[Izulde]

I can't sleep and I'm eager to see if I can get a job at the NBA level again.

So here's the playoffs coming at you.

Unless hell freezes over, the Phoenix Suns are going to repeat as NBA champions (which, incidentally, -would- mean a dearth of sunfire).

I'm not happy about the playoff matchup. We draw the Idaho Buckaroos in the first round. That's right, the same Idaho squad that beat us like 3 or 4 times in the regular season. Worst.draw.ever.

Interesting things out in the East on the NBA level, namely the Chicago Bulls as the #1 seed vs the #8 seed Boston Celtics. Milwaukee's the #2 seed, which is a little shocking, considering how bad Bucks' basketball is IRL. Then again, it's the East, Michael Redd is a superstar in this universe and Andrew Bogut is developing into a quality center.

As for the Bulls, the backcourt of Raymond Felton and Kirk Hinrich is a terrific one and, Eddy Curry shockingly lost his starting job to David Lee. Yes, that David Lee, the former Knick, who signed a fat contract in free agency to stay with the Bulls. And I mean a 6 year, $44.4 mill. deal. You're welcome, David! I made you, don't forget!

Our first-round matchup against the Buckaroos comes up while the first round of the NBA playoffs is ongoing.

Things break out to a bad start as we're down 25-19 at the end of the first quarter and I'm swearing like crazy in the skybox. We rally back in a big way in the second quarter, outscoring them 21-10 with some furious defense to be up 40-35 at the half. The Buckaroos come out shooting in the third and take it 22-17. Tied at 57-all going into the fourth quarter.

The final period of play is a ferocious back-and-forth, with multiple ties and lead changes. We go up by 1 with 10 seconds left on the clock after a layup by Kueth Flippen.

Idaho's got the ball for one last play. Two crisp passes later, Buckaroo PF/C Matt Stidham shoots a jumper as time expires..... and it goes in.

77-76 loss.

I want to effing break something now. I -knew- Idaho was a horrible matchup for us! What a wretched way to end the season.

Nick Fazekas double-doubled with 14 points and 10 rebounds, but Steven Wilkerson had a horrible shooting night and our starters just got pulverized by the Buckaroo starting five.

Anyway, on the NBA side, Chicago sweeps Boston, Toronto sweeps Detroit and Denver stuns the world by sweeping San Antonio. Milwaukee, Phoenix, the Lakers and Rockets all win in 5 while Charlotte confounds Cleveland again, winning in 7 games to give King James more nightmares of playoff failure.

Hard to blame Lebron though. He averaged 27.4 points a game in the series. Mike Miller just hasn't been the second option the Cavs hoped for when they traded for him.

Chicago -should- be able to beat Charlotte in the quarterfinals, but we all know what the Bobcats are capable of in the postseason. Toronto/Milwaukee is an intriguing matchup, though I have to give the Raptors the nod, with Chris Bosh (24.3 ppg, 11.5 rpg in the 1st round), Andrea Bargnani (21 points, 7.8 rpg) and Greg Oden (15.3 ppg, 12 rpg) all deadly in the first round. Oh yeah, Gerry McNamara, my old Syracuse flame, is averaging a clutch 9.8 points in the playoffs after averaging less than 4 points in the two regular seasons.

Yes, I have a really bad habit of getting attached to certain college players because of March Madness magic, McNamara and Noah being the most recent examples. Stephen Curry from this IRL year.

Phoenix will crush Denver and the Rockets should be able to take out the Lakers with ease over in the West.

The Raptors prove me correct by spanking the Bucks in five games. Charlotte works their usual postseason potency in surprising the Bulls in six. Chicago fans have to be absolutely livid by now. The Lakers beat the Rockets in seven after Andrew Bynum of all people goes bananas in Game 7 with 25 points, 24 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks.

But the biggest shock comes in Suns vs. Nuggets, with Denver upsetting the defending NBA champion Suns in six games. Credit Mssrs. Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony for the stunning conquest, who combined to average in excess of 50 points a game for the series between just the two of them.

I have to think there's no way Cinderella Charlotte can become Princess of the Playoffs Ball two years in a row. Toronto is just too damned good. On the other side, the Lakers and Nuggets is a really tough matchup. AI and Carmelo are a deadly scoring combo, but Kobe Bryant is a firebreather in his own right and if a couple of the other Lakers have good nights, they're capable of matching Denver pretty easily.

The Charlotte Bobcats win the Eastern Conference title again with a repeat 40-42 regular season record, upsetting the Raptors in five games. Really, this is getting ridiculous. But great team defense, a balanced offense and a deeper bench beat out the brilliant Raptors starters, who were undone by a horrible set of subs.

Denver takes the Lakers to the full seven games before the Nuggets come out on top. The combo of Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony was just too much for the Lakers in the end, especially since the Nuggets keyed in on stopping Kobe Bryant as much as possible and the rest of the team couldn't pick up the slack.

The Nuggets had damned well better win the title or I'll be seriously annoyed.

They do, beating the Bobcats handily in 5. Allen Iverson was simply sensational, averaging 34.2 points a game in the NBA Finals. Well-deserved title, AI and he's definitely the Playoff MVP.

NBA Lottery
1. Washington (-)
2. Memphis (-)
3. Seattle (+4)
4. New Jersey (-1)
5. New Orleans (-1)
6. New York (-1)
7. Minnesota (-1)
8. Dallas (-)
9. Orlando (-)
10. Atlanta (-)
11. Miami (-)
12. Philadelphia (-)
13. Utah (-)
14. Seattle (-)

Nice win for the Supersonics, who have a consolation of missing the playoffs in two lottery picks, including a top 3 pick, which is the pick that would've been the Knicks if I hadn't traded it away for the right to draft Joakim Noah.

...Maybe it's a good thing I was fired after all.