NBA Playoff Schedule: Predicting the Outcomes of Every Round

Now that the 2012 playoff bracket is set, the road has been paved for yet another Lakers title.

Kobe Bryant is serious about it this year. It's never been clearer than it was on Thursday, when he sat out the regular-season finale in favor of getting some extra rest for the postseason, ceding the scoring title to Kevin Durant.

As Randy Jackson would say, he's in it to win it.

Before he gets there, though, there are three rounds and a plethora of other games to play. Here are predictions for how every series in the NBA playoffs will go down. You can check out the first-round schedule below, and you can also find it on NBA.com. You can see the matchups in bracket form here. 

Round 1

East:

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Chicago Bulls
Begins: Saturday, April 28, 1 p.m. ET
Prediction: Bulls in 4

The Sixers are the most vulnerable team in the postseason, and not just because they're the No. 8 seed in the East. Though they shot out of the gates with young legs that carried them through the first month, they were exposed when the veteran teams got into shape, and stumbled into the playoffs with a 35-31 record. 

The Bulls have struggled to fight off injuries—particularly to reigning MVP Derrick Rose—down the stretch, but they have the deepest bench in the league and will have no problem dispatching Philly with ease.

Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks
Begins: Sunday, April 29, 7 p.m. ET
Prediction: Celtics in 4

Boston has gotten stronger and stronger as the season has progressed, due in large part to Kevin Garnett's transition from the 4 to the 5. At center, he's playing with more energy than he has exhibited in a long, long time, and he's being utilized more effectively for shorter spurts.

Paul Pierce's sprained toe—sustained in the regular-season finale—is a concern, but as long as that doesn't prove to be serious enough to keep him out of any first-round action, this Celtics team is far more dangerous than it looked a month ago.

The Hawks, meanwhile, are toast without Al Horford, who will be out as he recovers from a torn pectoral muscle. Atlanta's starters almost lost to Boston last week when the Celtics were playing without Garnett, Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus, so it's not looking good for them against the real thing.

Orlando Magic vs. Indiana Pacers
Begins: Saturday, April 28, 7 p.m. ET
Prediction: Pacers in 7

It seems illogical to say that the Magic will be able to do anything without Dwight Howard, but here, Bill Simmons' Ewing Theory applies. The theory states that teams "inexplicably play better when [insert star player] is either injured or missing." 

The Magic will play more like a team without Howard than they ever did during this season with him. In the end, though, the Pacers—who went 12-3 in April—will be too much for them. Despite the fact that they're less experienced than Orlando, the Pacers are too talented to lose this series. At least it'll be exciting and might be enough to make Jameer Nelson refrain from opting out of the final year of his contract.

New York Knicks vs. Miami Heat
Begins: Saturday, April 28, 7 p.m. ET
Prediction: Heat in 6

An energized Knicks team that has won nine of 13 in April will manage to steal one of two on the road in Miami. They'll ride that to a Game 3 win at home, and all of the pundits will be wondering whether the Knicks really have what it takes to defeat Goliath.

But sadly, they don't. Once it hits the Heat that they're down 2-1 to a No. 7 seed, LeBron will start playing defense, he'll figure out how to stop Carmelo Anthony and he'll start running the point.

West:

Utah Jazz vs. San Antonio Spurs
Begins: Sunday, April 29, 1 p.m. ET
Prediction: Spurs in 4

The Spurs are playing as well as any team in the playoffs. They're the second-best scoring team in the NBA, and against the Jazz—who rank 23rd in the league in points allowed (99.0)—that is a recipe for success. They've only lost two games in the month of April and are riding a 10-game winning streak. Plus, they don't want to play any more games than they have to, given their grizzled-veteran status.

Al Jefferson is great, averaging 19.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, but Utah can't rely on him to do everything, and he won't be able to against the Spurs. In his first playoff experience since he was a rookie with Boston, he'll prove futile against the wily Spurs vets.

Memphis Grizzles vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Begins: Sunday, April 29, 9:30 p.m. ET
Prediction: Clippers in 7

Memphis put together a great team this year. The Grizzlies are young, athletic and balanced with Marc Gasol, Rudy Gay and Mike Conley. But there is just no way Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are going to let themselves lose in the first round.

It will be a battle for a Clippers team that took some time to learn how to play together, but Paul—even when he's not at 100 percent—is capable of taking over offensively and defensively. It will be tight, but Paul won't let the Clippers lose.

Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Begins: Sunday, April 29, 3:30 p.m. ET
Prediction: Lakers in 5

The Lakers have been gunning for another championship since they somehow got through the trade deadline without imploding. They managed to start playing like a team once Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol put their issues with the front office aside, especially after getting some backcourt help from Ramon Sessions, an unexpectedly huge difference-maker. 

