Author Archives: Tyler

Suns vs Mavericks

        Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks get it done vs the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix was really sloppy in this game and did not come prepared. Between Chris Paul and Devin Booker they had twelve turnovers, which is unacceptable if they want to close out this series. Luka had a great game with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists, Jalen Brunson also came to play with a game high 28 points and shooting 7-7 from the free throw line. Five different Dallas players had double digits including Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson, Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kebler. 

Sunday we’ll see if Phoenix has a bounce back game which I think will happen, Chris Paul isn’t at the age of having a good game every night but Paul has a good game for every bad game so if that’s the case game four on Sunday he’ll have a good game, Devin Booker also struggled only having 18 points which is not great for him. 

Heat vs 76ers

    Despite Jimmy Butler’s 33 point game the Miami heat still got blown out 79-99 but are still leading the series 2-1, Joel Embiid made his series debut last night having a cool double double in his return {18 points and 11 rebounds} in 36 minutes. Danny Green had a phenomenal game finishing with 21 points shooting 7-9 from three, even though Joel Embiid didn’t have a crazy game, Sixers players like James Harden and Tyrese Maxey had good games as well finishing with 21 for Maxey and 17, 8 and 6 from James Harden. 

Besides Jimmy Butler the rest of the Heat team didn’t come to play, besides Butler the second highest scoring player on Miami was Tyler Herro with 14 points which is unacceptable, no other players on the Heat scored in double digits, Kyle Lowry returned to the starting lineup but didn’t score any points in his 25 minutes of playing time. I think the Heat will have a bounce back game.

In this list I compiled 5 players who will likely be traded or signing with a new team in free agency, I’ll be factoring in all small details like injury history, happiness with role on the team, contract, and age.

1. Zach Lavine

Zach Lavine is a unrestricted free agent this summer and could sign with any team, Lavine has spoken out about free agency and said he’s weighing all his options but in his quote to the media it sounded like he was saying goodbye to Bulls fans. Lavine and the Bulls have a good roster with many pieces on it but still got outed in the first round of the playoffs 4-1 by the Milwaukee Bucks, Lavine switched to small forward and his numbers all decreased slightly but there’s still a glimpse of hope for Lavine to return to the Bulls.

2. Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook despite having a down year in his standards is still a valuable player to the right team, Russell has proven he’s not a winning player but if you are a bottom team and are looking to fill the seats and be a fun fringe playoff team Westbrook is exactly what you want. With the Lakers and Westbrook pairing being a disaster this season it’s very likely that Westbook gets moved this offseason and the team trading for him wouldn’t have to give up much or anything at all due to his enormous contract of $47 million, and another plus on top of that is you could get that $47 million off the books after one year and have plenty of cap room. 

3. Rudy Gobert

    There’s no secret that the Utah Jazz will be shipping out either Rudy Gobert or Donovan Mitchell this offseason but my guess is it’s going to be Gobert who’s on the move, Gobert is a player you would want if your looking for help on the defensive side, Rudy is a 3x defensive player of the year, 4 time All-NBA player and many other awards. It’s been reported Gobert and Mitchell don’t have a good relationship at all and has given the organization the ultimatum of me {Gobert} or Mitchell, I could see a team like Dallas or Golden State making a move for the big man.  

4. Tobias Harris

    With Tobias Harris being on a max contract the Sixers could make a move to clear some cap room or replace Harris with a better player who fits the team scheme, Harris is averaging 16.4 points per game and is having a good year averaging over 17 a game but isn’t a max player. Despite Harris having a good year and having history with head coach Doc Rivers the Sixers have choices to make for contracts like giving James Harden, Tyrese Maxey contract extensions and with Joel Embiid already making over $40 million a year someones gonna be the odd man out and it’s gonna be Harris. I could see a team like the Hawks or the Indiana Pacers.   

5. Andrew Wiggins

Andrew Wiggins is a solid player but Golden State needs to move off Wiggins and his big contract, Despite Wiggins being named a All-Star starter this season many members of the media and NBA front offices don’t see Wiggins as a multi time All-Star or someone whos a number 1 or 2 option on a championship team, Wiggins could be packaged with center James Wiseman in a trade to help Golden State in a win now move like a Rudy Gobert. Wiggins has been solid this year averaging 17 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2 assists but most people knew that Wiggins wasn’t going to be in the long term plans for Golden State especially since the Warriors need to clear cap space for emerging player Jordan Poole who’s going to need a contract in a year or so.

Heat vs 76ers

    The well rounded Miami Heat once again cruise past the Philadelphia 76ers with a 119-103 win at home to take a 2-0 series lead. The Sixers without Joel Embiid have really struggled, James Harden has been proving that he isn’t the same player from Brooklyn when he arrived there let alone Houston, Tryese Maxey had a great game finishing with a game high 34 points on 12-22 shooting {54.5%} and Tobias Harris has also stepped up giving the Sixers 21 and 4 steals last night. The real story of this series has been the Heat’s depth from the starters to the bench players, Miami goes 9 players deep and that doesnt even include sharpshooter Duncan Robinson. Coming off the bench Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo have been sensational, Oladipo and Herro combined for 37 points and 13 rebounds.

