Post Playoff Predictions Here

[Who]

Legler said the Clippers were 19 wins 3 losses in last 22 games of the regular season.

Nuggets are in trouble. Jokic will cause the Clippers problems but I believe LAC can slow down DEN's perimeter guys (J Murray, MPJ) enough to defeat the Nuggets.

Yeah but I much rather bet on Jokic being amazing and willing them to victory than bet on Kawhi staying healthy and Harden being consistent through the series - two things which will have to happen for the Clips to win, I think.

Legler made a good point on Kawhi's health.

Even if you are skeptical Kawhi will remain healthy for a full playoff run (with good reason), Kawhi is healthy right here right now - for the first round series. And that is bad news for Denver.

[Who]

Legler said the Clippers were 19 wins 3 losses in last 22 games of the regular season.

Nuggets are in trouble. Jokic will cause the Clippers problems but I believe LAC can slow down DEN's perimeter guys (J Murray, MPJ) enough to defeat the Nuggets.

Yeah but I much rather bet on Jokic being amazing and willing them to victory than bet on Kawhi staying healthy and Harden being consistent through the series - two things which will have to happen for the Clips to win, I think.

I think the key for Denver winning the series will be Jamal Murray. Not Jokic. Jokic is going to his thing regardless. Murray is the one whose performance fluctuates.

Legler thought not even a major showing for J Murray would guarantee DEN victory as he thinks LAC can slow down DEN's other guys enough to still win the series even if those two (Murray, Jokic) both have a huge series. Murray playing big will give DEN a real chance though. Just not a sure thing like it felt in the past because the Nuggets supporting cast is dodgy + Clippers defense is so good and should make life difficult for that dodgy supporting cast. I thought that was an interesting take / good take.

[Who]

PLAY IN
CHI def. MIA
ORL def. ATL
Chi def. ATL

FIRST ROUND
CLE def. CHI 4-2
BOS def. ORL 4-2
NYK def. DET 4-3
MIL def. IND 4-3

2ND ROUND
MIL def. CLE 4-3
BOS def. NYK 4-1

3RD ROUND
BOS def. MIL 4-2

FINALS
BOS def. LAL 4-2

The East feels so dull to me. Not expecting much excitement.

The Bucks Pacers series could be good if Lillard misses time. Maybe even with Lillard it could still be good. The other 3 series should be all be comfortable victories for the top seeds.

The 2nd round looks dull to me. If Lillard is there in the 2nd round, and MIL advances, the CLE vs MIL series could be very good. I'd like to see that one. That would be fun. If it is Indiana, meh, I'm not convinced they can beat CLE. BOS will beat the Knicks comfortably.

We could have a playoff run in the East that sees only 1 competitive series (IND vs MIL) before the ECF. Maybe 2 if MIL get Lillard back.

[Who]

PLAY IN
SAC def. DAL
GSW def. MEM
MEM def. SAC

FIRST ROUND
OKC def. MEM 4-2
GSW def. HOU 4-2
LAL def. MIN 4-2
LAC def. DEN 4-3

2ND ROUND

LAC def. OKC 4-3
LAL def. GS 4-3

3RD ROUND

LAL def. LAC 4-3

FINALS
BOS def. LAL 4-2

I would love that West playoff run!!

I hope GSW get the #7 seed and knock out Houston. Houston are a weak link at #2. They are vulnerable to being knocked out in the first round. They might survive though if GSW fails to get the #7 seed. Houston should be able to beat MEM, DAL or SAC. So GSW getting the 7th seed is a big swing factor here.

I would love to see those 2nd round matchups - GSW vs LAL + LAC vs OKC. I agree both series would be very close and be terrific basketball. Must see basketball.

However, if GSW fails to get the 7th seed and HOU is against LAL ... eh, not so interesting. Sparz said this in the regular season thread and I think he is right.

Wolves win and secured 6th seed.

Looks like a first-round bye for LAL, one-man Antman can't beat their Big 3.

