Okay gang, my (our?) love affair with 'Pounding the Rock' continues. Not only do they have this kick ass Game of Thrones inspired playoff preview, they also do a kick ass Playoff Prediction Contest. As a current resident of Texas, this nearly makes me want to convert to Spurs fandom, but my Chicago roots run deep. Thus, I have adopted a BaB version of their game, with proper credit to their fine basketball blog. The rules are after the jump!

Basic Rules: This is strictly for the first round. For each series, select the team that will win and the number of games that it will take for them to win.

Timing: There is a cut off of 12PM Central time on Saturday, April 28th, 2012.

Scoring: The rules are somewhat complicated so I would advise against Indy Cornrows regulars from submitting entries. If you select the winner and number of games correctly, you are awarded 6 points. If you're off by one game in either direction, you get 4 points. After that, a point is deducted for each additional game that you are off by. If you pick a wrong team to win, there is a 2 point deduction.

By way of example, if you pick the Pacer to beat Orlando in 6 games, the scoring would be as follows:

IND in 4: 3 Points

IND in 5: 4 Points

IND in 6: 6 Points

IND in 7: 4 Points

ORL in 7: 1 Point

ORL in 6: 0 Points

ORL in 5: -1 Points

ORL in 4: -2 Points

Thus, the way to think about this caveat is the following picture where the distribution of points is symmetric about your choice of victor and number of games, except that you are fined an additional 2 points if you choose the wrong team.

IND in 4: 3 Points

IND in 5: 4 Points

IND in 6: 6 Points

IND in 7: 4 Points

ORL in 7: 3 Points - 2 points = 1 Point

ORL in 6: 2 Points - 2 Points = 0 Points

ORL in 5: 1 Points - 2 Points = -1 Points

ORL in 4: 0 Points - 2 Points = -2 Points

Okay, that's the competition boys (+ Jaina). I will provide the first post as a model for the format. If you wish to modify your selections, you may do so until 12pm tomorrow. Please reply to your initial post if you are modifying your selection. I will do the scoring and announce the results when the second round competition occurs. Discussion is fine in the thread as this is kind've the point of these things. Points double in the second round so even if you are in negative territory (as I am sure Sin will be), you can still come back and snatch the prize. No word yet as to what that prize will be but I have heard rumors that it may be upwards of 100 BaB points!

Lastly, I got these rules from PtR and I may tweak them slightly as we go.

Matchups:

Eastern Conference

[1] Chicago Bulls vs. [8] Philadelphia 76ers
[2] Miami Heat vs. [7] New York Knicks
[3] Indiana Pacers vs. [6] Orlando Magic
[4] Atlanta Hawks vs. [5] Boston Celtics

Western Conference

[1] San Antonio Spurs vs. [8] Utah Jazz
[2] Oklahoma City Thunder vs. [7] Dallas Mavericks
[3] Los Angeles Lakers vs. [6] Denver Nuggets
[4] Memphis Grizzlies vs. [5] Los Angeles Clippers

Okay, pick away. -10 Points if you have Bulls eliminated by Philly!