The first round of the NBA playoffs are officially over, and the second round matchups are set. Only eight teams remain in the playoffs for a chance to capture the NBA Championship. Among those eight teams are the San Antonio Spurs and the Portland Trail Blazers, who will be facing each other much of this week.

The Spurs come in as the No. 1 over seed in the West and had the best overall record in the entire NBA at 62-20. Spurs might be viewed as "old team" with Tim Duncan (38), Manu Ginóbili (36) and Tony Parker (turning 33 this month), but the Spurs "big three" just keep winning. Coach Gregg Popovich is limiting minutes so the older players can save their stamina for the later rounds. The Spurs also have a few younger players that are making a big difference. Kawhi Leonard is a great defender and Danny Green has been making his shots from the perimeter. Tiago Splitter has certainly shown he is a very valuable defensive player after he shutdown Dirk Nowitzki in the first round.

The Trail Blazers finished the regular season 54-28 overall, good enough for a No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. In a lot of ways, the Blazers are the opposite of the Spurs: offensive oriented, young leaders, and little playoff experience. LaMarcus Aldridge had a tremendous series against the Houston Rockets, and Damian Lillard's 3-pointer in game five at the final buzzer won the series. The Blazers have one of the best scoring offenses in the league, but questions still remain on defense. Center, Robin Lopez has to improve.

In the regular season, the Spurs and Trail Blazers tied two games each.

The Spurs eliminated the Dallas Mavericks in a thrilling seven game series. The Trail Blazers eliminated Houston Rockets in six games. Fans are going to get a good series between these two teams starting Tuesday, May 6. Luckily for NBA fans, every game will televised on national TV beginning on Tuesday night at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time on TNT.

Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter need to expose the Trail Blazers front court and center, Robin Lopez. Push the ball down low in the post to the big men. Parker has been the best point guard in the playoffs so far and he needs to keep playing like it. On the Blazers side, Aldridge has to keep riding the momentum he played with against the Rockets.

The second series beginning Tuesday night is between the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat

With all of these epic game sevens and long lasting series, the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat are just watching the field shrink. The Heat haven't played since April 28, when they swept the Charlotte Bobcats. The Heat were the only team to sweep their opponent in the first round of the playoffs.

Their next opponent will be the Brooklyn Nets.

The Nets finished the season 44-38, good enough for the No. 6 seed. In the first round, the Nets played probably the most thrilling series of all, against the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors held a 3-2 series lead, but the Nets won game six forcing a final elimination game in Toronto. The Nets would win a nail-biter, 104-103.

Despite being the No. 2 seed, the Heat are still the favorites ahead of the Indiana Pacers to win the Eastern Conference. The Heat have won the East the last three consecutive seasons and the NBA Championship the last two seasons. Clearly lack of experience won't be an issue. LeBron James is still the best player in all of basketball and doesn't show any signs of slowing down. Chris Bosh is one of the best power forwards, grabbing much needed rebounds and provides a big body down low. Dwyane Wade is getting older and his knee has slowed him down in the regular season, but he always shows up in the playoffs. And who could forget about Ray Allen? He is the greatest 3-point shooter of all time and helps take away double teams from James.

Although the Heat will be favored, the Nets deserve respect. In the regular season, the nets swept the Heat four games to nothing.

But the playoffs are a whole different story. Those four games against each other were as close as possible with Nets victorious in all four. Three out of the four games were decided by just a single point with the second game going to double overtime. The Heat will have home court advantage, and rookie head coach Jason Kidd will be coaching his second playoff series.

The first game will be played May 6 at 7 p.m. Eastern time on TNT.