Mark Stein talks about the playoff teams

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/200...&id=4071817

No. 4 Atlanta Hawks

What I like: This isn't so much a Hawks thing as a series thing, because the matchup is, well, likable.

It's a series that the Hawks have a great chance to win -- which is always good for a franchise that last tasted the second round in 1999 -- after last spring's first-round baptism against Boston. Yet it's also a series that some of us know-it-alls will claim Dwyane Wade can win by himself, in spite of Atlanta's experience edge.

The Hawks have a healthy swagger at home, some recent defensive success against Miami's MVP candidate and a fast-improving big man in Al Horford. And if the prospect of watching D-Wade can pull in the locals anything like the presence of the Boston Celtics last spring, Philips Arena will be louder and fuller than you think.

As a bonus, Atlanta's perennially underrated Joe Johnson gets a fantastic opportunity to snag some spotlight for himself, thanks to all of the cameras pulled in by the big star.

What I don't like: The Hawks' margin for error might not be much wider than Miami's.

Not when Marvin Williams -- one of the eight players Mike Woodson is likely to rely on and one of the most important members of their D-Wade defensive cavalry -- is just returning from a back problem.

One Hawks expert I know (is he talking about Hollinger?) insists that the mere presence of Josh Smith and Horford at the heart of the Hawks' constantly switching defense is enough to mess with Wade's finishing at the rim, thus forcing him into more jumpers than he wants to shoot.

We'll see.

No. 5 Miami Heat

What I like: Getting to the No. 5 spot was crucial. All of us media guys are grateful.

None of us would have the license to even toss out the idea that D-Wade could swing a series on his own if Miami had to face one of the top three teams.

Neither of these teams can have realistic aspirations beyond the second round. That's clear. But if you've enjoyed D-Wade's work this season, Heat-Hawks is the matchup you wanted.

What I don't like: I'm not worried about Wade. Not even when you remind me about how much trouble the Hawks have given him.

He has a history of getting to the free throw line, in case you've forgotten, and he's been finding ways to score all season when defenses haven't had to worry about too many other Heaters on most nights.

It's everybody else. The Heat need someone to emerge as a reliable second scorer, composure from the rookies (Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers) and a consistent presence inside from Jermaine O'Neal and Udonis Haslem. The pressure on Chalmers will be especially thick, going up against a playoff savant like Mike Bibby.

With first-round matchups firmed up at last after a wild final night of the regular season, we can start your playoff preparations with a team-by-team spin through the Eastern Conference field.

One man's likes and dislikes:

No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers

What I like: Beyond the obvious -- LeBron James, home-court advantage for the entire playoffs and a suffocating team defensive scheme -- Cleveland is teeming with depth, focus and chemistry.

How much more do you need?

Depth example: Sasha Pavlovic, who had a real role with this team when it went to the NBA Finals in 2007, is rarely seen these days.

Chemistry example: Those intricate routines we see during pregame introductions are not the latest example of a generation gone awry, as closed-minded purists would have you believe. They give us a glimpse into what might be the league's most together locker room.

As Bill Simmons noted in his MVP column, one of the underrated reasons LeBron is the runaway favorite to win his first MVP award is because there hasn't been a superstar this good at making everyone feel like part of the team since Magic Johnson.

What I don't like: We tend to forget, looking at Cleveland's 66-16 record and ridiculous 39-2 mark at home, that Mo Williams is the Cavs' second-best player.

And that Williams needed an injury or two to make the East All-Star team and has never been the No. 2 option for a title contender.

There will thus be skepticism about Williams and the rest of the Cavs' shooters around LeBron, as good as they've been all season, until we see how they shoot it in the last two rounds.

Ben Wallace's health is another concern, because Cleveland would definitely need him in a series against the Celtics or the Lakers. I'm also rather curious about what happens to the Cavs' supposed home-court invincibility if Cleveland drops a home game or two on the way to the Finals. One of the Cavs' biggest advantages in a hypothetical Finals showdown with the Lakers might not have the same ominous feel six weeks from now.

No. 8. Detroit Pistons

What I like: They probably don't deserve it after the consistent lack of spark we've seen from these Pistons -- most recently in a home loss Monday to Chicago that represented their last opportunity to move up from the No. 8 slot -- but these guys will not be overlooked by Cleveland just because they're suddenly a sub-.500 team after seven straight 50-win seasons.

