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Playoff Preview:
With the playoffs right around the corner, we look at each matchup and how teams are doing heading into the playoffs as well as predict what will happen and who will be crowned NBA Champions *knock on wood*.
Eastern Conference Round 1:
1Toronto Raptors (56-26)
The Toronto Raptors have the 2nd highest win percentage in the league at .683, only trailing the Dallas Mavericks at .707, they also have one of the best home records in the league at 33-8. With Chris Paul having yet another MVP season, the Raptors look to keep things rolling in the playoffs by extinguishing the Heat’s championship hopes early with a first-round exit. Paul will miss the first 5 days so the Raptors will look to get a win without him during the first few games.
Prediction: Raptors in 5
4Orlando Magic (52-30)
This matchup should be a close one, not just because it’s a 4/5 matchup but these teams are eerily similar stats wise. The Wizards are averaging 103.7 ppg while giving up 97.3 ppg. The Magic score 102.0 ppg and give up only 96.2 ppg. The Magic have one of the best players in the league in LeBron James and are always a force to be reckoned with. The Wizards do have Dwayne Wade backed up by Derrick Favors and Al Jefferson. With the Magic without Okafor due to a broken skull, the Wizards may be the favorites despite LeBron.
Prediction: Wizards in 7
3Cleveland Cavaliers (55-27)
The Hawks have dealt with some injuries but look to be getting healthy at the right time. With Curry and Rudy Gay leading the way, they will hope that enough other players step up and help them win some games, but the Cleveland Cavaliers who had one of the best records in the league last season, and again this season is in the top 4 teams in win %. Jrue Holiday and Marcus Thornton heading the attack and bigs Serge Ibaka (Defensive Player of the Year and 1st team All NBA) and Hassan Whiteside who combine to average over 5 blocks a game it may be a tough task for the Hawks to tackle. The Cavs will be without DJ Augustin as he is still out with a torn ACL, but as not a huge factor on this team (only averaging 15mpg), they should still be fine without him in the playoffs.
Prediction: Cavs in 6
2New York Knicks (53-29)
The New York Knicks are always a team to watch out for come playoff time. The two-time champs look to make it 3 against a Detroit Pistons team that is on the rise. Led by Carmelo Anthony, DeMarcus Cousins and Ty Lawson this team will look to make yet another deep playoff run. For Detroit, they are led by Wilson Chandler who is averaging an impressive 23.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg,4.3 apg to go along with over a steal a game. Big men Tyson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov will look to battle it out with Joakim Noah and Cousins in what should be a pretty good battle of the bigs. Do the Pistons have enough horsepower to conquer the Knicks? They’ll need guys to step up if they want to survive this round. The Knicks will be down Ty Lawson for the first 5 days as he comes back from a back injury, and hopefully won't have to play catch up too much. The Pistons are going to be without Mario Chalmers for 7 days and that certainly won't help them in this series against the two time champions Knicks team.
Prediction: Knicks in 6
Western Conference Round 1:
1Dallas Mavericks (58-24)
The Mavericks are another team that always seems to be sniffing for a championship but coming up just short, playing in back-to-back game 7’s in the Finals, they’ll see if this is the year they can win that game 7. Russell Westbrook, the 2nd leading scorer in the NBA with 30.7 ppg, and Paul Millsap are hungry for that 1st championship and likely won’t let the Grizzlies get in the way. The Grizzlies, with George Hill, Avery Bradley, and Josh Smith seem a little under matched in this one, and the team could really use a break out performance by the Greek Freak if they want to extend their playoff lives. The Grizzlies will probably be without Avery Bradley in game 1 as he is still dealing with migraines, but he should return after that once he discovers Excedrin migraine pain reliever.
Prediction: Mavs in 5
4Utah Jazz (53-29)
The Jazz had a very promising season last year which ended in a very disappointing first round exit thanks to the Memphis Grizzlies. They will look to buck that trend against the Lakers team this season, which the Jazz took the season series 3-1, including 2 recent wins. However, each of those games were very close. Will Paul George and Mike Conley be able to make it past round 1? Or will James Harden who is having his best year (26.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 8.5 apg, and 2.4 spg) and Kevin Martin who also is having his best scoring year at 25 ppg, continue the trend and upset the Jazz and send them packing early?
