The 2011 Kentucky Derby betting event signals that the second round of the NBA playoffs is finally upon us. With only eight teams remaining in the playoffs, betting online enthusiasts should have a better idea as to which teams will win and which will look at what went wrong when the round comes to an end. Here are our picks for round two.

Eastern Conference:

The 2010 – 11 Eastern Conference semi-finals between the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks, as well as the Miami Heat taking on the Boston Celtics, features four of the best teams in the entire league. Just from looking at the matchups, the logical choice is to take the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics. However, after one game each for these two series, making a decision on who to pick is way harder than we imagined.

On the one hand, the Chicago Bulls looked like a team that was expecting to have an easier time with the Atlanta Hawks after the Hawks disappointed their fans in last season’s first round. This Hawks team is playing with a chip on their shoulder, as they attempt to show their fans that last year was a fluke, and the Hawks have come to play this year. In last night’s victory over the Bulls, the Hawks caught several breaks including Bulls star Derrick Rose reinjuring his sprained ankle in the final moments of the game. If the Bulls lose Rose, we think it’s safe to say good night Bulls, as they don’t look like a team that can win without a superstar.

Conversely, the Celtics and Heat series opened up with some controversy, as it appeared that the officials wanted the game and perhaps the series to be about them and not the two teams playing. Each side received some brutal calls against them by the officials. With that said, Miami has three of the youngest stars in the NBA joining forces, and anything less than a series win will be considered a disappointment.

For all of the talk about how the Boston Celtics are not prepared to go on a second consecutive run to the NBA finals with a veteran team that has struggled down the stretch, perhaps somebody should take a quick look back at what happened to last year’s team. The Celtics went .500 over the final couple of months of the season behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic in the Eastern conference standings, but came alive to push the Los Angeles Lakers to seven games before conceding the NBA championship in the finals. The pressure will be on the Lakers to three-peat, but it won’t happen after the improvements that Boston has made.

Gone is Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In his place is Shaquille O’Neal, Jermaine O’Neal, Jeff Green, and Nenad Krstic. As much as Perkins was a key contributor to that Celtics’ team, the presence of both O’Neal centers as well as Krstic provides more experience and depth, and simple math outlines it as three big bodies compared to one. Kevin Garnett returns as focused and determined as he has ever been, and Glen “Big Baby” Davis has made strides in his game off the bench. The star guard tandem in Boston has become a star trio with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo all capable of handling the rock with the game on the line, and with Green to help provide that extra spark off the bench the Celtics are scary. The Lakers haven’t done enough to match the improvements that Boston has made, and after watching the Celtics push Los Angeles to seven games a year ago, this has to be their sports betting year to win it all.