The NBA Playoffs Round 1 is officially over, leaving us with some surprises. This came in with the Detroit Pistons going down 3-1 just to come back on the Orlando Magic. We also had the Philadelphia 76ers go down 3-1 and come back on the Boston Celtics. Another big surprise was the fact that the Lebron led lakers go ahead and beat the Houston Rockets in 6 games, after both Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic went down with injuries. And our last big surprise of the playoffs was the Minnesota Timberwolves knocking off the Denver Nuggets.
I wanted to go ahead and give my predictions for the rest of the NBA playoffs.
For the matchup of the 3-seeded New York Knicks versus the 7-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. This series will definitely be interesting, but I believe the Knicks will win in 6. This is because New York is really good, but I will also say that, given how hot the 76ers have looked, they may win the series. This is because we are seeing Prime Joel Embiid again, and Tyrese Maxey is showing why he is one of the best NBA players. This series will truly depend on how well Embiid and Maxey play against one of the league’s best defenses.
Now, for the matchup of the 1-seeded Detroit Pistons versus the 4-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, I think that the Pistons will win it in 6. The Pistons just came back from a very hard deficit, and that means they all have all of the momentum right now. But Cleveland looks like they were barely winning those games against the Raptors, and I believe that the Pistons could very well take down Cleveland if they play how they did in the last 3 games. This series to me will be a battle between 2 of the best teams in the west, and will depend on not just Cade Cunningham, but also the team around him. As well as 2 infamous playoff chokers in James Harden and Donovan Mitchell.
Now, let’s go out West to the Series of the 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder versus the 4-seeded Los Angeles Lakers. This series could go a few ways. If Luka Doncic comes back by game 2 or 3, then the Lakers could very easily win in 6 games or less. But if there is no Luka Doncic in this series, I don’t see the Lakers winning. So with Luka, Lakers in 6, without Luka, Thunder in 5. This series will also need Lebron to stay in his current form for the series to be entertaining, as when Lebron James is playing well then the whole lakers team is playing well.
Now, for the last playoff Series, we have the 2-seeded San Antonio Spurs versus the 6-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves. This series will be very interesting to say the least, as there is news that Timberwolves Star Anthony Edwards will be back for game 1 in this series. I think this series will go to 7, and I believe that the Minnesota Timberwolves will come out on top. With how Rudy Gobert looks defensively, and Jaden McDaniels has been playing, this team is red hot and will continue to be that way going forward into the playoffs. Now, there is one thing that could stop this, and that would be if Victor Wembanyama takes over and brings this Spurs Team to the conference finals. I think this will be an amazing series, and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.
The NBA playoffs have been hectic, and very unscripted, and new, and with that being said, I hope that trend continues as we go deeper into the playoffs. Obviously, pushing for the Pistons to win, but I will continue to watch no matter what happens. This year it will be very interesting, and a very hard path for any NBA team to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the season, but I hope that the best team wins.
