Temperatures are rising in a recent outbreak of NBA playoff fever. After a season of relative calm and order, remarkable for the absence of outrage, the NBA has been happily superceded in its bad-boy image by the calamitous NFL. Shaquille O’Neal is finally living up to his billing, emerging as a total player and the most dominant force in the league. Allen Iverson continues to mature, albeit slowly, both on and off the court. Latrell Sprewell hasn’t choked anyone for some time now, and the next generation of NBA superstars is charging down the court, led by the startling Vince Carter. Meanwhile, the old guard isn’t backing down, as warhorses like Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing and Reggie Miller still get the job done, night after night.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the season, and in hindsight, the most obvious, is the reemergence of Phil Jackson as the league’s premier coach. His Lakers seemed a lock for the championship, playing head and shoulders above the rest all season, but their playoff performance so far has been a bit disappointing. Astrological influences, while no substitute for talent and training, do play a role in determining the eventual winners and losers, so let’s have a look at how the stars stack up for the playoffs.

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact dates of the finals, but the playoffs should last until approximately the June 20. Unlike certain other championships, the Super Bowl, for instance, where the time and place of the kickoff is determined months in advance, the NBA finals schedule is determined by the results of the preceding playoff rounds. While that does present a certain challenge, if we look at the most important of the upcoming planetary alignments, we should be able to get a pretty good sense of who will win or lose along the way.

Currently, both Saturn and Jupiter are in Taurus and closing in fast on a square, or 90-degree angle, to transiting Uranus in Aquarius. This buildup of pressure on a volatile, unpredictable planet like Uranus can cause some big surprises or sudden reversals of fortune. Already, under this influence, the reigning NBA champions, the San Antonio Spurs, have fallen in the first round to the scrappy upstarts, the Phoenix Suns. Meanwhile, the mighty Lakers struggle in their series against the eighth-seeded Sacramento Kings. It is the nature of Uranus to not only cause shocking upsets, but in particular to try to bring down the king or the leader. This is probably due to its associations with the sign Aquarius, which puts it in natural opposition  to the royal sign Leo. I tend to think that the Lakers will make it past the Kings, but they hardly look as invincible as they did when that series started.

By far, the most important planetary event during this playoff period is the upcoming Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Taurus. These two giants hook up once every twenty years, and the cycle of their meetings and partings is one of the most powerful and obvious timing indicators in astrology. The exact conjunction of the two occurs on May 28, 2000 at 22 degrees of Taurus. This conjunction will have a profound impact on everyone, at all levels, and will most certainly affect the coaches and players in the NBA. By comparing the interactions between this major conjunction with the planetary positions in the coaches’ birth charts, we should be able to get a sense of who will be helped or hindered the most during this time.

It’s no surprise that of the NBA coaches that actually have a chance, Phil Jackson appears to have the most aspects, or connections, to the upcoming Jupiter-Saturn conjunction. Jackson’s natal Saturn is at 22 degrees Cancer, exactly sextile (60 degrees) the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, while his natal Sun at 24 degrees Virgo is only two degrees past a trine aspect (120 degrees). These are both easy, supportive aspects, but that does seem like a lot of Saturn, doesn’t it? Saturn is hardly a happy or lucky planet, but it can indicate great discipline and professional success. After dominating the league for the entire season, Jackson’s team now appears to be struggling to make it past the first round. Perhaps a little less confidence and a little more concentration will get the job done, but hats off to the Kings for the splendid job they have done in defending their home court. Barring serious injury to Shaquille O’Neal, without whom the Lakers play like mere mortals, L.A. still seems a lock to win the Western Conference. But who will win the East, where the competition is considerably closer?

Larry Bird’s Pacers have played consistently all season and represent a serious threat. The Knicks are right where they want to be. Having swept the inexperienced Raptors in the first round, they prepare for an East Coast street fight of a series with their archrivals, the fiery Miami Heat. And what about Allen Iverson and the 76ers, who overcame a plague of injuries to trounce the Hornets and advance? We’ll take a closer look at the Eastern Conference next week, and also examine the energizing influence of the macho planet Mars, currently transiting through Gemini and raising the playoff intensity to a fever-pitch.