Eastern Conference

No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 8 Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Keys to Win: LeBron James staying healthy.  As much depth as they have, they are nothing without the King.

Chicago Keys to Win: Dominate the boards. Joakim Noah will have a tough time holding his own against Cleveland big men, Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, but he has to figure out how to be effective for Chicago to win the series.

Our Prediction: Cleveland in five. Best record in the league, best team in the league: they get out of this series scrape-free.

No. 2 Orlando Magic vs. No. 7 Charlotte Bobcats

Orlando Keys to Win: Dwight Howard has to come up big, and the Magic must keep the ball out of Gerald Wallace’s hands.  When he gets hot, he has the ability to take over the game. Rashard Lewis needs to find his stroke behind the arc because when he isn’t hitting shots, their offense is completely stagnant.

Charlotte Keys to Win: Steady point guard play from Raymond Felton, strong bench support from D.J. Augustin, Gerald Wallace consistently being able to score against a probable Magic double-team most of the series, and most importantly, Emeka Okafor preventing Howard from getting his touches.

Our Prediction: Magic in six. The Magic is a  very, very good home team, and they will be able to push the Bobcats out of their comfort zone up front.

No. 3 Atlanta Hawks vs. No. 6 Milwaukee Bucks

Atlanta Keys to Win: Substitutions. Jamal Crawford and the Hawks bench have been huge contributors to the Hawks point total this year, as Crawford is up for the Sixth Man of the Year Award.

Milwaukee Keys to Win: Brandon Jennings needs to take over the game, and John Salmons needs to play like he has been (he is the team’s leading scorer this year).  Unfortunately for the Bucks, southpaw sharp-shooter and former All-Star Michael Redd is still injured.

Our Prediction: Hawks in five. After the Hawks nearly upset the Celtics last year, they’ll be gunning for revenge.  Sorry, but better luck next year Milwaukee.

No. 4 Boston Celtics vs. No. 5 Miami Heat

Boston Keys to Win: Getting Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce back to 100 percent as soon as possible. Without them, all veteran leadership and dependable play goes out the window.  Having one of the oldest teams in the NBA began to show as the season progressed.  Unless they acquire some more youth on the roster and soon, I wouldn’t get used to seeing the Celtics as one of the top seeds in the East.

Miami Keys to Win: Dwyane Wade. He makes or breaks this team’s offense. If he plays bad, they lose. If he plays well, then it’s bye bye Celtics.  Michael Beasley and Jermaine O’Neal need to help Wade carry some of the offensive load.

Our Prediction: Heat in six. The Boston Three Party (Garnett, Pierce, and Ray Allen) will be officially over.

Western Conference

No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 8 Oklahoma City Thunder

Los Angeles Keys to Win: Forcing someone other than Kevin Durant to beat them. Durant has played pretty well against the Lakers this season, and won the NBA Scoring Title.  If the Lakers simply stop Durant, they should be able to move onto the second round of the playoffs fairly easily.

Oklahoma City Keys to Win: Durant, Durant, Durant. The third-year star had a breakout year in which he averaged 30.1 points per game. He definitely needs to keep this up in order for the Thunder to have a legitimate chance at beating the stacked Lakers led by NBA superstar Kobe Bryant.

Our Prediction: Lakers in six. Oklahoma is a good young team, but they lack the veteran leadership and playoff experience riddled throughout the Laker’s roster.  Los Angeles is about to put an end to this thunderstorm.

No. 2 Dallas Mavericks vs. No. 7 San Antonio Spurs

Dallas Keys to Win: The Dallas Mavericks surged to the second seeded team in the West in a blockbuster trade involving your very own Washington Wizards that shipped stars and fan-favorites Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, as well as reserve guard DeShawn Stevenson to Dallas.  This filled many holes on their roster and essentially enhanced the play of already proven stars Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd.  As long as they continue to play together as they did at the end of the season, they should handle Texas rival San Antonio pretty handily.

San Antonio Keys to Win: The early season acquisition of forward Richard Jefferson convinced many that the Spurs were now ready to challenge the defending champion Lakers for the top seed in the West, but the trade never really panned out.  Jefferson struggled to find his shot early in the season and made the Spurs a significantly worse defensive team.  Jefferson must come up big in this series along with Tony Parker and Tim Duncan for them to challenge the Mavericks.

Our Prediction: Mavericks in five. While the Spurs are playoff-tested with veteran stars Duncan, Parker, and Manu Ginobili, they are simply not the same championship team with the departure of lock-down defender Bruce Bowen.  Like the Celtics, the Spurs are in need of some off-season changes to come back strong next season.

No. 3 Phoenix Suns vs. No. 6 Portland Trail Blazers

Phoenix Keys to Win: After a complete makeover with the addition of Shaquille a year ago, it seems like the Suns are back to being one of the most exciting teams to watch in the NBA with their uptempo style and high octance offense.  Steve Nash needs to continue playing at his MVP-caliber level and making the game easier for his teammates like elusive forward-center Amar’e Stoudemire.

Portland Keys to Win: Unfortunately for Blazer fans, it seems as the Blazer curse is still going on.  First it was Sam Bowie way back in 1984, then it was Greg Oden, and now star guard-forward Brandon Roy.  What’s next?  Well we believe that an early playoff departure is in the near future.  Without Roy, Portland must figure out how to score the ball and obtain the same makealbe shots that many players had when Roy was playing.  Martell Webster, the probable replacement for Roy, must come up huge in this series.

Our Prediction: Phoenix in six. While the Blazers aren’t nearly the same team as they were when they were healthy, they still aren’t a pushover.  They will put up a valiant effort against the Suns, but will still fall short four games to two.

No. 4 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 5 Utah Jazz

Denver Keys to Win: The Nuggets need to figure out how to play better without gritty forward Kenyon Martin who was injured in the latter part of the season.  Carmelo Anthony must be the go-to guy and do-it-all player, similar to LeBron James, scoring, getting his teammates involved with assists, and rebounds.

Utah Keys to Win: Star point-guard Deron Williams needs to continue to lead his team on the floor, score, and get star power forward Carlos Boozer involved from the get-go.  Williams ability to pentrate can also potentially create open shots for shooters Kyle Korver and Mehmet Okur who can get hot very quickly.

Our Prediction: Jazz in Seven. This promises to be a very exciting series.  The Nuggets late-season slide and the surge by the Jazz promises to create a very tight and entertaining series to watch.