As first reported by Yahoo! Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski , New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert has torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. Shumpert also tore the lateral meniscus in the knee, the Knicks announced Saturday evening . He will need surgery to repair the tears, and will miss six to eight months of action, the team said. The rookie sustained the injuries during the third quarter of the Knicks' 100-67 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series on Saturday afternoon, crumpling to the court in obvious pain after a non-contact play. With the Knicks down 24 points after being blitzed by the Heat 30-13 in the second quarter, Shumpert dribbled up court following a Dwyane Wade turnover. The Knicks guard moved slightly to his left before trying to come back to the right, then instantly pulled up lame, losing control of the ball as he reached for his left knee. Mario Chalmers grabbed the loose ball and passed to Wade, who made a basket and was fouled at the other end of the floor. Shumpert stayed down, holding his knee and appearing to be in agonizing pain. Teammates, coaches and trainers crowded around the rookie as ABC's telecast cut to commercial. During the break, teammates Jerome Jordan and Josh Harrellson carried Shumpert off the court and into the Knicks' locker room. He exited the game at the 6:04 mark of the third quarter, having gone scoreless in 19 minutes of action. Shumpert was not the only guard to tear his left ACL during Saturday's opening-round action. Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose suffered the same fate late in the fourth quarter of Chicago's 103-91 Game 1 win over the Phiadelphia 76ers.

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Now that the shortened 66-game season has come to an end, it is time to turn our attention to the postseason. The Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat were the toast of the Eastern Conference in 2011-2012, but there are a few teams that could make some noise in the East and possibly prevent a rematch between the Heat and Bulls. Without further ado, here is a preview of the opening round of the 2012 playoffs.

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The New York Knicks might be the hottest playoff team in the Eastern Conference of the NBA, and deserve credit for resurrecting their season to finish at 36-30. Certainly, when they were mired at 8-15, nobody considered the possibility the Knicks might become a dangerous first round opponent. For the most part, however, the Eastern Conference second round matchups are likely to be Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics, and the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers.

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The Philadelphia 76ers thought they would be the Atlantic Division champions for much of the season. Sixers fans like myself really wanted it, if only so they could avoid the Chicago Bulls or the Miami Heat in the playoffs. But the Sixers are getting the Bulls anyway while the Boston Celtics have another division crown and a prized top four seed - despite not getting home court advantage.

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The Philadelphia 76ers may have secretly wished to finish as the No. 8 Eastern playoff seed instead of the No. 7. Sixers fans like myself certainly advised it, since the top-seeded Chicago Bulls are still a better matchup than the second-seeded Miami Heat. In the end, the Sixers got that secret wish in decisive fashion, as they didn't even try to beat the Detroit Pistons on April 26 while the New York Knicks destroyed the historically awful Charlotte Bobcats.

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(Reuters) - The Chicago Bulls closed out the regular season with a 107-75 demolition of the Cleveland Cavaliers to claim the number one overall seed on Thursday for the National Basketball Association playoffs.

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The Chicago Bulls (49-16) will close their truncated regular season against the Cleveland Cavaliers (21-44) in Chicago Friday night. With all the mentions of it around the internet, most of you already know the game is important because a win assures the Bulls of the number one overall seed --a San Antonio Spurs loss would accomplish the same thing. However, I think the game is even more important than it's being given credit for. Why? It's because the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls could end up in the finals opposite one another. ...

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Heading into the final night of the NBA's slapdash lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, we know which 16 teams will be playing for the Larry O'Brien Trophy come this weekend, and we have four matchups set. In the Eastern Conference, the third-seeded Indiana Pacers will take on the No. 6 Orlando Magic, who clinched their seeding with a 102-95 Wednesday win over the Charlotte Bobcats, while the No. 4 Boston Celtics will square off against the No. 5 Atlanta Hawks. Out west, the San Antonio Spurs (the conference's top seed for the second straight year) will face the eighth-seeded Utah Jazz, while Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will lead the Los Angeles Clippers into a 4-5 matchup with last year's postseason darlings, the Memphis Grizzlies. That's what we know. So what don't we know? Well, for starters, who's going to have home-court advantage in C's/Hawks and Clips/Grizz? Who are the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder going to face in the first round? Where do the defending champion Dallas Mavericks fit into the mix? [ Related: Miami Heat fan punches Suns' Gorilla mascot at Arizona appearance ] By the end of Thursday's slate, we'll have the answers to those questions and more. Let's take a brief look at which games mean what in terms of playoff positioning Thursday night.

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The Philadelphia 76ers didn't have that much to play for against the Milwaukee Bucks on April 25. Yet Sixers fans like myself knew there was something at stake - we just didn't know if it was worth fighting for. The Sixers can still overtake the New York Knicks for the No. 7 seed and avoid facing the No. 1 Chicago Bulls - but facing the Bulls may be preferable to playing the Miami Heat in the playoffs again.

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Chicago, already assured of the top seed in the NBA's Eastern Conference playoffs, used Derrick Rose and other key players in their 92-87 victory over playoff-bound Indiana.

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