NBA Playoffs schedule action gets underway on Saturday, April 19th with opening games in the Eastern and Western Conference.
Let’s take a look at the first round of the 2008 NBA Playoffs schedule which begins Saturday, April 19th.
NBA Playoffs Schedule matchups are as follows:
Eastern Conference NBA Playoffs Schedule – Best of Seven (2-2-1-1-1)
#8 Atlanta Hawks vs. #1 Boston Celtics – The Celtics won the season series 3-0 and should have no trouble dispatching the Hawks.
#7 Philadelphia 76ers vs. # 2 Detroit Pistons – Philadelphia actually had some success against Detroit in the regular season as the teams split four meetings.
#6 Toronto Raptors vs. #3 Orlando Magic – The Magic won the season series 2-1 but Orlando has traditionally flopped in the playoffs. With Stan Van Gundy at the helm that should not happen this season.
#5 Washington Wizards vs. #4 Cleveland Cavaliers – These teams know each other well having met the past two seasons in the playoffs with the Cavaliers winning both times. They split their four regular season meetings.
Western Conference NBA Playoffs Schedule – Best of Seven (2-2-1-1-1)
#8 Denver Nuggets vs. #1 Los Angeles Lakers – The Lakers won all three regular season meetings between the two teams. Expect a lot of points in this NBA Playoffs schedules action with the Lakers winning in short order.
#7 Dallas Mavericks vs. #2 New Orleans Hornets – The teams split their four regular season meetings. It is a battle of point guards as potential league MVP Chris Paul faces Jason Kidd.
#6 Phoenix Suns vs. #3 San Antonio Spurs – The Suns won three of the four regular season meetings. This may be the best first round NBA playoff schedule matchup in NBA history.
#5 Utah Jazz vs. #4 Houston Rockets – Utah won three of the four regular season meetings and the Jazz may have found an NBA playoff schedule matchup where they can win a game on the road.
NBA Playoffs schedule action shows that each series is a best of seven with a 2-2-1-1-1 format until the NBA Finals when it is 2-3-2. The NBA Playoffs schedule has the team with the higher seed gets home court advantage in each series in the NBA Playoff schedule. This occurs in both conferences in the NBA Playoff schedule. The four winning teams advance to the Conference Semifinals of the NBA Playoffs schedule in each conference and the matchups have the 1-8 winners facing the 4-5 winners and the 2-7 winners facing the 3-6 winners in the NBA Playoffs schedule. The winners of those series meet in the Conference Finals on the NBA Playoffs schedule and the winners of each Conference Final meet in the NBA Finals which begin in June. 2008 NBA Playoffs schedule action begins on Saturday, April 19th.