Not with Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace on the other side.

Not with a crowd back in Auburn Hills that we're guessing, if it digs deep to find its A-game noise, can still make things uncomfortable for LeBron's Cavs.

Not when the Cavs look it up and discover that Detroit has road victories this season over the Lakers, Celtics, Magic, Spurs and Nuggets.

Knowing the Pistons' old guard like we do, Tay, Rip and Sheed are sufficiently proud/stubborn to believe that they can steal one of the first two games in Cleveland. Even if no one else does.

What I don't like: This series is bound to get away from the Pistons real quick if they don't get one of the first two games on the road. Unless you believe Sheed when he says that, in a snap, Detroit's "swagger will come with the playoffs." I don't. The season-long media focus on the Allen Iverson circus has masked how disinterested Wallace looked throughout his own contract year. Which is troubling because the Pistons, as we've so often been told, go as Sheed goes.

So, with free agency looming and given that Wallace has played in only eight games since March 9 because of a hamstring problem, you have to ask: Does Sheed even want to spark these Pistons anymore?

No. 2. Boston Celtics

What I like: The only positive you can conjure up now is that the pressure is all the way off the defending champs. They came into this season with the goal of doing what the Larry Bird Celtics were never able to do -- win back-to-back titles -- but just getting back to the East finals would be a serious achievement if we've seen the last of Kevin Garnett for 2008-09.

Boston's level of self-belief leads the league. It's a swagger that might have even jumped a notch or two after the Celtics managed to pass Orlando for the East's No. 2 seed even with KG missing 22 of the last 26 regular-season games. Yet even the Celtics' confidence has limits.

The proper course for the Celts is shelving KG for the remainder of the season, no matter how loudly he protests, since they've won a championship already and since they have three more years to go on Garnett's reworked contract. They need to get him as close to fully healthy as possible, if that's possible, with nearly $57 million left to pay him starting next season.

What I don't like: Garnett's unavailability makes them prone to a first-round upset, given that they're suddenly facing Chicago instead of a Philly team that Boston mentally crushed Tuesday night by beating the Sixers without Garnett or the suspended Ray Allen. And Leon Powe (knee), don't forget, is dinged up as well.

And even if KG's knee would have proved sturdier than panic-stricken Bostonians expect, three of the biggest weapons that helped the Celtics outlast Cleveland in their second-round showdown in 2008 are long gone:

1. P.J. Brown's length and savvy off the bench.

2. James Posey's presence on the bench as the natural counter defensively to Cleveland going small with LeBron James at power forward.

3. The priceless privilege of home-court advantage.

Without Brown, Posey and a full-strength Powe, Boston's bench might be shakier than Garnett's knee ... although I remain gullible enough to believe that Stephon Marbury is going to win a game for the Celts somewhere along the way.

No. 7 Chicago Bulls

What I like: I never understood what moved Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to brand this season as a "disaster" with Chicago at 19-27. What was he expecting with a rookie coach and a rookie point guard?

However ...

You also have to acknowledge that Reinsdorf did sanction the mid-February trade with contract-dumping Sacramento for Brad Miller and John Salmons, which probably saved this maiden season in the Windy City for Derrick Rose and Vinny Del Negro, largely because the trade meant the Bulls had Salmons to plug in for the injured Luol Deng.

What I don't like: I am sure the Bulls are trying to convince themselves that it's better to play Boston than Orlando in the first round because of KG's situation. I was not prepared to partake until the news broke Thursday morning that Garnett might miss the entire postseason, likely ruling him out for the first round.

After a monthlong rush to get into the playoffs -- Chicago was still eight games under .500 on March 13 -- losing at home to Toronto in Wednesday night's deflating season finale was an undeniable downer, especially since the Bulls had just won in Detroit two nights earlier after living off their United Center success all season. We'll find out quickly whether Garnett's absence gives them a shot to win this series, although it should be noted that the Celts have proved adept at beating teams of the Bulls' caliber without Garnett.

The Bulls should have the edge in athleticism if they can continue to depend on Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas, but now Rose gets a matchup with Rajon Rondo in his first playoff series. And this is a series in which the Bulls will miss Deng, even if Salmons continues to score in his place, because Deng has always been their best option for checking Paul Pierce.

No. 3 Orlando Magic

What I like: The Magic avoided Detroit in the first round.

