It’s NBA playoff time.
Know what that means?
NBA ballers on 16 teams will start playing at near 100 percent effort and — wait for it — actually play defense.
Oh, how I love NBA playoffs season.
I say “season” because this two-month process of crowning a champion is the longest of any professional sport. It’s pretty much a marathon (but I won’t go off on how much I hate how long the NBA playoffs are because that’s a column in itself).
Anyway, the matchups in both conferences are now set, but I’m going to start with the Eastern Conference first and deal with the West on Friday.
 
FIRST ROUND
The top-seeded Chicago Bulls will take on the Indiana Pacers in the first round.
You know, the Pacers that are some eight games under .500 and still in the playoffs. But hey, they are fourth in the league in rebounds per game. That’s something.
The Bulls win that series in five games and move on to face the Orlando Magic, who will take down the Atlanta Hawks in five games.
The other two first-round matchups pit the Miami Heat against the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics against the New York Knicks.
Miami should have no problem with the 76ers. Four-game sweep.
The final series — the third-seeded Celtics versus the sixth-seeded Knicks — is a little trickier.
New York doesn’t have any depth, and Boston has a similar problem. The one thing the Celtics do have on the Knicks is playoff experience — a ton of it.
This series will be the best of the opening-round matchups in the Eastern Conference without a doubt. I expect it to go six, but it could very well go to seven games. The Celtics come out on top.
 
CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
The first round was all chalk, as expected because the East is weak outside of those top four (or five) teams. That means the second round is going to have Chicago versus Orlando and Miami against Boston, two intriguing matchups.
Chicago is a hot, young team on the rise looking to bring a well-known franchise back to prominence. Meanwhile, Orlando is a team that went through numerous personnel shake-ups throughout the season to get where it is now.
The Bulls took three of four from the Magic this season, including a 102-99 victory in Orlando on Sunday.
If Orlando can’t keep Derrick Rose in check, which I don’t think it can, then Chicago is going to win this series. The Bulls are the No. 2 defensive team in the league, allowing less than 92 points per game, so they will shut down Orlando’s big man, Dwight Howard.
I’ll take the Bulls in six.
The other series is even harder to pick.
Before the season, I picked the Celtics to advance to the NBA Finals.
I want to stick with that pick, but I just can’t. They don’t have the big body of Kendrick Perkins anymore. Sure, their veterans know what to do and how to win. But it’s going to be hard to replace Perkins when it comes to crunch time.
Boston took its first three games against the Heat this season, but Sunday the Heat had payback with a 100-77 thrashing of the Celtics.
The Celtics are also limping into the playoffs with a 5-5 record in their last 10 games.
It pains me to say it, but Miami wins the series in seven games.
 
CONFERENCE FINALS
Now I have chalk once again. The No. 1 seed Bulls will face No. 2 Miami.
Chicago beat Miami all three times they met this season. I don’t like the Heat that much, and I don’t think they have the bench, big men or defense to win this series.
The Bulls win the East in six.
 
 
Andy Schwehm is a 21-year-old English and psychology senior from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_ASchwehm.
 
 
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Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]