A Preview of the National Basketball Association's Run to the Finals
The end of the NBA season is looming within the next week, so its time to look at the long playoff race ahead. The proceeding NBA playoff projections are based on NBA standings as of Friday, April 14th, 2006 but its fair to say that there will probably not be a ton of difference in seeding within the last three or four games of the NBA season.NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs ( seeds in parentheses)
(1) Detroit versus (8) Chicago- Detroit will win this one easily, but the Bulls should be viewed as a threat for the next decade in the Eastern Conference. Detroit will have to put in more than a token effort to beat the Bulls, but Ben and Rasheed Wallace should be enough to shut down the young interior game of the Bulls.
(2) Miami versus (7) Indiana- Miami will put it together versus the Indiana Pacers and it will be done on the back of Dwayne Wade. While Shaq and others are strong enough to take out a weaker Pacers team, Wade will put them over the top easily and make them a formidable opponent to Detroit in the playoffs.
(3) New Jersey versus (6) Washington- In the upset special of the playoffs, the Washington Wizards will take out a hot New Jersey Nets team. Even though the Nets have been hot in the second half of the NBA season, I feel that the Wizards will be able to shock New Jersey in an early series where the enthusiasm will be high. This may be the best first round series in the entire NBA.
(4) Cleveland versus (5) Milwaukee- Cleveland should have no trouble with the struggling Bucks. LeBron James will step up as a big time performer against Milwaukee and the Bucks will have difficulty responding to the stronger front court of the Cavaliers. Andrew Bogut and Jamaal Magloire are not ready for prime time and the James era in Cleveland will move to a new level.
NBA Eastern Conference Champions- Detroit Pistons
NBA Western Conference Playoffs (seeds in parentheses)
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