Evaluating the Current NBA Playoff Picture

Posted on by

Over the course of this NBA season, there have been so many season-altering injuries, intriguing transactions and unexpected breakout performers that have changed the perspective on the current state of the playoff picture.

Regardless of who your favorite team is and how they are doing in the standings, from an overall competition standpoint, this NBA season seems to be up in the air for the taking, and there is plenty of dust still to be settled amongst the leagues elite.

In the western conference, injuries to the brightest stars of the conference have overshadowed an otherwise very balanced field. LeBron James and Anthony Davis have missed significant time for the NBA champion Lakers, Jamaal Murray is out for the year for the young Nuggets and just the other day we saw Jazz guard Donavan Mitchell leave a game early with a scary lower leg injury.

There are about five very legitimate teams in the West this year, and all of them have the potential to be crowned an NBA champion this summer.

The Lakers need to get healthy, once they are at the point of full strength, they are the no-doubt favorite to reach the NBA Finals out of the west.

The Phoenix Suns currently sit in second place in the west, a crazy feat for a team that has been a basement dweller of the league for years prior to the arrival of Chris Paul.

The other three teams are familiar contenders who have had some playoff success in the past, the Clippers, Jazz and Nuggets are all viable options to make a deep run in this postseason.

On the outside looking in, it is hard to ignore what Steph Curry is doing for the Warriors. He is scoring at a crazy high clip right now and single handily keep Golden State in the mix for the NBA play-in tournament that will send the final two playoff teams into the bracket.

https://twitter.com/CurrysGoated/status/1383868011719708683?s=20

Over in the East, it is a top-heavy race of the big three-headed monster. The Brooklyn Nets have made the required moves to be considered the biggest threat to the Lakers for the NBA title, yet they can’t seem to get healthy and have all of their top guns on the floor at the same time.

While the Nets fight through the injury bug, the Philadelphia 76ers continue to be a force for any team. With the return of Joel Embiid, the Sixers are looking like a very complete team, especially on the defensive end.

Rounding out the top three, the Milwaukee Bucks are still figuring out their consistency dilemma. Some nights they look like a team that will be a top title contender, while other nights look like they have never played together. The Bucks are a team with a lot of playoff expectations due to their lack of recent success in the postseason, and another early exit will not sit well for the job of head coach Mike Budenholzer.

After the top three teams in the East, the middle of the pack is a very tightly contested race to avoid having to enter the play-in tournament.

The Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics and Miami Heat are all just finding their identities after many up and downs to this point, and they are trailed by a pack of under .500 teams that are still looking to find that extra gear.

The Predictions:

Prior to the season, I predicted that we would see a matchup of the 76ers vs. Bucks in the East finals. Much has transpired since those predictions, causing me to have to reconsider my selections ahead of my final predictions before the playoffs.

With the acquisition of James Harden to an already potent offensive lineup, the Nets seem like the team to beat in the East and will most likely have a pretty unscathed route to the conference finals.

Alongside them, the Philadelphia 76ers should finally overcome their second-round woes and make it as well, setting up a battle of interior domination and defense versus outside shooting and pace.

The 76ers will be considered underdogs in this series, as they should be. I believe it will be very tightly contested especially with both arenas swallowing fans back in the buildings, making for homecourt advantage like we haven’t seen in a few years.

The Nets are too good though, their depth off the bench with the likes of Blake Griffin, Jeff Green and Landry Shamet provide more than what the Sixers bench can do, and the shot-making ability of Brooklyn will be too much for the foul-reliant offense Philly runs.

East Finals: Brooklyn beats Philadelphia in 6 Games

Out west, my preseason prediction was the classic Lakers vs Clippers duel everyone wanted to see last season in the bubble.

Since then, both squads have only added to their already stacked rosters. The Clippers now have a long line of shotmakers in Nic Batum, Luke Kennard and Terrance Mann. Serge Ibaka and Ivica Zubac on the inside will have their hands full with Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell.

With the injury to Jamaal Murray, I don’t see the Nuggets being able to muster enough to go pound for pound with the Clippers or Lakers this time around, but the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns are definitely capable of pulling an upset.

With that being said, I am sticking to my prediction of Lakers vs Clippers in the Western Conference finals for 2021, with the Lakers returning back to the NBA Finals and beating the Clippers in 7 games.

Setting up what will be an NBA Finals for the ages. Barring both teams are at full strength, this could go down as one of the most star-studded NBA Finals to date.

LeBron James chasing number five, just one away from MJ’s six. Kevin Durant will look to defeat LeBron for the third straight time in an NBA Finals, and Kyrie will go against the man he once lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy with, in Cleveland.

Buckle your seatbelts folks, we are headed for the stretch drive.

Evan Power, Evolution 107.9

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *