NBA Playoff Round 1 Thread

[tjforce]

Match Ups are Set.

Let's talk about Round 1 here!

East:

1 Milwaukee vs 8 Detroit
2 Toronto vs 7 Orlando
3 Philadelphia vs 6 Brooklyn
4 Boston vs 5 Indiana


East:

1 Golden State vs 8 Los Angeles Clippers
2 Denver vs 7 San Antonio
3 Portland vs 6 Oklahoma City
4 Houston vs 5 Utah

[tjforce]

My overview and bold (or not so very bold) predictions:

East
Winners:
Milwaukee, Toronto, Philly, Boston (very bold, huh?)

Out of this group, Toronto is the only team I see at much risk. Nothing against them, but Orlando is red hot. The injury to Smart hurts Boston, but Indy doesn't have the fire power to make them pay. Philly wins easy, as long as Embiid is healthy. Milwaukee should sweep.

West
Winners:
Golden State, San Antonio, OKC, Houston (Nuggets fans gonna hate me)

The big surprise here is the Spurs over Denver. I'll admit, good chance I'm wrong here, just wanted to make one bold prediction. Either way, I see a tough series.

Golden State walks through the Clippers. OKC beats and injured Blazers team. And in the best series of the first round, Houston edges out Utah and one heck of a team goes home in round 1.



Would love to hear some other thoughts

[Pathora]

Bucks over Pistons in 5, the big guys will get Pistons 1 game.
Raptors over Magic in 6, like the Magic but the Raptors are deeper and better.
76ers over Nets in 5, Nets will squeak one out but 76ers got too much talent.
Celtics over Pacers in 7, slug fest scrappy series, Celtics got more talent and should make it quicker but the Pacers are scrappy.

Warriors over Clippers in 4, Clippers have been a nice story but no chance against Warriors.
Nuggets over Spurs in 7, Pop is going to do every trick in the book but homecourt wins out.
Thunder over Blazers in 6, My only upset, think PG and Westbrook out dual Lillard and McCollum and the loss of Nurcic hurts badly against Adams.
Rockets over Jazz in 5, terrible matchup for the Jazz, their team is too good for a sweep though.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by Pathora

Bucks over Pistons in 5, the big guys will get Pistons 1 game.
Raptors over Magic in 6, like the Magic but the Raptors are deeper and better.
76ers over Nets in 5, Nets will squeak one out but 76ers got too much talent.
Celtics over Pacers in 7, slug fest scrappy series, Celtics got more talent and should make it quicker but the Pacers are scrappy.

Warriors over Clippers in 4, Clippers have been a nice story but no chance against Warriors.
Nuggets over Spurs in 7, Pop is going to do every trick in the book but homecourt wins out.
Thunder over Blazers in 6, My only upset, think PG and Westbrook out dual Lillard and McCollum and the loss of Nurcic hurts badly against Adams.
Rockets over Jazz in 5, terrible matchup for the Jazz, their team is too good for a sweep though.

Interestingly enough, the season series was tied 2-2, with home team winning each game.

You might be right. But man, I don't want my young team going against a Pop coached team in a game 7

Another interesting tidbit: only two teams have gone undefeated in the regular season against their round 1 opponent:

Milwaukee and Oklahoma City. Maybe that's why Portland looked like they were trying to dodge the Thunder.

[pgisback]

Imagine how happy the Thunder are

[Ferg1945]

Will we know the schedule tonight?

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by pgisback

Imagine how happy the Thunder are

In a matter of about 15 minutes they went from expecting to play Houston to knowing they would be playing Portland.


So to answer your question, they are about as happy as Utah is unhappy.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by Ferg1945

Will we know the schedule tonight?

If you can read this:




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mfw13]

Warriors have the easiest first round in the West, with the Clippers (and no travel outside of CA), but we're now looking at a heavyweight Dubs-Rockets matchup in the 2nd round instead of the West finals.

Houston is the big loser, with a much tougher first round matchup against Utah, and the prospect of facing the Warriors in the 2nd round.

[Ferg1945]

Originally Posted by tjforce

If you can read this:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sweet. Thanks

Thought NBA.com would have it.

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Match Ups are Set.

Let's talk about Round 1 here!

East:

1 Milwaukee vs 8 Detroit
2 Toronto vs 7 Orlando
3 Philadelphia vs 6 Brooklyn
4 Boston vs 5 Indiana


East:

1 Golden State vs 8 Los Angeles Clippers
2 Denver vs 7 San Antonio
3 Portland vs 6 Oklahoma City
4 Houston vs 5 Utah

Playoff Prediction

Eastern Quarterfinals: Milwaukee vs. Boston; Toronto vs. Philadelphia

Western Quarterfinals: Warriors vs. Utah; Denver vs. OKC

Eastern Conference Finals: Milwaukee vs. Raptors

Western Conference Finals: Warriors vs. OKC

NBA Finals: Warriors vs. Raptors

NBA Champions: Warriors
Runner-ups: Toronto

[jcmel323]

Bucks over Pistons in 5
Raptors over Magic in 6
76ers over Nets in 5
Celtics over Pacers in 7

Warriors over Clippers in 4
Nuggets over Spurs in 6
Thunder over Blazers in 6
Rockets over Jazz in 7

[hairyangryfella]

Go Brooklyn. If they can contain Embiid they have a chance to compete. Not super convinced by the Sixers though they do have more weapons.
I think Indy is the best chance to upset in the Eastern first round.