    The real question is how far can this Miami Heat team actually go? With the east being wide open and every team dealing with some sort of issue this could be the Heat’s year to get back to the finals and make a run for a championship. 

Suns vs Mavericks

The Phoenix Suns handled business taking a 2-0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks with a 129-109 win last night. Devin Booker led the Suns in scoring with 30 and Chris Paul had another phenomenal fourth quarter scoring 14 of his 28 points. Deandre Ayton was very pedestrian only scoring 9 points in his 18 minutes of play, the Suns have been letting Luka get his numbers but it hasn’t led to winning any games yet, Luka un this series has averaged 40 points but it won’t matter cause Luka is the only player Dallas has that can get his own shot, Spencer Dinwiddie and Jalen Brunson have been mediocre to say the least in this series. 

Luka and the Mavericks will have a chance to make this a closer series heading back home for the next two games but like i said in my predictions Dallas needs another all star if they want to be true title contenders and Phoenix is exposing that.

Warriors vs Grizzlies

    Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies handled the Warriors with a 106-101 win to tie the series up 1-1. Thanks to Ja’s historic night finishing with 47 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals the Grizzlies are proving the doubters wrong, very few fans and members of the media picked Memphis to have any sort of chance to make it this far, especially because they’re one of the youngest teams in the playoffs. Besides Ja, none of the other players from Memphis had a big night, in fact the second highest scorer on the Grizzlies was Ziare Williams with 14 points. 

    Now for the Warriors they need to look themselves in the mirror, especially Klay Thompson who has for the most part looked like a shell of himself this season and in particular the playoffs, Klay finished with 12 points on terrible shooting {5-19} and even on the defensive side the Grizzlies have been targeting Thompson which used to make him that all star plus kinda player. For the rest of the Warriors they have been good for the most part, Stephen Curry had another good game finishing with 27 points on below par shooting but nonetheless is still giving you the production you need from him.

Celtics vs Bucks

The Boston Celtics torched the Milwaukee Bucks last night 109-86 to even the series up 1-1 on Boston’s home court. With an explosive game from Jaylen Brown {25 points in the first half} the Bucks had no answer for Brown in game 2, Brown filled up the stat sheet with 30 points, 5 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block on high efficient shooting {61.1% FG, 60% 3PT}. Also Jayston Tatum had a good game finishing just under Brown with 29 points. Boston brought the physicality last night and the Bucks had no answer for it.

The bigger concern was why did Giannis have such a poor game? Yes it looks like he had an alright game if you’re looking at the box scores but through the first half Giannis only had 5 points on 2-12 shooting which for his standards is awful. The Celtics have to feel pretty good for themselves right now considering there’s no Khris Middleton this series, they handled the Bucks without Marcus Smart last night and the Celtics defense shut down Giannis.

Suns vs Mavericks

        Devin Booker led the Phoenix Suns to a 121-114 win over the Dallas Mavericks Monday night taking a 1-0 series lead. The Suns had a great night all around getting a balanced team effort in the scoring category with six different players in double digits including Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Chris Paul, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder and Cameron Johnson. Booker and Ayton led with Booker’s near triple double {23, 9 and 8} and Ayton dominating on the inside.        

    Despite the Suns leading for mostly the whole game I wouldn’t be so comfortable if i was a Suns fan, Phoenix can’t find a way to stop Luka which is a problem, Luka dropped a near triple double with 45 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, if the Mavericks can get someone else to step up like Jalen Brunson or Spencer Dinwiddie the Suns could be in trouble. My prediction for this series still remains about the same with the Suns winning in 6 games.  

Heat vs 76ers 

Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat take game 1 at home with a 106-92 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s been confirmed that 76ers Superstar Joel Embiid will miss the first two games of this series with an orbital fracture and a mild concussion from game 6 of the 76ers first round matchup against the Raptors. With the 76ers being short handed this is Miami’s time to take a lead without the MVP finalist, With no Embiid and James Harden looking like a shell of himself this year the 76ers could be in some deep water even if it’s only one game. Last night Phili had no answer for Heat’s Tyler Herro, scorching hot from three, making big shot after big shot, scoring 25 points and 7 assists on 52.9% shooting and 66.7% 3 point shooting. 

P.J Tucker also made a huge impact last night, having a Draymond Green effect on the last night’s game, maybe not putting up huge numbers but his physical presence was a huge factor in last nights game. James Harden needs to step up in this series if the Sixers want any shot at advancing to the next round because 16 points on 38.5% shooting isn’t going to cut it especially if Embiid is out.

