The NBA regular season has come to a close. We’ve already picked our award winners from the regular season, we’ve had a good laugh at some bloopers and we’ve also started to look ahead at what players could come into the NBA through the draft but the most exciting part of the year is upon us.
The NBA playoffs.
Lets take a look at the first round of the Eastern Conference NBA playoffs. There are some intriguing matchups from top to bottom.
The top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks, are recently fighting through some drama out of their control and they’re going up against the eighth seeded Brooklyn Nets who’ve been seemingly been fighting drama internally all season long.
Cleveland Cavaliers are rolling into the playoffs with LeBron James directing them into the second seed in the east and right into a collision course with the young, upstart Boston Celtics at the seven seed.
Chicago Bulls are in the three seed and look to stay strong and come out healthy and victorious against a six-seeded Milwaukee Bucks team that defends very well and has some insane length that many teams can’t match.
Finally, it’s a battle between 2 teams that haven’t been the kindest to each other recently. The fourth seeded Toronto Raptors take on the fifth seeded Washington Wizards in a battle of 2 teams that both, desperately need to survive and advance this year to prove any doubters wrong.
If you need to check when some of these game are being played, you can always see the full schedule right here on the site.
NBA Playoffs: Eastern Conference
(1) Atlanta Hawks vs (8) Brooklyn Nets
Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are coming into the NBA playoffs after their best season of franchise history. They are the one seed, and have the second best record in the NBA at 60-22. The Atlanta Hawks play great offense that gets the whole team involved. They spread the court, and with every lineup on the court, they have four or five players that can shoot jumpers. They are also extremely deep on their bench, and anyone they put in is a solid player that buys into their role very well. They move the ball around the perimeter, and have great offense. The Hawks have ball movement pays off as they are in the top 10 in points per game at 102.5. The Atlanta Hawks ability to shoot the basketball also helps them a ton. They are 2nd in the NBA in 3PT% behind just the Warriors.
Their size is a big problem. There is no interior intimidating presence on the offensive or defensive end. Paul Millsap is injured and that could be an added issue to this inside game problem. They can’t stop big guys in the paint but they can definitely stretch the floor. Their weakness could work out for them depending on the matchup.
Atlanta has had their best season in franchise history, and they have a lot of momentum going into the NBA playoffs. I expect the Hawks to make it to the Conference Finals no matter what, and they will go in a 6 or 7 game series with whoever they play. They win the series and move onto the NBA Finals. The Hawks will play a well-played series going 7 games, but they will lose in the NBA Championship and be the runner-up of the league.
Nets
The Nets just got into the NBA playoffs by a thread with a little help from Lionel Hollins’ successor in Memphis Dave Joerger. While that was nice of him to beat the Pacers, the Nets have a very slim shot to do much damage in their first round matchup against the first seeded Atlanta Hawks. The Nets maybe be able to steal one game in the series but that’s just about it, maybe two if they can get lucky again. Lionel Hollins’ coaching this year has been all over, with Jarrett Jack playing the entirety of games back in January, to then getting his playing time reduced more and more. He benched Brook Lopez early in the season for who knows why, only to have Lopez lead the team into the playoffs, and Bogdan Bogdanovic where you been? He started the year as a starter, then buried deep on the bench, only to erupt for 26 points in the team final game and is Mason Plumlee still even on the team?
The Nets right now are a mess and still don’t have their rotation set after 82 games. Their pick and roll offense is strong and they tend to resort to this when necessary. The Nets have had a top 10 offense stats wise the last month of the season, largely because of the pick and roll. Brook Lopez might be the best offensive center in the game. He can knock down a shot with ease anywhere on the floor.
Their defense is not the best. they allow on average 101 points a night, compared to the offense averaging 98 points a game. Lionel Hollins is known, or supposed to be known as a defensive minded coach, but the Nets can’t play defense. Their also very inconsistent. Like mentioned above they still lack a solid rotation. Guys Like Joe Johnson and Deron Williams might score 20 points in a game, but then might not score 20 in total for the rest of the series. Brook Lopez carried the team to the playoffs with seven 30 point games in the teams final 12, after coming off the bench most of the season. The Hawks will be keying in on Lopez meaning someone else will need to step up, something that just hasn’t happened all year.
