Round 1 Playoff Preview

[ballsohard]

Teams:
#1 Kings

Vs

#8 Rockets

Overview:The Rockets have done a great job keeping things together towards the end of the Horford era, but things have finally come apart at the seams. The Rockets two best players, Isiah Thomas and Al Horford are out shined by Duren and Haynes at the same respective positions. The worst part for the Rockets (and the best for the Kings) is they have other help out there as well in the form of Kyrie Irving , Tobias, Lamb and Simmons. This won't be gentle. There will be no upsets.


Nola to 78


Prediction: Kings 4-0

[ballsohard]

Teams:
#2 Jazz
vs
#7 Warriors

Overview:
The Jazz are absolutely loaded and the Warriors had a bit of a reshuffle. The crazy thing is here, talent wise they're not that far off. The Warriors have talent 1-5 but after that, there's a gap. A small injury can make this series much more skewed than it would seem. The Jazz on the other-hand have talent 1-5 and also have it coming off the bench. This ones a lot closer than the first and could go 7, but i'm not seeing an upset here.


Live view of Gary

Prediction: Jazz 4-2

[ballsohard]

Teams:
#3 Mavericks
Vs.
#7 Timberwolves

Overview: This is one of the more fascinating series for the first round and to me, the best chance at upset in the West. The Wolves are lead by all world SF Andrew Wiggins who's back in action after his team forced divorced from Otto. But with every end comes a new beginning, even if they've already had a beginning. Wiggins and Rudy Gobert seem to be a pair made in heaven and made immediate improvements after a forgettable season. The Mavs are also climbing. Their 3 point shooting and average defense won them the 3 seed in the west. This is a team that can get hot and put you in their rear-view mirror. They also have a lot more talent, but don't have the most talent player in the series. I like the Mavs chances but this is a toss-up.


WE COMING

Prediction: Wolves 4-3

[ballsohard]

Teams:
#4 Suns
VS
#5 Lakers

Overview: This is my favorite series to watch. On the first day, God created the Suns, and i know it's a joke but it feels like the Suns have been good since creation. The Lakers on the other hand have probably been rebvuilding since Kevin Love was drafted. They finally made the playoffs even after the stewards butt stabbed them with that Haynes deal. I have this as a pretty close series. An injury on the Suns side heavily leans this to the Lakers and going down 0-2 leans this heavily towards the Suns.



Best friends

Prediction: Suns 4-3

[ballsohard]

Teams:
#1 Bulls
VS.
#8 Celtics

Overview:
Not your typical 1-8 match-up but i'd be willing to be it'll be your typical 1-8 result. The Celtics finally made some win-now moves to get them into contention, but De La Rosa's pitful display of being a relevant basketball player continues. For the Bulls, They're still running full stride after a championship. Losing DSJ hurts but not in this series. They'll throw Westbrook on Ullis and the series will be over.


Running of the Bulls

Prediction:Bulls 4-1

[ballsohard]

Teams:
#2 76ers
Vs
#7 Nets

Overview:
The Nets have always been a team with a good bit of talent but never seemed to put it together. They seem lead by Pedroza for the last 100 years but now with the emergence of F Cold, and Chriss and Warren, the dump of talent looks extremely shrewd. Meanwhile, the 76ers are off of 3 straight years of talent dump and are still sitting in the same #2 spot. I would say this team is weaker than last year's team but they're still rock solid 1-5. Despite this being a 2-7 match-up, the Nets are a 50 win team and only 9 games worse than the 76ers through the regular season. This will be a series.


The door is open for the Nets to win this series, but only cracked.

Prediction: 76ers 4-2

[ballsohard]

Teams:
#3 Hawks
VS.
#5 Knicks

Overview: Knicks made a huge comeback in the Atlantic during the Fultz injury and are built to last. With Harris , Dooley and Jokic, this team will be as good as they want for years to come. The Hawks on the other hand, have been as good as long as they wanted and thats been awhile (16 straight years with 50 + wins).If there's no injuries i have the Knicks in this. They have a defender they can throw on Ellinger and have the top tier talent, but like a lot of stories from above, this is a case of depth versus top level talent.



Not weird at all


Prediction: Knicks 4-3

[ballsohard]

Teams:
#4 Pistons
VS
#5 Bucks


Overview:
Since i was a teenager, i've never seen two people so bad for each other so attracted to spite-simming with each other constantly. This is the most fun match-up really on paper and off paper. A few years ago everyone remembers the Buck's GM sulking that he didn't get enough offers on Rubio, and told the league he would "give away" Rubio to the Pistons, who already have the greatest player ever. As things seem to work out to people acting out of spite, the Buck's GM got burned, and was told his version of giving away (Kiett) was just too expensive.

Fast-forward 3-4 seasons and the Buck's GM has done his league patented trade-back to get Rubio, to directly face the "gave-away man" (Detroit fans call him this i assure you) Kiett. The Pistons have been a force from day 1 since Mike took over with AD. After winning a championship, and hearing how good AD was the Pistons' GM decided he really didn't have to do much around AD. After a couple of exits from the playoffs, he learned his lesson and now has the talent around AD and the fruits of his patience paying off in Kiett. His team has never been stronger. The Bucks were rebuilding for a few seasons, made win-now moves, then traded all of those guys for other win-now moves in a whirlwind. It seems like he got the right formula this time though. After his last set of trades the Bucks quickly rose to the 3rd spot in the Central, but were as good of a team as anyone in the regular season. This is maybe one of the greatest match-ups in round 1 that ive seen and i'm thinking it goes 7.


Doug as lady and Mike as the Tramp

Prediction: Pistons 4-3