Lynx guard Lindsey Harding thinks the Boston Celtics will find success in the 2008 NBA Playoffs. Why? Because, she likes the green uniforms. We’re not kidding. So rather than trust Lindsey’s “colorful” intuition to find out which teams will advance past the second round of the NBA Playoffs, we at Lynxbasketball.com went to a pair of more reliable sources. Now that they are back in Lynx training camp, we could think of no better time to bring back guards Noelle Quinn and Shay Murphy for another round of “Q & A with Q and Shay,” the NBA Playoffs Edition. It comes as no surprise that the two former rivals from UCLA and USC wanted to start this off with their hometown favorites.

WESTERN CONFERENCE



Q: It’s going to be a tough series, but I am going with my home team (big surprise). I think Kobe Bryant getting the MVP award is just going to generate even more momentum for the Lakers, and he is going to be fired up for the series. They can’t stand playing Utah, and they can’t stand the Jazz fans, so I think they will be fired up for this series. I say Lakers won’t sweep this, but they will win it in five.

Shay: Of course, this belongs to the Lakers (Again, big surprise). The Lakers are playing really well. I do like Utah’s game. Deron Williams is awesome. And they also have Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur. They have a great team in Utah. And Boozer is awesome. But all I have to say is ’Go Lakers!’ This is a good matchup and it will be a good series. It could go seven games. Kobe will carry this team to the series win.



Q: This is going to be a good matchup between two good point guards. Chris Paul, they say, is the young one, while Tony Parker is the old one, but he’s young too. The inside will feature a good matchup too, with Tyson Chandler and Tim Duncan. I think the veteran savvy of the Spurs might pull them through, but I think this one will go to a Game 7. I’m going out on a limb with this one and say that the “Young One” (Paul) pulls the Hornets through and turns away the Spurs in the end. San Antonio could win this series, but I am going to go with the Hornets in seven.

Shay: San Antonio wins this ... definitely. New Orleans is a good team with Chris Paul leading the way, and they really need him to be effective for the whole team to play well, but San Antonio has too much experience in this series and they provide matchup problems for New Orleans because they are so athletic. San Antonio has the veterans, they are wise, and I think they win this in five games.

EASTERN CONFERENCE



Q: I think it’s time for the Big Three (Garnett, Allen, Pierce) to step up for the Celtics. KG is playing well, but Ray Allen and Paul Pierce need to start shooting the ball well for them. I think LeBron James is going to be the man, of course, but I don’t think he has enough around him to help pull the Cavs past Boston. I think that Boston will pull through in five games.

Shay: I don’t know about this one. The Big Three will carry the Celtics. A lot of people feed off of LeBron, which is good, but I just think there is more experience and overall talent on Boston’s roster. I’m excited for this matchup and to see what Cleveland can do. LeBron can’t do it all against the Big Three. Boston wins this in six.



Q: I think Orlando is playing good basketball right now. Dwight Howard had three games with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. Detroit got off to a slow start and Chauncey Billups was saying that they hadn’t really had to play hard toward the end of the season, while the 76ers were playing playoff basketball basically for the last month of the season. I think it will be a good series. Orlando is going to challenge Detroit. I know the series is 2-0 in Detroit’s favor right now, but I say this is going to go to a Game 7. And I will go out on a limb and say that Dwight Howard pulls the Magic through to win the series.

Shay: Even though this is 2-0 Detroit right now, this is going to be a great matchup. Detroit, overall, is the better team, but Dwight Howard is a man-child. I am excited to watch him. Detroit has Rasheed Wallace to stop Howard inside and Rip Hamilton to stifle him coming down the floor. I think it is going to be a good series, but I’ve got to go against Q on this one and say that Detroit pulls it through in five or six.