Welcome to the PCS Playoff Smackdown, which I have shamelessly ripped off of ESPN’s Truehoop blog. Of course, while Truehoop has a bunch of professional “stat geeks”, and we’re just a bunch of comic-loving NBA junkies.

Specifically, we have: myself (PCS, Midtown Comics), Ernie Estrella (PCS, Comics Continuum, San Diego Examiner), Brendan McGuirk (Newsarama, Comics Alliance, Boston Herald), and Brian Cronin (CBR, Knickerblogger).

Quoting directly from Truehoop, here’s how it works: “Based on stats, hunches and anything else, each expert predicts the outcome of every playoff series as the rounds unfold. Each correctly picked series is worth five points. Correctly predicting the number of games is worth two additional points.”

There’ll be no prizes, only smack-talking.

(8) CHICAGO BULLS VS. (1) CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
Brendan: Cleveland in 4
Brian: Cleveland in 4
Ernie: Cleveland in 5
Jon: Cleveland in 5

(7) CHARLOTTE BOBCATS VS. (2) ORLANDO MAGIC
Brendan: Charlotte in 7
Brian: Orlando in 5
Ernie: Orlando in 7
Jon: Orlando in 6

(6) MILWAUKEE BUCKS VS. (3) ATLANTA HAWKS
Brendan: Atlanta in 4
Brian: Atlanta in 5
Ernie: Atlanta in 7
Jon: Atlanta in 5

(5) MIAMI HEAT VS. (4) BOSTON CELTICS
Brendan: Boston in 5
Brian: Boston in 7
Ernie: Boston in 6
Jon: Boston in 7

(8) OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER VS. (1) LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Brendan: Los Angeles in 6
Brian: Los Angeles in 7
Ernie: Oklahoma City in 6
Jon: Los Angeles in 6

(7) SAN ANTONIO SPURS VS. (2) DALLAS MAVERICKS
Brendan: Dallas in 6
Brian: San Antonio in 6
Ernie: Dallas in 6
Jon: San Antonio in 7

(6) PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS VS. (3) PHOENIX SUNS
Brendan: Phoenix in 4
Brian: Phoenix in 6
Ernie: Phoenix in 5
Jon: Phoenix in 5

(5) UTAH JAZZ VS. (4) DENVER NUGGETS
Brendan: Denver in 7
Brian: Denver in 5
Ernie: Denver in 7
Jon: Denver in 7