Who Do I Got? S49 semi-finals predictions

[greepleairport]

Yes I’m bitter. So with that out of the way, here we go:

ALPHA

Indiana Pacers #1 vs Washington Wizards #4

Season series 3-2 Pacers
TL;DR Pacers

The Wizards have no quit in them. If they are not a championship squad, they are a fierce contender that could wreck anyone’s playoff run. They are coming off of a fierce battle with the Nets in the 1st round, though, and the Pacers have rest on their side. I’ve underestimated the Pacers all season but I think it’s time that I and the rest of the league give credit where credit is due. Pacers in 7.



Milwaukee Bucks #2 vs. Philadelphia 76ers #6

Season series 2-2 tie
TL;DR 76ers

The 76ers beat me. I’m still a bit baffled by it honestly (quiet peanut gallery!). But the 76ers out shot and forced turnovers every game we played, forcing an unconscionable 35 turnovers in our Game 5. James Wiseman has proven himself a force to be reckoned with at Center. No one else is his size with his speed and his perimeter offense and defense. How will the Bucks contend with Wiseman? Let’s not overlook the output of Rodriquez thus far in the playoffs either, nor Cassius Winston. When Wiseman went cold, one of these two stepped up consistently. Whereas the Lakers proved to be a scoring threat during the regular season, the 76ers were the bigger offensive threat and proved as much in the 1st round.

Like the 76ers, the Bucks only needed 6 games to advance and, like the 76ers, did not seem to sweat much either. Sometimes their offense was on; sometimes it wasn’t. Same with their defense. But in game 2 when both were on display they smashed on the Spurs for a 40 point win. They’re healthy and, most importantly, De’Aaron Fox is healthy. They held a strong lead over the 76ers all season in their division but it comes down to this.

Not for want of losing to an eventual champion, I see a tough path to victory here for the Bucks. Throughout the season they held opponents to 0.7 fewer points per game than the Lakers and scored less too. De’Aaron Fox has proven that you can still be a league best past the age of 31, but one could argue Delmar is the better player now, and the Sixers had no problems dispatching them. Also, if the 76ers continue their offensive prowess like they did against the Lakers, the Bucks have even less of a clear path to victory. The Nets are much stronger defensively than the Sixers, but a team consistently scoring 130 or more points per game poses a problem for any team. If the Bucks can hold the 76ers below 120 ppg they significantly increase their chance to advance, but the 76ers forced a lot - like, a ridiculous amount - of turnovers against the Lakers. If De’Aaron Fox gets as many touches as he should, the 76ers could really exploit his inability to handle the ball.


OMEGA

Bulls #1 vs Thunder #5

Season series 4-1 Bulls
TL;DR Bulls

Let’s be clear: with the Lakers out of contention, the Bulls have to be a heavy favorite to win it all. Gman landed a huge asset in Chris Ridley in S48 and, after an injury that basically ended the Bulls season, he came back with a vengeance this season. Flanked by the newly acquired Burt Gibson, the Bulls suddenly looked like a team that could challenge the two purple players on the Pelicans, Jordan Johnson and Ben Franklin. Once Burt came on board, the Bulls had a hard time losing. They ended 2038 without another loss and, for the rest of the season, lost less games than they did the first one and a half months of the season. It’s hard not to attribute this impact directly to bringing Burt Gibson aboard. Burt will be a non factor in this series while he nurses a torn ligament, but If the Bulls win 2 games for every 1 loss like they did before acquiring Gibson, they should be in pretty good shape to roll through the semis.

Surprisingly, the Thunder won all their games against the Clippers without Candelaria, their key midseason acquisition. This provided Kerry Powell and Makur Maker chances to step up at Center, and they did. One could argue that, while Oturu’s numbers were a bit underwhelming, after a rough game 1, Zaire Wade really did come into his own, earning player of the game in both games 5 and 6.

The Thunder are coming with something to prove. They’re huge underdogs in the playoffs but have momentum on their side. Though I don’t think it will be enough to take out the Bulls, I will not be surprised to see the Thunder steal a couple of wins either. The Bulls should come prepared.



New Orleans Pelicans #2 vs Minnesota Timberwolves #3

Season series 4-1 Timberwolves
TL;DR Pelicans

Surprising, huh? For teams who battled so closely in their division all season long, it’s hard to ignore the stat that, after five regular season meetings, the Pelicans only took one game. One. The team that beat the division runners up in wins would have been far ahead of the Timberwolves if they could have edged this regular season series, but they couldn’t get it done. The Pelicans and Timberwolves feel like nearly equivalently talented teams, both advancing via gentleman’s sweep. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, the difference maker could be losing John Stoll to injury - a most unfortunate and untimely turn of events for a player worth (or at minimum getting paid) $50 mil. Nick seems level headed about this, however (no slimy deals accusations here), and ready to move forward. His obvious key to victory is the scoring prowess of Jordan Johnson who will now face off against a fairly well developed Dennis Wolfgang. It’s a match up Johnson should win and, looking up to the 4, a matchup between OG and Ben Franklin that may cancel itself out if OG can stay out of foul trouble. The remaining one-to-one matchups of the perceived starting lineups (minus Stoll) edge toward the Timberwolves, so I take them in 6.

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Apologies to the Wiz, Pacers, Twolves and Pels. Your analyses were cut short because I got to them last and ran out of steam closer to the 1000 word count than pressing forward to 1500. Best of luck to you all!

[false9]

+5