Only a couple games into the Western Conference playoffs and we have already had some classic games and entertaining match ups!

I would have to say after watching all the opening 1st round games in the West that the clear cut favorite has to be the Los Angeles Lakers to go all the way. Granted the Denver Nuggets are an eight seed in the West and should be an easy sweep in for the #1 seed Lakers, but the way the West was during the regular season, literally any team could have been the atop the West on any given week and every team from 1-8 is extremely talented and a legitimate threat.

Even with Kobe Bryant having a bad shooting night (he did score 32 though) the Lakers managed to still beat the Denver Nuggets by 14 points off a huge game from the Spaniard Pau Gasol who scored 36 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out 8 assists! This performance showed me how very versatile the Lakers can be and how their number 1 seeding in the West was no fluke. I see no team in the West giving the Lakers too much trouble, but if there is a team that will stretch out a series with the Lakers to 6 or 7 games it will be the winner of the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs series which went into double overtime in their first meeting.

There is no love lost between the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns. Coming off from a double overtime thriller, both teams are set to improve on their offensive and defensive strategies and make the most out of their lineup. Tim Duncan and the rest of the San Antonio team know that they will be up against a more challenging Phoenix club come Game 2. The team from Texas still has homecourt advantage but the Arizona squad is hungrier, knowing that they can go toe-to-toe with the reigning NBA champions.

This is an interesting series.  Washington began the trash talking prior to game 1 of the series.  DeShawn Stevenson stated that Lebron James was "overrated".  It truly baffles me as to how a player of DeShawn Stevenson's stature could muster up the courage to make such a bold statement.  I commend Lebron James for not feeding into the verbal assault. If you are Washington and you're doing all the talking, the least you could do is come out and play solid basketball the entire series.  They haven't done that at this point.

Game 2 Jazz-Rockets was the epitome of playoff basketball. The physicality was brutal—screens were set with malicious intent, cutters were obliterated on their paths, and each and every layup attempt was fraught with punishing body blows by the defense. And with the intensity ratcheted up, each side had its share of heroic players and moments.

Tracy McGrady was spectacular for the first three quarters of the game. Utah singled him with various defenders except when he posted up and Utah was forced to send an extra man. Still, McGrady had tremendous scoring success against Brewer (5-8 FG 11 PTS), Matt Harpring (0-0 FG, 2 PTS), Andrei Kirilenko (2-3 FG, 5 PTS), and Kyle Korver (1-2 FG, 2 PTS).

It has been years since the Stockton – Malone era in Utah but the glory of the pick-and-roll play continues to shine in the hands of the new dynamic duo of Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. The 2008 NBA Playoffs pits the Utah Jazz team against the sizzling Houston Rockets, who have just made NBA history by posting the second-longest winning streak at 22 games. Utah and Houston have met in last year’s playoffs, which Utah won in seven games. Now, they are it again and Williams and Boozer are prepared to face Houston’s consistent scorer Tracy McGrady. 

The 2008 Playoffs is one of the wildest ever in NBA history. The Western Conference is jam-packed with teams that have winning records. It took the last two weeks of the regular season to pick the final Playoff positions for each team. The Eastern Conference did not experience the same dilemma since some of the bottom-rung playoff teams have losing records. Yet, the East has the two teams with the most number of wins in the regular season. With this in mind, the 2008 NBA Playoffs promises to be one of the most exciting races for the Finals, with team matchups that seem to have been made by destiny.

The number one team in the East is the Boston Celtics which would be facing off against the young Atlanta Hawks. Experience is Boston’s main asset while Atlanta is hungry for a victory, since this is their first trip to the Playoffs after being away for almost a decade. The Western Conference pits the number one seed Los Angeles Lakers against the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers squad boasts of Kobe Bryant, arguably the best player in the game this season. However, he has to face the dynamic duo of Denver’s Allen Iverson, a former MVP, and Carmelo Anthony, the high-scoring versatile forward.

Two months ago after the NBA draft lottery, Celtics fans were in shock. After years of mishaps and bad luck, 2007 was supposed to be the year of the Oden or Durant. But when they were handed the fifth pick, it seemed that the Celtics were cursed.

Then GM Danny Ainge traded that pick to receive Ray Allen and emotions changed to confusion sprinkled with intrigue. What about the youth movement? What about developing all this young talent into a contender down the road? The acquisition of Allen alone threw the Celtics into mediocrity for at least the next three seasons.

David Beckham is a mega-star, and when he becomes a full-time midfielder for the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday, he will have a higher Q Rating then the rest of his teammates combined. So in following this trend of jumping the pond to explore new endeavors within their respective sport, Stephon Marbury has announced that when his contract with the New York Knicks is up, he will take his game to Italy and finish his career.

While many may initially make little to no fuss of Marbury’s plans, it will be interesting to see if this actually happens, and if he can make waves in the Mediterranean country.

The San Antonio Spurs have captured their fourth title in nine years. In a super-competitive Western Conference, the Spurs have proven yet again that they are the best team in basketball. Is their dominance a product of super planning, or is it blind luck? What is the reason for the Spurs being all but unbeatable in the playoffs? Is it the basketball iron man that wears number 21? Or is it the gritty coach that will share a laugh with his team before and after tearing them up for turning the ball over or fouling the a jump-shooter.