NBA PREVIEW \ Conference semifinals

DETROIT PISTONS (64-18)vs. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (50-32)
Season series: Pistons, 3-1, won the last three meetings after the Cavaliers' home victory on New Year's Eve. All the games were decided by 12 or more points, including Detroit's home-and-home sweep in February. LeBron James averaged 25 points, scoring only 22 before leaving with a sprained ankle in the Pistons' 96-73 rout last month.Storyline: James couldn't have asked for much more from his first postseason series after making a pair of game-winning shots and leading Cleveland into the second round for the first time since 1993. Now, much like Michael Jordan early in his career, he finds a powerful Detroit team standing in his way.Key matchup I: Tayshaun Prince vs. James. Prince started to make a name for himself three years ago in the playoffs, when his strong defense on Tracy McGrady helped Detroit rally from a 3-1 deficit to beat Orlando. His next test is James, whose 35.7-point average topped first-round play.Key matchup II: Ben Wallace vs. Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The matchups and the tempo limited Ilgauskas' role in the first-round victory over Washington. He'll likely get more opportunities in this series, but they will come against the NBA's top defensive big man.X-factor: Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao. They'll need to provide Cleveland with toughness and rebounding against Ben and Rasheed Wallace.
MIAMI HEAT (52-30)vs. NEW JERSEY NETS (49-33)
Season series: Nets, 3-1, won the final three meetings after losing a November game that Shaquille O'Neal missed. Vince Carter averaged 38.5 points, including a 51-point game in a victory at Miami in December. He also had a triple-double and shot 56 percent from the field. Dwyane Wade averaged 25.8 points for Miami, which shot a combined 92-for-234 (39 percent) in three losses.Storyline: A year after Miami swept New Jersey in the first round, the teams meet one round later. The winning team might have to look dominant to convince people that it would be a real threat to beat Detroit in a presumed East finals matchup.Key matchup I: Jason Kidd vs. Jason Williams/Gary Payton. Kidd averaged 10.2 assists and 7.5 rebounds in the first round, but he shot an atrocious 29 percent and was often outplayed by Indiana's Anthony Johnson, his former backup. He'll need to be better against the Heat duo, which split time in the first round while combining for nearly 18 points per game.Key matchup II: Richard Jefferson vs. Antoine Walker. Walker had a good first round, averaging 14.7 points. But if he struggles with Jefferson's athleticism, the Heat may have to give more time to James Posey, a better defender.X-factor: O'Neal. Strange as sounds to call Shaq an X-factor, that's exactly what his first-round stats make him: 23.8 points and 13.3 rebounds in the wins, 12 points and 6.0 boards in the losses. His regular-season numbers against New Jersey were somewhere in the middle -- 17.7 points and 10 rebounds with 48 percent shooting, well below his league-leading 60 percent. And the Heat lost all three games he played.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS (63-19)vs. DALLAS MAVERICKS (60-22)
Season series: Tied 2-2, with each team winning once on the road. Dallas did an excellent job on Tim Duncan, limiting him to 14.8 points per game on 40 percent shooting, but Tony Parker scored 21.8 and shot 54 percent. Dirk Nowitzki averaged 25.3 points for Dallas.Storyline: Good enough to be a conference finals matchup -- but current rules prohibit it. The Spurs and Mavericks had the best records in the West, but because they are in the same division, Dallas fell to the No. 4 seed behind two other division winners with worse records. The NBA plans to discuss how it seeds the top four teams to prevent similar scenarios.Key matchup I: Bruce Bowen vs. Nowitzki. The Spurs are among the teams that like to play Nowitzki with a small forward, and they have one of the best defenders in the game to do it. Nowitzki shot only 44 percent against San Antonio in the regular season, but after averaging 31.3 points and 51-percent shooting in the first round, he'll likely find a way around the defense.Key matchup II: Tony Parker vs. Jason Terry/Devin Harris. Terry will get the first crack at Parker, who had his best season but may be slowed a bit by a bruised right leg. When Harris enters and moves Terry to the 2-guard spot, he brings the necessary quickness to match up with the speedy Parker.X-factor: Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel. The former Mavericks have switched sides in the rivalry, and either is capable of coming off the Spurs' bench and knocking down jumpers in a hurry.
Associated Press
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