West

1. Golden State Warriors vs. 5. Portland Trail Blazers

The Warriors easily handled the Rockets in the 1st round despite losing Steph Curry to a sprained MCL. The Blazers are here after getting by the Clippers who were unfortunately bit by the injury bug that gave Chris Paul and Blake Griffin playoff ending injuries. The Blazers play with a lot of heart and their backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum is one of the best in the league. They are just a bit in over their head in this series and the Warriors will be able to get by them even without the reigning MVP.

Prediction: Warriors in 5

2. San Antonio Spurs vs. 3. Oklahoma City Thunder

This should easily be the best series of the 2nd round. The Thunder are finally healthy in the playoffs for the first time since their NBA Finals run in 2012, while the Spurs are coming off a historic 67 win regular season going 40-1 at home. These are two heavyweights that will slug it out in a 7 game series. The Spurs just have a bit too much depth and play better defence that will give them the edge to advance to the conference finals.

Prediction: Spurts in 7

East

1. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 4. Atlanta Hawks

The Cavs have rounded into form and are looking unstoppable as the team that will come out of the eastern conference. The Hawks are a solid team, but the talent gap is too great for them to really challenge the Cavs. This will be a short series and I expect the Cavs to use these games to make sure that the big 3 of Lebron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love continue to gel together.

Prediction: Cavaliers in 5

2. Toronto Raptors vs. 3. Miami Heat

The Raptors finally got the “monkey off their back” as they won a 7 game series for the first time in franchise history. Their talented backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan did not have the best series in terms of scoring, but they were able to pick up the other parts of their game to get the team past the pesky Pacers. The Heat are also coming off a hard-fought 7 game series against the Hornets and I was very impressed with how Dwyane Wade closed out games and looked like he did in his prime. Both teams are very evenly matched on paper, but I think the Heat’s playoff experience along with my gut feeling that Kyle Lowry isn’t 100% due to an elbow injury will be enough for the Heat to get to the next round.

Prediction: Heat in 6