Prediction: Jazz in 7
3Minnesota Timberwolves (55-27)
The T’wolves after a year of tanking find themselves right back at the top of the league in the standings, win %, and points per game with 106.3. This team has completely flipped around Kyrie Irving and new faces Klay Thompson, Nicolas Batum, and Marcin Gortat look to get this team back to the finals. The Suns seem to be no match for these hungry Wolves, but Kyle Lowry, Kobe Bryant, and Isaiah Thomas will hope to stay hot and sneak out of the frozen tundra of Minnesota with some wins. Kobe Bryant is battling severe migraines recently and may miss the first 3-4 games of this series. By the time he's back it will probably be all but too late for the Suns. Kobe is known for not liking to take pills, so don't even mention Excedrin Migraine Pain Reliever to him.
Prediction: Wolves in 5
2Sacramento Kings (52-30)
The Kings have finally put things together this season and as a result are one of the best teams in the west and find themselves the Kings of the Pacific divison. After dismantling the team and shipping out Blake Griffin and Dwight Howard and bringing in Brandon Jennings, Andrew Bynum and Andre Drummond the Kings look to make a splash in the playoffs behind the play of scoring machines Brandon Jennings ( and Damian Lillard who combine to average more than 45 ppg. The Trail Blazers behind the league’s 6th leading scorer in LaMarcus Aldridge will look to dethrone the Kings with some help with Make Em Dance Lance Stephenson and Chris Bosh. But do they have enough to slow down Jennings and co? Damian Lillard is still suffering from a sore neck but he should be back on the court quickly and look to close this series early to get more recovery time. The Blazers are also down a man with Chris Bosh still recovering from a torn ACL, the good news though is he has been practicing lately and should return around game 4 of this series.
Prediction: Kings in 6
Eastern Conference Semi-Finals:
1Toronto Raptors
Toronto will look to slow down the Wizards as much as possible and keep their tremendous season going as MVP/All-NBA First team Chris Paul and All-NBA Third Team Andre Igoudala, will be just too much for Wizards to handle. The Wizards are 0-4 against the Raptors this season and will hope they can at least avoid the sweep here.
Prediction: Raptors in 6
2New York Knicks
The Cavs will look to get revenge on the Knicks after getting knocked out of the playoffs at their hands last season in round 2. That series ended up going the whole 7 before the Knicks were able to pull it out. The Knicks once again stepped up in game 7 winning it 103-85. Melo proved to be too much and dropped 27 points on the Cavs as they bid them farewell. Each with slightly different teams surrounding the main guys the Cavs will fight to get in that round 3. This season the teams are 2-2 for a season split.
Prediction: Knicks in 7
Western Conference Semi-Finals:
1Dallas Mavericks
After going head to head for most of the year last season vying for that #1 seed, ultimately the Mavs prevailed. They find themselves in the driver seat once more at the top of the west. These two teams did split the season series 2-2, however the two Jazz wins weren't by much while the two Mavs victories were not as close. All-NBA 2nd team Westbrook will look to reach the Western Conference finals for the 3rd straight season.
Prediction: Mavs in 6
2Sacramento Kings
The Wolves lead the season series 3-1, but each of those 4 games were before the blockbuster deal which brought in Brandon Jennings, Drummond and Bynum and saw Blake Griffin and Dwight Howard shipped out and the Wolves have also changed up their teams as well bringing in Marcin Gortat and Nicolas Batum, so you can basically throw those games out. With that said, the Wolves and their league leading scoring may be too much for this Kings team.
Prediction: Wolves in 6
Eastern Conference Finals:
1Toronto Raptors
This could be another huge test for the Knicks as they have found themselves in quite a few game 7s over the past several season. These two tied the season series at 2 games a piece. Look for this series to go 7. Will Melo and the Knicks be able to stay hot and pull out another game 7?
Prediction: Raptors in 7
Western Conference Finals:
1Dallas Mavericks
These two found themselves in 2012 as the two teams out of the west fighting for that NBA Finals appearance. This will also be their 4th appearance meeting in the playoffs, but the first with home court advantage in Dallas. The Wolves managed a clean sweep back in 2012 on their way to the NBA Championship, but this Mavs team is hungry and is ready to prove that they are the actual #1 team in the west now. While the hungry Wolves look to lick their lips as they eye another NBA Championship.
Prediction: Mavs in 7
NBA Finals:
1Toronto Raptors
Is the third time the charm for the Mavs? Going to 3 straight NBA Finals, both of the previous 2 going to 7 games, they are bound for a win sometime right? With a Westbrook vs four-time MVP Chris Paul, this should be a fun series. Its not often two #1s meet up and this should have all the fireworks.
Prediction: Mavs in 7
