The West is all set with Denver/Dallas and Lakers/Houston. I think Denver/Dallas will be closer and Lakers/Houston will have no viewer appeal.

Cleveland will have such a long layoff from match play that they may be rusty coming into the next round.

I think both the Game 7’s in he East are going to take a tool on whoever makes it out of the round and will get chomped away by their next opponent.

Lakers/Denver for the West.

I am so glad the Lakers did not have to go back to Utah for a possible game 6. This gives them a few more days of rest and I hope Luke Walton can come back quickly. Houston will be a tough opponent, never mind the past record and Portland has somewhat owned Lakers in Portland so it will be tough no matter what. Looking forward to the next matchup.

On the home front, the Sharks were a bust once more. I don’t know what it is about them in the regular season and what happens in the post season. They just do not work at the same intensity level as the regular season. Complacency? You betcha! Now my care level in the NHL is close to ZERO!