It’s Playoffs Time

The NBA is about to get serious, its playoffs time baby.

With all due respect to the regular season, it’s really just a successful, obese, business man, consuming everything in its path, on a one-way road to irrelevance.

Let’s call the regular season, Jay Z.

The playoffs on the other hand are a hungry up and coming rapper, where success means more than just adding numbers to your bank balance.

The playoffs are the difference between making it big or being just another wannabe ending up in a job at JB Hifi dreaming of what could have been.

Let call the playoffs, Aminé.

There are some intriguing match ups in the first round and I take a quick look at each series and find the one thing that, COULD, make things interesting.

Eastern Conference

Celtics (1) v Bulls (8)

Celtics

How happy do you think Danny Ainge is right now? Number 1 seed in the East, cap space, and a million draft picks in the bank. All this with a roster missing a genuine star, no offence Isiah Thomas. Add to that his coach is looking like an absolute genius, I mean he got a guy under 6ft to believe he could take on the whole NBA and win. I do have concerns for the Celtics the deeper they progress into the playoffs, teams will start seriously clamping down on Thomas and they don’t have a lot of scoring punch outside of IT.

Bulls

On the other hand, The Bulls have been mired in a, who the f@#k even are we, kind of season. Jimmy Butler has been out there on his own trying to hold it all together. He might even be looking at The Celtics thinking, what would I look like in green?

It seems like a million years ago Thibs was stalking the sidelines and D Rose was winning MVP.

The one thing

This should be one-way traffic in all honesty, but I get the feeling it won’t be. The real maverick in this series is Rondo. You’re probably thinking I’m crazy saying this but, check his numbers in the last part of the season. He obviously has history in Boston and let’s not forget what he has done in the playoffs. I’m not suggesting he’s the player who logged a 29–18–13 triple-double against Cleveland in 2010, but what I do know is, he won’t be afraid of the moment and he’s more than capable frustrating the Celtics.

Result

4-2 Celtics

Cavaliers (2) v Pacers (7)

Cavaliers

The Cavaliers have been an average team since the All Star break but I’m not taking much notice of that. LeBron is still good enough to switch on come playoffs and decimate a 7 seed on his own. The 2017 playoffs were always going to be about health for this team, although I don’t think their 100%, they’re good enough to win this series. Are they good enough to win it all this year? I don’t think so but, betting against The King, well, you could lose your head….

Pacers

I don’t really know where to start with The Pacers. On paper they look like a high quality team, unfortunately for Pacers fans, processed trees don’t win basketball games.

Paul George showed what he can do against LeBron in their final regular season meeting. To be honest the matchup between these two quality players is the most intriguing of the whole first round.

Jeff Teague has been to the playoffs before and can get hot on his day, and they have a number of role players that can do a job. I’m not sure they can put it all together though, not enough to scare The Cavs anyway. Personally I hope they get swept, I want PG13 in Boston next season.

The one thing

Myles Turner is a high quality basketball player, big, strong, and skillful. What surprises me is the lack of plays the coach runs for him. If he matches up with, Kevin “I got no love for D” Love, he could be a real pain in The Cavs ass. Does he win a series, I don’t think so, but it might be interesting if the coach lets him loose.

Result

4-2 Cavaliers

Raptors (3) v Bucks (6)

Raptors

The Raptors made it to the Eastern conference finals in 2016 and they have a better squad this year. Adding Serge Ibaka mid-season was a quality move, he helped, them of the north, keep their heads above water without Kyle Lowry. DeMar DeRozen has been an absolute beast throughout the entire season, posting big numbers and showing the mid-range jumper is alive and kicking in Canada.

With their playmaker ready to make a return, the team and Drake are looking to go deep into the playoffs again.

Bucks

The Bucks are probably a year or 2 away from being a serious threat to win a title. They have pieces to annoy teams and in Giannias an absolute freak of a basketball player. It won’t be long until a good percentage of the world knows how not only to say his name but, also spell it.

I’m not convinced Jason Kidd is an actual playoff coach, and losing Jabari Parker to another season ending injury hurts them. They have solid second unit and quality rookie point guard, as I said, let’s see what happens in 2018/2019.

The one thing

The world forgot how good Khris Middleton was at basketball, the Bucks have gone 18-10 since he returned from a hamstring injury and they’re a better all-around team with him back.

Middleton is match up nightmare, at 6ft 8” he can slide between 3 positions on offence and defense, he shoots the 3 at high percentage, plays the pick and roll, and can post up.

If The Bucks have a chance, I think it’s more about Middleton rather than the Greek Freak.

Result

4-3 Raptors

Wizards (4) v Hawks (5)

Wizards

John Wall and Bradley Beal being healthy for an entire season has made a massive difference in Washington. They’ve shown what they can achieve when they spend a good chunk of time on the court together. I mentioned them in my mid-season report http://www.chewie.co.nz/single-post/2017/02/02/NBA-Mid-Term-Report

The bench still stinks but, Otto Porter has been bombing it from deep and Kelly Oubre Jr looks like he might actually turn into a serious NBA player.

Still picking them to get bumped in the second round though.

Hawks

When I looked up to see the Hawks in 5th place at the beginning of the week, well to be honest, that’s the first time I’ve looked at the Hawks.

The club traded away the heart of the team that looked so good 2 years ago, Horford in Boston, Teague at the Pacers and Kyle Korver being set up by LeBron. They only player left is a quality one in Paul Milsap, after him though things are a bit thin, unless you’re keen on an 85 year Jose Calderon whose been getting minutes at point guard.