Bucks vs Celtics

    Despite the box score this game wasn’t close. The two time MVP Giannis  Antetokounmpo was destroying the Celtics no matter what they tried to do to slow the Greek Freak down. The Bucks had four different players score in double digits including Giannis  Antetokounmpo {24}, Bobby Portis {15}, Jrue Holiday {25} and Grayson Allen {11}. Despite the Bucks missing key players like Kris Middleton and George Hill they still managed to handle the Celtics in Boston to steal game 1.        

    The Celtics on the other hand found their match in Milwaukee, this is a bad matchup for Boston and everyone knows it, unless you have a dominant big like Embiid to match Giannis’s production your always going to be at a deficit against the Bucks. Boston was more rounded in scoring with five players in double digits including Jayson Tatum {21}, Al Hroford {12}, Jaylen Brown {12}, Marcus Smart {10} and Derrick White {10}. My prediction was the Bucks in 7 but not to overreact to one game but this series could go maybe 6 games if the Celtics manage to have a good shooting night. 

Warriors vs Grizzlies 

    This game was way closer than it should have been, with Klay Thompson missing two free throws down the stretch, Draymond Green getting ejected in the second quarter and the Warriors going cold from three, missing six shots down the stretch, this really was the Grizzlies shot to steal a game and make this a series, many in the media is saying this series already feels over which I can conclude it is, now i do see the Grizzlies stealing maybe one game but this series is going max 6 games if something unlucky happens like bad officiating or a lucky shooting night from Memphis. 

Scoring wise Jordan Poole had himself a career game last night finishing with 31 points 8 boards and 9 assists on high percentage shooting {60% FG, 50% 3PT}, Stephen Curry didn’t have a bad game either finishing with a cool 24 points. As for the Grizzlies Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. had themselves a game finishing with a near 34 point triple double for Ja and 33 and 10 for Jaren Jackson Jr.

First we’ll start with the Bucks and Celtics series. This series all depends on what the Celtics will do with Giannis, the Celtics should do what the Raptors did with Giannis in 2019 creating the formula of the “wall”. With Kris Middleton being out this whole series with a MCL sprain, so with the Bucks missing it’s arguably best closer and second best player on the team and the Celtics coming off a phenomenal series against the Nets this will be the best series in the eastern conference. 

    The league’s best defense will look to rely on their bigs {Al Horford, Robert Willaims, and Daniel Thies} to slow down Giannis, in my opinion the Key piece for the Celtics is Marcus Smart because he’s coming off a defensive player of the year award and so playing point guard this season has been big plus for Boston and Smart. My prediction for this series: Bucks in 7.

    This Series is solely going to rely on the health of Joel Embiid, with Embiid dealing with an orbital fracture and a mild concussion in game 6 in the first round of the Raptors series. The Heat also have been dealing with injuries with point guard Kyle Rowry. If the Heat can steal a couple games without Embiid the series could be over before the MVP finalist comes back, James Harden will be a huge factor in this series because if he can average 25 and 15 on decent shooting percentage the Sixers could split on the Heats home floor. Jimmy Butler will be guarding Harden or Maxey and that will be the factor that the Heat will do to shut down Maxey and Harden. 

Sixers fans will be crossing their fingers that Embiid comes back healthy and early. The Heat are coming off a quick series against the Hawks in 5 games with the players rested and JImmy Butler especially 100% because he sat the final game of the Hawks series. If Embiid comes back by game 3 my prediction for this series is Sixers in 7.

First we’ll start in the western conference today and the Eastern conference tomorrow, 

The Phoenix Suns vs the Dallas Mavericks, I see this series going one of two ways, either the Suns will throw lots of different bodies at Luka Doncic like Miami did with Trae Young to slow him down, now i don’t see Luka Doncic really getting slowed down but i can see the Suns giving Luka a hard time getting open looks and making him become more of a playmaker rather than the leading scorer that he is. With Devin Booker being back in the lineup after suffering a slight hamstring injury in game 2 of the Suns, Pelicans series the Suns will look to get Booker back to 100% with a couple days between series. 

The key to stopping the Mavericks is slowing down Luka and if they can do that the Suns will take this series quick. Prediction barring no injuries I have Suns in 6. 

Next the Golden State Warriors vs the Memphis Grizzlies, unlike the Suns, Mavericks series i don’t see this series being much of a fight for a couple reasons, 1. The Grizzlies are a very young team unlike the Warriors whose main stars are veterans besides Jordan Poole, 2. The Warriors have more rest than Memphis, Memphis is only getting one day between series for rest while the Warriors have Multiple days to rest and get prepared for the Grizzlies. 

Also the Grizzlies star player isn’t a great shooter which will be a bad matchup for Memphis. The Warriors death lineup has also been a problem for teams this season so it will force Memhpis to play small which worked against the Timberwolves but it wont work against the Warriors. My prediction for this series is Warriors in 5.