Basically first two rounds are bye series for the Lakers lol. They'll curbstomp the Rockets next round as well

The WCF should be great whoever makes it. All 4 of those teams (OKC, GSW, LAC, LAL) are capable of beating one another.

The first round should be very good as well.

The DEN vs LAC matchup is the best series of the first round. LAL vs MIN should be good basketball.

I am not sure any of those bottom 3 teams can push OKC. MEM are struggling. Sacramento are too unbalanced. Does DAL have enough offense without Kyrie? Probably not. That series should be ho-hum easy victory for OKC. However, if GSW ends up the 8th seed. That could be great. Fun basketball. I still fancy OKC to advance but it would be good hoops.

The Houston series will be fun if it is GSW but middling if it is anyone else. MEM might be able to give HOU a game although I think it will be a case of a mixed basketball. Good basketball, bad basketball. Neither team able to break away from one another because both are too flawed. HOU should trash SAC. HOU vs DAL could be a fun scrappy series. DAL playing their twin towers so HOU matchup with twin towers of their own. More like old school hoops. Scrapping in the paint. I like that. I like physical battles in the paint. Even if the games are ugly, I like that. So HOU should give us a good series. A great series with GSW. A good series vs MEM or DAL. Not good if SAC.

So we are likely to see 3 out of 4 good series in the first round, two great 2nd round series, and a great WCF.

The West is going to be great. I am excited for it.

[Donoghus]

Legler said the Clippers were 19 wins 3 losses in last 22 games of the regular season.

Nuggets are in trouble. Jokic will cause the Clippers problems but I believe LAC can slow down DEN's perimeter guys (J Murray, MPJ) enough to defeat the Nuggets.

I sprinkled some money on LAC at +1700 to win the West.  Also most likely lit some money on fire with BOS-LAC Finals matchup at +3300.

There's like a 10% chance that team stays healthy but if they do, I'm sold on them doing some real damage in the West.

[Who]

Some other Legler takes

* Believes the Lakers will win in 5 or 6 but that most / all of the games will be highly competitive with many of them coming down to the final minutes. Reminds me of the Lakers vs Nuggets series of the past. They were a lot of fun. A lot of good basketball but DEN always took control in the end and won. The games were closer than the series result (4-1, 4-2) looked.

* Thinks the Knicks vs Pistons series will go the distance. 7 games. Legler picked Cade Cunningham as likely to be the best player in the series. Towns the 2nd best. They are concerned about Brunson's health / performances. He is still working himself back into shape since returning from injury.

* Lillard update from Doc Rivers in a press conference. Blood clot improving rapidly. However, Lillard is out of shape. He hasn't been able to workout. He also cannot fly yet (due to the blood clot). So there are issues there. Bucks are hopeful that Lillard will return during the first round but it is not a done deal. Doc was less hopeful than Bucks management of Lillard returning for the series. Clear from that there is no chance of Lillard being back for game 1.

Legler mentioned the Pacers were 8-1 versus the Bucks last year. However, the Bucks turned this around this season and won the season series 3-1 and it should have been 4-0 if not for that freaky Haliburton 3 from the corner with the foul to win. If Lillard was healthy, I do think the Bucks would run right through Indiana. Indiana are so lucky. Last year their 2 series victories came with opponents (Bucks, Knicks) suffering major injuries.

* They were optimistic about the East first round. Believe all 4 could go 6 games.

[Who]

StatMuse
@statmuse

Reminder: Steph Curry is 0-3 in the play-in tournament.

[Who]

Zach Lowe is wondering if MPJ will see his playing time cut in the Clippers series. He is wondering who MPJ will be able to defend.

The Clippers start Harden & Kawhi at forward. MPJ cannot guard either guy. Norm Powell is a 20ppg as SG. That might be a tough cover for MPJ. Do you put MPJ on Kris Dunn?

