NBA season wraps up...

And so ends one of the most intriguing, competitive, trade-lirious and all-bets-are-(almost)-off NBA regular season that i've possibly seen.

First, a look back -

Kudos to the following teams -
Hornets - For nearly topping the western conference, and going into the playoffs as genuine Conference contenders;
Lakers - by trading for Gasol, they went from potential 4th or 5th seed to top the west. And Kobe Bryant is arguably in the best form of his life.
Rockets - going nowhere in January, they transformed their season with the mother of all winning streaks, and look sharp going into a tricky first round playoff match.
Celtics - for bringing in the big guns in September, giving them time to settle, and making intangible roster additions only after realizing that the pre-season trades and subsequent on-court success would virtually guarantee a playoff berth. Smart organization. (Knicks - take note)


And some disappointments -
Bulls - a pre-season favourite among punters, (myself included), they lost the plot early and before we knew it, they fell by the wayside.
Heat - Wade and O'Neal were expected to be the main rivals to the Celtics in the East, but now,they're bottom of the conference, traded O'Neal to the Suns midseason, and have the worst home record of all 30 teams.
Knicks - the problems have now gone beyond the court and into the boardroom.

Looking forward -

With the playoffs beginning April 19, we have some interesting first round clashes -

Cavaliers vs Wizards looks to be the pick of the Eastern Conference. Both teams were expected to have 55-win seasons, but Cleveland have been too inconsistent, while Gilbert Arenas spent a lot of time on the injured list. This series will come down to the superstar on each team - King James and Agent Zero. But Ben Wallace and Caron Butler are potential X factors.
This will go down to the wire, possibly leaving the victor blunt and off-key going into a potential clash with the Pistons in round 2.

The western playoff match-ups are just crazy. Nothing is clear cut, as the eight teams were separated by only 7 wins in the season.

Lakers v Nuggets - I expect the Lakers to triumph here, but Allen Iverson and friends can't be ruled out at all. Expect the Lakers to come out victorious but also expect each game to go to the clutch.

Spurs vs Suns - All hell will break loose here as these two have met twice out the last three post-seasons. Only now there's the Shaq factor. Tim Duncan has had a disappointing season by his superb standards, but their superb home form and role players carried them when he was off-color. But the suns won 3 out the 4 regular season games vs the Spurs this time... Go figure.

Hornets vs Mavericks - no matter how good Chris Paul and crew have played so far, they'll find Dirk and the Mavericks to be no pushovers. And the Jason Kidd trade, which seemed to be a looming disaster, now looks to be a shrewd move on Dallas' part. This one's also too close to call. It'll come down to defence, where one can expect the hornets to be superior, if only just.

Jazz vs Rockets - two underdogs, renewing a playoff rivalry. The jazz have the best home record, and baffled all predictions last post-season. Can they do it again? No doubt McGrady and Yao will put up stiff resistance. But this match could come down to Yao's form. Again, no favourites.

Regarding the other matches, I have no doubts that the Celtics, Pistons and Magic will get through their first round matches with relative ease.

So, look forward to April 19, when the playoffs start, and do expect the 2008 playoffs to be the best of the decade. Because whoever the champion is, they would have overcame some unbelievably stiff opponents to get there.