The 2008 NBA playoff are upon us, and there are tons of good matchups that oughta make for some entertaining watchin'.

But it needs to be said now: the Lakers are overrated. I can make that claim because I've watched hours and hours of game footage, analyzed the potential matchups, and done a bunch of fancy statistical analysis.

Well, no I haven't. But still, there is such a small difference in wins between the Lakers and the Nuggets (seeds 1 and 8 in the Western Conference) that it's hard for me to grasp that there's much significance in the seedings this year. I like Phoenix to make its way out of the crowded West because of Shaq, Nash, and Amare... as long as the refs cooperate this year.

In the East, there's Boston (best record in the NBA this year), Detroit (seemingly the same team for the last couple of years - good, and potential title winners), Cleveland (Lebron James alone can carry that team almost anywhere on his back), Washington, and then everyone else. Orlando had the 3rd best record in the Eastern Conference, but they seem to be asleep at the wheel now. I kind of want Cleveland to win just because of the overwhelming odds of James carrying them to the finals, but I think Boston should scrape through to win. Ray Allen might go 3 for 17 in a couple of games, but Kevin Garnett ought to be enough of a factor to help overcome the poor play of teammates.

The finals will be Phoenix against Boston. And Phoenix will win.