Eastern Conference Playoff Predictions
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The NBA is officially one week away from the playoffs starting, and we, as fans, are in for many thrilling moments. Many fans and media are predicting the West to have the craziest playoffs, but I honestly think it will be the East given how they have three of the top four teams this season.
Play-In Games - With how the standings are looking right now, it will be likely that Miami and Atlanta will be the seventh-seed vs. eighth-seed game, and Toronto and Chicago will be the ninth-seed vs. 10th-seed game.
For the Miami vs. Atlanta game, I think Jimmy Butler and the Heat will win this game fairly easily. The Hawks have been very average this year and have one of the worst defenses in the entire NBA. Plus, “Playoff Jimmy” is a different animal and will be tough to beat, no matter how good your team is.
In the next game, I think Chicago will upset the Raptors. Again, this is all about talent. Even though Demar Derozan and Zach Lavine aren’t the greatest playoff performers, they will still be a lot for a team like Toronto. For the last spot, I think Chicago will end up beating the Hawks to get the last playoff spot as the eighth seed.
First Round - Going through the matchups, starting with the one-seed Milwaukee Bucks. Everyone knows what they are capable of and will easily sweep the Bulls; not much to say there. With the second-seeded Celtics, I think Butler and Bam will give Boston a scare. Once again, they are just really tough to beat in four games, so I think Boston will be in a dogfight with Miami but ultimately end up winning in six games.
The Sixers and Nets will be a very good series that has the potential to be an upset. This Brooklyn Nets team has a lot of very young and hungry players like Mikal Bridges who are looking to show the world what they are made of. Obviously, James Harden has been abysmal in the playoffs for most of his career, but with Joel Embiid likely winning MVP and the way he is playing, it should be enough to get Philly through them in six games.
With the last series in the first round, we will see the Cleveland Cavaliers up against the New York Knicks. I think this will be the best series of the entire first round; two teams with not a lot of playoff experience looking to get over the hump. The Cavs have a very good starting five, and they have a superstar in Donovan Mitchell. I think this series goes to seven games, and the Knicks come out on top with Jalen Brunson elevating his play in the playoffs.
Semi-Finals - Starting with Milwaukee vs. New York, I think this should be another fairly easy series for Giannis and the Bucks. A championship team up against an unproven and inexperienced team, but I will be nice enough to give the Knicks one game, so Bucks in five.
Next up, Sixers vs. Celtics. This series will be a lot more competitive than Milwaukee’s, but I believe it will not be close. The Celtics won the season series against Philly, winning three games and losing the last one just the other night. Philly was fully healthy in every game against Boston this season and still only managed to win one game.
Boston blew them out on opening night, beat them with four of their starters out the second game, and beat them on a Jayson Tatum game-winning shot in the third game. In their only loss to Philly this season, the Celtics were without Jaylen Brown and Robert Williams and only lost by two points.
I think Boston easily takes care of Philly in five games just due to how deep they are and how the Sixers have nobody outside of Embiid that can play efficiently on both ends of the court.
Eastern Conference Finals - This series will go down as an all-time one. It’s David vs. Goliath, the Bucks won the championship two seasons ago, and the Celtics won the East last season. Boston has beaten up on Milwaukee this season, winning three games and losing one. The first game Antetokounmpo didn’t play, so Boston easily won, then Boston blew them out Christmas Day on national television and beat them by 40 points last week. These were the only two games where both teams were fully healthy, although in the third game, when Boston rested their entire starting five, Milwaukee struggled with the Celtics bench and had to play to overtime to eventually beat them.
Antetokounmpo in the playoffs is a completely different beast and will be looking for revenge after being eliminated from them last season, but I have to give the edge to Boston in this series regardless of who has home court. Tatum and Brown are hungry to win a championship together, and after losing the Finals last season, they have been on a mission this season. Milwaukee just doesn’t have anyone to guard those two in a series either, so just like last year, Boston will send them home in seven games and represent the East for the second year in a row in the NBA Finals.