The Lakers could've been another Orlando Magic this season, but instead they pulled it together. And their X-factor, Andrew Bynum, has managed to stay healthy for the first time ever, which makes a team built for the playoffs even more dangerous. Bryant's more focused than he has been since winning it all two years ago, and it'll show on the defensive end.

Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Begins: Saturday, April 28, 9:30 p.m. ET
Prediction: Thunder in 4

The Mavericks haven't been playing like a defending champion even after dispensing of supposed clubhouse cancer Lamar Odom. They have been unable to prove that they're talented enough or deep enough to pull off another deep run, and faced with the young and dangerous Thunder, they won't even be able to get out of the first round.

The Mavericks will be exposed for being too old, and unlike last year—when the Mavericks won the Western Conference Finals in five games—the Thunder are too athletic and skilled for them this time around.

Round 2

East:

Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls
Prediction: Celtics in 7

Another year of the playoffs, another all-out battle between the Bulls and the Celtics. There will be plenty of overtimes, lots of skirmishes between KG and Joakim Noah and (hopefully) a Sean Williams appearance or two. In the end, a healthy Celtics team will get the job done, thanks to superb performances from Rondo, who will take over in the second round.

A not-quite-100-percent Rose may be enough to get the Bulls out of the first round, but against the Celtics, the Bulls will be lost. The Celtics' vets know better than anyone how to win huge games in the playoffs, especially Game 7s and overtime thrillers.

Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat
Prediction: Miami in 5

Coming off their first-round tune-up against the Knicks, the Heat will be feeling good, and the Pacers, though talented, will prove to be too playoff-inexperienced to get it done.

The Pacers have gone 1-3 against the Heat this season, and LeBron and Dwyane Wade will take over in this round. Miami will cede one game to Indiana on the road before escaping this series unscathed.

West:

Los Angeles Clippers vs. San Antonio Spurs
Prediction: Spurs in 6

This is where we will see what it really means to be a veteran team that knows how to win in the playoffs. The Clippers have talent, but the Spurs have enough to counter them, plus the postseason battle scars to rise one step above.

The Clippers might be able to snag a win in Game 1 because the Spurs—after sweeping in the first round—have had lots of time to sit around and wait. But after that, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili take over.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Prediction: Lakers in 7

This is the series most fans have been waiting the whole season to see. For much of the regular season, the Thunder were the team to beat in the West, but over the course of the second half of the season, Kobe and the Lakers showed them they can still compete.

The Lakers lost their first matchup to OKC in late February—at the height of their team turmoil—but in last Sunday's showdown, L.A. displayed two traits that will prove crucial in the postseason: veteran leadership via Kobe, and the ability to pull through in overtime. Those pressure situations will help the Lakers shine while simultaneously killing the Thunder.

Conference Finals

East:

Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat
Prediction: Celtics in 7

It seems unrealistic for an old Celtics team to be able to win two seven-game series in the postseason—especially against a team as undeniably skilled as the Heat—but it can happen. LeBron James has never been able to beat a healthy Celtics team.

Last year, the Heat overpowered Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals in five games, but Rondo was essentially playing with one arm and, later in the series, did more harm than good to the team.

This year, if Boston can get to 2-2, it will win because LeBron will disappear in Games 5 and 6 like he always does. The Celtics' core—believe it or not—is as healthy as it has been in a long time. KG's switch to center has truly been the key to Boston's second half, and Avery Bradley can hang in there with Dwyane Wade.

A healthy Celtics team is bad news for the Heat.

West:

Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs

Every step of the way for the Lakers this postseason has been a test, and this will be yet another one. Two storied Western Conferences powerhouses battle it out for a trip to the Finals, but Kobe will take over to lead the Lakers to the Promised Land once again.

Here is where we will see the difference between the Kobe and LeBron (and no, it's not only that LeBron never would've sat out the final game of the season and given up a better chance for a scoring title, like Kobe did). Kobe steps it up in big spots in the playoffs, and he'll do anything to get a chance at that sixth ring.

NBA Finals

Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Prediction: Lakers in 7

It pains me to say it, but Kobe will do to the Celtics exactly what he did to them two years ago: prove that they don't have anyone good enough to stop him. Kobe is the clutchest player in the league, and he is currently the hungriest.

In 2008, the Celtics beat the Lakers because L.A. didn't have Bynum. In 2010, the Lakers had a healthy Bynum and the Celtics didn't have anyone up front who could contend with him, because of Kendrick Perkins' injury. The Lakers proved that he was their key factor, and he will be this year, too.

Faced with a hungry Kobe and a healthy Bynum, the Celtics won't have enough to take down L.A. And following this win, Kobe enters the discussion as possibly being the best ever.