Any basketball fans here? The front page is looking kinda dead.
Eastern Conference
I'm a Miami Heat fan and I would love to see them win it all, but there's a 99.99% chance that's not happening. I think most people would probably agree that Cavs are going to be going through to the Finals, especially seeing as they're the only team that swept their first round matchup.
My Predictions for 2nd Round:
Cavs vs. Hawks, Miami vs. Indiana
My Predictions 3rd Round:
Cavs vs. Miami
Eastern Conference Champ:
Cavs
Western Conference
The Warriors are definitely still heavy favorites to win it all, but the WC just got blown wide open after Steph Curry got injured. He's tentatively scheduled to return in two weeks. That's not too concerning for the Warriors for the first two rounds, but if he's still injured in the WC Finals, it could bite them.
The most interesting match-up is going to be the Spurs vs. OKC. Both teams have been looking strong in the playoffs, and I think it's going to come down to if KD and Russell Westbrook can throw down a good fight.
My Predictions for 2nd Round:
Warriors vs. Portland, OKC vs. Spurs
My Predictions 3rd Round:
Warriors vs. Spurs
Western Conference Champ:
Warriors if Steph is healthy, Spurs otherwise
The Finals
The Finals are going to come down to if Steph Curry can stay healthy. If Steph is back in time for the western conference finals, they can make it through to the NBA Finals and win it all. If not, Spurs are going to make it through and I think they can win.
I think it'll be spurs or Thunder out of the west with Curry's injury. Spurs > Cavs but Cavs > Thunder.
Curry's injury is huge and will likely prevent the Warriors from beating the Spurs. However, if Curry is able to return to at least 90% it is going to be very interesting.
I think Spurs win the whole thing.
It is Durant's time, I hope he wins it.
I want KD to win too. I think it's about time he and Westbrook get a ring. A few years back when the played the Heat in 2012, I would have supported them if they were playing any other team.
okc is cursed, i hope durant and rw leave and they become the lovechild of the 2000-2010 timberwolves/clippers
I legitimately thought there would be no interesting games until the finals...until Curry got injured. I'd like to see either Duncan or LeBron get another ring if the warriors don't win.
Whoever wins the Finals is coming out of the West. I have no confidence in the Cavs and Kyrie Irving's ability to hijack possessions with his reprehensible Uncle Drew shit. It must suck to be his teammate. All he wants from you when you're out on the floor with him is to set screens for him and go for the rebound if he misses...
Somebody doesn't like Kyrie... I agree though. The winner is 100% coming out of the West.
He's seriously one of the most unlikable players in the league at the moment. He plays like he's the second coming of Allen Iverson, but that only works when you're the best player on the team and the rest of the roster is a bunch of scrubs (basically Cleveland before LBJ came back and brought K-Love with him). He's been reprimanded multiple times by LeBron for being a black hole on offense. I can think of precisely one instance where he single-handedly won a game for the Cavs, and that was last season's regular season matchup with the Spurs in San Antonio. Cleveland won in OT with Kyrie scoring some ridiculous number like 57 points or something (and 7-for-7 behind the arc). More often than not, though, he's shot his team out of games. There's no question that when he's got it going, it's like NBA Jam where the ball is on fire, but he needs to recognize that stuff like that doesn't happen every night.
In the East;
Cavs vs. Hawks Miami vs. Toronto
Cavs and Miami in the ECF with Cavs through to finals
In the West:
Warriors vs. Clips Spurs vs. OKC
Warriors vs. Spurs in the WCF with Spurs through to finals
It will be a close series but Spurs take it in 6.
Looks identical to mine. You think Spurs are going to make it through regardless? Even if Steph is healthy? I highly doubt that
I don't, Spurs may very well win it all. GSW is a legendary team, but doesn't mean they are unbeatable. And if any team can do it, it's the Spurs.
It's doubtful unless the Curry injury manifests into something more. If we exclude backcourts, GS and SA are basically equal, maybe even slight edge to SA. And SA is also a slightly better overall defensive team this year.
However, when you compare backcourts -- Parker/Danny Green versus Thompson/Curry, the Warriors have a massive advantage in that department. Especially now given that the NBA is such a guard-driven league. When the Warriors/Spurs played late in the season, didn't Thompson/Curry outscore Parker/Green something like 51-7?
The Warriors are prone to laying eggs like any other team, but at full-strength beating them 4 times in 7 games is an extremely tall order. And even with the Curry injury, they have the best backup PG in the league in Livingston -- 6'7, great defensively, can switch off to small forwards, and his midrange game is money. He doesn't have a 3-pt shot so he won't bend a defense like Curry would.
Cavs in the East and GSW if Curry is healthy/Spurs if he isn't. I agree with the above - the western conference team will win this year.
Cavs/Raps, OKC/SA and OKC-SA/GSW, and the finals are going to all be great series, will be great to watch them all. I think the Cavs are coming on late and look confident, Thunder are an X factor, I have no idea how the spurs series will go tbh.
spurs over cavs in 6
In my opinion, whoever wins the western conference IS the champ. I don't really think it's fair that the Cavs get to walk through what I think everyone will agree is a pretty week eastern conference, to play with basically fresh legs in the finals. Anyone who comes out of the west will have battled pretty hard to get there.
Fairness aside, I think it'd be cool to see Durant and Westbrook finally get one.
I agree with almost a majority of what everyone had to say about the west always winning and the spurs taking it all if curry doesn't come back on time, but I think the blazers have an okay shot of making it really far in the playoffs now that injuries have opened up an opportunity for them. I doubt this scenario will happen because the blazers are quite streaky but I see them as a dark horse.
no cp3 and griffin means that they could pull out the series against the clips. Even without curry the warriors are a playoff level team, but I think that lillard could really take over the series if steph doesn't come back at all.
