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posted April 1, 2008 at 00:22 in NBA Articles

The NBA Playoffs are fast approaching. It’s not too late to get on the BetUS NBA wagon as there are no less than seven teams capable of winning the NBA Championship.

Five of those teams reside in the Western Conference, but perhaps the two teams with the best chances reside in the Eastern Conference. Both the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons have to be considered the top teams to win the NBA Championship.

Why? Because they only need to get through one another to get there and they are the two best defensive teams in the NBA. I’m partial to Detroit because of their BetUS odds - - 7 to 1 the last time I checked although that may have changed.

I love Detroit in a match-up against the Celtics. Detroit is a veteran team with shooters - - Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups - - and a fantastic front-court. More importantly, they go into these playoffs under the radar while all of the pressure will be on the Celtics.

I’m not sure the Celtics have solved their point-guard issues by picking up Sam “Don’t Call Me Methuselah” Cassell. Chauncey should beat him up in these playoffs.

Let’s go to stats in this one - the Boston Celtics are 45-26-2 against the BetUS spread this year. They are also good at home going a very good 22-15-1. What are the Detroit Pistons? Well, they’re 39-33-1 against the BetUS spread on the season, but are 17-19-1 against the spread on the road.

So why am I all over Detroit in this match-up? Some times a BetUS gambler has to go with that gnawing feeling and that gnawing feeling tells me that Detroit is going to come out of the East. They are a push button team, check out how they handled the Suns on the road, by 30 points, and the Hornets at home, by over 20, about a month ago. If they turn it on, they are hard to deny.

What about the Cleveland Cavaliers and/or Orlando Magic? The Magic’s guard play will be their undoing. Hey, that’s the same thing with the Cavs! First, the Cavs sit as the fourth best team in the Eastern Conference right now. They will have to travel to Boston. The Cavs have no chance in a seven game series against the Celtics. None. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett - - Lebron can’t guard all of them!

I think Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyees for Detroit counter anything that Dwight Howard does for the Magic. The Magic are an up and coming team, but they have to improve in some areas to challenge the Pistons.

Let’s get to the Western Conference where the real story lines are!

Western Conference

If the playoffs started today, then the Golden State Warriors wouldn’t make it. As it stands right now, the Warriors, the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets are all tied at 45 – 28. The Warriors would be out due to some strange NBA tie-breaker rules. I don’t want to get into those right now. Let’s just say that the Warriors better turn things up a notch or else they’ll be on the pine during these playoffs.

Okay, because the Western Conference is so tight, it’s best to go through each potential match-up and then see if we can get some important information out of studying the trends.

Here we go!

(8) Denver Nuggets vs. (1) New Orleans Hornets - - The Hornets are a solid team, but they couldn’t have asked for a tougher first-round match-up then having to play Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets. The Hornets are 45-26-1 against the BetUS spread this season. They are a fantastic 24-13 against the BetUS spread at home. They have my MVP pick in Chris Paul running the point. They have young players in the front-court and a genius coach in Byron Scott. The Nuggets are no slouch with Marcus Camby, Iverson, Anthony, and Kenyon Martin. But the Hornets are just too young, too hungry, and too good. The Hornets should win this series in six games or less.

(7) Dallas Mavericks vs. (2) San Antonio Spurs - - Even though San Antonio is horrid against the BetUS spread going 34-38-2 on the season and just okay at home going 19-16-2 on the season, a Dirk-less Dallas Mavericks’ team has no chance of beating the San Antonio Spurs in a seven game series. The Spurs in five is what I’m predicting.

(6) Houston Rockets vs. (3) Los Angeles Lakers - - The Lakes are begging, that’s right, begging that the standing stay exactly the same and that they get to beat up on the Rockets in the first-round. Andrew Bynum will be healthy, Pau Gasol will be healthy =- - heck, everybody on the Lakers squad will be healthy. The Lakers are 43-29-1 against the BetUS spread this season. That’s with all of the injuries they suffered. Forget it. Kobe Bryant counters Tracey McGrady, or plays even better than T-Mac, and the Lakers roll. A sweep looks to be in order.

(5) Phoenix Suns vs. (4) Utah Jazz - - Phoenix better hope that the Jazz lose a few games and don’t secure that number 4 spot. Even though Phoenix has a better record, because of those goofy NBA playoff rules, they may not have home-court advantage. The reason Phoenix wants home-court advantage is pretty simple. The Utah Jazz are 15 and 23 against the BetUS spread on the road this season and 24 and 12 against the BetUS spread at home. That might be too much for the Suns to overcome. Utah is deadly at home - - not so good on the road. They also match-up well with the Suns because of their front-court of Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur, and their point-guard Derron Williams. Phoenix does not want to play this team in the first-round. I have to go with my lone upset in the Western Conference First-Round Playoffs by taking the Jazz in seven if it turns out this way.

Until next week, good luck!

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