NBA Playoffs 2012: 15 Predictions for the First Round

Ladies and gentleman, with Thursday night's games ending early this morning, the 2012 regular season has officially ended, which means the NBA playoffs start Saturday.

There's going to be a handful of great matchups coming up in the first round, with a few potential upsets brewing, but the most important thing is that every game matters at this point.

The older teams are looking to squeeze in another title before having to retool again, while some of great younger teams are looking to be the first of the new generation of great teams to claim a title.

Favorites are the same as last season, with the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat looking like they have the best shot in the Eastern Conference and the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder looking like the teams to beat in the Western Conference.

So, to get everybody in the mood for the start of the playoffs Saturday, it's time to take a look forward at the first round of the playoffs and make a few predictions for what we're going to be seeing.

The Spurs Sweep the Jazz

The San Antonio Spurs became the first No. 1 seed to lose in the first round in the NBA playoffs last season since the Dallas Mavericks were taken down by the Golden State Warriors back in 2007.

Don't expect a repeat of that this year, however, as the Spurs are playing like sharks smelling blood in the water.

San Antonio took three of four games from the Utah Jazz during the regular season, with their only loss to them coming in a game where Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were left at home.

San Antonio matches up too well with Utah, and they're too determined to get back to the finals to let the Jazz be much more than a speed bump.

Josh Smith Goes Off...

March and April were great months for Josh Smith, as he put up 24 points and 10 boards through March and then 18 points and nine rebounds through April. On top of that, Smith has played stellar defense to lead the Hawks to a rather impressive 9-3 record in April.

Smith has been the focal point of the Hawks' offensive and defensive game plan with Al Horford missing the majority of the season.

Still, even with Smith playing well, Atlanta is going to have a tough time with the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.

...But the Celtics Take the Series

The Boston Celtics started the season with more questions than answers to what their season was going to look like, and only more questions came as the year went along.

However, as the season rolled along, the team figured out what was going on, and they're starting to look like a dangerous playoff team.

Boston is 24-10 since their most recent low point of the season, when they sat at 15-17 near the end of February.

This team is too hot to go down to a Hawks team that will be without Al Horford in the first round.

Indiana Continues Their Third-Quarter Dominance

Thanks to the good folks over at Hardwood Paroxysm (seriously, they pump out some amazing stuff), we've learned that just three teams in the Eastern Conference Playoffs perform as well as or better than they do in other quarters compared to the third quarter.

However, the team that takes the cake in the third quarter is the Indiana Pacers, and it's not even by a little bit.

The other two good third-quarter teams perform just above the league average in efficiency in that quarter, while the Pacers blow away the league average.

What's to account for this third-quarter boon while everyone else seems to be shaking off some tired legs? Who knows. Maybe Frank Vogel gives a hell of a halftime speech.

Everyone Speculates About Indiana Upsetting Miami

The Indiana Pacers got the best news of the year when they found out that they'd be playing the Orlando Magic sans Dwight Howard in the first round of the playoffs.

Orlando has lost four of their past five without Howard, and they just don't look like a team that belongs in the playoffs.

Indiana, meanwhile, seems to be the most dangerous team not coming out of Miami or Chicago, and they should be able to manhandle the Magic with their tremendous depth. With a big win here and there, you'll start to hear about Indiana possibly upsetting Miami in the second round, and who knows, maybe they can.

Evan Turner Eats His Words

If you've been taking a look at the basketball world in between NFL draft insanity, then you've probably seen that Evan Turner is looking forward to playing the Bulls in the first round. When you think about the alternative (that is, playing the Heat), you have to imagine it's pretty much a coin flip as to which one is worse.

Even though he says he meant no disrespect to the Bulls, there's no reason that a competitive team with the likes of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah won't take that comment personally.

Chicago is going to have no problem taking down Philly in the first round of the playoffs, especially when you consider how the Sixers have fallen face-first into the first round of the playoffs.

New York Gives Miami a Slight Scare

The New York Knicks are playing well ever since Carmelo Anthony has decided that the Knicks are his team and he's the one that's going to take them to wherever they may go. At first he seemed tentative to take the team over from Amar'e when he came over, but it's all his now.

Meanwhile, the Heat is looking like a good team even as they wrapped their season up with three losses in four games, two of which came at the hands of the Washington Wizards.

