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This past weekend was the start of the NBA playoffs and there were some really exciting games to start things off. Sorry it’s late but here are my predictions for who will advance on to the next round.
Eastern Conference First Round
#1 Milwaukee Bucks vs. #8 Miami Heat- The Bucks roll into the postseason with the best record in the NBA and are heavy favorites to win the title but to get to the finals they must start by playing against the Miami Heat. Miami, who was last year’s #1 seed are eighth are being in the play-in scenario could be a dangerous 8th seed. As competitive as Jimmy Butler can and will be this Heat team stole game 1 but even with the injury to Giannis, I will still take the Bucks to win the series in 6 games.
#2 Boston Celtics vs. #7 Atlanta Hawks- The Celtics come in with the motivation to return to the finals and may have sleepwalk their way through the season at times but are ready to get back to it and begin with a series against the Hawks. This Hawks season has been a rollercoaster. But as much as I like Trae Young, something tells me this may be his last series in a Hawks uniform sadly and the Celtics take care of business in 4 games.
#3 Philadelphia 76ers vs. #6 Brooklyn Nets- This is a make or break run for potential MVP Joel Embiid, James Harden, Doc Rivers and the Sixers as a whole to have a deep playoff run. The Nets who many thought would fall off after trading KD & Kyrie but they hung tough and found chemistry thanks to Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson who have played incredible since the trade. This should a rather quick series despite the fight in the Nets, I’m going with the sixers to win this series in 5 games.
#4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks- This is easily the marque series of the first round in the east, as the Donovan Mitchell series happens with the Cavs and Knicks squaring off. The Cavs clicking on all cylinders at the right time led by Donovan Mitchell who almost was a Knick. The Knicks on the other hand exceeded expectations this year thanks to the heist of free agency last summer in Jalen Brunson opening up offense for others like Julius Randle, Immanuel Quickley and R.J. Barrett has given Knick fans so much hope.
This is going to be an ugly series if we were taking anything from game 1, as promising as Cleveland is their weakness at small forward, Darius Garland vanishing on offense, and Jalen Brunson just playing at a maestro’s level will have the Knicks winning this series 6 games exciting their long-suffering fans.
Western Conference First Round
#1 Denver Nuggets vs. #8 Minnesota Timberwolves- This maybe the shortest of the predictions in round one, Nikola Jokic may not win his third MVP in a row, but his focus is on getting this well-oiled Nuggets team to the finals which starts with a warmup series against the dysfunctional and delusional Timberwolves. Their version of the twin towers in Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert have been to be a disaster which hurts young potential mega star Anthony Edwards, but the Gobert effect happens in Minnesota like it did in Utah, but this series will be brief with Denver winning in 4 games.
#2 Memphis Grizzlies vs. Los Angeles Lakers- This next series may be an upset alert special, as the LA Lakers take on a Memphis Grizzlies team that looks a bit shaky. Throughout the season I was not high on the Lakers especially the dependability of Anthony Davis, but LeBron can turn into playoff LeBron anytime and rise of Austin Reaves and Jared Vanderbilt gives this once dead Laker team a chance while Memphis limps into the playoff without big men Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke along with the target they have put on themselves all season with some antics has them in a put up or shut up situation.
As much as I want to go with my brain and say Memphis figures it out and advance, I also have learned to never count the powers of LeBron James in these situations so even with the 50/50 chance Davis gets hurts this Laker team can upset this young and immature group. So, I will listen to my gut and pick the Lakers in an upset to win this series in 7 games leaving Memphis to do some soul searching this summer.
#3 Sacramento Kings vs. #6 Golden State Warriors- This is the series everyone is watching as the defending champion Warriors come into the playoffs to face the Kings who are making their first playoff appearance in 17 years! The Kings are young, fearless and well coached by the potential coach of the year Mike Brown, all year the Warriors have been totally awful on the road and that will continue here as well.
All good things must end as the Warriors and there decade long run starts to wind down this series, even with the out of this world play of Stephen Curry the Warriors horrible woes on the road, age and Andrew Wiggins returning after a two-month hiatus leads to the Kings LIGHTING THE BEAM! As the Kings drop the big brother Warriors in this northern California match up in a healthy and exciting 6 games.
#4 Phoenix Suns vs. #5 Los Angeles Clippers- We will not have to hit ourselves in the head to see stars in this series as the two most polarizing teams face off as the Suns face the Clippers. From KD versus Kawhi to Devin Booker versus Paul George to this being a potential Chris Paul revenge series against his old team a lot is riding on this series for both teams going forward.
Being one of the bigger Chris Paul fans in the world but Kawhi Leonard is a playoff cyborg who loves to kill dreams but with the uncertain return of George and having to depend on Russell Westbrook may be too much for Leonard to carry against Durant, Paul, Booker and the Suns but in a major scare or wake up call will win this rollercoaster of a series in 7 games.
A lot of exciting, high stakes basketball is to come, don’t be surprised if there is more than one upset in the opening round for this is one of the more competitive playoffs in recent memory. Narratives will be solidified or changed, new names will appear, and legacies will certainly be decided this year so sit back and enjoy some impressive basketball.