Bright Side of the Sun 2014 NBA Playoff Prediction Contest

As soon as the final buzzer sounded on last night's game, and the Suns season, I know the exact question that was on every Suns fan's mind - How awesome is Archie Goodwin? Where is my playoff prediction contest?

Back by popular demand (and I use demand in the loosest sense of the word) is the (second annual) Bright Side of the Sun 2014 NBA Playoff Prediction Contest!

*This is the part where I imagine people cheering in the background as I type.

I actually won the playoff prediction contest on this site in 2012 (there may or may not have been a tie), but didn't put up a formal staff run thread until last year. That means the winner of the first annual contest was none other than the inimitable MMotherwell... who I would wager will be back this year to defend his crown (he didn't really get a crown). This could be your chance to unseat him and be immortalized in Bright Side of the Sun glory!

Here's how to play: Choose the winner of each series and the number of games each series will last. You will be awarded two points for each correct series winner and one more point if you correctly predict the number of games it took the victor to triumph. Once an entry has been submitted no duplicate entries will be accepted from different contestants.

Here are tiebreakers for the NBA Finals round (because ties suck): If two or more contestants are tied going into the Finals and picked the same team they will be asked to pick the total points scored in the deciding game on a first come first serve basis. The winner will be whoever is closest without going over. If two or more players end up tied after the Finals and picked different teams the contestant who picked the correct team will be the winner.

I think that covers it, but let me know if you notice any loopholes. I've had a rough life.

Western Conference

First Round

Spurs over Mavericks, 4-1

Thunder over Grizzlies, 4-2

Clippers over Warriors, 4-3

Rockets over Blazers, 4-2

Conference Semifinals

Spurs over Rockets, 4-1

Thunder over Clippers, 4-3

Conference Finals

Thunder over Spurs, 4-2

Eastern Conference

First Round

Pacers over Hawks, 4-0

Heat over Bobcats, 4-0

Nets over Raptors, 4-2

Bulls over Wizards, 4-1

Conference Semifinals

Pacers over Bulls, 4-3

Heat over Nets, 4-3

Conference Finals

Pacers over Heat, 4-2

NBA Finals

Thunder over Pacers, 4-2

Point totals will be updated after each round and the story will be front paged as the results are updated. Fell free to check your scoring to make sure the results are correct. Please omit the spaces between your picks to help truncate the comment section. Please be sure to make your picks lucid, as confusing or ambiguous entries may be disqualified. No entries will be accepted after the start of the first game Saturday (4/19).

I had a pretty hard time picking my teams this year. The Eastern Conference is just garbage. Miami or Indiana would probably be the sixth seed in the Western Conference and I wouldn't pick either to get past the Clippers in the first round. Instead it's difficult for me to fathom one of them not getting to the Finals by default...

San Antonio seems like the best team in the Western Conference NBA, but I think that will be a popular pick so I'm going with OKC in hopes that may put me over the top if they can pull at least a little bit of an upset. Then again, the Grizzlies are by far (in my opinion) the best 5-8 seed in either conference, so maybe I lose my overall winner in the first round. Oh well.