I let you down folks. I let my emotions get in the way of common sense. How could I have picked the Celtics to beat the Magic. A depleted, undersized Celtics team was really going to beat a Magic team that had a mismatch at most positions? My bad.

I kind of missed on the Cavs too. I gave the Pistons the benefit of the doubt. I always knew they were overrated yet I figured they were good for at least one game at home. Wrong again. There’s always next year.

On to more pressing matters:

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Orlando Magic

It seems that Cleveland hasn’t played in months. In fact, that last time I even saw LeBron was when the puppet version of King James was doing mountains of cocaine with Kobe Bryant in that Nike commercial. Seriously, if you watch that commercial and you don’t know who LeBron or Kobe are, you figure this is an anti-drug commercial. One of the roommates is a massive cokehead who runs around the house doing lines and being loud and obnoxious. The other one can’t stand him because he’s always so wired and coked up. I dare you to watch that commercial now and not think LeBron is on drugs.

There are two schools of thought on this subject. Some people would rather have a team that played recently and has some sort of momentum going into the playoffs. Other people believe that a well-rested team is fresh and their coaching staff has had more time to study the opponent. Unfortunately Cleveland is coached by Mike Brown who’s three page offensive playbook is made up of three isolation plays for LeBron James. So let’s call this argument a wash.

We can look at this position by position.

Point Guard: Rafer Alston or Mo Williams? I’ll take Mo Williams here. No offense to Rucker Alston, but I’ve seen him be way too undisciplined with the ball to give him the upper hand here. You really can’t give Cleveland any extra shots. Advantage Cavaliers

Shooting Guard: Delonte West or the poo poo platter of J.J. Reddick, Courtney Lee, and Mickael Pietrus? This one is a little tougher. Delonte West is more than capable of putting in an offensive game or two. However after seeing the defensive prowess of Courtney Lee and the athleticism of Pietrus, I think they give Delonte some trouble. Personally, I think SVG is crazy if he starts Reddick another game. Advantage Magic.

Small Forward: LeBron James or Hedo Turkoglu? The answer here is pretty obvious so we won’t waste too much time here. LeBron is the MVP and is playing out of his mind in the playoffs. At the same time Hedo has been on his game as well. Plus he’s one of the only guys who can get his shot off whenever and wherever he wants. I’m not saying I’d take Hedo over LeBron, but Orlando has to be happy with the way he is playing right now. Either way, Advantage Cleveland. Let’s just hope James can stay away from the coke.

Power Forward: Anderson Varejao or Rashard Lewis? Rashard is a freak of nature as our friend UB Baller would say. He can shoot from anywhere on the court, he can take you off the dribble, and he can post you up because hey, he’s 6’10”. He also won’t have to waste ANY energy on defense since again, Mike Brown has only three offensive plays and they’re all for LeBron. However, Anderson is a pesky little defender. Also, I guarantee he flops at least once and gets the call. That’s the only bad thing about the influx of foreigners into the NBA. They bring the flopping culture of soccer to the NBA and the refs are too stupid to be able to differentiate between a charge and an acting job. Advantage Orlando.

Center: Dwight Howard or Big Z? I’ll take Dwight here. Unfortunately, just having Big Z on the floor almost takes away the advantage Orlando has in the middle. Since Z can hit the outside shot better than many guards, this will naturally bring Dwight away from the paint. Orlando could counter this by putting Rashard or Hedo on him but I think Z should be able to post them up. I think the Cleveland bigs should at least give Dwight a challenge on the boards, which is something Boston was unable to do. I’m giving the advantage to Orlando here, but not by that much.

So if you’re keeping count, Orlando has more advantages. This has a lot to do with the fact that their small and power forwards are both 6’10” and can play guard or forward. However, the answer to the “Great Debate: 23 or 24?" is LeBron. And, the way he’s been playing, that makes up for Cleveland’s short-comings at individual positions. Another thing to consider is how good of a TEAM Cleveland is. They love playing with one another. Yeah those photo poses before games are kind of corny, but it says something about the state of your team.

I’m taking Cleveland in 6, and I may not even be giving them enough credit.