The best time of the year is here… the NBA playoffs have finally arrived. The NBA playoffs are always exciting and this year seems like it won’t be any short of it. The looks of this playoffs makes it seems like it could go down as one of the best of all time to watch.
Before the first round kicks off, let’s get into the predictions by the staff of SidelineCue…
Thanks to Jonah Bar-or. Henry Harshbarger, Valentino Gnocchi, Abraham Chao, Cole Huff, Chandra Tupurani, Jakson Peach, James Friske, Jake Berlin, Joey Barrett, Sebastian Castro, and Aidan Baller for all participating.
Heat (1) vs Hawks (8)
This will be one of the more intriguing first seed matchups in the first round we’ve seen in a while. The Hawks are coming off a season where they went to the Eastern Conference Finals, so I’d definitely watch out for them and keep note of this series.
Prediction: Heat in 6
[10 votes for Heat and 3 Votes for Hawks]
Celtics (2) vs Nets (7)
Another great matchup to watch out for is the Celtics vs the Nets. Kyrie Irving going against his former team in the playoffs and also a matchup of Kevin Durant vs Jayson Tatum will be insane to watch. This series could really go both ways, going to be a competitive one to watch for sure.
Prediction: Celtics in 7
[9 votes for Celtics and 4 Votes for Nets]
Bucks (3) vs Bulls (6)
It’s going to be interesting to see the reigning champions play again in the playoffs and to see the Bulls in the playoffs after some time. The Bulls were one of the top seeds before dealing with some injuries, this series could be a lot closer than we think.
Prediction: Bucks in 5
[13 votes for Bucks and 0 votes for Bulls]
76ers (4) vs Raptors (5)
Another series where it will be closer than people think. When you think of the Raptors, you don’t necessarily think they could beat a potential duo of Harden vs Embiid due to the superstars vs non-superstars both teams are equipped with. One team has a bunch of stars and another two superstars.
Prediction: 76ers in 6
[9 votes for 76ers and 4 votes for Raptors]
Suns (1) vs Pelicans (8)
The Pelicans are coming off a great win vs the Clippers in the play-in tournament in what was one of the best play-in games I’ve seen yet. The Pelicans are very gritty and have some veterans that could potentially make some noise. The Suns are the top team in the league this season and it hasn’t been very close, they are expected to take care of business here.
Prediction: Suns in 4
[13 votes for Suns and 0 votes for Pelicans]
Grizzlies (2) vs Timberwolves (7)
One of the playoff matchups I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on for sure. The Timberwolves were able to go 2-2 vs the Grizzlies this year in the regular season and had played Ja Morant really well all year. It’s going to be a fun series to watch.
Prediction: Grizzlies in 6
[11 votes for Grizzlies and 2 votes for Timberwolves]
Warriors (3) vs Nuggets (6)
If the Nuggets were healthy, I think a lot of people would be taking the Nuggets here without a doubt. This matchup will end up having to be about Jokic vs the Warriors and we’ll see how the reigning league MVP does against them in the playoffs in a high-intensity environment.
Prediction: Warriors in 6
[8 votes for Warriors and 5 votes for Nuggets]
Mavericks (4) vs Jazz (5)
This matchup was going to be one of the close ones with Luka playing Game 1 or him not. The Jazz have been on a sort of downslide in recent weeks and the Mavericks are going to be without Luka for Game 1 of this series. Hopefully, Luka is able to come back in Game 2 so we can see both teams at near full-strength go at each other.
Prediction: Mavericks in 7
[7 votes for Mavericks and 6 votes for Jazz]
