Tag Archives: nba sports playoffs

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.

This list is based on the games played on Thursday night, this list is not based on who had the most points, it’s about who had the best impact on the floor, all things considered.

1. Chris Paul

Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns close out the New Orleans Pelicans in a 115-109 win in the “valley”. Chris Paul had a historic night shooting 100% on 14-14 shooting which has never been done in the postseason in NBA history, Paul had a great game 6 finishing with 33, 5 boards, 8 assists and a steal. Devin Booker also came back from his hamstring injury he suffered in game 3 of this series, Booker was supposed to be sidelined for 2-3 weeks but came back in historic fashion. The Suns will now play Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the western conference playoffs.  

2. Joel Embiid

    Embiid and the 76ers route the Toronto Raptors with an immaculate 132-97 win on the road in Toronto, Embiid has a killer performance finishing with 33, 10 boards, an assist, 2 steals and 3 blocks. After dropping game 4 and 5 to the Raptors, talks in the media were starting to swirl about if the Sixers were going to choke this series and the 76ers put that one to bed last night. James Harden also had a good game finishing with 22, 6 and 15 on high percentage shooting. The Sixers will now face the Miami Heat in the second round of the eastern conference playoffs.    

3. Luka Doncic

The Mavericks are now moving onto the second round thanks to a missed wide open three by Bojan Bogdanovic to force a game 7 for utah. Luka had a pretty pedestrian game for his standards finishing with 24 points, 9 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, Luka didn’t shoot very well {38.1% FG and 40% 3PT} but still got the job done. Jalen Brunson also had a decent game finishing with 24 points but only with 3 rebounds and 2 assists. With Luka as healthy as he’s gonna be, the Mavericks will be put to the test facing the Phoenix Suns in the second round.

This list is based on the games played on Tuesday night, this list is not based on who had the most points, it’s about who had the best impact on the floor, all things considered.

1. Mikal Bridges

Mikal Bridges had a career game last night carrying the Phoenix Suns to a win to take a 3-2 series lead against the New Orleans Pelicans. Mikal had a cool 31 points 5 boards, 2 assists with also a steal and 4 blocks on high efficiency shooting {70.6% FG, 100% 3PT}. The Suns are now one game away from advancing to the second round of the western conference playoffs to either play the Dallas Mavericks or the Utah Jazz. Other Suns players had good games like Chris Paul with a 22 point double double, Deandre Ayton with 19 points. 

2. Ja Morant

Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies came to play last night with an impressive 111-109 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to take a 3-2 lead in Memphis. Ja had a huge 4th quarter last night scoring 18 of his 30 points including a double double, after getting lots of blowback from the Media and NBA fan base about Ja winning this season’s most improved player he definitely showed why he deserved it last night. This has been a chippy series with lots of trash talk between these two young teams but Memphis is doing a better job of backing it up.  

3. De’Andre Hunter

Hunter and the Hawks have been officially eliminated from the playoffs and can start their vacation early, after losing to the Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat last night 94-97 the Hawks were gentlemen swept 4-1 in this series with it mostly being not competitive. Despite the loss De’Andre Hunter had a great game finishing with 35 point double double {35 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals}. Hawks star Trae Young definitely had a series to forget as he finished with a historically bad shooting from mid range and 3 point percentage. The Hawks definitely have to add another star around Young but its safe to say De’Andre Hunter will be here for the long haul.

This list is based on the games played on Monday night, this list is not based on who had the most points, it’s about who had the best impact on the floor, all things considered.

1. Luka Doncic

Luka and the Dallas Mavericks are very close to closing out this series, with a 102-77 win last night over the Utah Jazz Luka Doncic put on a show with a 33 point double double and 5 assists. The Mavericks are only one game from closing the series out and will look to do so on Thursday night, with Donovan Mitchell going out in the second half with an injury this game was over in a hurry. Since coming back from injury in game 4 Luka has been nothing short of spectacular, scoring over 30 in both games since his return. 

2. Jayson Tatum

Tatum and the Celtics are the first team to advance to the second round of the playoffs, sweeping the Brooklyn Nets 4-0 many are now seeing Tatum as the next superstar in this league and he deserves it, he played great all around on this series both sides of the floor from scoring over 30 multiple times to guarding Kevin Durant he was spectacular. Tatum last night had a cool 29, 3 and 5 on pretty efficient shooting {56.3% FG, 66.7% 3PT}. The Celtics will now be waiting for the winner of the Bucks vs Bulls series to see who their next opponent is. 

3. Pascal Siakam

Is this series going to game 7? Spicy P and the Toronto Raptors have now won back to back games forcing a game 6 against the Philadelphia 76ers, thanks to Pascal Siakam having great back to back games, finishing last night with a 23 point double double with also 7 assists. Five different Raptors contributed with double digits including Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr., Scottie Barnes and Precious Achiuwa. The Raptors will look to force a game 7 on Thursday while the 76ers look to finally end the Raptors season.

This list is based on the games played on Sunday nights, this list is not based on who had the most points, it’s about who had the best impact on the floor, all things considered.

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo

    With this series pretty much over Giannis and the Bucks put the Bulls away in game 4 with a 119-95 win to take a 3-1 series lead with a chance to end it on Wednesday. The Greek Freak had a cool 32, 17, 7 and 2 blocks, even with all star Khris Middleton being out the Bucks have still been handling business. Giannis and the Bucks have mostly handled the Bulls this series with blowout wins in the Bucks favor every game besides game 2. Since Middleton has been down some Bucks players have been stepping up like Grayson Allen and Bobby Portis.  

2. Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat handled business once again against the Trae Young led Atlanta Hawks, with another blowout win last night {110-86} the Heat are up 3-1 in this series and are looking to put Atlanta away rather quickly. Jimmy Buckets had a nice game with 36, 10, 4 with 4 steals and a block. The Heat have put the clamps on Trae Young this series and with another bad game by Young {9 points on 3-11 shooting} the Hawks have been awful when Trae plays poorly. 

3. Nikola Jokic

Jokic and the Nuggets survive and push this series to a game 5 thanks to Nikola Jokics 37 points on high efficiency. Even with Steph Curry scoring 33 points off the bench it still wasn’t enough for the Warriors to put the Nuggets away for good, five different Nuggets players scored in double digits last night including Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordan, Monte Morris, Bones Hyland, and DeMarcus Cousins. Even with Curry and Klay Thompson combining for 55 points it still wasn’t enough.

This list is based on the games played on Saturday nights games, this list is not based on who had the most points, it’s about who had the best impact on the floor, all things considered.

1. Jayson Tatum

    Tatum and the Boston Celtics take a 3-0 lead with a 109-103 win over the Brooklyn Nets last night and it looks like this series is pretty much over. Tatum had a magnificent game, leading the team in points with 39, with also 5 boards, 6 assists and a team high 6 steals. With game 4 taking place on Monday the Celtics will look to end this series rather quickly and move into round 2, it’s reported Ben Simmons will be back for game 4 making his long-awaited Nets debut but there’s no tape to see what impact Simmons will have on that Brooklyn team.

2. Karl-Anthony Towns

Karl-Anthony Towns came to play in game 4, evening up the series 2-2 with a monster game of 33 points and 14 boards with also a few assists as well, this series has been chippy for the most part so far with each team trash talking one another, giving it that old school rivalry. With Towns and the Timberwolves having a rough game 3 they were looking to bounce back in a big way in game 4 and they did exactly just that, with Game 5 taking place on Tuesday night in Memphis both teams will be looking to take a commanding 3-2 lead. 

3. Pascal Siakam 

Spicy P and the Toronto Raptors hold on to avoid getting swept in this first round series against the Joel Embiid led 76ers with a 110-102 win in game 4. Siakam had a great game filling up the stat sheet with 34 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and 2 blocks on decent mid range shooting {52.6%}. With game 5 heading back into Philadelphia the Sixers will look to end the series in a gentleman’s sweep, With Fred VanVleet getting hurt in the first half this Raptors team is nothing short of a big underdog to the 76ers.

This list is based on the games played on Friday nights games, this list is not based on who had the most points, it’s about who had the best impact on the floor all things considered.

1. Chris Paul

With Devin Booker being out for the next couple weeks Suns leader Chris Paul has to come up big and he did last night, securing the 114-111 win over the New Orleans Pelicans to take a series lead of 2-1. Paul had a cool 28 with 14 assists with a couple rebounds and of course no turnovers again. The point god once again is showing why he’s considered to be a top point guard in this league and maybe in NBA history, Paul came up big in the second half with scoring or assisting in over half the Suns points in the second half. 

