The NBA season tips off Tuesday with four games, two of them broadcast nationally. The Celtics head to Cleveland to battle the Cavs at 7:30, followed by a Clippers-Lakers showdown at 10:30, both on TNT. The Wizards also take on the Mavericks in Dallas at 8:30 EST while the Rockets and Blazers go at it in Portland at 10:00 EST.
There were a lot of shake-ups this offseason, mostly involving the power teams in the Association. The Cavs added Shaquille O'Neal, Boston brought in Rasheed Wallace, the Spurs got Richard Jefferson, the defending-champion Lakers added Ron Artest and the Eastern conference champion Magic traded for Vince Carter. Meanwhile Detroit tried to return to its previous prominence by acquiring former UConn standouts Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon. It should be interesting to see if the gap between the elite teams and those below widens even further.
Without further ado, let's get to the predictions. Playoff teams are indicated by an asterisk (*).
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