NBA Playoffs- Round 2 preview: Western Conference

Round one is now in the books. It has given us one of the best playoffs series, perhaps ever and one of the largest blowouts in playoff history.  There were many great story lines in round one. The Lakers dominated as expected. The Mavericks proved that they were not done quite yet, while the Spurs look like their run is finished. The Blazers proved that experienced is necessary in the playoffs. The Hornets are in shambles. Chauncey and 'Melo looked as good as any tandem in the league. And those are just in the Western conference. 

In the East, LeBron's Cavs dominated the downward spiraling Pistons. Dwyane Wade can't win by himself. When the Hawks are playing well, you better watch out. Orlando is good even without Dwight Howard. The Sixers can't play under pressure. Of coarse Boston and Chicago put on one of the greatest performances of all-time. Derrick Rose looked like a bona fide superstar. Ben Gordon has ice water in his veins. As does Ray Allen. Rajon Rondo?Whew! He played one of the greatest series I've ever seen, almost averaging a triple double.

While the first round of these playoffs has been amazing as a basketball fan I can only hope that the second round will match the greatness of the first round.  My Blazers are finished so my rooting interests are gone, except for my hatred against the Kobes. What will this next round bring? LeBron looks super hungry and they are looking very, very good right now. I would be shocked if anybody beats them four times out of seven games.

The Matchups

Western Conference

Houston @ Los Angeles

Point Guard: Aaron Brooks vs. Derek Fisher- Aaron Brooks really impressed me with his first round performance. Remember, this was against Steve Blake most of the time. Derek Fisher isn't exactly a great defender though. In fact he might not even be as good as Blake. Brooks did fade down the stretch of this series which worries me. Fisher has a major experience advantage and maybe can get into Brooks head a little bit. Will Brooks athleticism or Fishers experience weigh out. Edge: PUSH

Shooting Guard: Ron Artest vs. Kobe Bryant- We all know how Kobe is the best or second best player in the league (he IS the second best, by the way) . We also all know that Ron Artest is one of the best defenders in the league (and the guy who went into the stands). In the regular season Artest was talkin' some trash to Kobe and Kobe torched him. So Ron Ron's comments about how Brandon Roy is better than Kobe aren't exactly the wisest. Kobe didn't really bring out his full game in round one because he is saving his strength for the rest of the playoffs. He wasn't dominating games like usual. Expect him start putting up 30 or 40 point totals now. I really don't think Ron can hang with the Mamba. Edge: LAKERS

Small Forward: Shane Battier vs. Trevor Ariza- Both of these guys are very underrated.  Battier is one of the best defensive players in the game and just a class act all around. Ariza is explosive and very athletic and could pose some problems with less athletic Battier. Battier has the experience factor here and is a great leader on the floor. This matchup is very underrated and could decide the series. Edge: ROCKETS

Power Forward: Lamar Odom vs. Luis Scola- The more and more I see of Scola the more I think he can be a top forward in the NBA. He's very gritty, makes all of his open shots, and comes through when his team needs him. When I saw him dominate the Olympics this summer I didn't understand why more people weren't talking about him. I still don't see why many articles have not been written about him. He is the most important player to the Rockets hopes of winning this series. If he plays as well as he did against Portland this series will be a very good one. Lamar Odom is one of those underrated players too. He does so may things for the Lakers. Goes inside, steps outsides, bangs the boards- he is the Lakers Scola. This matchup is intriguing because Lamar is a better defender than Aldridge, who Scola faced in the previous round. These guys will have some very tough battles throughout this series. Edge: ROCKETS

Center: Pau Gasol vs. Yao Ming- I am not a fan of Yao at all. For his size and skill he should be putting up much better numbers than he is. The dude is 7'5"! How can he not be averaging 25-12? Just give hime the ball and tell him to go up strong, either he will get fouled or get a ten foot shot off, and he's a great foul shooter ( well all he has to do is reach his arm out over the basket). On the other I am a "fan" of Pau. I hate him, but he is a very good player. He will do whatever Phil Jackson needs him to do. He's one of the best big men in the league but doesn't get much recognition because he plays second fiddle to Kobe. He got more publicity in Memphis for goodness sake! Edge: LAKERS

Bench:  The Rockets have a lot of athleticism coming off there bench with explosive players such as Von Wafer, Kyle Lowry, and reverse Plaxico- Carl Landry. The Lakers don't have as much athleticism coming off the bench, but they have very talented young big man Andrew Bynum coming off of it. Bynum is seen as the future of the Lakers. I don't see it. Without Kobe and Pau teams will actually make it a priority to guard Bynum. He seems like the beneficiary of a great supporting cast to me. The rest of Lakers bench is fairly mediocre but the Rockets loss of Mutombo hurts the overall production of their bench. Edge: LAKERS

Prediction: The Lakers have been the favorite in the West all year long and this series is no different. They worry me with losing big leads but I don't think Houston is a great with coming back because of their inability to shoot the three. That said Houston handled Portland pretty handily, a team L.A. really struggled with in the regular season. I think if Aaron Brooks played like he did the first two games of the Rockets- Blazers series the Rockets have a good chance in this one. 

