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		NBA Playoff report By Dave Zizmor May 10, 2008

	Lakers vs. Jazz Series: The Utah Jazz have had problems on the road this year, and in the playoffs, winning on the road is a key. If you can't win on the road, you’re in trouble, especially when you’re Utah and you don't have home court advantage in the series. The Jazz went into L.A. They just couldn't cut it. The Lakers beat them up pretty well with Kobe Bryant. They just couldn't stop him. The Jazz are all good with players like Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, but they couldn't handle Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and everyone else on that Lakers team. If the Jazz can't cover Kobe in L.A., they’re going to have a tough time beating him out in Utah as well. The Jazz might have a little more energy in front of the home crowd and they might even win a game, but chances are this series is over for the Jazz. Obviously, they have to play it out, and if Utah can't win on the road, even if they manage to squeak a game out in Utah, they’re already in a hole. This Lakers team is very, very good and they're the number one seed in the West. If the Lakers can't come out with a sweep in Utah, there’s no chance. They have to find a way to win on the road. Utah hasn't done it, and they had a hard time doing it in the first round and they are obviously having a tough time doing it in the second round. All those road wins for Utah are important at this time of year. Utah is just not cutting it on the road. They did get a key victory at home with a 104-99 victory to cut L.A.'s lead to one game at 2-1, but you have to win on the road. Hornets vs. Spurs Series: No one expected this to be a tight series. Everybody kind of looked at it and said, “hey, this is the Spurs, the defending champs" and New Orleans, they’re good but they're upstarts. Nobody expected them in the playoffs this season, let alone is one of the top seeds and then boom; here they are kicking everybody's butt. Now the Hornets go into the series and beat San Antonio in the first two games. The Spurs did pull back and get a win in San Antonio, but nobody expected the Hornets to be this good and especially Chris Paul. We talked about this in the first round games. Paul is absolutely amazing. Paul is gunning for playoff MVP, the way he's playing and the way he's leading this Hornets team is just out of this world. This is a guy who we already knew is one of the best point guards in the Nabbed Paul is proving it night in and night out right now. Paul is leading the team in scoring, he's leading the team in assists, and he is not turning the ball over. In fact, looking at the stats, Paul has more assists per game in the playoffs. His assists have actually gone up, which is a weird stat because you figure in the playoffs you’re going against better opponents on a nightly basis then you would be during the regular season. Celtics vs. Cavs Series: The biggest surprise in this series is that LeBron James hasn't been as effective for Cleveland as he has in past playoff series. In past playoff series over the years, you could see how dominate LeBron can be. LeBron basically carried the Cavaliers into the finals last season. Cleveland was not a great team last season, but LeBron was on another world. This was a guy who put the team on his back and carried them all the way into the championship series against the Spurs, where the Cavs ultimately lost. That series, LeBron was amazing. He was everything that the Cavs expected since the day he was drafted and since the day he was hyped up as a high school senior even before he was drafted. LeBron was fantastic, and he kind of did that in the first round this year against Washington. He got a little bit of criticism from the Washington players Shawn Stevenson and Gilbert Arenas, who were dogging LeBron, but ultimately the Wizards lost and the Cavs won that series. Pistons vs. Magic series: Orlando is a team that didn't have quite as much success on the road, so the Magic have to win their games at home. But the bigger story in the series right now is not the home court advantage and facing the Pistons. Chauncey Billups hurt his groin in game three and there is some question as to how much he's going to play the rest of this series. If Billups isn't playing, the Pistons, while they're a great team and they've won titles, this isn't a team who has a point guard who can step in right away and really fill the shoes that Billups has established. You're talking about an All-Star point guard. Chauncey Billups has been fantastic. He's one of those clutch shooters that you want the ball in his hands when the game is on the line. Billups is a great defensive point guard. He can score; he can dish the ball, and does it all. If Billups is hurt, Detroit may not have a guy who can really fill in now. On the plus side for Detroit, Orlando doesn't have a point guard who can tear them up like Billups if he isn't guarding them. The big guy for Orlando is Dwight Howard. He’s the center and their secondary player is Hedo Turkoglu. Turkoglu is more of an outside shooter; he's more of a forward than a point guard. So Detroit doesn't lose much defensively, but on offense, it still goes through the point guard. If Billups isn't there, it’s questionable if they can run their offense efficiently and it’s not like Detroit is an out-of-this-world offensive team. The Pistons are better noted for their defense. The Pistons have some good offensive players, but this isn't a team that can compare with New Orleans, Phoenix, or Golden State or any team like that. Detroit needs all their good guys on the floor if they want a chance to run everything, and if Billups is hurt and in the game, not effective or not in the game at all, Detroit certainly gets dropped down a notch and Orlando has to be able to take advantage of it. David Zizmor takes a look at the NBA Playoffs each week for Sportstalk Radio.