The Minnesota Timberwolves versus the San Antonio Spurs will be a rout. The Spurs are playing the best ball in the NBA. They may have the best player in the NBA in Tim Duncan. They have one of the best centers in the league in David Robinson, and he doesn't even have to carry the offensive load anymore. When he has to, or inclined to do, or in the flow of the offense, he can go for 25 and 15, easily. Sean Elliot is back to his all-star form at small forward. Avery Johnson is on everyone's all-underrated team. Mario Elie and Steve Kerr, as well as Will Purdue, add championship experience. Minnesota has Da Kid, Kevin Garnett. Garnett is a rare talent. A seven footer who has the skills and movement of a six foot point guard. He might go for some huge games, but the rest of the team doesn't match up nearly as well. I want to see Duncan guard Garnett, and watch the future of the NBA play against each other. Joe Smith needs to play like a first overall pick. Terrell Brandon needs to outplay Avery J ohnson. Brandon is a good point guard, but has rarely played in the playoffs. All in all, this looks like a sweep. Break out the brooms. Prediction: Spurs in 3.

The Phoenix Suns versus the Portland Trail Blazers will be real Western Conference basketball. You are looking at two teams who love to run. Phoenix, under Danny Ainge, loves to let his team loose. Jason Kidd might be the best point guard in the NBA. With thorough breds like the aforementioned Kidd, Clifford Robinson, Tom Gugliotta, Rex Chapman and Toby Bailey, the Suns love to run. They have some good half court players in Luc Longley and Danny Manning as well. The Blazers team is well documented. Their who team is comprised of first round picks, most of them are lottery picks. They are two deep at every position, all with their own skills. No one player leads the team in two statistical categories. The starting five of Damon Stoudamire, Isaiah Rider, Brian Grant, Arvydas Sabonis and insert small forward here (Rasheed Wallace, Walt Williams or Stacey Augmon) is no better than the next five of Wallace, Williams, Augmonm, Kelvin Cato, Greg Anthony, and Jimmy Jackson. This is a damn good team. I f they get Rider under control, they can go far. If not, look for an upset. I think Portland is too strong. They might be overlooked and under-appreciated, but not by me. I think Portland is scary. When one person is having a bad game, he gets replaced with almost no drop off. If Rider becomes too much of a nuisance, look for JJ to replace Rider with Augman as the backup 2 guard and Stoudamire to pick up some of the outside scoring slack. Prediction: Blazers in 4.

The Sacramento Kings versus the Utah Jazz is an exercise in contrasts. I read once that Kings are more ABA than CBA now. That's quite a complement. It used to be the Kings were the laughing stock of the NBA. No more. No more CBA players as starters. The Kings have uber-rookie Jason Williams, he of the mercurial passing, Chis Webber, playing to his potential, Vlade Divac and a deep bench. They are a good team. A young good team. They play a wide open style that, when clicking, wreaks havoc with their opposition. This time, their opposition is the Utah Jazz. Utah will take Sacramento apart like a surgeon. Williams will go nowhere against the combo of John Stockton and Howard Eisley. Jeff Hornacek will continue to make big shots and those crazy off-balance one-footers in the lane with two guys on him. Bryon Russell will continue his ascent as a NBA playoff performer. Karl Malone will have his hands full with Chris Webber, but will pick and roll the Kings to death. I think Greg Ostertag is havi ng his best year and should be able to handle Divac, as long as Divac doesn't head too far outside of the key. If he does that, look for Greg Foster or Thurl Bailey to guard Divac. I like the Kings. They are fun to watch. Too back they had to run into the Jazz in the first round. They are going to be pissed they lost their home court advantage for the playoffs. They are going to take it on out Sacramento. Prediction: Jazz in 3.

The Houston Rockets versus the Los Angeles Lakers is going to be a star-studded affair. On Houston you have Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen. On L.A., you have Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Glen Rice. This isn't going to be a series in which the supporting cast will determine who will win. It's a case of which team's stars will play better. Each team's stars have to score more than 65 points a game. It's that simple. The Rockets have to get Scottie Pippen more involved. He's got to do more than just standing at the three point line. The Rockets main offensive play is throwing it down low to Barkley or Olajuwon and a) shooting b) waiting for the double team and passing to the open man for a three point attempt. Not quite Tex Winter's triangle offense, is it Scotttie? The supporting cast of each team is strong, but not excellent. Houston has two rookies starting in the back court, Michael Dickerson and Cuttino Mobley. Both are having fun seasons, but neither have the ca pability to carry a team. Brent Price and Bryce Drew are their backups. Othella Harrington and Antoine Carr are the backups of Houston in the front court. They both can score down low and are willing bangers. The Lakers travails are well documented. Shaq has to play better defense. Kobe has to learn not to shoot all the time. Glen Rice needs to ball more. Beyond that what else do the Lakers have? Robert Horry was the odd man out with Dennis Rodman. With him out, Horry becomes to de-facto power forward. Remember, Horry knows how to play beside a big man, he was there in Houston for the Rockets' two titles. He can hit the open jumper, make the extra pass and play good defense. Guard play, in my opinion won't be very important. The battle will be won down low with Shaq, Hakeem and Barkley. Derek Harper and Derek Fisher are adequate NBA point guards, but not really that much better than Mobley and Dickerson. Bryant will likely be guarded by Dickerson and then passed off to Pippen when Kobe start s torching him. It doesn't matter who is guarding Glen Rice. If Rice is hitting his shot, he could be covered by a blanket and he'd hit his shots. This is a tough call. Both have the same records, but the Lakers had the tie breaker. Houston humiliated L.A. last month. The Lakers won two before that. The Lakers are a deeper team. They are younger and stronger. But do you really want to bet against Houston with Hakeem, Scottie and Charles? The Lakers have been playing well as of late. Prediction: Lakers in 5.