2010 NBA Playoff Bracket Overview

The 2010 NBA playoff bracket took a while to sort. But now, the NBA playoff bracket is in place and will soon be whittled down. Virtually all year, teams fought to avoid playing the likes of Cleveland, Los Angeles and Orlando for as long as possible. Some clubs avoided that last night in the regular season finale, yet others weren’t so lucky. Now some franchises have a clearer road to the later rounds – or so they hope – while others have it rough to start off. With the 2010 NBA playoff bracket set up, teams and fans will try to figure out the best possible road ahead to the championship.

In the Eastern Conference first round, at least two first round series’ are expected to be lopsided. Chief among them is the Cleveland-Chicago series, as the Cavaliers are expected to treat the Bulls like a JV team. The Cavs need to win it all now to keep LeBron James around, while the Bulls barely got in after an underachieving series.

Even if the Cavaliers breeze by, the 2010 NBA playoff bracket might not really test them until the conference finals. They are on target for a conference finals rematch with the Magic, who beat them after they were perfect in the first two rounds last year. Orlando is also expected to get by easily on their first step back, as they face playoff newcomer Charlotte.

Atlanta got a break in the NBA playoff bracket since they wouldn’t face Cleveland in round two. But if the Hawks defeat the Bucks in round one, they might not have it easier against the Magic. However, a bigger Eastern Conference semifinal may be the Cavaliers against the Celtics – assuming Boston can overcome Dwayne Wade and Miami.

In the Western Conference, the 2010 NBA playoff bracket went down to the wire. Although the Lakers are still the heavy favorite, every other rival has won 50 games. However, Oklahoma City got the short end, and has to face Los Angeles first.

If the Lakers get by, they would face either Denver or Utah, which both could have placed higher. Instead, the Nuggets dropped to fourth, although they won their division, while the Jazz could have gone as high as second, but dropped to fifth last night.

The other side of the West 2010 NBA playoff bracket is luckier, since they can avoid the Lakers until the conference finals. The Mavericks finally won the second seed, and get to face old playoff rival San Antonio. Meanwhile, the rising Suns will start off against the Trail Blazers, who have to go without Brandon Roy for a while.

The next several weeks will have countless potential NBA playoffs match ups – although it is a Cavaliers-Lakers final that everyone will project. But the 2010 NBA playoff bracket could shatter those hopes, like last year’s bracket did. Fans won’t know until the actual games begin this weekend.

Sources

ESPN- “2010 NBA Playoffs Bracket”