We are 1 game in across the board in all match ups, and the cream has risen to the top early.
Boston touched up the Miami Heat (albeit to a late heat run to make it look respectable), and Denver knocked off the Lakers in Denver by 9.
Time to touch on all match ups to see where we think things finish up!
Boston (1) v Miami (8):
An Eastern Conference finals rematch that has Boston fans reliving the torture of last year. That was until game 1 was done and dusted. Boston jumped on Miami early and made sure they were finishing things off early. This team is clearly different from last year, with the additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. It’ll take a lot to beat this team this year in the East, and the only team who may beat Boston…is Boston!
Prediction: Boston 4-0
New York (2) v Philadelphia (7):
The Garden was well and truly alive yesterday as the Knicks won an absolute thriller to take a 1-0 lead in the series. New York match up perfectly v Philly, and even with Donte DiVincenzo and Jalen Brunson struggling yesterday (playing extremely well in the lead up), the Knicks found a way to win this one. New York just have such a well rounded team, and seem destined to match into the 2nd round of the playoffs to face either Milwaukee or Indiana. It will take a phenomenal series from Embiid and Maxey to have any chance of going through here.
Prediction: New York 4-1 or 4-2
Milwaukee (3) v Indiana (6):
Dame Time was well and truly activated early in this series opener! Dame exploded for 35 1st half points to set up this victory, and didn’t even need to score in the 2nd half.
It gives Milwaukee a chance to further rest Giannis in Game 2, as it was clear that playoff experience was too much for this Pacers team to overcome.
Tyrese Haliburton will need a whole lot more in game 2 to gain an advantage in this series, and you wouldn’t want to rule it out given how he’s performed during the season v Milwaukee.
Prediction : Milwaukee 4-3
Cleveland (4) v Orlando (5):
This match up is one for the purists. It won’t be pretty, but it’s going to be some tough, physical basketball in this match up to face off with (likely) Boston in round 2.
Donovan Mitchell was superb in Game 1, and if Orlando are to be any chance in the series, they’ll need to force someone else to beat them. At the end of the day, it’s still been a great season for this Magic team, and at the very least Paolo Banchero and the boys will be better for the run next year.
Prediction: Cleveland 4-1
OKC (1) v New Orleans (8):
Everyone put a line through the Pelicans as soon as Zion went down with his Hamstring injury. No one told the Pels though. They almost came into OKC and upset the 1 seed today and had a McCollum game winner rim out to fall behind 1-0. It just felt like OKC needed this one to start the series, a team with very little playoff experience still found a way to get this done today, setting them up for success going forward in the series.
Prediction: OKC 4-1
Denver (2) v LA Lakers (7):
Denver managed to overcome a strong start from the Lakers to go on and with their 8th straight v the Lakers. Nikola Jokic was once again brilliant, posting 32 Pts-12 Rbs and 7 Asts. Jamal Murray chipping in with 22 Pts and 10 Asts, beating out LeBron and AD who combined for 59 Pts of their own. For the Lakers to cause a huge upset, they simply need more from Russell and Reaves, who only combined for 26 Pts.
Denver should be far too good once again here, but it’s still going to be fun to watch with this much quality on the court!
Prediction: Denver 4-1
Minnesota (3) v Phoenix (6):
Going into this series the Phoenix Suns had wiped the floor with the TWolves all season long. They held Anthony Edwards to 14PPG over the 3 games so they would’ve been full of confidence going into game 1 yesterday. Ant-Man shook that regular season form off and went off for 33 Pts-9 Rbs and 6 Asts.
KD posted 31 Points, but the Suns will need a whole lot more from Devin Booker and Bradley Beal who only combined for 33 in Game 1.
Prediction: 7 Game series (flip a coin Game 7!)
LA Clippers (4) v Dallas (5):
When news broke this morning that the Clippers would be without Kawhi Leonard, Dallas were heavily favoured to steal home court from the boys in LA. The Mavs couldn’t buy one today though, and fell behind big early! Luka Doncic and Kyrie combined for 64 Pts but only had PJ Washington post in double digits (11) outside of them.
This series still has 7 games written all over it, but Dallas will need to shoot the ball a lot better if they’re stealing home court in Game 2!
Prediction : Coin flip also with this going to 7!
Enjoy what is sure to be a great opening round of playoff hoops!
Cheers
Bauky