel free to contact Jason M. Williams with your thoughts and predictions on which of these teams will reach the second round of playoffs.  He can be reached at Jason.Williams@RealGM.com for comments or questions.