And that's no small trick, given how shaky Orlando has looked since throttling Cleveland and winning in Atlanta on April 3-4. After those big wins, Orlando blew its shot to clinch home-court advantage for its presumed second-round encounter with Boston -- when the Celtics were without Garnett -- by losing at home to New York and away to New Jersey one week later.

Then the Magic somehow managed to avoid Chicago as well, when the Sixers and the Bulls unexpectedly swapped playoff spots late Wednesday night, giving Dwight Howard some real comfort. Now he won't be seeing Sheed or Antonio McDyess or even Chicago's Brad Miller. Howard gets Samuel Dalembert, which is just one of the reasons Orlando should proceed to Round 2 with little obstruction.

What I don't like: Even after running through all the breaks they just snagged, I still can't like the way the Magic finished what for so long ranked as an extraordinary regular season.

So ...

There is bound to be fretting in Central Florida, even after the latest KG news, about the home-court advantage squandered in a potential Boston series, Rashard Lewis' sore knee, Hedo Turkoglu's twisted ankle and the heavy responsibility that will be shouldered by the up-and-down Rafer Alston in place of the injured Jameer Nelson.

And I would anticipate a heavy focus from here, fair or not and no matter how easily Philly is dispatched, on how Stan Van Gundy rallies the Magic from their late-season fade, courtesy of the bull's-eye affixed to Van Gundy by Shaquille O'Neal's loud rip job of his former coach in March.

As one veteran Eastern Conference scout cracks when asked to explain why the Magic failed take advantage of KG's absence to claim the No. 2 seed: "Their coach panics, man. Don't you read the Internet?"

It's a perception, fair or not, that Van Gundy's Magic can wipe away only by getting past the Celtics. Especially now if Garnett misses that whole series, too.

No. 6 Philadelphia 76ers

What I like: I love seeing the Sixers back in their old '80s uniforms, taking me back to my early teens every time they're on the TV.

What I don't like: Everything else.

I certainly couldn't like a matchup with Boston for the Sixers -- no matter how vulnerable the Celtics allegedly are with Garnett sidelined -- if Philly couldn't beat the champs with no KG and no Allen on the same night Thaddeus Young returned to the lineup.

Yet I can't say drawing Orlando works out any better.

The Magic obviously have a massive edge inside with Howard, who is unlikely to be led into foul trouble by the Sixers' offensively challenged big men. Orlando will also undoubtedly rain 3s on the Sixers, making Philly's lack of perimeter firepower even more glaring than normal.

There is only so much that the two Andres -- Andre Miller and Andre Iguodala -- will be able to do unless the Magic forget how to shoot.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/200...&id=4073003

With first-round matchups firmed up at last after a wild final night of the regular season, we can start your playoff preparations with a team-by-team spin through the Western Conference field.

One man's likes and dislikes:

No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers

What I like: What's not to like?

Especially for Lakers fans. Followers of other teams might not enjoy the view, but it must be hard to stop your mind from wandering ahead to June when looking at the playoff pairings through a strictly Lakers prism.

Utah is in disarray and unlikely to give them much of a workout.

The rest of the first-round matchups in the West are virtual tossups that, with the Lakers' recent fortune, will all go six or seven games, further draining a field that has been wracked by injuries and lacks a clear-cut No. 2 threat as it is.

And now Boston has lost Kevin Garnett for perhaps the whole postseason because of ongoing knee trouble, adding to the season's depressingly long list of casualties and realistically deleting the defending champs from the title discussion.

The Lakers, meanwhile, have regained the services of Andrew Bynum, who missed their whole playoff run last season because of his own knee problems. Bynum's return enabled them to move Lamar Odom back to a bench unit that was slipping without him and, if Odom plays well, could well set up L.A. to make it to June without getting a playoff push from anyone on its side of the conference divide.

So, to repeat, what's not to like if you're looking from an L.A. angle?

What I don't like: You can nitpick about a few things if you wish. Bynum still has some rust to chip away. Derek Fisher is in a shooting slump. The Lakers' killer instinct has been questioned all season, with Phil Jackson questioning it louder than anyone.

But it's tough to get worked up about any of that when three of the four teams that initially looked capable of giving the Lakers some lasting discomfort have lost huge personalities: Garnett in Boston, Manu Ginobili in San Antonio and Jameer Nelson in Orlando.

