The 2016 NBA Playoffs are upon us and if you’ve been sticking with us these past couple weeks you’ve gotten a lot of content reflecting on the season that was. From the Golden State Warriors achieving an NBA record 73 regular season wins, to Kobe Bryant’s last game and we even picked a multitude of awards like the Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year and Rookie of the year, the NBA team on Def Pen has been busy.
The first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs might be one of the quickest in recent memory partly due to the dominance of teams on the top and no two teams have dominated more this season than the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. Meanwhile the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers are both trying to exercise some past playoff demons and prove to everyone that they are a legit title contender. The Portland Trail Blazers are the ultimate underdog in the West, a team that many believed would be in the lottery has come out of nowhere to secure a five seed. The Dallas Mavericks battled and up and down season but they still managed to stay in the playoffs after a shaky end to their season. The Memphis Grizzlies are a team decimated by injuries beyond belief and it’s hard to imagine a scenario where they even win a game in the playoffs and the Houston Rockets have underperformed all season so going up against the greatest regular season team in NBA history might be the final blow to their season.
2016 NBA Playoffs: Western Conference First Round
No.1 Golden State Warriors vs No.8 Houston Rockets
– Martin Soaries (@Marsoaries)
There’s a big difference between these two teams matching up in the conference finals last season and now in the first round this postseason. The Rockets clawed their way into the eighth seed at the end of the regular season after a rocky 2015-16 campaign, and now find themselves outmatched as a completely underdog against the league’s best team.
Houston’s defense ranks 21st in the league, giving up 106 points per 100 possessions, and Golden State is the league’s best offense at 115 points per game. Golden State, the league’s fourth-best defense, averaged 116 points against Houston this season and won all three meetings. The Rockets do rank ninth in offense, which has everything to do with James Harden, whose usage percentage is second only to DeMarcus Cousins (>30 MPG). Against the Warriors this season Harden averaged 27 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Harden, Dwight Howard and the Rockets have their hands full with the defending champs, who are simply the better team by far.
No.2 San Antonio Spurs vs No.7 Memphis Grizzlies
– Honi Ahmadian (@BLSSBlog)
The 2-7 matchup in the Western Conference may be the easiest to predict. Pitting the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies against each other seems almost evil at this point. San Antonio is an all-time great team especially on the defensive end of the floor. Memphis, meanwhile, is battling injuries across its roster, forced to play with multiple D-League call-ups on the playoff squad.
The Grizzlies have shown fight without both Marc Gasol and Mike Conley playing and head coach Dave Joeger is a legitimate Coach of the Year candidate as a result of how he has managed all of the injuries. He has also been able to give Lance Stephenson a role to thrive in since his trade to the team and the guard’s play has been a major key in the Grizzlies holding on to their playoff berth.
But the Spurs are on an entirely different level. Armed with the best defense in the league as well a top-five player in Kawhi Leonard, it is difficult to see anything close to an upset happening in this series. The Spurs traditionally save their best for the postseason and if that’s true in a season in which they won 67 games, then the whole league should be worried, not to mention the catastrophically injured Grizzlies.
Memphis will have their moments where they appear to be challenging the Spurs and it will make for entertaining basketball and storylines, but in the end this should be an easy sweep for the Spurs.
No.3 Oklahoma City Thunder vs No.6 Dallas Mavericks
– Charlie Taylor (@chillicharlieRT)
We have finally made it! The NBA Playoffs are here and I personally cannot wait. Let’s get grooving with the preview of the Western Conference 3 vs 6 matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Honestly, I don’t know how the Mavs do it. Before this season began, I thought they were dog meat, I thought they would miss the Playoffs. Not only have they made it, but they made it to a respectable 6th seed. Dirk Nowitzki is continuing to get buckets, he leads the team in PPG, 18.3 and we now know that he is planning to play past the contract he was currently on. A reason why I thought they wouldn’t make the Playoffs was because that they didn’t have a center. But then came Zaza Pachulia! For most of the regular season the big man was averaging a double-double. He’s cooled off since then but he still gets boards, 9.4 per game. As we know the Mavs recently acquired David Lee so some nice Playoff experience there. Unfortunately, Deron Williams isn’t the force he used to be, but at least he is happy where he is.
The Thunder are the best 2nd tier team in the NBA next to the Cavs, (Spurs & Warriors obviously 1st tier) I recently put Russell Westbrook second in our MVP awards and I stick by that. The man is a straight up beast, he is electrifying and if you don’t believe me, go watch that recent game where he dropped a triple double in the FIRST HALF. Kevin Durant hopes to go into the most important summer of his life potentially with a chance at a ring and the first round is just the warm up. The man is hot on Michael Jordan’s heels when it comes to consecutive games with 20 points, KD is consistently balling and Westbrook is on another planet. It seems that he can truly “Take Flight” with those Jordan XXX’s. The rest of the Thunder? I mean, does it matter? As long as Enes Kanter at least gets buckets (Because we all know defensively he’s hopeless) & Steven Adams along with Serge Ibaka continue to be anchors, the Thunder will do just fine.
The Mavs and the Thunder know each other very well, especially when it comes to Playoff ball. They met in 2011, the Mavs obviously won that one on the way to the NBA Championship, but the Thunder have had the most recent success, sweeping the Mavs in 2012. Will that happen again? I don’t think so. The Mavs are very scrappy and even though the Thunder are the most offensively efficient team behind the Warriors, they turn the ball over frequently. I think Rick Carlisle will know this and will be sure to prepare his players accordingly.
Result? The Thunder will move on but because the Mavs have been here before and Carlisle is one of the best coaches in the game, I will give the Mavs 2 games. OKC in 6 Games.
No.4 Los Angeles Clippers vs No.5 Portland Trail Blazers
– David Morrow (@Dmorrow96)
While Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are a nightmare for any backcourt to guard, few are more well-equipped to do so than the Clippers. Chris Paul is one of the best defenders at his position, and J.J. Redick is solid on that end as well.
Difference in experience will be a major factor. The Clippers have been here. They do this every year. The Blazers, not so much. Damian Lillard has some good playoff experience under his belt, but his supporting cast does not.
Probably the biggest factor in this matchup, though, will be the rebounding differential. Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan will absolutely annihilate the Blazers on the boards. No Trail Blazer averaged 8 rebounds this season, with Mason Plumlee leading the pack at 7.7 per game. In theory, Meyers Leonard’s shooting touch would be helpful to draw Griffin or Jordan away from the hoop, but he’s injured.
All in all, the Clippers are the more talented, more experienced, and deeper team. I can see Lillard exploding for 40+ and leading Portland to one win, but that’s it. I’m picking the Clippers to pull off the gentleman’s sweep against the Trail Blazers in 5 games.
If you want to check out the 2016 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference preview, you can do that here.
