By Chris Sheridan
The Associated Press

A look at the eight first-round series in the NBA playoffs, which start this weekend:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

No. 1 DETROIT (50-32) vs. No. 8 ORLANDO (42-40)

Season Series: Pistons won 2-1, with McGrady scoring 46 in Orlando's only win.

Storyline: Grant Hill's past meets Grant Hill's present, although Grant Hill is injured and will not play.

Key Matchup I: Richard Hamilton vs. Tracy McGrady. Somebody on Detroit is going to have to subjugate their offense and concentrate on defense in an effort to contain the NBA's leading scorer. If Hamilton can't do it, Michael Curry might try.

Key Matchup II: Chauncey Billups vs. Jacque Vaughn/Darrell Armstrong. The Pistons like to get the ball into Billups' hands at the end of close games, and Billups has been deft at hitting game-winning shots.

X Factor: Will Ben Wallace, the NBA's leading rebounder, be ready to play after spraining his knee two weeks ago?

Little-Known Fact: If Hill had signed with Orlando 48 hours earlier in the summer of 2000, the Magic would not have had to give up Wallace and Chucky Atkins.

Prediction: Pistons in 7.

No. 2 NEW JERSEY (49-33) vs. No. 7 MILWAUKEE (42-40)

Season Series: Tied 2-2, with Milwaukee winning by 19 in the only game that came after the Bucks traded Ray Allen to Seattle for Gary Payton.

Storyline: A meeting of the two best point guards ever to come out of Oakland, Jason Kidd and Payton.

Key Matchup I: Kidd vs. Payton. The friendship between these two will be put aside for two weeks as Payton, one of the league's best backcourt defenders, tries to slow down the player who makes everything happen for the Nets.

Key Matchup II: Richard Jefferson vs. Desmond Mason. Both small forwards are tremendous offensive players who are just now becoming established in the league. Both teams struggle when they do not get scoring from this position.

X Factor: The Bucks finished strong, winning eight of their final nine. New Jersey lost four of its final five.

Little-Known Fact: A year after Sam Cassell was traded by the Nets, he returned to the Meadowlands and got upset when the p.a. announcer pronounced his name "Castle."

Prediction: Bucks in 6.

No. 3 INDIANA (48-34) vs. No. 6 BOSTON (44-38)

Season Series: Tied 2-2, with Ron Artest committing a flagrant foul against Paul Pierce just five seconds into the last meeting.

Storyline: After bowing out in the first round the past two seasons, Isiah Thomas tries to coach the Pacers into the second round and beyond.

Key Matchup I: Artest vs. Pierce. The league's best one-on-one defender and loosest cannon must slow down the Celtics' No. 1 scoring option.

Key Matchup II: Jermaine O'Neal vs. Antoine Walker. The Pacers have a huge size advantage, especially at the power forward position, where the Celtics have no one who can contain the East's best low-post scorer.

X Factor: The Pacers have a much deeper roster than the Celtics, whose ninth man last year - Walter McCarty - is their sixth man this year.

Little-Known Fact: Indiana president Donnie Walsh tried hard to acquire Walker from Boston when Rick Pitino was running the Celtics.

Prediction: Pacers in 4.

No. 4 PHILADELPHIA (48-34) vs. No. 5 NEW ORLEANS (47-35)

Season Series: Hornets won 2-1, but two of the games were way back in November.

Storyline: Shapes up as possibly the most competitive series in the East, matching two teams with different styles who both have several banged-up players.

Key Matchup I: Allen Iverson vs. David Wesley/Stacey Augmon. In the final meeting of the season between the teams last weekend, coach Paul Silas had Augmon defend Iverson. The defensive specialist held Iverson to 2-for-11 shooting as the Hornets won 94-89.

Key Matchup II: Derrick Coleman vs. Jamaal Magliore. If the 76ers expect to compete in this series, they'll have to get strong performances from their frontcourt players - especially Coleman, who was a member of the Hornets for three seasons before being dealt back to Philly for George Lynch, Robert Traylor and Jerome Moiso.

X Factor: New Orleans coach Paul Silas is expected to leave the Hornets after the season. Philadelphia's Larry Brown might have left the 76ers if he had been offered the North Carolina job.

Little-Known Fact: George Lynch was one of Brown's favorite players when the Sixers reached the 2001 NBA Finals. Coleman was one of Silas' least favorite players after he demanded to start ahead of P.J. Brown.

Prediction: 76ers in 7.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

No. 1 SAN ANTONIO SPURS (60-22) vs. No. 8 PHOENIX SUNS (44-38).

Season Series: Suns won 3-1, with San Antonio's only victory coming in overtime.

Storyline: There couldn't have been a worse matchup for San Antonio; Phoenix was the only Western Conference team to beat the Spurs three times. If the Spurs manage to get past this round, they could play the Lakers - a team they swept 4-0 - in the second round.

