The Cavaliers enter the postseason well rested and ready to make a charge at the elusive NBA Championship.  On paper, this is the best Cavs squad entering the second season since the LeBron era began, but with health and chemistry questions, they have a lot to figure out before having to face either Boston or Miami in the second round.

The Magic have had their way with the Bobcats over the last couple season, with Charlotte never really having an answer for Dwight Howard.  With a 16.2 margin of victory in a 6-game winning streak to finish the regular season, Orlando seems to have all the pieces working together to return to the NBA Finals.

The Lakers have to be happy that the Mavericks did not fall to the fourth spot, because with as well as the Mavericks have been playing recently, they are not a team that LA wants to see anytime before a potential Western Conference Finals matchup.  San Antonio may have laid down for them in the regular season finale, but they certainly won’t do the same in what should be a tight inter-state first round series.

Phil’s mind games with Kevin Durant just elevated the Lakers’ first round matchup to a new level.  My guess is that the Lakers will get one good jab from the youngest scoring champion in NBA history in Game 1 or 2, only to wake up and start doing Laker things and take the series in 5.  A good challenge from the young Thunder should be good for LA in the long run and help increase their title chances.

The Suns are completely healthy, have won 14 of their last 16, and are running a productive nine mane rotation in their offense that has only dipped below the century mark five times since the All Star break.  Four of those five were losses, so as long as the Suns are healthy and scoring, they will be hard to stop.

The week wasn’t too bad for the Nuggs, getting Kenyon Martin back and securing home-court advantage for their first round meeting with the Jazz.  They still do not seem like the potential Laker-killers we saw earlier in the season, but hopefully a healthy rotation and some home cooking in round one will get them back on track and give them a chance to get revenge on the defending champs.

Miami Heat

Shocking this team is still so hot.  They catch a good matchup with a slumping Boston team as well.  However, their schedule the last three weeks has been filled with cupcakes, and having to win four games against the C’s is going to be tough no matter what their age may be.

With murmurs of Doc stepping away from coaching, the Celtics’ 2010 Playoffs takes on a new sense of urgency.  I would consider it very unlikely that this crew that includes six NBA All Stars will get another chance to make a postseason run together, so if Boston wants to win one for the old-timers, they need to do it now.

The roller coaster ride the Jazz have been on all season finishes with them stuck with no home-court (bad news), against a newly healthy Denver Nuggets (very bad news).  This has been a great season for the Jazz, unfortunately when Dallas and Phoenix got really hot, they just stayed lukewarm.

Being able to avoid a first round matchup with the Lakers was certainly a victory for Portland, but catching the white-hot Suns is a tough consolation to swallow.  Brandon Roy claims he will still try to play, but you can’t expect but so much from a guy with an impending surgery date.

Big ups to Kevin Durant for being the youngest player to win the scoring title in NBA history.  Now that Phil Jackson has started spitting a little fire, hopefully Durant can capitalize on the opportunity to light up the Lakers for 45 points and steal a game in the Staples Center.  You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m certainly not the only one here.

With Bogut in the lineup, the Bucks would matchup well against the Hawks.  However, I’m afraid that without that inside presence, Milwaukee leaves themselves awfully vulnerable on the boards and will likely be disposed in 5 games.  Still, that won’t take away from a great second half of the season and a phenomenal coaching job by Scott Skiles.

Now completely healthy, the Spurs are ready to see if they can’t frustrate the Mavericks like it’s 2003 all over again.  I expect the Spurs will try and bully the Mavericks a little bit to try and remind them who owned the state of Texas int he 2000’s.

In a season of first’s, the Bobcats next goal needs to be to win their first playoff game.  With how talented the Magic are, it is hard to believe that they will be able to take the series, but grabbing a game or two could go pretty far for earning the respect (and attention) of fans in a college hoops state.

Derrick Rose promised Chicago a first round matchup with LeBron James.  Now they get the likely four game sweep that will come with it.  Then the United Center will host the Vinny Del Negro vs. John Paxson Cage Match instead of Game 6.  I’ll buy tickets to that instead.

Houston Rockets

If Yao does opt out of his contract and make himself a player in the Summer of 2010, then Daryl Morey’s efforts to surround the big man with the tools to win in 2011 will be pointless.  Good thing for Houston, the health concerns will likely keep the market from pulling the trigger on Yao.

I think Bosh is as good as gone after the Raptors blew their shot at the postseason in the last three weeks.  But here is a pretty convincing argument for him to stay.

If Rudy Gay has played his last season in a Memphis jersey, there will be increased pressure on O.J. Mayo and Zach Randolph to carry the Grizzlies offensively.  If he re-signs, the Grizzlies are my early pick for Playoffs 2011.

The Hornets’ disappointing season has finally come to a close.  Missing the playoffs for the first time since returning to New Orleans, the Hornets have a lot of decisions to make to try and bounce back in 2011.  They have young talent in Collison and Thornton, they just need to get a better understanding of how to turn that talent into a playoff basketball team.

The Pacers successfully played themselves to the lower end of the lottery with their success near the end of the season.  I don’t endorse tanking, but it probably would have been nice to have a chance at DeMarcus Cousins or Derrick Favors.

I  must say it was awfully entertaining watching the Warriors attempt to play awful defense for an entire season.  But considering the growth of Curry and the number of Warriors bench players that got some (semi) legitimate playing experience, not a terrible launching pad for next season.

And thus begins the Summer of 2010 for the New York Knicks.  D’Antoni can go ahead and start to make his push to grease Bosh’s wheels, or hang tight to see what happens in the playoffs.  Of all the teams with a chance to make a splash, the Knicks have the most to gain.

Detroit Pistons

Ben Gordon came on real strong near the end of the season.  It was late enough not to matter and early enough to give Detroit fans a decent taste of what they should have seen all season.

Clips just fired their interim coach.  Next move: bring on Eddie Jordan!  Seriously though, it’s time to think about who they will draft that can give Blake Griffin a run for Rookie of the Year.  Two frontrunners on one team?  I’m looking at you LA, make it happen.

The Wizards have lost at least 55 games for two seasons in a row for the first time since the 94-95 Bullets.  [insert Arenas joke here]

With Eddie Jordan officially out, the Sixers will move to likely try and lure Larry Brown out of Charlotte to finish his career back with Philadelphia.  If he declines (which he seems to indicate he might), Philadelphia will be coach-less and directionless with a ton of money left on the books.

The Kings were criticized for valuing Tyreke Evans’ historic 20-5-5 over winning against the Rockets, but perhaps the critics forgot that losses like that happened all season.  What doesn’t happen is for your franchise guard to join the likes of LeBron, MJ, and Oscar Robertson.  Those weren’t just cheers for Evans, they were cheers for the future of Sacramento basketball.

Contrary to their fellow power rankings bottom-dwellers, the Nets seemed to finish the regular season with some fight.  Combine that with the potential arrival of John Wall or Evan Turner, and the new “Nyets” may have some bounce in their step to start 2010-2011.

Last in the final power rankings, yet not the highest percentage to get the number one pick.  It will take a lot of forgetting in Minnesota before moving forward with rebuilding.