It appears that the Nets will face a first round exit of the NBA playoffs at the hand of the Hawks in 5.
(2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs (7) Boston Celtics
Cavs
The key for The Cavaliers in the NBA playoffs now is ball movement they are a tough team to defend for obvious reasons, but if James or Irving are dwindling down precious moments of the shot clock then decide its time to make something happen they almost defeat themselves. The Cavs have gotten a lot better at this throughout the season as they became more familiar with one another, but at times you can see they revert to old habits.
Offense, Offense, and Offense The Cavaliers have the offensive fire power to do some damage (not to state the obvious.) Still baffles me how a team can have 3 go to scoring options like James, Irving, and Love.
The Cavaliers have players like LeBron, Mike Miller, Shawn Marion, Brendan Haywood, Kendrick Perkins, and James Jones all have one championships at some point in their career on the roster not to mention James Posey and Tyronn Lue on the coaching staff who have two championships each. Depth is so crucial come playoff time even if rotations go down to 8 sometimes 9, but players that have been in these situations before is just as important.
Athletic perimeter defenders Kyrie Irving, Matthew Dellavedova, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and LeBron James all good perimeter defenders due to size and strength that should cause trouble for opposing teams ball handlers.
Their x-factor for these NBA playoffs will be Tristan Thompson who has played a huge role for Cleveland this year playing in all 82 games for the third season in a row. Averaging 8 points and 8 rebounds off the bench while in the regular season landing 5th in the league in offensive rebounds averaging 3 a game. Some games though Thompson has such a large effect in his rebounding he seems to be all over his motor just simply doesn’t stop.
Cleveland at times has gone back to old ways of the ball not being moved around as much as you’d hope. Luckily with a player like LeBron and Kyrie you can get away with that since they’re such crafty finishers but at times it also hurts the overall flow of the offense at times.
Frontcourt Depth for Cleveland is solid with Mozgov, Perkins, Haywood, Thompson, and Love but if foul trouble comes Cleveland’s way sure Blatt can get creative with the lineup thanks to having Love or Thompson slide down to the Center spot, but if they do face a team like Atlanta or Toronto who do have some size it could cause some issues. I believe in Thompson’s ability to defend and Love’s defense hasn’t been nearly as bad as people made the big deal to be but the team defense is just better with the traditional lineup of a guy like Love or Thompson alongside any of Cleveland’s Centers.
There was a game earlier in the season against Chicago where Cleveland had Mozgov in foul trouble all game and Kevin Love out the team had no answer for Chicago. That’s a rare game where James and Irving shot poorly from the field and they did not have Perkins just yet. Chicago went on to win 113-98 but if Cleveland is going to be defeated they’ll have to be exploited in the paint.
They will reach the NBA finals and win in 7 games. The first round match up on paper will not be one that makes Cleveland sweat, but it’s what is ahead that makes any NBA fan drool with Atlanta and Cleveland going head to head in the Eastern Conference Finals which will be one of the better series this year.
Celtics
The Celtics boast one of the best defensive backcourts in the league in Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley. Both players are incredibly aggressive on D, and the Celtics will need that pressure on Kyrie Irving if they want to have a shot at this series. Celtics’ head coach Brad Stevens has been one of the best coaches in the league this season despite it being just his second year coaching in the NBA. Stevens is one of the main reasons that the C’s improbably found their way into the postseason. The final strength for Boston is the players off the bench. They have 6th Man of the Year candidate Isaiah Thomas, who is their top scorer. Other bench players have been stepping up for Boston lately as well, such as Jae Crowder and Jonas Jerebko.
The Celtics are a team with no superstars going into the NBA playoffs. The closest to a superstar they have is Isaiah Thomas, and he doesn’t come very close. That’s their big disadvantage vs. Cleveland: Lack of star-power. The Cavs are stacked in that department, with their big 3 of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. The Celtics have great coaching and move the ball well, but the sheer difference in talent will be the difference-maker in this series.
The Celtics will fall in the first round of the NBA playoffs to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 4-1. They could conceivably win a second game if Cleveland underestimates them. They’ve got a lot of young, high-motor players. They won’t win this series, but they will make Cleveland work for it.
