Playoff Chatter
It’s the playoffs baby! We’ve been waiting for this all year. Will Golden State repeat? Will the Sixers make it to the Finals? Can CP3 finally make it to the Conference Finals? The next two months will provide answers to all of these questions. Here are my playoff predictions and answers to four interesting questions.
Which player are you most excited to see in the playoffs? Why?
A lot of big names. LeBron James. KD. Giannis. DeRozan. Steph. Harden. Dame. The Embiid & Simmons show. However, I think I’m most excited to watch my favorite point guard of all time, Chris Paul. A lot of people don’t acknowledge Paul’s greatness a lot of the time because he’s never been past the second round of the playoffs. However, Paul just seems to be unlucky. Those Hornets teams were never quite good enough. Injuries during the Lob City era. Two outstanding teams in the Spurs and the Warriors that was in his way. But, he’s playing on the best team he’s ever played on in the 2017–2018 Houston Rockets. He’s been terrific for the Rockets this year in only 58 games. 19 and seven while shooting 46% from the field and 38% from three. His true shooting is a shade over 60%. Excellent. And he’s still a damn good defender.
Contrary to popular belief, Paul isn’t a slouch in the playoffs. His current averages are over 21 points a game on 48/38/85 shooting splits, over nine assists a game, around five boards a game, and over two steals a game. Last year against the Jazz, my guy averaged 25 points and 10 assists a game. He’s always spectacular. I think he’ll get to the Conference Finals this year and possibly, the Finals. He might mess around and win a championship. Hopefully, that’ll give him the validation that he deserves.
Which team are you most excited to watch in this year’s playoffs? Why?
It’s gotta be the Sixers right? There were many detractors to the process that was happening in Philadelphia. Man, was it ugly. Probably wasn’t a good look for the league. But, Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and the rest of them boys are defintely a good look for the league now. Embiid is the best athlete user of social media of all time. Simmons is the rookie of the year. JJ Redick provides veteran shooting. Even my guy Fultz is playing well after a really tough start to the season. These guys are talented, cocky, and ready to make some noise in the playoffs. They may already have two top 20 players in the league. Per basketball reference, these guys are fifth in the league in net rating. They’re legit. If everything goes their way, they could honestly go to the finals on some 2011–2012 Thunder type ish. Wouldn’t that be crazy? I honestly hope they go all the way because it would be one hell of a ride and the most intriguing story in the playoffs.
Which series are you most excited to see? Why?
My apologies to every other team in the league but we all know we want that Rockets-Warriors Conference Finals. It would honestly be the true NBA Finals. I pray for good health because I want to see those teams go at full strength against each other. These Rockets are without a doubt, the toughest test the Warriors will have faced since they jumped on the scene in 2015. The Rockets have two top ten players of their own in James Harden and Chris Paul to combat the mighty Warriors. The Rockets can score with the best of them and they have multiple switchable athletes to throw at the Warriors. The Rockets were first in the league in net rating. They had the best offense in the NBA and a top six defense as well. I’m praying that we get this matchup.
Injuries could mess up the matchup though. Luc Mbah a Moute is currently injured with a dislocated shoulder. He’s defintely missing the first round but no one knows how long he’ll be out yet. If he misses this series, or even a couple games of this series, it could be terrible for the Rockets. He’s their best perimeter defender. With Mbah a Moute on, the opposing teams have an offensive rating of 104.3 which would be second to last in the league. With him off, opposing teams have an offensive rating of 108.5. This would only be 18th in the league but there’s a huge difference between second to last (29th) and 18th. He makes their defense elite.
The Warriors have injury problems as well. Steph is expected to be back before the the Conference Finals but the thing is will he be at 100%? Steph makes the Warriors go. When he’s off the court, the Warriors have an offensive rating of 107.9. This would be 19th in the league. But when he’s on, the Warriors have an offensive rating of 122.8 which would be first in the league by a long shot. To put this in perspective, the team with the best offensive rating (the Rockets) would be a full SEVEN points per 100 possessions worse than the Warriors with Curry. That’s honestly ridiculous. It’s important for the Warriors to be at full strength. I think the rest Curry has had will do him good and I think he’ll be fine for the series. The Warriors will probably win in six because they defintely don’t want to face the Rockets in Houston. Nevertheless, it’ll be a great series.
Which team is being underrated the most?
I still haven’t given up on the Thunder. They have too much talent to not make some sort of noise in the playoffs. It has really looked rough for them ever since they lost Andre Roberson (who knew he was their true MVP?) but the playoffs are a different story. With all his flaws, Russell Westbrook is still a former MVP. He’s been terrific in the second half of the year. Stat padding or not, 26/10/10 is a ridiculous stat line. Playoff Paul George is always deadly. Last year, he put up 28/8/7 against the best player in the world. Steven Adams is terrific and underrated by casual NBA fans. The Thunder are 6.4 points per 100 possessions better when he’s on the court. Melo has been awful but I could see him getting hot for one game and swinging it the Thunder’s way. I don’t think the Thunder will beat the Rockets or the Warriors. However, I think they win a first round series and possibly push the Rockets or Warriors to six games.
Predictions:
Eastern Conference Finals: Cavs-Sixers, Cavs in 6
King James vs. the Fresh Prince. This is the matchup I want to see the most in the East so I am biased with my answer. But, I also think its logical. I think the Sixers will get past their first round matchup. I think they beat the Celtics because they don’t have Kyrie, Gordon Hayward, and possibly Marcus Smart. The Cavs will get by the Pacers once again. I won’t believe in the Raptors until I see it. This would be a really good matchup. However, LeBron is still the best player in the world and I think he’ll take care of the Sixers. But, Sixers fans can take solace in the fact that he’s probably coming to Philadelphia in the summer.
Western Conference Finals: Warriors-Rockets, Warriors in 6
See Question 3.
Finals: Warriors-Cavs, Warriors in 5
The Warriors will have had a tough gauntlet up to this so that may cost them a game or two. Also, the Cavs have so much offensive firepower that they’ll get at least a game. But, as we saw last year, LeBron isn’t enough to stop this team. The Cavs don’t have the defensive talent to hang with the Warriors and the Warriors win pretty easily in five.
Playoff Bracket:
Link: https://www.printyourbrackets.com/images/fillable-nba.pdf
