The 82 game is over, now it's time for the real season to begin. With the playoffs starting Saturday, let's take a look at the Eastern Conference matchups.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1st ROUND (1)Chicago Bulls (62-20) –vs- (8) Indiana Pacers (37-45); Season series 3-1, Chicago. Key matchups: Who is guarding D-Rose? Really? Rose averaged 27.0 vs the Pacers on the season. Noah and Hibbert will be a challenging battle in the paint. The Bulls won their games by an average of 18 pts. WINNER Bulls in 5 games

(4)Orlando Magic (52-30) –vs- (5) Atlanta Hawks (44-38); Season series 3-1, Atlanta. Key matchups: Atlanta has 5 big men in the middle that can bang and bump Howard around, with no real worry of him hurting them at the free throw line. This is a concern for Orlando, he only scored 20+ in 1 meeting during the season. That was the game Orlando won. The Hawks won their games by an average of 6 pts. WINNER Orlando in 6 games

(2)Miami Heat (58-24) –vs- (7) Philadelphia 76ers (41-41); Season series 3-0, Heat. Key matchups: The Heat across the board just have more talent. Doug Collins has done a wonderful job with the Sixers this season, but with only 1 player averaging 15 or more ppg this is going to hurt. The Heat won their games by an average of 10 pts. WINNER Heat in 4 games

(3)Boston Celtics (56-26) –vs- (6) New York Knicks (42-40); Season series 4-0, Celtics. Key matchups: New York is not very good on the road, and in the end, Boston is still first-class at home. Billups can’t guard Rondo, he will have to exploit his speed and keep Billups back peddling. Garnett plays big against Amare. Can Boston keep it slowed down enough for the series? The Celtics won their games by an average of 7 pts. WINNER Boston in 6 games

With those teams predicatively winning their matchups, the 2nd round would go like this:

(1)Bulls (62-20) –vs- (4) Magic (52-30); Season series 3-1, Chicago. Key matchups: Luol Deng against Hedo. Chicago has plenty of size to bang around a likely already exhausted Dwight. On the year, the Bulls won their games by an average of 7 pts. WINNER Chicago in 6 games

(2)Heat (58-24) –vs- (3) Celtics (56-26); Season series 3-1, Boston. Key matchups: The last time they played showed a boatload of what Miami can do to the Celtics, with that 23 pt rout, and I think it was established after that game. The Celtics won their games by an average of only 5 pts. WINNER Miami in 6 games

EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

(1)Chicago (62-20) –vs- (2) Miami (58-24); Season series 3-0, Chicago. Key matchups: Amazing matchup. Everything it should and will be. Hear it here first, LeBron and the Heat finally have the experience going into this series, and will challenge the young Bulls team on every level. Watch Mike Bibby in this series, he will get alot of good looks. The Bulls won their games during the season by an average of 2.6 pts. WINNER Miami in 7 games With that win, The Miami Heat do as what was planned from the summer planning of the “Big 3” and head into the NBA Finals.
 

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