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		NBA Playoff report By Dave Zizmor May 13, 2008

	Lakers vs. Jazz: The Utah Jazz can't win on the road. They have had difficulty winning away from Salt Lake all through this year and all through this season. The Jazz have had trouble winning in their opening round against Houston, and they couldn't do it against the Lakers, but they go back to the Palace in Salt Lake and boom, they’re a completely different team. The Jazz- they're playing better, they're hitting their shots, they're winning, and they have the crowd behind them. The Jazz still can't win this series and they can't win on the road. Plus, the Lakers have home court. If Utah can't pull out a win in Los Angeles at some point, then the Jazz are out. The Jazz can win as much as they want to at the Palace and the Lakers have to be a little concerned they're even with the Jazz in this series, but at the same time, until Utah can prove they can win on the road, the Lakers don't have too much to fear. The Lakers are a bit better than the Jazz. Utah is a good team, but they're not a great team. It'll be interesting that Kobe is dinged up. Without Kobe being your best player and possibly the best player in the NBA, and is certainly the MVP this season, not being 100%, the Jazz have the percentage and the have to be licking they're chops right now. Hornets vs. Spurs series: One thing about the Hornets- they opened this series winning both the first two games in New Orleans and jumped out to a quick lead and then boom, they go back to San Antonio and they're now even at 2-2. No one expected the Hornets to run away with this series, you are talking about the San Antonio Spurs who are the defending champs, who have Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. The Spurs have the best cast in the league, and until someone knocks them off, the Spurs are the defending champs. You've got to give them the respect they deserve. New Orleans is that upstart squad that is trying to prove themselves, and you've got to knock off the giants to make it all the way to the big game. New Orleans is having a tough time doing that right now. San Antonio is a tough place to win, not to mention the team is very, very good. So knocking off San Antonio is not a forgone conclusion for New Orleans and we’re also seeing that Parker can match wits with Chris Paul. Paul has been absolutely fantastic, but Parker is probably the best match up he's going to face in the playoffs, if Parker is quick enough to hang with Paul. That's not to say they neutralize each other, but Parker can't keep Paul from really dominating the way they did in the first round series. Paul has been fantastic, but he hasn't run away with this series like he did earlier. So with Tony Parker there to keep tabs on Paul, Duncan and Ginobili and the rest of the Spurs have a little bit of room to work they're magic. Celtics-Cavs Series: There was not even a question that the Celtics were one of the best teams in the playoffs. Atlanta gave the Celts a scare and took them to seven games, with the Celtics winning the first two games. Cleveland, the second they got into Ohio, you have to wonder if the Celts are a little bit tired. The Celtics are a veteran team and the big three Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce, they're all in their 30's, so these guys don't have fresh legs, at least not what they used to be like. Those guys aren't as bad as Shaq or anything. They're not plodding up and down the court, but they're certainly not as young and fresh as some other guys who are there. You kind of have to wonder on these road trips if it's taken a little out of them, because every time they head out of the Garden in Boston, they seem to have trouble. Like I said earlier in the Utah-Lakers series, you have to win on the road to pull this stuff out to win the title. In the NBA, it's obviously difficult. The Celtics did not have that kind of problem this year. The Utah Jazz did have a problem winning on the road all year. The Celtics got into the playoffs and the Celtics struggled against Atlanta and now they're struggling on the road against Cleveland. Between Atlanta and Cleveland, Atlanta was the team that shocked everyone in the seven games to lose to the Celtics. Look at the kind of team that the Hawks have put together. They're a very young team. Even though they had a record that is under .500, they're a team that came on strong in the second half. The Celtics are not taking care of business like they could and this is the playoffs. The Celtics have not dominated in quite some time in a good 15-20 years, but they have some great players and they should know that they have to step it up a bit. Pistons-Magic series: This series is kind of in contrast of that Boston-Cleveland series. The Pistons are doing what they're supposed to do. The Pistons are kind of like the Celtics- they're an older squad, they're experienced, and the Pistons have been in the playoffs a lot. The Pistons won a title a few years ago. This is a group of guys all about business. They got to the playoffs. They know exactly what they're doing. Even when Chauncey Billups got hurt after that second game, they came in and the Pistons were up 3-1 against a very good Orlando squad. The Magic are good, but they're not great. They have Dwight Howard in the middle who is fantastic, but he's kind of raw at this point, not really tested in the playoffs. And then they have a bunch of outside shooters and the Magic really don't have a great point guard. So with the defense that the Pistons throw out there, it's going to be tough against a team like Orlando who really, really pulled away and the Magic hasn't been able to do that. Orlando has been good most of this season, but they've been a little streaky and if they're jumpers aren't falling, they're in trouble. Howard can get 28 points, 20 rebounds all he wants. If the rest of the guys are shooting just 35% from the floor, it really doesn't make that much of a difference when the final score is tallied. Detroit, on the other hand, have a lot of other guys who could score. Every single guy on that team plays defense, they're all serious, they don't lie down, they don't quit. The Pistons are fantastic. The Pistons were down 15 points in game four and they ended up coming back, beating Orlando on the road. That's how you do business. David Zizmor is covering the NBA Western Conference Semis for Sportstalk Radio.