2010 NBA Playoff Picture

As the NBA playoffs come around on April 17, I wonder which of the sixteen teams in round one will have a big bang on the start of things to come. The Cleveland Cavaliers, behind Lebron 'King' James are a heavy favorite, as are the Orlando Magic, whose dominant basketball plays belong to Dwight Howard and perimeter threat Vince Carter. Not far behind are the Atlanta Hawks, whose playoff positioning has them eager to go further in the NBA playoffs. With the Hawks' addition of Jamal Crawford in the offseason, they want to go the distance and sprint ahead to the NBA Finals. The fading Boston Celtics are still a perennial powerhouse, but they are a force to be reckoned with. Their Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen are aging and they do not seem to be getting better with age. Garnett's knees are no less young than they were of yesteryear. Paul Pierce is being nagged with injuries. Ray Allen is no less of a great defender as is Kevin Garnett is. Allen's sharp shooting has helped the Celtic offense spurts energy of points. As the Eastern conference ladder goes down for playoff positioning, the Milwaukee Bucks are fifth. They have been surging for throughout the NBA season. The Bucks have been led in part of Brandon Jennings, their point guard acquired in the off-season who has played in Europe and Andrew Bogut, their center. The Miami Heat, Charlotte Bobcats, Toronto Raptors, and the Chicago Bulls follow suit in the six, seven, and eight seeded spots. Currently, the Raptors and the Bulls are tied for the eighth spot. The Heat have been inspired by Dwayne Wade's play, not by his teammates, although Wade's supporting cast has shown brilliant basketball plays frequently on a night-by-night basis, but not enough to warrant a SportsCenter highlight reel. The Bobcats have been fired up by general manager Michael Jordan's 100% ownership of the franchise and Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson are leading the Charlotte franchise to their first-ever NBA playoff appearance. This is a big boost for their team morale and especially for Bobcats coach Larry Brown. I'd like to see the GM Michael Jordan-led Bobcats pull off an upset over one of the top four East teams in Cleveland, Boston, Atlanta, and Orlando.

In the West, you have the defending NBA champs in the L.A. Lakers. They are the top seeded team in the West seedings. The Denver Nuggets are second seeded behind Carmelo Anthony's scoring and Chauncey Billups' steady dose of floor leadership and poise. Dallas is third with Dirk Nowitzki's shooting as a seven-foot big man. The Mavericks' combination of Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood, who have been recently been acquired by Dallas are also a threat to be dealt with. Then, you have the Phoenix Suns, whose basketball play has brought them into fourth place. The play of Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire has been outstanding and none of the teams they played against have been able to stop the Phoenix duo defensively. Fifth seeded Utah are no better than they were last year. The Jazz are still the same engine that keeps running behind Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. They do no better defensively and offensively on a game-by-game basis. The Portland Trail Blazers follow sixth. They are still trying how to win consecutive basketball games consistently. The reason how? Brandon Roy must take more shots selfishly. If Roy does that, then the Blazers will figure out how best they win basketball games. The San Antonio Spurs have fallen way off the map. They hold down the seventh seed. They won't be able to win the basketball games they want to, unless one of the teams they play against will sustain an injury to one of their players. That way, the Spurs will have a chance at least to win one playoff series. The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the eighth seed. The play of Kevin Durant and Jeff Green haven't been able to hold down the fifth seed as of March 18, 2010. If Durant's Thunder has a chance, they might not go back up to the fifth seed unless the Jazz lose games.