Here's how I see things right now:
Buffalo vs. Seattle
Buffalo Braves (Rebus Rankin)- Dwight Howard, Ray Allen, Antawn Jamison, Al Thornton, Chris Duhon, Zaza Pachulia, Quentin Richardson, Sergio Rodriguez, Brian Skinner, James Jones
Seattle Supersonics (Hoyo de Monterray)- Tim Duncan, Ben Gordon, Thaddeus Young, Kenyon Martin, TJ Ford, Brandon Bass, Jerryd Bayless, Corey Brewer, Dahntay Jones, Theo Ratliff, Antonio Daniels, Brent Barry, Patrick O'Bryant, Malik Rose
These are two excellent teams, both of whom are top-three in the West (despite Seattle's #4 seeding).
The strength of both teams is in their starting lineups, as both teams suffer from a pretty weak bench. Brandon Bass is probably the best bench player on either team, but really, it could go either way here.
Here's how I see the starting matchups going:
Kenyon Martin vs. Dwight Howard: Howard definitely wins this matchup, but in "real life", Denver's defense has definitely slowed him down offensively. Rebounding, it's been another story. Advantage: Buffalo
Tim Duncan vs. Antwan Jamison: Much like the matchup above, Duncan wins this one, but not by a huge margin. Advantage: Seattle
Al Thornton vs. Thad Young: I think this is about a push, although I think Young can continue to develop. Head to Head, though, Thornton has had the advantage thus far. Still, I call it, Advantage: Push
Ben Gordon vs. Ray Allen: This one's the great debate, right? They're both excellent scorers, they both hit clutch shots, and they both give each other fits. In the playoffs, Gordon was the more consistent player. Still, I say Advantage: Push
T.J. Ford vs. Chris Duhon: Before looking at the numbers, I figured this would be a big advantage for Ford. It's not. Ford has gotten slightly more points and assists, Duhon has shot a higher percentage. Advantage: Seattle, slightly.
I think these starting lineups are remarkably even, as well. I'm predicting this game goes 7 games, with probably an overtime or two sprinkled in there somewhere.
Who wins? I think Seattle's offense is slightly more versatile, and I don't think Buffalo will be able to exploit the weakness of T.J. Ford's defense as well as some other teams could.
In a very, very close one, I'm leaning toward Seattle, in seven.