Pat Morgan's Stone Cold, Lead Pipe, Giant Lock NBA Picks

Tonight marks the beginning of the new NBA season. The Spurs will raise their fourth championship banner vs. the Oden-less Trail Blazers (scheduling people stabbing themselves). Then at 10:30, the still Kobe lead Lakers will host the Rockies, and the Warriors will host the Jazz in a Western Conference Semifinal rematch. I doubt I will get into the NBA til after the Super Bowl, but I love giving predictions (using my lunch break to do it). Here you go!

Eastern Conference
Atlantic- Boston (2)
Central- Chicago (1)
Southeast- Miami (5)
Playoff Teams- Detroit (3), Cleveland (4), New Jersey (6), Milwaukee (7), New York (8)
Lottery- Toronto (9), Washington (10), Orlando (11), Atlanta (12), Charlotte (13), Indiana (14), Philadelphia (15)

Western Conference
Northwest-Denver (4)
Pacific-Phoenix (1)
Southwest-Dallas (2)
Playoff Teams-San Antonio (3), Golden State (5), Houston (6), Utah (7), New Orleans (8)
Lottery-LA Lakers (9), Memphis (10), LA Clippers (11) Seattle (12), Sacramento (13), Portland (14), Minnesota (15)

Biggest Sleeper: Milwaukee Bucks; They have a three headed monster inside with Andrew Bogut, Yi Jianlian, and Charlie Villanueva, to go with Michael Redd on the outside. After the top 5 or 6 teams in the East, the 7 and 8 spots are up for grabs. You can make a case for anyone in the East to get those spots, so why not Milwaukee with some size, which is rare in the conference.

Biggest Bust: Los Angeles Lakers; With all the Kobe distraction, I wonder if this team will win 30 games this year. Kobe will still win a bunch by himself, but when does the divorce finally become final?

Eastern Quarterfinals
(1) Chicago 4, (8) Washington 2
(4) Cleveland 4, (5) Miami 3
(3) Detroit 4, (6) New Jersey 0
(2) Boston 4, (7) Milwaukee 2

Western Quarterfinals
(1) Phoenix 4, (8) New Orleans 0
(5) Golden State 4, (4) Denver 3
(3) San Antonio 4, (6) Houston 2
(2) Dallas 4, (7) Utah 1

Eastern Semifinals
(1) Chicago 4, (4) Cleveland 2
(3) Detroit 4, (2) Boston 3

Western Semifinals
(1) Phoenix 4, (5) Golden State 1
(2) Dallas 4, (3) San Antonio 3

Eastern Finals
(3) Detroit 4, (1) Chicago 2
(2) Dallas 4, (1) Phoenix 2

NBA Finals
(W2) Dallas 4, (E3) Detroit 1

San Antonio is the most popular pick, and with good reason being the NBA champions and keeper of the best player in basketball in Tim Duncan. However, they have never won back-to-back titles in their run of four championships. The Dallas Mavericks have been stewing over the stunning upset to Golden State for months, and I think they will be highly motivated to win that elusive championship. They seem too good to me to not have won a title yet, so I think this will be their year. Look for them to back off from winning 67+ games again, and prepare everything for the postseason.

I think Chicago will win the best record in the East, but the Detroit Pistons play best in the playoffs when they are forgotten about. The last two years they have been the best team in the eastern regular season by far. They have the deepest, most experienced team in the league. Plus, Flip Saunders is on the ropes. They need to make the finals this year, as it could be their last stand as Chicago, Cleveland, and Boston are getting better by the day.

MVP: Kevin Garnett, Boston

Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant, Seattle

Coach of the Year: Larry Krystkowiak, Milwaukee

Sixth Man of the Year: Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix

Most Improved Player: Shaquille O'Neal, Miami

Defensive Player of the Year: Tim Duncan, San Antonio

Pat Morgan