I suppose that the Lakers might be in for a jolt in the NBA Finals against the Cavs if the West playoffs prove to be as hospitable as I (and many others) fear and then they find themselves in a cauldron at Cleveland's Q. Yet I'm guessing that they'd happily take that scenario and worry about making the adjustment later.

No. 8 Utah Jazz

What I like: Positivity about the Jazz is not easily delivered these days.

Not after they cratered to eighth in the West, dragged down by home losses to Minnesota and Golden State in a building that is supposed to be the toughest in the league for visiting teams to conquer.

Not when they've suddenly got the Lakers as a first-round opponent, quickly erasing the club's February/March status as a popular dark-horse pick.

So we quietly proceed to the next section, since Utah has dropped into an unwinnable series.

What I don't like: Carlos Boozer has struggled physically since his Feb. 23 return from knee surgery. But Utah's nosedive didn't start until March 31, more than a month after Boozer returned to the lineup.

Rumblings in front-office circles around the league are growing louder that the uncertain futures of potential free-agent forwards Paul Millsap, Mehmet Okur and Boozer -- since it's unclear who's staying and who's going -- have caused tensions in the locker room that have seeped into Utah's play. An increasing lack of togetherness would certainly help explain what's been happening at the defensive end, judging by the 125, 118 and 130 points the Jazz gave up in three of their final four regular-season losses.

Interest in this L.A.-Utah rematch from last season, when the Lakers needed six games to prevail, thus figures to be minimal. Any intrigue surrounds what happens with the Utah roster from here, with Deron Williams' new contract extension kicking in next season but a flurry of changes potentially looming for a team that continues to fade farther and farther from the level it reached by advancing to the Western Conference finals in 2007.

No. 2 Denver Nuggets

What I like: Chauncey Billups.

As you might have guessed.

He claimed the fifth and final spot on my MVP ballot as the driving force behind the Nuggets' culture change, arriving one week into the season and immediately bringing order, focus and a concept known as passing to a perpetually wild team that was supposed to miss the playoffs before he got there and maybe sneak in as a seventh or eighth seed after the trade.

Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, Nene and Chris Andersen all had big seasons, individually, and Kenyon Martin played in 66 regular-season games as the first player to come back from microfracture surgery on both knees. Yet it is Billups, on top of his still-solid game at 32, who keeps the locker room unified. It doesn't sound like anything revolutionary until you talk to folks close to the team and find out how much work is involved in helping edgy Nuggets coach George Karl maintain a lasting peace with the likes of Melo and Smith.

All this is especially pertinent now because Billups, whose work as a diplomat has been crucial to Denver's rise to No. 2 in the West, will be facing the imperious Chris Paul in Round 1. The same Paul who, in the toughest call on my MVP ballot, lost out to Billups for the No. 5 spot despite his otherworldly statistical production.

For selfish reasons, Billups versus Paul spices up what was going to be a tasty series anyway.

What I don't like: So much for the No. 2 seed's favorable opening-round matchup. Karl keeps saying his team has never been so flush with confidence, but this start will be far tougher than the Nuggets envisioned in the first round after breaking through to win the Northwest Division and expecting Dallas or Utah for days.

They're not going to say so publicly, as you can imagine, but rest assured that the Nuggets preferred seeing Dallas for starters after sweeping the Mavs during the regular season. Whether it's hounding CP3 or trying to win a game on the Hornets' floor, if necessary, Denver has a lot to do to reach the second round for the first time since 1994.

The key? Given the unpredictable nature of some of the main Nuggets, I'd say winning the first two games at home is a must. Karl's relationships with Anthony, Smith and Martin are tenuous at best. A bad loss early, depending on the circumstances, could ignite any of them.

No. 7 New Orleans Hornets

What I like: The Hornets just might be the most dangerous lower seed in either conference, in spite of their many injuries, thanks largely to their placement in the bracket opposite the Lakers.

Opening with Denver isn't an easy draw, given the Nuggets' aptitude in the altitude at home and the Hornets' fragile health. Yet you wonder whether the Nuggets are more worried about Paul's upset potential than the Hornets are fearful of Denver.

The second round, meanwhile, looks fairly promising if the Hornets are sturdy enough to get there, whether it's a rematch with the Spurs -- who wouldn't have Manu Ginobili this time -- or a Dallas team they've handled repeatedly.

