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The second round of these interesting playoffs started this past weekend with some upsets on both sides of the bracket. With that here are my predictions for round 2 and who I think will advance to the conference finals.
Eastern Conference
#5 New York Knicks vs. #8 Miami Heat- Relax folks we have not traveled back to 1997 although that would be nice, but we will pick up a long-time rivalry with the Knicks and Heat. The Knicks go into round two after an impressive 4 to 1 series win over the Cavaliers who many expected to have a deep playoff run, while in probably the biggest shock of round one the Miami Heat beat the number one overall seeded Milwaukee Bucks 4 to 1 putting the playoffs upside down.
This has been a refreshing run for the Knicks led by Jalen Brunson and the surprise impact of Mitchell Robinson gives New York hope of making it to the conference finals, but I will NOT bet against Jimmy Butler in the playoffs where he becomes a different level of player. I expect a classic physical series, but I am going with the Heat to continue their shocking run defeating the loveable Knicks in 6 games where Playoff Jimmy will strike again especially in a pivotal game at MSG.
#2 Boston Celtics vs. #3 Philadelphia 76ers- Another classic rivalry picks up here with the Sixers and Celtics squaring off again. Philadelphia coming off a sweep of the Nets come in rested and ready to take on the Celtics who come out of a six game series against the Hawks, sadly Sixer big man Joel Embiid is currently out with a knee injury with no real timeline of returning will put the pressure on James Harden.
Harden who also has to exercise some playoff demons now may have to carry the burden against a Celtic team that an abundance of versatile, young, athletic perimeter players from Jayson Tatum to Derrick White to make things difficult for Harden. As much as I want to be logical and pick Boston to advance but I am going to ride faith and hope Embiid returns to help the 76ers advance to the conference finals beating Boston in 7 games.
Western Conference
#1 Denver Nuggets vs. #4 Phoenix Suns- For many the winner of this series will gives the winner in the west as the Nuggets and Suns face here after both winning 4 to 1 series against the Timberwolves and a disappointing/hobbled Clippers, so can the three headed monster of Durant, Booker, and Paul can pose a threat to the Nuggets?
Honestly, the lack of depth and unreliability of DeAndre Ayton will be the reason the Suns lose this series as Jokic the Juggernaut will pick them apart easily being too much to overcome. As much as the legacy of Kevin Durant and Chris Paul are in danger here I will stick my one finals participant left and say the Nuggets win this series in a shocking and crushing 5 games.
#6 Golden State Warriors vs. #7 Los Angeles Lakers- I saved the best for last as the NBA, Lebron James and Stephen Curry’s massive fanbases will be happy for this match up. The Warriors and their experience won a challenging series against the promising Kings in seven games, while the Lakers did what most of us expected by beating the absolutely immature, front running, and disappointing Memphis Grizzlies (more to come on that soon) in six games.
This second match up comes with storylines from LeBron vs. Steph to a deep cut possibility of this being a revenge series for D’Angelo Russell will pop up throughout the series, but all good things have to come to an end so the Warriors will go down fighting, but LeBron will pull out some vintage performances here to lead the Lakers to the conference finals winning the series in six games.