Still, I think Miami is going to have a tough time winning in New York, and the Knicks should be able to grab at least two games away from the bad boys of South Beach before they dispatch the Knicks in six.

LeBron James Dominates

Is there ever a better chance for LeBron James to shake off his critics early while still giving them time to recover before he fails later in the playoffs? I mean, he's going to be playing at least two games in Madison Square Garden, a place that he historically tears apart.

It seems to be almost a given that LeBron average at least 30 points in this first round while Dwyane Wade sits back and lets him get his while he can.

Meanwhile, Chris Bosh is going to need to play himself into a better mindset before things get serious in the second round.

Los Angeles-Denver Gives Us the Most Exciting Series

Here we have two teams who play drastically different types of basketball, yet there are enough personalities on the floor to keep us enthralled from start to finish, even if it ends up being a sweep.

Denver brings the unpredictable Ty Lawson along with The Manimal, Kenneth Faried, JaVale McGee in his first playoff series ever and an array of offensive weapons.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles counters with their big three of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, all of whom have explosive capabilities.

Plus, there's that Game 7 possibility looming, which, of course, would be the first game back for Metta World Peace. 

Kobe Bryant Has the Best First Round in the Playoffs

Is it just me or does Kobe Bryant seem to be more determined to win games this year than any other single person? After last season's debacle when the Lakers quit on Phil Jackson in the second round, Kobe seems to be either embarrassed or rejuvenated, possibly a little of both.

Meanwhile, he's playing for a coach who can't possibly control him, so he'll be out there on the floor doing whatever he wants.

LeBron may fill the stat sheet, Tony Parker may pop eyes, Carmelo Anthony may score points, but I think Kobe Bryant is going to take over games in the first round more than any other player. 

Because of that, I see the Lakers coming out of this series with a win in six games.

Oklahoma City Shows No Weaknesses

I can't say this for sure, but it seems like Oklahoma City used the regular season as little more than a tune-up for the playoffs this year. That is to say, they were figuring out what works best while staying healthy and biding their time.

Think about it, of their four most important starters, three started in all 66 games while Kendrick Perkins sat out just one game during the season with a bump on his knee.

Oklahoma City knows what they're doing this year, and there's no way they're going to miss their chance for revenge on the Dallas Mavericks.

Dallas Flounders Miserably

Last year's NBA champion is going to be bounced quickly in the first round; there's no doubt about it at this point.

Oklahoma City took three games out of four from the Mavericks, and although every meeting they had was relatively close, I don't see that happening much in the first round.

Dallas has had an up-and-down season, and they've been unable to put together a good winning streak all year long (their longest was six games with a five-gamer thrown in for good measure). 

Combine that with their mediocre record against teams above .500 (22-22) and Oklahoma City's revenge factor, and you've got one team locked and loaded to completely annihilate another team. The Mavericks look to be on the receiving end at this point.

Chris Paul Takes over Multiple Games

Everyone has been whispering about the notion of Chris Paul turning into playoffs Chris Paul for the Clippers, leading to them being a nice little dark horse to make it to the Western Conference Finals.

Each of the three years Paul has been in the playoffs, he's assisted on over 50 percent of his team's scoring plays when he's on the floor, plus he becomes a much better scorer.

I'm on the bandwagon that says Paul is going to be able to take over a game or two, but I'm not so sure about the whole Western Conference Finals thing quite yet.

Memphis Goes to the Second Round Again

The Los Angeles Clippers are coming into the first round of the playoffs looking across at the one team nobody in the Western Conference wanted to face: the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Clippers took two of three from the Grizzlies during the regular season, but the last time the two teams met was at the end of January, and these Grizzlies are a much different team at this point in the season.

Tough defense mixed with enough offense at the right points is going to be enough for the Grizzlies to continue to play the role of spoilers to the top-tier teams in the Western Conference. They should be able to take out the Clippers in the first round.

Most Overplayed Storyline: Kobe's Quest for Six

In case you didn't know, Kobe Bryant has won five championships in his career. His last one was big because it gave him more rings than his frenemy Shaquille O'Neal, and his sixth would be big because it would tie him with a dude named Michael.

If we don't see at least three Michael Jordan montages during the first-round series between the Lakers and Nuggets with the announcers gabbing about Kobe's quest for six, then I'll be shocked.

However, this is only going to lead to a debate over how much Kobe's six matter compared to Jordan's six, that is, if Kobe ends up winning his sixth this year.

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