16 teams. 4 rounds. 1 goal. The AD report welcomes you to the NBA edition of playoff tossup. For each series in each conference, I shall give you all my predictions on the latest playoff series per round. As I name the two teams playing against each other, i’ll list their seed, record, brief explanation on why I think a certain team will win, and give a guess on how long the series goes for. So without further ado, let’s tip off with the Western Conference.
(1) Golden State Warriors 73-9 vs. (8) Houston Rockets 41-41 In a rematch of the Western Conference finals of last year, the Curry lead Warriors take on the Harden led rockets. Oh my have things changed. I had thought the Rockets had a shot at winning the west this year. Instead, they put on their best 2012-13 Lakers impression. The Warriors have dismantled functional teams so I would like to see what they do to a topsy-turvy Rockets team. James Harden probably doesn’t deserve this but Dwight Howard…never mind. Golden State wins 4-0 (2) San Antonio Spurs 67-15 vs. (7) Memphis Grizzles 42-40 Among all playoff teams, the Lance Stephenson Grizzles are last in PPG. They’re going up against one of the best defensive teams in NBA history. In addition to that, they’re 40-1 at home so it’ll be hard for Memphis to grit and grind their way to sneak one in Texas. Especially at the fact that they’re missing two of their best players. I respect Dave Joerger enough to where I think they’ll be competitive in a few games. However in the end, there is only so much you can do with Matt Barnes as one of your primary offensive weapons. Spurs win 4-0 (3) Oklahoma City Thunder 55-27 vs. (6) Dallas Mavericks 42-40 Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are playing together in a playoff series for the first time in almost 3 years. They’ve been both top 5 players this year and that alone should make OKC the favorite. Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs have their work cut out for them but I do think they’ll do their thing. Dirk specifically is a 25 and 10 playoff average performer so I’m not worried too much about him his offense. His supporting cast is eh. And while I have my concerns for OKC and their inconsistent defense along with their knack for turnovers (they’re tied for third in most turnovers), they should win this series handily. Thunder win 4-2 (4) Los Angeles Clippers 53-29 vs. (5) Portland Trailblazers 44-38 Portland was supposed to be a lottery team after losing a lot of key pieces in the offseason. However, head coach Terry Stotts, guards Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and crew, defied expectations. Can they keep things going against the Clippers? The answer to that question is a resounding no. I’m aware of the Chris Paul playoff curse, the Doc Rivers experience, the rustiness of Blake Griffin, and the factor of waiting for the Clippers to Clip. However, this team from top to bottom is all around better on both sides of the ball ranking 7th in the league in both Offense and Defense. I expect Dame and C.J. to ball out though, that’ll be fun. Clippers win 4-1 Eastern Conference (1) Cleveland Cavaliers 57-25 vs. (8) Detroit Pistons 44-38 The Pistons have made the playoffs for the first time in over six years thanks to the nice core of young pieces that they have and the brilliance of head coach Stan Van Gundy. Who looks to create a similar type of team as the one he had with Orlando a few years back. Cleveland on the other hand, have been playing well this year on the court and in the headlines. Both sides to it have been entertaining and funny. I expect the defending Eastern Conference champs to breeze by Detroit. However, if LeBron sends out another Bryson Tiller Nike cap Instagram caption or Tweet again, I’ll give Detroit another game to win. Cleveland wins 4-0 (2) Toronto Raptors 56-26 vs. (7) Indiana Pacers 45-37 Let’s be clear, if I were a Toronto fan, I’d be a bit worried. The Indiana Pacers can play. Paul George is back like he’s never left, they’re well coached, and most importantly they can defend. Is this necessarily a trap series? Not really. As I think Toronto should pull this out because I’m banking on them to continue to play well behind the terrific Kyle Lowry. If the Raptors can shake off the Drake Curse and take advantage of the lack of presence Indy’s bigs have on the glass, then things should be swell (I kind of don’t trust them though). OVO Raptors win in 6 (3) Miami Heat 48-34 vs. (6) Charlotte Hornets 48-34 This is where it gets very tricky. The 3-6 seeds are all tied with the same record and each of them are good in special ways. Miami has really come along nicely even with the sudden indefinite absence of their best player Chris Bosh. On the other side, Charlotte has enjoyed a breakout season led by a young team that includes Kemba Walker among others. I believe in this match-up Hassan Whiteside will be the x-factor. He recently got installed back into the starting lineup and yet he has been productive as he was coming off the bench. This team is pretty deep too and has home court advantage on its side. I believe if the Hornets want to win this series, they’ll have to continue to shoot well from beyond the arc like they have been doing against Miami. Especially Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams. I’ll roll with Miami with a slight edge over Buzz City but IF I’m wrong, I won’t be surprised. Miami wins 4-3 (4) Atlanta Hawks 48-34 vs. (5) Boston Celtics Fun fact; the Hawks are 2nd behind the Spurs in defensive efficiency. That says a lot about this team because in the playoffs, one of the key things I look for is the ability to defend. And that’s not to say Boston can’t do that. Defense you could say, is their calling card. I’m looking forward to this series as I believe it could go either way. Boston is pretty balanced and head coach wizard Brad Stevens is due for a series win. The intriguing match-ups include Isaiah Thomas against the Hawks guards, the rebounding battle between these bad rebounding teams, and the all-around performance of Hawks ace; Paul Millsap. Counting a deep team like Boston out could make me look foolish but at the end of the day, Big Boi > Tom Brady. That is the final factor in my decision. ATL wins 4-3
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