No. 2 New Orleans Hornets vs. No. 3 San Antonio Spurs

This should be a very close series between two talented teams. Both teams match up very well, as shown by the 2-2 record they had against each other in the regular season. I believe that the matchups for point guard with Chris Paul vs. Tony Parker and power forward with David West vs. one of the best ever at the position, Tim Duncan, should definitely be fun to watch. All four players should do well in the series, so the series will probably come down to the other all-stars like Manu Ginobili, sixth-man of the year for the Spurs and Peja Stojakovic for the Hornets. Ginobili gets it done by driving the lane and is able to contort his body in so many ways that it does not allow you to just lock down on Tim Duncan. When Ginobili scores over 25, the Spurs are pretty much unstoppable. Also, watch how the Spurs try to take out Peja, who is one of the best spot of 3-point shooters in the game. Watch who guards Stojakovic, whether it be Michael Finley when the Spurs are behind or Bruce Bowen when they are ahead. When Peja is hitting threes, it allows Paul to do what he does best — use his excellent court vision to cut up the spread out defense. But I do not see the Hornets having an answer for Ginobili in this series that will lead to the end of their playoff journey.

Spurs in 7

No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 4 Utah Jazz

Even though I like this Jazz team, I just do not think it matches up very well against the Lakers. Pau Gasol shows a lot of speed in the open court and can definitely make all the shots he needs to in the half-court offense. The Jazz will have trouble taking out Lamar Odom from throwing down big numbers in this series. Utah does also pose problems with one of the best point guards in the league with Deron Williams but I think that Derek Fisher will do a good enough job trying to keep Williams from gashing through the defense. Carlos Boozer should play well through the series but will not be able to carry the load his team needs to beat the Lakers. Mehmet Okur does provide with a decent outside shooter and Andrei Kirilenko can definitely help out on the defensive end with his blocking ability. Williams and Boozer should be able to take a game from the Lakers with their ability not against the best defense in LA but not much else.

Lakers in 5