Frontcourt depth has always been a big worry for coach Byron Scott, even when Tyson Chandler is healthy. But the Nuggets have size issues, too, giving the Hornets a real opportunity.

If you believe they're healthy enough to beat the Nuggets four times.

What I don't like: The Hornets were frequently accused early in the season of coasting and/or paying too much attention to all the positive offseason media coverage generated by their memorable seven-game series with San Antonio in Paul's first-ever playoff run and the free-agent signing of James Posey away from Boston.

None of that, though, is the story now. The Hornets' iffy health, with apologies for being repetitive, is the constant focus, with Chandler (foot) and Peja Stojakovic (back) far from 100 percent and unlikely to get closer without some serious time off in the summer.

The minute load Paul and West carry as a result, with so little in the form of consistent help on the bench beyond Posey, makes you wonder how fresh they can be, too.

Posey, meanwhile, has been bothered this month by a persistent elbow problem, but the Hornets need him now more than they ever did during the regular season, not just because of the championship pedigree he brought to New Orleans but also because he'll be at the heart of the Hornets' coverages of Melo, whether as a helper or as the primary defender.

No. 3 San Antonio Spurs

What I like: Snagging the No. 3 seed in the West on the final day of the regular season to set up a rematch of the '06 Western Conference finals with Dallas was the best available scenario for San Antonio.

So the Spurs will actually be pleased to see their old rivals from North Texas on Saturday for Game 1, strange as it'll undoubtedly seem to be facing the Mavs so early.

San Antonio actually might be the only team on the NBA map that still retains the sort of respect for Dallas that it had for the Mavericks back in 2006. That's probably because, to this day, the Spurs still don't have a consistent answer defensively for Dirk Nowitzki.

The positives of the matchup, though, are undeniable. Travel will be easy for the Spurs' vets. Dallas has as much (or more) trouble guarding Tony Parker as San Antonio has with Nowitzki. And all this means that San Antonio is out of L.A.'s bracket until the West finals.

You might say that's just delaying the inevitable, since Tim Duncan (knee) is still ailing and with Manu Ginobili out for the rest of the season thanks to persistent ankle trouble, but the Spurs don't do surrenders. Certainly not when they have what might be their deepest supporting cast in the Duncan era and not after San Antonio just escaped landing in L.A.'s bracket and opening the playoffs on the road in Portland.

What I don't like: The overriding source of distress, of course, is the state of Tim Duncan's knees. Having Ginobili out and Duncan at a reduced capacity heaps a ton on Parker, who has been advised by his bosses that they need him scoring big throughout the playoffs to have any chance of hanging around.

The secondary source of concern is the real possibility that the Mavs, no matter how favorable it seemed for San Antonio to land this matchup, have a better shot at beating the Spurs in their current state than their potential first-round foes in the other bracket. I would have picked San Antonio to beat Portland or Houston in a series, even without Ginobili, because I believe in the Spurs' veteran know-how that much, especially against playoff neophytes. But this is a little bit different.

Happy as the Spurs were to get this draw compared with the other options, Dallas has been to South Texas too many times to be unsettled by the crowds down there. Comfortable might be stretching it, but this will be a setting and an opponent that the Mavs know infinitely well. Which should only enhance their chances.

No. 6 Dallas Mavericks

What I like: What's even better than the history that tells us the Mavericks are one of just two teams this decade to win a playoff series against the Spurs when Duncan is playing?

The strong finish.

It's been awhile since we've seen one from the Mavs.

"I think the last two years," Mavs sixth man Jason Terry says, "we kind of lost steam going into the playoffs."

Not this time. Presumed to be locked in a battle with Phoenix for the No. 8 spot in the West, Dallas instead wound up surging into the No. 6 slot and a first-round reunion with the Spurs. The Mavs thought for sure that they were headed to Denver to start the playoffs against a team that oozes athleticism and swept the teams' four meetings this season, so they're as pleased with Wednesday's late shuffle of the seeds as anyone. They didn't want to deal with Denver's athleticism so soon.

What I don't like: You could argue that the Mavs haven't entered a playoff series with as much confidence as they have right now since the Finals in 2006 after toppling the Spurs and Phoenix back-to-back. That kind of self-belief was clearly not there in the first round against Golden State in 2007 and again in 2008 when Dallas was ousted in the first round by New Orleans.

However ...