If they play the spurs in the WC finals, they wouldn't normally have a shot at winning but the spurs could be tired from playing out a tough series against the thunder, or could even have some of their key players injured (any of aldridge, duncan, parker, or leonard could be really bad). The spurs have shown consistently that they are contenders every year, but the year they lost to OKC they were on a 10-0 playoff run before losing the next 4 games to the thunder. Of course the spurs have stronger players now and harden is in houston, but the matchup will be tough for the spurs.
If they play the thunder in the WC finals, they're going to have a bad time. they have to play at their best and hope okc plays at their worst.
A portland vs cavs matchup would be pretty great to watch, and the only potential finals matchup I see the cavs winning.
Cavs over GSW in 7
spurs.
If Enes Kanter can provide the same performance as he did in game 4 vs DAL then I would say them over Spurs. Kanter is a great big with solid field awareness and vision. He's really got the best of both worlds as he is an absolute nightmare in the low post and has the ability to outrun the opposing team's bigs and keep up with fast-break Westbrook (literally scored about 10 of his points this way in Game 4 vs DAL). I don't see Timmy keeping up with Kanter off any Spurs turnovers and I don't see Alridge's soft ass doing anything to stop him in the low post.
Keep an eye out for Kanter. They also gave him a max deal beginning of this season (3rd highest paid player on OKC after Durant.)
The hornets nest
I agree that Kyrie is selfish, look at their formula for winning now. Lebron goes for 18pts 10ast and Kyrie puts up 35pts 5ast and 5reb. I'd love to say with confidence that the Thunder will make it but I think the Spurs and Warriors are just too good of teams for that to happen. With a healthy Curry, I like GSW in 6 and without a healthy Curry I like the Spurs in 6.
Spurs beat Thunder with 4-3
Warriors beat Spurs with 4-2
Cavs wins the Championship with Lebron's triple double in Game 7 against Warriors
The Clipper's injuries make the Warriors the luckiest team in the league. Obviously God wants them to win. It's science.
Other than that, I kind of want the Cavs to get a title. I don't think I could spend the rest of my life listening to ESPN analysts give "hot takes" on Lebron's standing among the greatest players since his Final's victory percentage is pathetic and he couldn't win Cleveland a title. Imagine watching Stephen A. Smith give his opinions on Lebron and the Cavs legacy every single time you turned on SportsCenter...for the rest of your life.
He would still get shit on (undeservedly, IMO, but that's the shock jockey world we live in now) because of all the injuries in the playoffs this year. People hate on last year's championship Warriors team because they didn't play against a single healthy starting point guard the entire playoffs.
People conveniently like to forget that GS was a 67-win team and either 1st/2nd the entire year in both offensive and defensive efficiency. I also like the people who say that GS didn't have to play the Spurs in last year's playoffs, a team that couldn't even get out of the first round for Christ's sake.
KD fan here but I would probably say if Warriors is healthy they are gonna win. OKC vs Spurs would be interesting to watch tho
Spurs!
In this order:
Warriors are definitely the best team in the league. I think even w/o Curry they'll beat Portland/Clippers in 5 (6 at the most). Assuming Curry is back for the Spurs series, then Warriors in 5/6/7. The games in Oakland favor the Warriors by 5-8 points, and the games in SA are basically toss-ups IMO. SA has to get past OKC first though. And OKC has the best two players in that series.
Just as long as it's not Cleveland. I can't stand LeBum and his arrogance, cringeworthy statements, flopping, push-offs and travels that don't get called, and overall petulance. And of course the fact that he's more insecure than a 13-year-old girl. I can't believe how many people bought into his BS story about how coming to the Cavs was about "returning home." Bullshit. Wade is as old as dirt and has bad knees, Bosh is on the wrong side of 30, their PG was the worst in the league, and they had no bench. And they got their asses royally handed to them by the Spurs. He left Miami b/c he couldn't win there anymore. There's a reason why so many people hate LeBum while Durant/Curry/A. Davis and pretty much every other superstar is pretty much universally well-liked or respected.
If a Warriors/Cavs finals, Golden State in 5.
Like everyone has already mentioned..
Cavs take the East GSW take the West if SC is back in time to play against the Spurs (he's expected to be out for 2 weeks)
GSW vs Cavs for the Finals, GSW winning in 6.
I'm okay with either team winning, born in Oakland & I'm a LBJ fan.
The stupidity of NBA scheduling means that, assuming Portland can close out tonight, GS/Blazers won't start until at least Tuesday or Wednesday (Hawks are getting 4 days off till they start, OKC gets 5; both teams finished after their next round opponents). Steph will have already had a week by then and he will miss likely the first three games but get back in time for the last four, should they need all of them.
So Steph gets two weeks of rest, comes back fresh and balls out leading the Warriors to another title. San Antonio may think they can win but their one win against them was in SA with GS having played in Dallas the night before (road-road back to backs have the visitor winning the second game only 33% of the time, and SA hadn't lost at home all year) and SA having had 4 home games in a row with at least a day off between each game. And then it took the Splash Bros shooting just over 20% from 3 (team shot 25%) for SA to get the win. They won't beat GS 4 out of 7 times
I'm a little biased as a Mavs fan, but SA can't beat a full strength Warriors team in a best to 7.
Not disagreeing with the outcome of the series, but the Spurs are a completely different team in the playoffs. The rest of the playoffs should be a ton of fun to watch no matter who wins.
In all honesty, I think either SA or Cavs will win this year (And this is coming from someone from the Bay Area...)
Kyrie can just be...Kyrie, and I find it hard to believe that Popovitch doesn't have some sneakyass trick up his sleeve.
The Spurs have been to fun to watch lately, think they take it
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