[Who]

Zach Lowe said the Bulls are 15 wins and 5 losses in their last 20 games. They have had an offense that would rank top 5 in the league for the season over that period. They play at the 2nd fastest pace in the league.

I knew Chicago were playing some good ball but I did not realize they were winning at that clip. Impressive finish to the season.

[SparzWizard]

Zach Lowe said the Bulls are 15 wins and 5 losses in their last 20 games. They have had an offense that would rank top 5 in the league for the season over that period. They play at the 2nd fastest pace in the league.

I knew Chicago were playing some good ball but I did not realize they were winning at that clip. Impressive finish to the season.

I sure hope the Bulls win two straight play-in games. They'd give Cleveland some fits.

[Who]

Mo Dakhil on the Zach Lowe podcast are previewing the Knicks vs Pistons series. Mo said he likes to look at who the top 5 players are in any series and see which team has more. He sees Brunson and Cade as interchangeable as #1 and #2. Then the next 3 players are all Knicks - Towns, Anunoby, Mikal Bridges.

4 of the top 5 players in the series are on the Knicks.

That is why the Knicks should win this series. And do reasonably comfortably.

[Who]

GSW over HOU in 6 games

GSW vs LAL in the 2nd round. That will be awesome.

[SparzWizard]

EAST FIRST-ROUNDS
1. Cleveland vs 8. Miami/Atlanta - Cleveland in 4
2. Boston vs 7. Orlando - Boston in 6
3. New York vs 6. Detroit - Detroit in 7
4. Indiana vs 5. Milwaukee - Indiana in 7

EAST SEMIS
1. Cleveland vs 4. Indiana - Cleveland in 6
2. Boston vs 6. Detroit - Boston in 6

EAST FINALS
1. Cleveland vs 2. Boston - Boston in 6

WEST FIRST-ROUNDS
1. Oklahoma City vs 8. Memphis/Dallas - Oklahoma City in 5
2. Houston vs 7. Golden State - Golden State in 6
3. LA Lakers vs 6. Minnesota Timberwolves - LAL in 5
4. Denver Nuggets vs 5. LA Clippers - LAC in 6

WEST SEMIS
1. Oklahoma City vs 5. Los Angeles Clippers - LAC in 5
3. LA Lakers vs 7. Golden State - LAL in 7

WEST FINALS
3. LA Lakers vs 5. LA Clippers - LAL in 7

NBA FINALS
2. Boston vs 3. LA Lakers - BOS in 6

Finals MVP: Jayson Tatum

[Who]

That Lakers vs Warriors 2nd round is going to be special.

On one hand, I think GSW lack a 3rd scorer and that is going to be an issue for them against LAL but have 3 talented scorers.

On the other hand, how can LAL defend GSW?

* They have no small guard other than Gabe Vincent (or Bronny) to defend Steph. Luka, A Reaves, LeBron can't stick with Steph off the ball. Neither can Hachimura. DFS is likely to get the assignment in the starting unit. That will be interesting to watch. We will see if he can do it.

* Then you got Jimmy Butler. He loves matchup hunting. You can see him seeking out Luka & A Reaves and killing each one of those guys. No way either guy can cover Jimmy.

On the other end, GSW do have Jimmy to defend Luka and do have Draymond to defend LeBron. They have credible defenders. It will be interesting to see if Luka can end their small-ball lineups. Luka is so good at punishing small defenders. I wonder if that stops GSW's 3 guard lineups. Does that Kuminga into the rotation?

So many fascinating matchups. I can't wait for that series.

[Who]

Stephen A Smith saying LeBron shoots 55% FG% against Jaden McDaniels. So McDaniels cannot defend either LeBron or Luka effectively. Likely for the same reason. J McDaniels lacks the bulk to fight physical forwards. He is great on finesse forwards and guards. He uses his speed and length to great effect against those types of players.

Similar to Mikal Bridges. And similarly, Bridges struggles against Tatum and Jaylen for the same reason McDaniels struggles against Luka & LeBron.