Ladies and gentlemen, playoff basketball is finally here. Once and for all, basketball fans around the world will find out who comes out on top as the champion of the weirdest season in NBA history. It starts today with 4 highly touted Game 1 matchup. First off, it’s the Mike Conley-less Utah Jazz taking on the surging Nuggets. Then, we have the Brooklyn Nets going up against the well-coached Toronto Raptors. Afterwards, it’s followed by the New England rivalry, the Philadelphia 76ers versus the promising Boston Celtics. Last but most definitely not least, the main event of the night. It’s Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis and the Mavericks competing against Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and the Clippers. Tonight, the chase for the championship begins so buckle up because we are going on a roller coaster ride.
Everything tips off at 1:30 ET, when the Utah Jazz take on the Denver Nuggets. They were 3-5 in the bubble and one of those games actually came against the Nuggets, who barely beat them 134 to 132. In that game, Donovan Mitchell had 35 pints and 8 assists. Additionally, Rudy Gobert had 22 points and 13 rebounds. In order for them to win this game, look out for this duo to be a problem for the Nuggets defense. Like I said earlier, they lost Mike Conley due to his child being born (congrats by the way). That’s a big loss, considering he averaged about 17.6 PPG in the seeding games. That means people like Jordan Clarkson need to step up and make a big impact on this first game. On the other side, the Denver Nuggets are a nice team on paper, but not out on the court. However, like the Jazz, were 3-5. They had a very tough schedule, including the last 3 which were against the Lakers, Clippers and Raptors. Look out for 3 players on their squad to turn up in this game. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter Jr. They have a combined 54.4 PPG in the seeding games. In this game, I’ll take the Nuggets to go up 1-0 on the series.
And then, probably the most lopsided matchup on paper is up next, or is it. The Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets face off in their 1st round matchup. Let’s start off with the Nets, who were 5-3 in the seeding games. They had a pretty easy schedule, beating teams like the Wizards, Kings and Magic. They were led by, probably, the Most Improved player of the seeding games in Caris LeVert. He averaged 25 PPG, 6.7 APG and 5 RPG. However, they had to deal with a lot of adversity, when they lost Spencer Dinwiddie and DeAndre Jordan due to opt-out. This made room for some of their role players to step up including Joe Harris and Jarrett Allen. On the Raptors side, they were one of the hottest teams in the bubble as they posted a 7-1 record in the seeding games. Along the way, they beat teams like the Lakers, Heat, and the Nuggets. They are led by Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol and Pascal Siakam. Of those three players, they have a combined 40.8 PPG in the seeding games so far. Look for these three to go off in this first game. These two teams are two of the hottest in the East. However, I only pick one and that one is the Brooklyn Nets. I think LeVert will be too much to handle for that Raptors defense.
The penultimate game of the day is next, with the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics. The key loss that the Sixers endured was the injury of Ben Simmons. He is a revolutionary point guard who can take over a game within a snap of a finger. However, they have Joel Embiid back for this series. Let’s see what he will down against the Celtics. Speaking of the Celtics, they have a great looking team who just ended a 4-game winning streak with a loss to the lowly Wizards. But, this won’t stop the Celtics from going on a run. With the trio of Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown along with role players like Gordon Hayward and Marcus Smart, look out for this team to make a Finals run. Because of this, I’m easily taking the Celtics to command their 1-0 lead in the series.
And finally, the game everyone will be watching tonight. The battle of the top 5 duos take place when the duo of Kawhi, PG and the Clippers and Luka, KP and the Mavericks. The Clippers duo have a combined PPG average of 54.5, while the Mavericks duo have a combined PPG average of 60.5. Those are crazy numbers, but that’s not all. Both teams have really good depth. The Mavs have the sharpshooting Seth Curry, the big out of Germany Maxi Kleber, and the recently traded Tim Hardaway Jr. On the other hand, the Clippers have the defensive king in Patrick Beverly, the Sixth-Man nominee Montrezl Harrell and the also recently traded Marcus Morris. Both this are great up and down the rosters, but the one question is, who will come out on top. Drum roll please……………the Mavericks will shock the world and beat the Clippers to go up 1-0 in their series.