It is late April and I expect there will still be some leftover chill when I get to the great basketball state of North Carolina. However the action on the NBA hard courts will surely be hotter than a July noon as the NBA playoffs get going. After a grueling 82 games in the regular season the top 16 teams, eight in each conference, will be rewarded with what will hopefully be another eight or so weeks on the road to the greatest of basketball prizes: the NBA world championship. Let us take a look at the first round match-ups.

Mavericks – Hornets

For the first time in about six years the Hornets franchise makes a triumphant return to the NBA playoffs as the Number 2 overall seed in the highly competitive Western Conference. How long they will last in these playoffs is a little iffy though considering they are going against the always dangerous Dallas Mavericks.

Jason Kidd may be peaking at just the right time, and every one and his brother knows how good Kidd can be come the playoffs regardless what uniform he wears. Chris Paul needs to prove he is a legit superstar and that his regular season greatness can translate directly into these playoffs.

Nuggets – Lakers

Kobe Bryant promised at one point in the regular season that he would return the Lakers among the elite of the NBA and these playoffs are the perfect opportunity to deliver on that promise. Standing in the way in the first round are the high-scoring, hi octane Denver Nuggets.

Every body knows these Nuggets can score big – 168 points against Seattle for instance. But they’ve also shown they can’t defend – inexplicably giving up 151 points to the same Seattle team. If they try to gunfight the Lakers they’ll get bounced right back to the Rockies.

Suns – Spurs

This promises to be the most-watched and most interesting of the eight first round series throughout the league. Shaquille O’Neal was bought in to get Phoenix over the hump known as San Antonio and – in the regular season at least – did exactly that, twice even.

These playoffs however are the historical domain of Tim Duncan and his defending champion Spurs. They play their best when the game turns into the bump and grind of the NBA playoffs. The Suns need to stay healthy and pray that Amare Stoudemire learned enough from playoffs past.

Jazz – Rockets

Without injured center Yao Ming, Houston went on an incredible 22-game win streak late in the regular season, and all of the other playoff hopefuls in the West still wanted them in the first round. Tracy Mcgrady may need to drop 40 points per game to disprove that but he is capable of doing it.

Deron Williams has emerged as no worse than the second best pointguard in the NBA this season. Hopefully the rest of the Jazz will follow his lead. Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur are great regular season players but need to lift their games in the playoffs.

Wizards – Cavaliers

Lebron James may be the best player in the NBA but he will have to try and get past the trio of Agent Zero, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. He did it last year against Detroit so it shouldn’t be that hard against Washington. It will be interesting to see who among the other Cavs will step up consistently.

Washington better forget about trying to contain King James – no one in the NBA can do that. If Washington instead focuses on getting any of their three All Stars going early every game then they have a real chance to upset Cleveland. Staggered screens anyone?

Raptors – Magic

Dwight Howard is the 21st century Shaq and lives up to that bulling as he leads the league in rebounds and blocks. How he and the rest of Orlando match up against the clockwork pick and roll of Jose Calderon and Chris Bosh however will determine the outcome of this series.

No one runs the pick and roll better this side of Salt Lake City, and with Bosh becoming one of the best pick and pop artists in the NBA, he easily draws opposing bigs out of the shaded lane. Orlando needs to fight through screens in every possession.

Celtics – Hawks

About the only thing that Boston should be wary of in this series is any of their new Big 3 getting seriously injured. Let’s face it: Atlanta should thank its lucky stars it is even in the playoffs. Josh Smith can dream all he wants about “shocking the world” but the only shock would be if they don’t get swept.

Still it is not impossible for the Hawks to get one win if they can keep their heads together. Smith may be the best player on the Atlanta roster but it is pointguard Mike Bibby who is the team’s most valuable player and he must steady the playoff ship.

Sixers – Pistons

Detroit is the real “best team in the East” regardless of how good the Celtics have gotten this season. They are a deeper and more experienced team and have been together longer. Against Philadelphia they are fighting a team trying to prove something aside from the fact that Andre Igoudala is playing for a contract.

Coach Maurice Cheeks has turned an average team into a dangerous playoffs opponent for any team by letting his athletes run and jump as much as they can. If Detroit is to bounce these guys early they need to dictate their own tempo early and force the Philadelphia greyhounds to slow down.