Bucks in 5
Raptors in 4
76ers in 6
Celtics in 6

Warriors are kind of plodding to me. While the Clips aren't a strong team by any means I wouldn't be shocked for them to take a game. Thunder did get lucky to get the short-handed Blazers but they could still trip up. Other two matchups are delicious.

Warriors in 4
Thunder in 6
Nuggets in 6
Rockets in 7

[SK40]

I'm picking Brooklyn for the upset.

[Jocel]

ECF: Bucks vs Sixera
WCF: Warriors vs Thunders


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mpbrown]

East:

1 Milwaukee vs 8 Detroit - Bucks to run riot. 4-0
2 Toronto vs 7 Orlando - Raptors too much composure. 4-2
3 Philadelphia vs 6 Brooklyn - Calling an upset here. Very even during the season with high scoring affairs. And Marks is their GM. Nets 4-3
4 Boston vs 5 Indiana - Upset number 2. Pacers bench gonna outscore Celtics bench when needed. Sabonis to shine these playoffs.


West:

1 Golden State vs 8 Los Angeles Clippers - Warriors to cruise through. 4-0
2 Denver vs 7 San Antonio - Liking the way Nugs have been playing lately. Jokic and Murray to be the deciding factor this series. Nuggets 4-2
3 Portland vs 6 Oklahoma City - Could go either way. PG to sink a game winner to send Blazers packing. OKC 4-3
4 Houston vs 5 Utah - Harden will get the refs in his pocket early. Rockets 4-1

[Zacy87]

East:

1 Milwaukee vs 8 Detroit - MIL 4-2 Blake & Drummond will cause some problems but not enough.
2 Toronto vs 7 Orlando - TOR 4-1 TRoss will hit a 3 at the buzzer in game 4 for their only win.
3 Philadelphia vs 6 Brooklyn - BRK 4-2 Embiid may miss game 1 and that will be enough to turn this series around.
4 Boston vs 5 Indiana - BOS 4-3 No Smart will be a big problem but IND doesn't have enough firepower to keep up for 7 games.


West:

1 Golden State vs 8 Los Angeles Clippers - GSW 4-2
2 Denver vs 7 San Antonio - DEN 4-3
3 Portland vs 6 Oklahoma City - OKC 4-2
4 Houston vs 5 Utah - UTA 4-3

[ClipsandVols]

Originally Posted by Zacy87

East:

1 Milwaukee vs 8 Detroit - MIL 4-2 Blake & Drummond will cause some problems but not enough.
2 Toronto vs 7 Orlando - TOR 4-1 TRoss will hit a 3 at the buzzer in game 4 for their only win.
3 Philadelphia vs 6 Brooklyn - BRK 4-2 Embiid may miss game 1 and that will be enough to turn this series around.
4 Boston vs 5 Indiana - BOS 4-3 No Smart will be a big problem but IND doesn't have enough firepower to keep up for 7 games.


West:

1 Golden State vs 8 Los Angeles Clippers - GSW 4-2
2 Denver vs 7 San Antonio - DEN 4-3
3 Portland vs 6 Oklahoma City - OKC 4-2
4 Houston vs 5 Utah - UTA 4-3

I appreciate your optimism re:Clippers

[The Accountant]

Sixers aren't losing to Brooklyn....

[theleica]

Originally Posted by The Accountant

Sixers aren't losing to Brooklyn....

We'll see. The Nets are dangerous when they get going and should at the very least make it a long series for the 76ers.

[Luni]

East:

1 Milwaukee vs 8 Detroit
Bucks win this one 4-1. Detroit wins game 3 before getting trucked in 4 and 5.

2 Toronto vs 7 Orlando
Toronto wins 4-0. I think they will be pretty dominant in this series.

3 Philadelphia vs 6 Brooklyn
76ers win this one 4-2. Brooklyn takes game 1 & 4.

4 Boston vs 5 Indiana
Pacers win this one 4-2. Shocking series for most. Pacers win games 2, 3, 4 and 6.

West:

1 Golden State vs 8 Los Angeles Clippers
Warriors win 4-0. Not even close.

2 Denver vs 7 San Antonio
Nuggets win 4-1. Spurs take game 4 but that's it.

3 Portland vs 6 Oklahoma City
Thunder win 4-3. Tough series that goes back and forth before the Thunder take it in game 7.

4 Houston vs 5 Utah
Rockets win this 4-2. Jazz take games 3 and 5.

[Zacy87]

Originally Posted by ClipsandVols

I appreciate your optimism re:Clippers

I think SGA will shine in this series and we all know Beverly can ruffle some feathers.

[Zacy87]

Originally Posted by The Accountant

Sixers aren't losing to Brooklyn....

Are you that confident in Philly, especially considering how they've played recently and the questionable health of Embiid right now?

[The Accountant]

Originally Posted by Zacy87

Are you that confident in Philly, especially considering how they've played recently and the questionable health of Embiid right now?

They would win this series with Embiid on the bench

[Zacy87]

Originally Posted by The Accountant

They would win this series with Embiid on the bench

I'd take that bet for sure.