You can't ignore the issues that had Dallas near the No. 8 spot for the bulk of the season until the late push. Three biggies:

1. Josh Howard's uncertain health is the biggest worry. He's been a huge spark in April, playing with more energy and passion than the Mavs have seen since he made it to the All-Star Game in 2007. But it's also evident that he's bothered by the ankle injury, which Howard says will likely require offseason surgery. He'll be monitored on a day-to-day basis throughout the playoffs.

2. The Mavs' 32-9 home record -- 32-5 since starting out 0-4 at home this season -- is not as gaudy as it looks. Their play at home has been lackluster more often than not. And San Antonio is more capable than most teams of capitalizing, even without Ginobili.

3. How do we know? The Mavs' vulnerability was exposed in a road loss to the Spurs in February with both Duncan and Ginobili sidelined.

No. 4 Portland Trail Blazers

What I like: The Blazers have so many commodities crucial to playoff success. Already.

They are feared on their home floor. They have Brandon Roy as a closer who has somehow earned that rep before he ever played in a playoff game. They also have copious amounts of length and depth to surround Roy.

Add it all up and you have a team that, in spite of its virtually nonexistent collective playoff experience, is being increasingly nominated as the West team best equipped to give the Lakers problems in a series.

It's a theory that obviously might never have made it into circulation so soon if, say, San Antonio, New Orleans or Houston weren't weakened by injury. But none of that diminishes the wow factor here. Nate McMillan won 54 games with a ridiculously young team and wound up in the right bracket to test that L.A. theory if it can get to the second round.

How can you not like all that?

What I don't like: The flip side is that when it comes to playoff experience, I actually am one of those stubborn old-school purists. I generally need to see it on the postseason stage before I can believe it.

So I inevitably presume that the young Blazers won't look quite as good as they have once the glare and expectations of this postseason hit them. I'm convinced that the lack of experience has to be a key factor in Houston's favor, even when Portland is facing a group whose own cornerstone still doesn't know how it feels to win a first-round series, either. (This will be Yao Ming's fourth attempt to reach Round 2.)

Complicating matters for the Blazers, who still have some holes in their defense and perimeter shooting, is the fact that they probably won't be able to play with the nothing-to-lose looseness that you'd expect for a team in their situation. The support they receive in Portland from Blazers maniacs is tremendously loud and loyal -- and the Blazers are lucky to have it -- but that also means expectations are tremendously high in spite of the experience issues.

Remember back in February when Roy basically said "just making the playoffs and giving ourselves a chance on that stage" was the general aim this season? Don't think Blazers maniacs would sanction that sentiment after what they saw in a rousing March and April.

No. 5 Houston Rockets

What I like: Home-court advantage is Portland's. Most of the other advantages belong to Houston.

Shane Battier and Ron Artest represent two top-shelf defenders to throw at Roy. The Blazers have struggled to cope with Yao Ming -- even with Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden as Portland's two-headed center -- and know that LaMarcus Aldridge will be hounded by the pesky Chuck Hayes in relief of Luis Scola. Backcourt speed (Aaron Brooks, Kyle Lowry, Von Wafer) is another Rockets strength.

The Rockets obviously wanted Game 1 at their place. But I've had the feeling for a while now that Portland is the first-round opponent they wanted given the choices available, setting up Houston -- which has its own well-chronicled playoff psyche issues -- to be the bully for once.

What I don't like: The usual complaint about the McGrady-less Rockets is that they have no late-game closer without him. That's not my complaint, though, since T-Mac has never advanced past the first round in his career, just like Yao.

How can you miss what you never really had?

The bigger obstacle for the Rockets is figuring out how to combat the Blazers' surging confidence at home to win at least one game in Portland. They have to make sure they aren't punished by their own lack of polish at the point with Brooks and Lowry.

And let's face it: Doubt can creep into Houston's team mindset rather easily if -- after avoiding the Utah team it desperately didn't want to see for a third straight year -- Portland roughs the Rockets up first.

[bumpyphish1]

thanks for posting that. I doubt very much he is referring to Hollinger. I'd be shocked if Hollinger isn't picking us to lose.

[AHF]

thanks for posting that. I doubt very much he is referring to Hollinger. I'd be shocked if Hollinger isn't picking us to lose.

Hollinger is picking us to win according to a post yesterday.

[bumpyphish1]

well, consider me shocked.