NBA Playoffs Conference Semis

We are now down to eight teams fighting for the NBA championship and look we have a diverse set of matchups this year. We have a bunch of surprise teams coming into the second round. Who would have thought that Memphis, OKC and Atlanta would actually dominate their first round foes. Dallas, LA, Boston and Miami were technically locked into advancing to the second round this whole time while the Bulls - are still the owners of home-court advantage. Let's quickly break things down and see which of the following teams will make it to the Conference Finals.

(1) Bulls vs (5) Hawks

Well hello there Mr. Jameer "See you next round" Nelson. Looks like you'll be seeing D.Rose on TV rather than face-to-face on-court. The young guns from Atlanta just showed how a year makes a difference. Unfortunately, Kirk Hinrich may just miss this series and this means Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford may need to exert as much effort on defending MVP Derrick Rose. Chicago has a lot of weapons and defends so well. Chicago has proven to be more than just an all about DRose but a bonafide team under Thib's system. On the other hand, the Hawks just might figure this out.

This is a bold one. Hawks in 7.

(2) Heat vs (3) Celtics

It's the matchup that every single one of us expected. It's kind of funny how the Big Three of Miami somehow modeled their decision to play together to how the Big Three from Boston ended up in the same team. Now we'll see what they are made of. This is the third time that Lebron will be facing the C's in the playoffs but now he totally upgraded his sidekicks. I expect this series to be a classic one. Once again, Rondo will be expected to be the X-factor that will bring the C's over the top. As for the Heat, they'll need the rest of their team to win this. LeBron-Wade-Bosh can easily win it for the team when they score a large chunk of the points. If one of them bogs down, expect them to lose against these gritty veterans from Boston.

Celtics in 6.

(8) Memphis vs (4) OKC

This perhaps is the most improbably Conference semis matchup in the past decade. We can probably start getting used to this because I feel a lot of potential coming from these two teams. But then again, them meeting in the second round is a clear stamp that they want to be on top now. Memphis just thrashed the Spurs' bigs. OKC's Perkins-Ibaka tandem just might be the best 5-4 combination in the league, second to Bynum-Gasol. The bigs, to me, cancel each other out. We will be left with Durant-Sefolosha-Westbrook vs Young-Allen-Conley. Flat out mismatch. Don't forget, Durant leads the league in scoring.

Thunder in 6.

(2) Lakers vs (3) Mavericks

Both these teams are in very familiar territory. This heavyweight matchup seems like an interesting one but seriously, it's the Mavs who need to make it one. These Lakers have revealed a lot of damages to their armor but they still close things out. In veteran-team matchups like these, execution and heart is the key. I don't want to keep carrying on the fact that the Mavs have been in the playoffs for quite sometime now (say 10-12 years) but never won a chip. And no, they may not use the Caron-Butler-was-injured excuse and say, "we'll be back next year" should they lose. They need to win now or break things up. Unfortunately, it will be the player of the decade playing against them across the court.

Lakers in 5.