Game 1- Lakers by 10

Game 2- Lakers by 6

Game 3- Rockets by 2

Game 4- Rockets by 12

Game 5- Lakers by 22

Game 6- Lakers by 4

Lakers in 6

Dallas @ Denver

Point Guard: Jason Kidd vs. Chauncey Billups- Kidd is no kid anymore and the great point guard is still looking for that ever elusive championship. He played well in the first round against the Spurs on offense, defensively Tony Parker absolutely destroyed him, but Chauncey is very different from Parker. Although Billups burned CP3 in round one, Kidd is more of a bigger, physical defender opposed to the small, quick Paul. Could this spell trouble for Chauncey or just more trouble for the J-Kidd and the Mavs? Edge: NUGGETS

Shooting Guard: Antoine Wright vs. Dahntay Jones- Wright isn't too big of a part of Dallas's game plan. Sure he starts, but he probably won't have single game this series playing more than 20 minutes. Jones on the other hand is a key role player in the Nuggets game plan. They don't expect a whole lot out of him but too just be steady freddy or steady dahntay. Terry and Smith will both get more minuted for each team in the end. Edge: NUGGETS

Small Forward: Josh Howard vs. Carmelo Anthony- I've never been a big ' Melo fan, but I've got to give him some props. Since he arrived the team has gone from perennial cellar dweller to playoff contender. I know he is not the only reason or even the main reason for their emergence but he has been the constant factor and he is one of the best pure scorers on the NBA today. Howard on the other hand is  a very good player in his own right. He does a little bit of everything and really provides matchup problems with his length.  He has been playing great and so has Carmelo so expect these two to have some good battles. Edge: NUGGETS

Power Forward: Dirk Nowitzki vs. Kenyon Martin-  Dirk has looked back to being his normal self. He quietly had a very good season. Maybe there was no buzz because his team wasn't doing as well, but none the less here they are bidding for a birth in the conference finals yet again. Kenyon Martin is no stranger to the post season either. He's been to two NBA finals with the Nets, losing both. He hasn't been the same since coming to Denver but has looked like the old K- Mart in spurts and maybe he can pull some of that old New Jersey magic back from six or seven years ago. Edge: MAVS

Center: Erick Dampier vs. Nene Hilario- Since when has Nene had a last name. This will be my only mention of his last name ever because the whole one name thing is really hard to pull off and Nene really works. I mean it looks cool, sounds cool, why would you want two names. Especially for signing autographs; it has to be much easier to sign a four letter first name. Doesn't make sense. Nuggets also get the best name draft award by drafting Nene and Nikolaz Tsiktishvili in the '02 draft. Both had been bust pretty much until this year when Nene really broke out. He has had a very good year, and in my opinion should recieve more consideration for most improved player of the year award. Dampier has never impresses me. He's slow, not particularly good on either end, and is grossly over-payed. Not a good combination. Edge: NUGGETS

Bench: These two bench feature the two best sixth men, as voted, in the league in J.R. Smith and Jason Terry. Terry won the "coveted" sixth man over Smith so look for Smith to look like he has something to prove. Seriously, I think these two will be the keys of the series. Denver tends to do well when Smith plays well. He tends to take a lot of bad shots though. Terry is probably the second scoring option late in the game for Dallas because of his experience and shooting ability. Jose Juan Berea has become a sensation as of late for his streaky clutch shooting (Spain's chief export). If he is on this series, Denver might have a problem. The Nuggets also have the gritty and flashy Chris Anderson AKA the "Birdman."He is great down on the defensive end, a master of swatting shots away, while also being able to finish what he started down on the offensive end. Edge: PUSH

Game 1: Nuggets by 8

Game 2: Mavs by 1

Game 3: Mavs by 9

Game 4: Nuggets by 7

Game 5: Nuggets by 12

Game 6: Mavs by 2

Game 7: Mavs by 3

Mavs in 7

A look ahead: Yeah so my predictions for round one were way off in the West (1-3). I didn't realize New Orleans was such a wreck. I did go 4-0 in the East though, I even had three of the games totals right. Anyway if my two perdictions in the West pan out the Lakers will beat the Mavs in 6 games.

Peace out!