NBA Playoffs - Discuss Them Here!

Ask and ye shall receive. (Sometimes.)

Seek and ye shall find. (Mostly.)

Anyhow, here’s a gamethread-type place to talk about the interesting contests taking place Tuesday, and before the Rockets game on Wednesday.

Tuesday April 17th

First up Tuesday is Wizards at Raptors. Looks good for the Raptors. Washington showed some spirit in the first game, defying everyone who thought they looked miserable and broken late in the season. I’m suspecting they look miserable and broken from here on out, as Toronto is simply better, and has the Game One Gorilla off their backs.

My prediction - Raptors by ten.

The second game of Tuesday night is Bucks versus Celtics. Boston is injured, depleted, whatever you want to call it, they are. But they’re well-coached and their system is strong. In fact, so strong it makes you wonder about individual players and how good they actually are. Milwaukee has Giannis and a bunch of lesser versions of Giannis. If they attempt to play modern NBA basketball they should beat Boston.

My prediction - Milwaukee by three.

The third game is perhaps the most interesting contest of the night, New Orleans at Portland. The Pelicans came into Portland, into a raucous environment and proceeded to lay about them, with great fury. The Pelicans went into that “Protect the lead with terrible anti-offense.” mode Rockets fans know so well with too much time on the clock. Portland came roaring back, though sadly not with Wade Baldwin IV. Portland had a chance to even things up late, but couldn’t quite manage it. So the question is - was the guard lockdown the Pelicans put on the Trailblazers real? If so, Portland could be in real trouble, as no one really has an answer for Anthony Davis.

My prediction - Portland by one.

WEDNESDAY April 18th

First up is Indiana at Cleveland. Indiana spanked a listless Cavaliers team last weekend, and the question is, do the New Look Old Cavaliers have what it takes to even the series? This doesn’t feel like the Cavs of old where it seemed as though they weren’t bothered by, or even particularly interested in, their first round opponent. That was back when they didn’t lose first round games. Either way, the result will be interesting. Can Cleveland get back in the series, or are they as toasty as they looked in Game One? 6PM CST TNT

My prediction - Cleveland by three.

The second game of the night is Utah at OKC. The Thunder beat the Jazz on Sunday, behind a magnificent game from Paul George, who went 8 of 11 from three point range. But the victory margin was eight. Let’s assume Paul George shoots a still-quite-decent 36% from three. That would be under his season average of 40%, but in a quite granular one-game and one-shot sort of way. That shaves 12pts off OKC’s total. Obviously things don’t work mechanistically like that but it’s fair to assume George won’t shoot 73% on high volume from three as well. 7PM CST on NBAtv. That’s right, Russ, NBAtv.

My prediction - Utah by four.

The third game? I’m guessing we have a preview, and thread and what-not for that one.

Finally - here’s some advice from the past, from the Harlem Hamfats. It applies especially to our visitors, but also to us, and TDS regulars visits elsewhere. You may be seeing a lot of them during these playoffs. It’s as relevant now as it was in 1936 or so.