The NBA Playoffs — the best part of the basketball season — have recently begun, with every team already having played at least one game. Today, I’ll be making my predictions for the outcome of the four first-round series currently taking place in the Western Conference.
(1) denver nuggets vs. (8) minnesota timberwolves: nuggets win in five games
The Denver Nuggets ended the regular season on a bit of a slump, but if game one of this series is anything to take note from, they clearly were saving their energy for the postseason. Denver dominated Minnesota in a 30-point blowout, but most notably, they were able to hold the Timberwolves to just 80 points. The offense of Denver, spearheaded by reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, was never in question; however, many fans were skeptical of how their defense would hold up in the Playoffs while being anchored by Jokic, a subpar defender. While Minnesota will certainly never shoot 37% from the field again, the film shows them as the clearly inferior team. For even more optimism on Denver’s side, the Nuggets were dominant even without a standard Nikola Jokic performance, as he fouled out in under 30 minutes and only scored 13 points. However, Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony-Towns will likely be able to explode on offense and steal a game from Denver. With that being said, I expect the Nuggets to win this series in five games.
(2) Memphis grizzlies vs. (7) Los angeles lakers: lakers win in six games
This prediction is factoring in the elephant in the room, which is the unfortunate freak injury of Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant. With a healthy Morant, I originally believed that the Grizzlies would win the series in seven games. Assuming that Morant will miss most of the series, I’m changing my prediction to the Lakers winning in six games. Ja’s injury, however, does not take anything away from how good this Lakers team is. The Lakers aren’t your typical seventh seed, as shown by their dominance after they completely revamped their team at the trade deadline. Even with Ja being able to play most of game one, the Lakers won in decisive fashion, mostly thanks to heroic contributions from Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves, who nearly combined for 60 points on Sunday.
What’s even scarier is that LeBron James looked to be playing passive on Monday, largely deferring to Anthony Davis, Rui, and Reaves while only adding 21 points and making sloppy turnovers. The fact that the Lakers were able to pull off a victory in spite of a subpar LeBron game is why I think they’ll be able to win the series, especially if LeBron ever starts to take control of the series like we usually expect him to do. Even with the Lakers being this scary, I still expect Memphis to be able to be a formidable opponent, even without Ja. They’re one of the deepest and well-coached teams in the league, and have guys like Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. who can lead the offense without Ja. Furthermore, Ja’s replacement, Tyus Jones, happen to be one of the best backups in the league. Memphis has shown many times that they are still an elite team without Ja, and they won’t let the Lakers win the series very easily.
(3) sACRAMENTO KINGS VS. (6) GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: warriors win in six games
Similarly to the Lakers, the Warriors are not your typical sixth seed. They underperformed in the regular season, leading to them obtaining low seeding, but are still a strong contender to come out of the west. They’re lead by Stephen Curry, who might be the best player in the league, and are still the reigning champions who are running it back with an identical team. They’re full of championship experience, and are unlikely to be rattled by the rabid Sacramento crowd or being down 0-1 in the series. The Warriors have far more experience than the Kings, and are also the better defensive team, especially with the return of Andrew Wiggins. They also have the by far best player in the series in Curry, who should be able to take over games down the stretch.
However, tons of credit should be given to the Sacramento Kings. From the start, this team has been able to defy expectations, sealing the third seed when many thought they wouldn’t even make the Playoffs. Even after proving everyone wrong in the regular season, many thought they would be a weak third seed that wouldn’t even be able to take a game off the Warriors. Even with one of their stars, Domantas Sabonis, having a bad game, they were able to win game one behind De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk combining for almost 70 points. The Kings looked extremely composed, which surprised virtually everyone considering their overall lack of Playoff experience. However, the Kings have one fatal flaw, which is their lack of defense. They ranked in the bottom-third of the NBA in defensive rating throughout the regular season, and Golden State should be able to make the right adjustments to win the series. While I, along with everyone else who is not a Warriors fan, will be rooting for Sacramento, I believe Golden State will be able to take care of business this series.
(4) Phoenix suns vs. (5) los angeles clippers: suns win in six games
Many pundits touted the Phoenix Suns as the team to beat in the west, and while this is easy to get behind with the acquisition of Kevin Durant, I firmly disagree with this title. Regardless, I believe the Suns are still the far superior team. They lost game one due to questionable decisions by Monty Williams down the stretch, Kevin Durant being largely frozen out of the offense, and DeAndre Ayton looking heavily uninterested in basketball. All of these errors are easily to fix with a bit of film study, and I don’t think they’ll be a common occurrence this series. Either way, I simply believe that a team with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Chris Paul is too offensively talented to not dominate the rest of this series, even with glaring flaws in the team.
The Clippers are still a great team, even with the absence of one of their stars, Paul George. Kawhi Leonard dropped 38 points in Game 1, reminding everyone that he’s still one of the league’s premier players and Playoff risers. Russell Westbrook had one of the most interesting games ever, shooting an abysmal 3-19 from the field, but still managing to be productive by playmaking and playing elite defense throughout the game. The Clippers are in no aspect a bad team, but they simply are too undermanned to compete with the arsenal of the Phoenix Suns.
Concluding Thoughts
The Western Conference is by far the most interesting side of the Playoff bracket at the moment, and there’s upset potential across the board. All these series will be entertaining and displaying some of the highest levels of basketball for the enjoyment of us fans.
Floor General 