NBA Playoff Schedule 2012: First-Round Matchups We Want to See

The NBA playoff picture is pretty well settled, as all 16 playoff teams are officially accounted for. The only thing left to determine in the final days of the regular season is what the matchups are going to be, and who's going to have home-court advantage.

If you take a look at the way things are set up now (see ESPN.com), you can't help but notice that there are a couple of very intriguing potential matchups. They aren't set in stone yet, but they very well could become set in stone depending on how the chips fall in the next couple of days.

There are three matchups in particular that everyone should want to see.

Denver Nuggets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder are locked into the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, but it's unclear whether they'll be playing the Dallas Mavericks or the Denver Nuggets in the first round.

Hopefully, they'll play the Nuggets. The Thunder have beaten the Nuggets twice already this season, with one final matchup set for Wednesday night, but the Nuggets played them tough in both losses. And despite the fact the Thunder beat them in five games, the Nuggets played them tough in the first round of the postseason last year.

The Thunder are the stronger team on paper, but they'll be a lot more vulnerable if James Harden isn't ready to go by the time this series gets underway. The Nuggets are no pushover, as they're the top scoring team in the NBA, and they play a very unselfish style of basketball. That's something you can't say about the Thunder on some nights.

With or without Harden, the Thunder would be put to the test against the Nuggets. Given the amount of points likely to be scored, it would be a very fun series to watch.

Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers

If the Thunder end up matched against the Nuggets, the Lakers will be matched up against the Mavericks.

And that, of course, would be a rematch of last year's Western Conference semifinals. The Mavericks swept the Lakers in that series, and they did so in dominant fashion.

The Mavericks don't appear to be as strong this year as they were last year, but they're still a very dangerous team because of their collective experience. And with Metta World Peace suspended (see ESPN.com) for the first six games of the playoffs, the Mavericks would be facing a Lakers team a lot weaker than the one that handled them during the regular season this year.

The key storyline would be whether the Lakers would get their revenge. But If Dirk Nowitzki plays like he did in last year's postseason, the Lakers would be in trouble.

New York Knicks vs. Miami Heat

In the Eastern Conference, this is the first-round matchup everyone wants to see.

It has more to do with star power than anything else. The Heat have their Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, and the Knicks have Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler and maybe even Jeremy Lin too. Due to star power alone, the hype for this series would be tremendous.

Star power or no star power, conventional wisdom suggests the Heat would win this series in a breeze. They've handled the Knicks well in the regular season, and frankly, they're the better overall team.

The Knicks, however, are not a team to be underestimated. Melo is playing out of his mind at the right time, and no team with Chandler in the paint should be taken lightly. If Melo and Stoudemire find a way to actually coexist on the court, the Knicks will be dangerous.

This series would either result in a major upset, or the Heat passing a major test.