NBA Playoff Schedule: First-Round Matchups Sure to Be over Quickly

Two of this year's first-round matchups in the NBA playoffs are bound to leave a few select fans very disappointed, very quickly.

While we wait for the final matchup times to be determined, we at least know which teams are playing on which days. Here's a look: 

Saturday, April 28:

Chicago Bulls vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks
Indiana Pacers vs. Orlando Magic

Sunday, April 29:

San Antonio Spurs vs. Utah Jazz
L.A. Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets
Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks
Memphis Grizzlies vs. L.A. Clippers

Once the regular season officially ends on Thursday night, the league will finalize the schedule (this link gives you a look at potential opponents), but until then, here are some of the matchups that will be over before you even realize they started.

Spurs vs. Jazz

The Spurs tied the Bulls for the league's best record in 2011-12, and the Jazz—slinking into the playoffs at 35-30—will be no match for them.

San Antonio has managed to defy expectations in its race toward the West's top seed, given the youth (Oklahoma City) and veteran talent (L.A. Lakers) standing in its way. Yet there are Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker standing back and waiting to make yet another championship run while all eyes are focused elsewhere. 

For 15 seasons, the Spurs have managed to have a winning percentage of at least .610, and they've done it with the kind of veteran talent that knows what it takes to win. Duncan might be on the verge of retirement, but it's not that time yet. He still has another ring to earn.

There aren't many teams that have played better down the stretch than the Spurs, winners of nine in a row and 23 of their last 26 games. Though one of those losses came against the Jazz on April 11, the Spurs took three of four from them during the regular season series and will dispatch them with the same relative ease in the first round next week.

Indiana Pacers vs. Orlando Magic

The Magic, in a sense, are the exact opposite of what the Spurs are right now. They have veteran talent, but are missing the most crucial element of their team and have struggled to overcome backstage drama at the tail-end of the season and forge any kind of team unity.

Orlando enters the postseason as the No. 6 seed in the East and will take on the third-seeded Pacers, beginning on Saturday (times TBD). The vast majority of pundits and former stars are picking against them and though bulletin board material is motivating, it can't buy talent. And with Dwight Howard gone for the season, the Magic don't have enough to overcome the Pacers.

Howard was the defensive heart and soul of the Magic all season. Without him the team loses 14.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 2.1 blocks per game (not to mention 20.6 points). In Howard's place, Glen Davis is playing center, and at 6'9", he certainly doesn't create the type of matchup problems Howard does, nor does he put offer the same offensive or defensive production.

It would be different if the Magic had found a way to win despite Howard's injury and despite all of the drama surrounding his alleged plea for the front office to fire head coach Stan Van Gundy. But Orlando is not playing like a team remotely capable of winning a championship. Since March 28, the Magic have gone 5-10. Meanwhile, the Pacers have played some of their best basketball in the month of April, going 12-3.

Given how little juice the Magic have left in the tank, this one is bound to be short.