In the first round, the Eastern Conference top seed Atalanta Hawks will first be tested by the Brooklyn Nets.
The title-seeking Cleveland Cavaliers of LeBron James will have to exorcise the past ghosts with the Boston Celtics.
The up-and-coming Toronto Raptors will face an equally young and talented cast of the Washington Wizards.
And, the Chicago Bulls of Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol will have to contend with the Milwaukee Bucks.
In the arguably tougher Western Conference, the Golden State warriors ended up on top thanks to the MVP-caliber performance of Steph Curry and his splash brother Klay Thompson. The Warriors will be tested right away by the New Orleans Pelicans of rising star Anthony Davis.
The 2nd-seeded Houston Rockets of another MVP candidate James Harden will take on the veteran Dallas Mavericks.
The Portland Trailblazers will face the grit and grind of the Memphis Grizzlies.
And, the defending champions San Antonio Spurs of Tim Duncan will have to hurdle a major challenge from Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Each series will be a best-of-7 and the teams will be trying to thread the virtual eye of a needle just to make it to the finals.
Starting on Sunday, the Bulls and the Bucks will be telecast on ABS-CBN Sports and Action Channel 23, and in the following weeks, ABS-CBN Sports will air 5 playoff games per week until the finals.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