(3) Chicago Bulls vs (6) Milwaukee Bucks
Bulls
The Bulls strength, especially against the Milwaukee Bucks, is their post scoring. Pau Gasol as the league leader in double-doubles and the offensive anchor along with Joakim Noah as the high-low activator. The Bulls also look to post Jimmy Butler where he’s made a noticeable improvement, and Nikola Mirotic is an inside-out guy. Their bench is so strong with Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic, Aaron Brooks, and even others like Tony Snell, E’twan Moore, and Doug McDermott are capable of providing offensive boosts from the Bulls bench. Finally, they crash the boards. They rank as the third-best team in the league in rebounding with four of their impact players averaging at least five rebounds.
On the flipside, there are some weaknesses in the Bulls game. They’re more of a paint scoring team with not many shooting threats besides Mike Dunleavy, Nikola Mirotic, and Aaron Brooks. Not one Bulls player averages more than one three-pointer per game, so their outside shooting isn’t the greatest. Of course, their health is an issue. Derrick Rose’s health is still a major factor for the Bulls, plus Taj Gibson (shoulder) not being 100 percent is considered a blow to their front court depth.
This team is still strong but don’t look for them to go farther than the conference semi-finals unless they hit their stride.
Bucks
When the year started and you would’ve told me I would have a do a NBA playoff preview on the Milwaukee Bucks I would’ve called you crazy. Well here I am writing about what the Bucks have going for them. The Bucks are one of the better defensive teams in the league thanks to their ridiculous length. They gamble a lot but can afford to, and when things are flowing and Bucks are forcing turnovers turning them into fast break points they look extremely scary. On the other hand one of their strengths is their biggest weakness. If the Bucks are gambling but cant get any turnovers that means they’re always leaving themselves vulnerable for an easy score. If the Bucks do force the turnover and you get back in transition then you’ll start to see how one-dimensional they have become in running their offense through Middleton. If opponents are smart they’ll just force MCW to make quick decisions, that way they’re guaranteed at least 4 turnovers.
Considering they were one of the worse teams in the league last year and now the number sixth seed in the playoffs, I’m sure the Bucks will be happy with gaining the playoff experience moving forward.
The Bucks NBA playoff journey will end after a Game five loss to Chicago.
(4) Toronto Raptors vs (5) Washington Wizards
Raptors
The Toronto Raptors finished off the season 4th place in the Eastern Conference. After taking the league by storm throughout the first half of the season, after the All-Star break they struggled. The Raptors success in their 49 wins came from their defense, something they lack consistently. Offensively, they have nothing to worry about. They are 4th in the league in PPG, and with Kyle Lowry, Lou Williams and DeMar DeRozan as your scorers; points are never something to worry about in Toronto. Their problem is on the defensive end, which lacks energy, consistency, and depth. Terrence Ross & Jonas Valanciunas haven’t figured it out defensively either. That being said, the Toronto Raptors face a struggling Washington Wizards team in the first round. Both teams seem like they are struggling through rough patches and they now play each other in the Playoffs.
Home court advantage is huge for the Toronto Raptors in the NBA playoffs and for that reason; they will win the series in 6 or 7 games. I believe the Toronto Raptors will have a second round exit to the Atlanta Hawks, who have also lost their footing after the All-Star break.
Wizards
Washington Wizards come into these playoffs hobbling. Unfortunately, they are coming up against the Toronto Raptors who have home court in the first round. Good news for the Wizards though, they have a tough frontline that can surprise some teams when they switch the flip. Nene and Marcin Gortat are strong forces on the inside. John Wall got his feet wet in last year’s playoffs and now he looks to lead an older team in the playoffs. Also, don’t forget. Paul Pierce.
Their age hurts them especially going up against a younger team like the Raptors. Toronto comes in as a slight favorite and for good reason. The backcourt of the Wizards isn’t as solid as it once was either now that Bradley Beal has hit the bottom of the barrel and he needs to snap out of it if the Wizards want to stand a chance.
I think the Wizards will go to 7 games with the Toronto Raptors but it will come down to the Raptors getting the final win.
