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NBA playoffs to begin Saturday

Thu 17th, April 2008

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The San Antonio Spurs begin defense of their NBA championship on Saturday when they host Shaquille O'Neal and the Phoenix Suns.

The third-seeded Spurs finished second in the Southwest Division to the surprising Hornets but all eyes will be on the Alamo when Tim Duncan and Tony Parker try to fend off a talented Phoenix team featuring a pair of former league MVPs in O'Neal and Steve Nash as well as Amare Stoudemire.

Other games scheduled for Saturday include the Hornets hosting Dallas and Utah travelling to Houston in the West, while Cleveland welcomes Washington in the East.

The Mavericks downed New Orleans Wednesday night to earn the seventh-seed and their prize is heading to the "Big Easy" to face a 56-win Hornets club that features a legitimate MVP candidate in Chris Paul and one of the NBA's most underrated players in David West.

The Jazz start the playoffs on the road despite winning the Northwest Division and taking the fourth-seed because the Rockets had the better record. Houston, of course, will be without All-Star center Yao Ming however, and star swingman Tracy McGrady carries the monkey of never having won a playoff series.

The defending Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers still have LeBron James but the rest of the team is markedly different as they prepare to take on the Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards.

The East's top-team, the 66-win Boston Celtics, get underway Sunday when they host the Atlanta Hawks.

Sunday's other games see Philadelphia visiting the Central Division champion Detroit Pistons and Toronto travelling to the Magic kingdom and Southeast Division champion Orlando.

Meanwhile, the West's top-seed, the Los Angeles Lakers prepare to welcome Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets to the Staples Center.

The Celtics brilliant regular season, which represented the greatest turnaround in NBA history, will mean little if the "Boston Three Party" of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce fail to bring home a championship. The young Hawks don't figure to be much of a test for Doc Rivers' club.

The playoff tested Pistons also probably don't have much to worry about with the surprising 76ers, a team most figured would be lottery-bound before the season. Andre Miller and Andre Iguodala had wonderful seasons for the Sixers but figure to bow out quickly against "Mr. Big Shot" Chauncey Billups and his running mate, Rasheed Wallace.

Toronto and Orlando is a more compelling matchup as two of the best big man in the East, Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard, figure to lock horns.

As for the Lakers and Nuggets, expect offensive fireworks as two of the greatest scorers in NBA history, Kobe Bryant and Iverson, go toe-to-toe.

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