It’s the most wonderful time of the year: the NBA Playoffs! For the casual fan, the first round offers the most excitement and (obviously) the most amount of actual basketball. The first round also tends to stretch longer than the following rounds, so the next few weeks promise to be full of quality basketball.

And the Eastern Conference, as well.

Easy jokes aside, let’s take a quick look at each of the other 7 series before diving deeper into the Spurs-Clippers First Round battle before the game tips off Sunday night.

Eastern Conference

Yes, the East matters. But not that much. Let’s keep these brief:

Atlanta (1) vs. Brooklyn (8)

Brooklyn might be the least exciting team in the whole league, which is saying a lot for a league that has the Sixers, Lakers, and Knicks in it. Atlanta has been dominant all season. Don’t expect Brooklyn to challenge that in the least. Also, the Hawks should be all Spurs’ fans Eastern Conference rooting interest for obvious reasons.

Cleveland (2) vs. Boston (7)

Much like Clippers-Spurs, this series features the two hottest teams in the East over the last few months. The operative words for Boston being ‘the East’. While they’ve certainly played well for Coach Brad Stevens, Cleveland is in a completely different league than the Celtics.

Chicago (3) vs. Milwaukee (6)

This could very well be the most exciting first-round match-up in the East. Given the proximity of the two cities, this could also become a pretty chippy series. Chicago is clearly the better team, but Milwaukee has the defense and youthful energy to possibly challenge Chicago. I expect the Bulls to win, but I won’t be surprised if the Bucks make it a lot tighter than most expect.

Toronto (4) vs. Washington (5)

Oh man. Both teams have exciting players (especially at PG) and uncreative offenses that don’t take advantage of said players. Both teams have been more or less hot messes for the last 4 months. They deserve each other. Toronto’s home crowd might be the best reason to watch any of this series, if you’re the mildly masochistic sort.

Western Conference

Now for the good stuff. Much like last year, there are pretty much no bad permutations of match-ups in the West, and every series promises good basketball and hopefully a little bit of drama.

Golden State (1) vs. New Orleans (8)

I imagine the Warriors were rooting pretty hard for the Spurs on Wednesday night. Golden State should have no trouble in the first round, but facing OKC and their (complete lack of) defense in the first round would have been far preferable to the New Orleans team that is getting healthy at the right time, has a few interesting match-up problems for the Warriors, a strong defensive PG (Jrue Holiday) to throw at Steph Curry, and Anthony Davis, perhaps the best player in the series.

I have a co-worker who is a huge Warriors fan. He had absolutely no fear of OKC, and was legitimately worried about facing New Orleans in the first round. The Spurs saw why on Wednesday night. This team might not run 10-deep like the Warriors, but they do run at least 4-5 deep. In the playoffs, that can get you a couple of tight games and perhaps a win or two, putting just enough pressure on the presumptive (and heavy) favorites. Throw in Anthony Davis, a prototypical NBA player from the future that is nearly unguardable, and there is plenty to worry about.

Ultimately the Warriors depth and overwhelming talent should win out, but this will test them more than they are probably expecting in the first round.

Houston (2) vs. Dallas (7)

The Spurs could have been the 2-seed facing Dallas yet again in the first round. While the 2-seed would have been preferably (obviously), I’m happy to not have to face the veteran Mavericks and their Warlock coach in the first round. I think Houston is the most vulnerable of the top seeds, and while I’m not making predictions, neither outcome would surprise me. I really see these two teams as fairly evenly matched, as weird is that is to say about a 2-7 match-up. I think Dallas is playoff-tested and slightly better than their seed indicates; I think Houston is a one-dimensional basketball team that can possibly be exposed in the playoffs, when coaches have time to scheme and the teams face each other several times over a few weeks.

Add in the fact that these two franchises simply do not like each other, and this could make for some compelling basketball. While I root for neither of the other Texas teams, I dislike the Mavs less than I dislike the Rockets. I would love to see Howard and Harden get their playoff comeuppance…again.

Also, keep in mind that if the Spurs beat the Clippers, the Mavs would be a more ideal second-round opponent because they would have home court advantage, which would be a nice little gift in a nearly impossible road to the title.

Los Angeles Clippers (3) vs. San Antonio (6)

More to come on this.

Portland (4) vs. Memphis (5)

It’s weird to say, but I think both teams are probably happy about this match-up. They both get to avoid the Spurs and the Clippers, and both teams are limping into the playoffs and have a legitimate chance to win the series against the other injured team.

This match-up also makes for a fascinating contrast in styles, as the Blazers love to push and score, and Memphis is still grit-and-grind.

Portland is without Wes Matthews, a very key player for them. But they’ve been without him for several weeks, and have at least figured out how to play without him. Memphis has key injuries to Mike Conley and Tony Allen. Both are game-time decisions. The Conley injury, in particular, is tough, because Memphis has only been without him for a week. He’s a fantastic and underrated PG, and without him I think Portland gets a small edge. With him, I give Memphis a pretty significant edge.

The playoffs start Saturday morning. Hallelujah.