Key Matchup I: Tony Parker vs. Stephon Marbury. Marbury shot 54 percent against the Spurs, including 12-for-14 on March 4. Parker shot 3-for-12 and 3-for-18 in their first two meetings this season.

Key Matchup II: Tim Duncan vs. Amare Stoudemire. The Man vs. the Man-Child, with San Antonio's MVP contender having averaged 29.8 points and 14.5 rebounds in the four games vs. Phoenix.

X Factor: There are other key matchups here, too, with one of the most important being defensive specialist Bruce Bowen vs. Phoenix's second offensive option, Shawn Marion.

Little-Known Fact: When Phoenix defeated San Antonio last Sunday to clinch a playoff spot and snap the Spurs' 11-game winning streak, Marbury broke down and cried in the locker room afterward. "I haven't been this happy since my kids were born," he said.

Prediction: Spurs in 7.

No. 2 SACRAMENTO (59-23) vs. No. 7 UTAH (47-35)

Season Series: Kings 3-1, with Utah's only victory coming on the road in mid-January - the game in which Jerry Sloan shoved referee Courtney Kirkland to earn a seven-game suspension.

Storyline: The Jazz gave the Kings a tough time in the playoffs a year ago, losing 3-1 in a first-round series that featured four close games. Could be the last time John Stockton and Karl Malone play together for Utah.

Key Matchup I: Chris Webber vs. Malone. In Utah's lone victory this season, Webber turned his ankle in the second quarter and did not return. In the other three games he averaged 22.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists.

Key Matchup II: Mike Bibby vs. John Stockton. One of the reasons why Jazz owner Larry Miller thinks it's a 50-50 proposition whether Stockton is about to retire is the fact that the 41-year-old probable Hall of Famer has trouble defending young, quick playmakers such as Bibby.

X Factor: Everyone assumes that Peja Stojakovic is the best European player in this series, but the Jazz have a Russian reserve, Andrei Kirilenko, whose boundless energy and knack for making things happen is unmatched by anyone on Sacramento.

Little-Known Fact: Utah assistant coach Phil Johnson was head coach of the Kings when they were the Cincinnati Royals and the Kansas City-Omaha Kings.

Prediction: Kings in 5.

No. 3 DALLAS MAVERICKS (60-22) vs. No. 6 PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (50-32)

Season series: Tied 2-2, with Dallas winning the first two and Portland the last two.

Storyline: No matter who wins this series, there is guaranteed to be one happy billionaire when it's over. Rule of thumb: It'll take 110-115 points to win each game.

Key Matchup I: Dirk Nowitzki vs. Rasheed Wallace. They faced each other three times during the regular season, each getting the better of the matchup once and playing to a standstill the other time. Nowitzki is the better scorer, Wallace the better defender.

Key Matchup II: Michael Finley vs. Scottie Pippen. Both players only recently returned from injuries that sidelined them for most of April. The Mavs rely heavily on Finley as one of their top three offensive options, while the Blazers played their best when Pippen was running the point.

X Factor: If the series is won on the inside, Portland might have the edge with frontcourt players Wallace, Dale Davis, Ruben Patterson, Zach Randolph and Bonzi Wells.

Little-known fact: Blazers owner Paul Allen is worth $20.1 billion, whereas Mavs owner Mark Cuban is worth $1.4 billion, according to Forbes.

Prediction: Trail Blazers in 7.

No. 4 MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (51-31) vs. No. 5 LOS ANGELES LAKERS (50-32)

Season series: Tied, 2-2. The Wolves won twice in December when the Lakers were struggling. The Lakers won twice in March, with Shaquille O'Neal scoring 40 and 26, and Kobe Bryant getting 30 and 30.

Storyline: The Timberwolves have made six consecutive first-round playoff exits, and their task in appearance No. 7 is their toughest yet.

Key Matchup I: Kevin Garnett vs. Mark Madsen. Talent-wise, could quite possibly be the biggest mismatch in any of the eight playoff series. For that matter, it could be the biggest talent mismatch in NBA playoff history.

Key Matchup II: Radoslav Nesterovic vs. O'Neal. There are mismatches in the Lakers' favor, too, and this is the biggest. Nesterovic does not have the strength to push O'Neal away from the basket, nor do backups Marc Jackson and Loren Woods.

X Factor: What will be the mind-set of the Lakers as they play the Timberwolves in the postseason for the first time? Do they take them lightly because of Minnesota's playoff history?

Little-Known Fact: Minnesota's starting shooting guard, Anthony Peeler, was basically given away by the Lakers in a 1996 trade to help clear the salary cap space to sign O'Neal.

Prediction: Lakers in 5.