After one incredible NBA regular season -- three MVPS, two 65-win teams, the budding of new rivalries -- the playoffs have arrived. Saturday features four Game 1s, beginning at 12:30PM ET.
After the jump, we lay out today's schedule and a few notes heading into each game, along with links to FanHouse's playoffs previews.
NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't.
The East is basically settled, with Chicago needing a win over the Raptors to clinch the No. 6 seed and a date with the Magic. If the Bulls lose and Philadelphia beats the Cavaliers sans LeBron, the 76ers get No. 6 and Chicago falls to No. 7. No one can tell which scenario is preferable.
But in the West -- the West!, yeah -- there are preferences and jockeying and whatnot.
NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't.
The games on Tuesday's docket provide likely previews of the first round of the playoffs. This is quite odd, considering how many seeds remain at play. Wednesday will be the day of real moving and shaking. But that isn't to say Tuesday's slate doesn't matter. Ask Utah.
NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't.
Chicago at Detroit, 7:30PM ET
The hot Bulls visit Detroit with potentially the No. 6 seed on the line. Chicago might be playing with house money now, but you have to believe the Pistons dearly want to draw Orlando (the likely No. 3) instead of Boston or Cleveland. Matt Watson will be at the Palace; follow his live dispatches on Twitter.
No game the rest of this regular season will have a bigger impact on the National Basketball Association than the fight between the Kings and Clippers. All playoff positions are basically sewn up (with Charlotte and Indiana hardly breathing). Seeding matters, though whatever happens in the playoffs will be far more explanatory in a team's fortunes than what happens the next week.
No, it's Clippers and Kings with the worst record in the league on the line.
The main event of the weeks comes between the top two teams in the West: runaway favorite L.A. and hot-at-the-right-time Denver. The Lakers will add Andrew Bynum to the arsenal tonight in attempt to avenge a bad loss in the Colorado last month.
Two spots in the West's top four (read: first-round home-court) remain up for grabs between four teams. The Blazers and Spurs are two of them, with San Antonio holding a head start of one game. A Portland win in this battle would set these teams tied for the No. 3, even up with idle Houston. Spurs hopes at catching Denver for the No. 2 seed could be crushed with a loss, as S.A. has only five games left.
Big men, big teams, big personalities. Big coaching mustaches. Stan Van Gundy takes his team into Houston for an impactful showdown with the Rockets, a match-up that really looks interesting in all flavors of daylight. Beyond the battle between the game's two best centers (Yao Ming, Dwight Howard), each squad features some rangy, dangerous quasi-wings. Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis pack the finesse; Houston's Shane Battier and Ron Artest pack the punch.
The Heat actually sit a half-game behind Philadelphia for the coveted No. 5 seed in the East. Every game matters dearly, as we all know the difference between the Hawks and the Magic/Celtics is monumental.
Day 1 of the NBA playoffs featured three road wins, including one helluva "I am here" moment for Derrick Rose and an absolute destruction of the hot Blazers in Portland.
After one incredible NBA regular season -- three MVPS, two 65-win teams, the budding of new rivalries -- the playoffs have arrived. Saturday features four Game 1s, beginning at 12:30PM ET.
NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't. 
NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't. 
NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't. 
NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't. 
NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't. 
NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't. 
NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't. 
NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't. 