2. Trae Young

I put Trae Young on this list for the sole fact he basically hit the game winner to give the Hawks a fighting chance in this series, Trae did not necessarily have a good game but he did in all get the win and in the playoffs that’s what really matters. Ice Trae didn’t shoot very efficiently {42.9% FG, 33.3% 3PT} but did still have 24 points with 4 boards and 8 assists. The Hawks haven’t had some of their key pieces like Clint Capela and Lou Williams but still have found ways to win and be competitive for the most part.

3. Grayson Allen

The Bucks dominated the Chicago Bulls with a 111-81 win last night to take a 2-1 series lead and wow was this a slap in the face for Bulls fans, after game 2 Bulls fans were optimistic about having a real shot in this series and Milwaukee just showed them the business, Grayson Allen was surprisingly the Bucks leading scorer with 22 points along with 6 boards to go with a steal and a block, with the Bucks being ahead most of the game the Bucks played a deep lineup giving the starters and the rotational players a break. Game 4 will be on Monday with a chance for Milwaukee to really put this series away.

This list is based on the games played on Thursday nights games, this list is not based on who had the most points, it’s about who had the best impact on the floor all things considered.

1. Jalen Brunson

With another big win for the Dallas Mavericks, Mavericks Guard Jalen Brunson put on another show last night scoring 31 points and leading Dallas to another big win 126-118 taking the series lead 2-1 without Luka Doncic in the lineup. If i were Jason Kidd {coach of the Mavericks} i wouldn’t rush Luka back, id make sure he’s 100 percent and slowly put him into the lineup, the Mavericks look like they have the series locked down and thanks to Brunson he’s now emerging as a good number 2-3 option for this team.  

2. Nikola Jokic

Despite another loss for the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic the soon to be back to back MVP will most likely be getting swept for the second year in a row in the playoffs, without stars Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr Jokic can’t do much with this remaining cast in Denver, Jokic last night had a solid 37, 18 and 5 with 3 steals but it still wasn’t enough to beat the red hot Golden State Warriors last night. The Nuggets will look to bounce back Sunday afternoon but this series is mostly considered over. 

3. Desmond Bane

The Grizzlies pulled off a historic 26 point comeback to take a 2-1 series lead, many Grizzlies players came up big last night but in my opinion Desmond Bane had the biggest impact last night leading the team in points with 26 but also having 6 boards, 2 assists, a steal and 2 blocks. Many would say Ja Morant had the biggest impact last night with his 18 point triple double but Ja had 7 turnovers making him not as efficient as many would have thought just looking at the box score. With the series already being chippy, the Grizzlies now have the series lead and the momentum heading into game 4 on Saturday.

This list is based off of the games played on Wednesday nights games, this list is not based off of who had the most points, it’s about who had the best impact on the floor all things considered.

1. Joel Embiid

With Joel Embiid basically hitting the game winning shot in overtime against the Raptors in game 3 the 76ers won 104-101 to take a 3-0 lead in the series and look to close game 4 in Toronto on Saturday. Embiid dominated with 33, 13 and 2 with a block on high efficiency shooting and a big presence down low. With Harden not being the leading scorer Embiid has been huge for this team in these playoffs so far.   

2. Demar DeRozen 

DeRozen and the Bulls tie up the series 1-1 and the Series now potentially wide open with injury to Kris Middleton of the Bucks, Middleton has a MCL Sprain and will undergo further testing but with Milwaukee’s second best player being out this gives the Bulls a fighting chance to steal a few games and maybe the series. DeRozen went off last night scoring 41 points with 7 boards and 4 assists with a steal and 2 blocks also. Chicago barely edged out the Bucks winning 114-110 but hey a win is a win. 

3. Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis may have lost this game but the series isn’t over, the series is only tied at 1-1 but Kris Middleton did go down with a MCL Sprain, so milwaukee may be out its second best player for a couple games but Giannis can get it done, last night he had a monster game scoring 33 points with 18 boards and 9 assist and to go with that a steal and 2 blocks. Considering the Bucks lost their second best player and only lost by 4 points i wouldn’t be so worried if i was a Bucks fan.