I’ll take my hat off to the Hawks though, I thought they’d be on holiday by now.

The one thing

I’m going to cheat here and make it 2 things, namely, Dwight Howard, and Tim Hardaway Jr.

If Dwight, (my least favorite basketball player) can play all-star defense, clog up the lanes making it difficult for Wall to penetrate, things could get interesting.

Then on the other end, Hardaway has shown glimpses of becoming an elite offensive player, if he can get hot, well then their totally in this.

Result

4-2 Wizards

Western Conference

Warriors (1) v Trail Blazers (8)

Warriors

What can I say about the Warriors, they have the best team in the league I doubt anyone is arguing that. They have gun slingers all over the court, one of the best defensive players in the game and a high quality coach. Kevin Durant is coming back and about 3 games into this series should be hitting some sort of form.

Good luck Portland!

Trail Blazers

Portland is one of my favorite franchises in the NBA. Back in the day I was a big fan of Zac Randolph, Rasheed Wallace, Ruben Patterson and, Rod Strickland running amok in the Jail Blazers team. Clyde Drexler was poetry in motion as a player, and the team that included Aldridge, Batum, Lillard, and Mathews were fun to watch.

I mention all of the above because I don’t think todays team has a shit show of winning this series. Lillard and C J McCollum are going to have play out of their minds to win a single game.

The one thing

I was going to say, Jusuf Nurkic, but that’s not really fair on a broken center who’s played zero meaning full playoff minutes. I know he’s a beast, but asking him to slay a 5 headed monster is not really fair.

Hopefully he gets some game time and punches fake tough guy Zaza Pachulia in his ghoulish looking face.

Result

4-0 Warriors

Spurs (2) v Grizzlies (7)

Spurs

The Spurs are the equivalent of a Toyota Hilux, the epitome of reliability, not pretty but, as hard as you try, you just can’t kill them. You get the feeling Kawhi Leonard is an actual terminator, and Pop is a mad scientist creating superhuman basketball players.

I don’t think this teams as good as its regular season record indicates and they have some old bodies out there but, their systems are so solid they'll be as tough as ever to beat.

Grizzlies

I’m a straight up fan of this team, even though they’ve tried to change slightly, they’re still and old school NBA team. Marc Gasol and Mike Conley never get the love they deserve and they play basketball like it should be played. Sharing the ball setting up team mates and then looking for their own shot. Add to that Zac Randolph plays for the Grizz, I love a this big man who can’t jump but scares his opposition into letting him do what he wants.

All that being said, they’ll give the Spurs trouble, but they’ll succumb to the machine.

The one thing

Tony Allen is an elite defensive guard, if you didn’t know that, he’ll probably tell you.

The NBA should use tapes of Allen playing D to teach the youngsters coming into the league that the game isn’t played at one end of the court.

The Grizz need Allen to put the clamps on Kawhi and frustrate the shit out of him, if he can slow Leonard down, they may have a chance.

Result

4-2 Spurs

Rockets (3) v Thunder (6)

Rockets

What a turn around, the Rockets showed us how good a team can be when you kick Dwight Howard out on his ass. In all seriousness though the Rockets have been amazing this year, most of this is down to James Harden and coach Mike lets shoot the shit out of it D’Antoni, coming together in an all-out offensive assault.

Will they play defense, I don’t think anyone gives a shit, least of all the coach.

Thunder

Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, Russell Westbrook.

Oh yeah there’s a kiwi in the team as well.

The one thing

Defense! It’s often said defense wins’ championships and to be honest I agree. It doesn’t matter what sport you’re playing, stopping the other team from scoring is an important part of winning.

If Houston can play some semblance of defense on Westbrook they walk away with this. They do have Pat Beverly so there’s a chance he can slow Russ down. There’s also a good chance they get into an old fashioned bar room brawl.

Result

4-1 Rockets

Clippers (4) v Jazz (5)

Clippers

The Clippers started this season on fire, went through injuries in the middle, then came out of the regular season playing some decent basketball.

This team should be familiar to regular NBA fans, and you’d expect it’s the last chance saloon for this group. Griffin, and Paul both have player options to consider, plus JJ Redick will be an unrestricted free agent.

The Clippers top 5 players are as good as anyone, it’s just the rest of the team that’s the problem.

Jazz

Despite being called the Jazz and living in a place where drinking laws are a bit dodgy, I like this team. They have a dominant center, an all-star small forward, a seasoned point guard plus, a cast of role players that can cause match up nightmares for opposition coaches. The Jazz have a top 5 defense to frustrate the likes of Paul and Griffin, and put pressure on them all over the court. Despite the Jazz having minimal playoff experience, this could be the series of the first round.

The one thing

The playoff monkey is the key thing here, and whether the Clippers can get the 500-pound gorilla of their back. The other is Chris Paul.

The Clippers playoff history since this team was put together is average at best. Anyone remember them choking up to a Rockets team that included a game winning performance by Josh Smith, (that’s not a misprint, it really was Josh Smith.). They’ve had some bad luck with injuries as well but, they’ve also been their own worst enemy.

As for Chris Paul, he needs to stop worrying about refs, getting others involved, and trying to motivate his team. Just dominate the game in every way possible, score, assist, steals, rebounds and talking smack like only an all-star Chris Paul can.

Result

4-3 Clippers.