J-Speaks: 2024 NBA Playoff Preview

We are here at last. After one of the most compelling, competitive, scrutinized regular seasons in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA), we are now at the best time and in this case one of the most anticipated moments of an NBA season, the NBA Playoffs. This postseason is especially compelling with the high number of storylines in this spring’s opening round. Will the boys from “Beantown” finally win banner No. 18 after being on the doorstep in the past half-dozen springs? What will happen for the boys from “Disneyworld,” “Hoosiers’ Country,” and “OKC” in their first postseason appearances since 2020 restart in Orlando, FL? Can the defending NBA champions rise to the moment once again and win consecutive titles? What will the 2021 champions from the “Cheese State” do this postseason, especially at the start of it without their main “headliner?” Those are some of the questions we will dive into in the 2024 J-Speaks 2024 NBA Playoffs: First-Round Preview.

(1) Boston Celtics versus (8) Miami Heat
            (64-18)                            (46-36)

Season Series: Celtics Won 3-0
Playoff History: BOS defeated MIA 4-1 2010 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
                            MIA defeated BOS 4-1 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals
                            MIA defeated BOS 4-3 2012 Eastern Conference Finals
                            MIA defeated BOS 4-2 2020 Eastern Conference Finals
                            BOS defeated MIA 4-3 2022 Eastern Conference Finals
                            MIA defeated BOS 4-3 2023 Eastern Conference Finals

For the third straight season and for the fourth time in the last five seasons and for the fifth time since 2010, the boys from “South Beach” will lock horns with the boys from “Beantown.” The winner of the first six encounters went on to represent the Eastern Conference in The Finals. That is certainly the outcome the boys from “Beantown” are hoping for and on paper they enter these Playoffs as the clearcut favorites to make The Finals and win championship banner No. 18. That being said, their first challenger, even without their heart and soul and top scorer comes in with a lot of confidence and history of making life for the series opponent a difficult one.

Behind a top ranked offense and top ranked defense, the Celtics were the best team not just record wise in the Eastern Conference, with a 14-game difference in the standings over the No. 2 Seeded New York Knicks but they were seven games better than the top two seeds in the Western Conference in the Oklahoma City Thunder and defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets. They were eight games better than the No. 3 Seed in the West in the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Their perennial All-Star duo of Jayson Tatum (26.9 ppg-7^th NBA, 8.1 rpg, 4.9 apg, 47.1 FG%, 37.6 3-Pt.%) and Jaylen Brown (23.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.6 apg, 49.9 FG%, 35.4 3-Pt.%) were their spectacular selves in leading the Celtics to their 14^th 60-plus win season in their storied history.

They were solid against the Heat during the three-game season series.  Tatum averaged 24.7 points, 8.7 boards, and six assists on 47.4 percent from the field. Brown against the Heat averaged 21.7 points and 6,3 rebounds on 53.1 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from three-point range.

Offseason additions in Jrue Holiday (12.5 ppg, 4.8 apg, 5.4 rpg, 48.0 FG%, 42.9 3-Pt.%) and Kristaps Porzingis (20.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.9 bpg, 51.6 FG%, 37.5 3-Pt.%) fit in like gloves on both ends of the hardwood.

Derrick White (15.2 ppg, 5.2 apg, 46.1 FG%, 39.6 3-Pt.%) had a career-year and gave the Celtics another major offensive weapon that can score and create offense for others.

The main question entering this season for the Celtics outside of Tatum and Brown, White and “Mr. Consistent” in veteran Al Horford (8.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 51.1 FG%, 41.9 3-Pt.%) how would the rest of the supporting cast perform in a must-win season for the “C?”

Well the likes of Payton Pritchard (9.6 ppg, 46.8 FG%, 38.5 3-Pt.%), Sam Hauser (9.0 ppg, 44.6 FG%, 42.4 3-Pt.%) and Luke Kornet (5.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 60.0 FG%) have played well in their roles.

The question now for second-year head coach Joe Mazzulla’s squad is can the supporting cast alongside Tatum and Brown bring it in the postseason?

Holiday has proven in his postseason career that he can raise his level of play on both ends as evidence in 2021 when he helped the Milwaukee Bucks win their second title in their history three postseasons back.

Last season though against the Heat with the Bucks, Holiday got torched at the defensive end by a certain Heat All-Star (more on his absence in a moment) and that was one main reason the top seeded Bucks were taken down 4-1.

Can Kristaps Porzingis, who is in the postseason for just the third time in his nine-year NBA career, play to a level on both ends of the hardwood, where he can be a real difference maker.

In 2020 postseason with the Mavericks versus the Clippers he showed glimpses of it with averages of 23.7 points and 8.7 rebounds on 52.5 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from three. But was only a three-game sample size as he also missed three games in that series.

When the two Western Conference foes faced off again in the opening-round a year later, Porzingis was a shell of himself averaging just 13.1 points and 5.4 boards. While he shot a decent 47.2 percent from the field, he shot just 29.6 percent from three.

If Porzingis is the sharp shooting post-up scoring performer that he played like this season for the Celtics, their chances of dominating this series will be a reality.

In the season series against the Heat, Porzingis performed to his season numbers of 20.3 points and 7.3 rebounds on 63.3 percent from the floor.

Many thought entering this season the Celtics biggest threat was going to be the Heat, no matter how they played in the regular season.

True to form, the Heat had to make the Playoffs through the Play-In Tournament and they did so. After losing the No. 8 versus No. 7 Play-In contest at the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night (105-104 on ESPN), the Heat bounced back with a dominant 112-91 win on Friday night versus the No. 9 Seeded Chicago Bulls and earned for the second straight season the No. 8 and final Playoff spot in the East.

“The Play-In Games are fun, you know. I’d rather not be in the Play-In Game. But they’re fun,” Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I have an incredible appreciation, you know, for having an opportunity just to make the Playoffs. I have an incredible appreciation for the things you can’t buy. Things that you have to earn. We had to earn this.”

Unlike last season where the Heat reached the NBA Finals through the Play-In Tournament, they will start this postseason without their heart-and-soul in perennial All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler (20.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 5.0 apg, 49.9 FG%, 41.4 3-Pt.%), who injured his MCL in his left knee in the opening period at the 76ers and was absent for their victory versus the Bulls.

What has separated the Heat not just over the past two seasons but ever since Hall of Famer Pat Riley came to town nearly three decades ago is their intestinal fortitude, grit, and toughness to be able to overcome anything and that they are more than just a one-man show.

They have fellow All-Star Bam Adebayo (19.3 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 52.1 FG%) averaged a double-double on the season for the second time in the last three seasons and for the third time in his last five seasons.

There is Tyler Herro (20.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.5 apg, 44.1 FG%, 39.6 3-Pt.%), who has shown that he can score and create for others, especially in the postseason. 

The Heat were in position to win and claim the No. 7 spot in the East on Wednesday night because of Herro, who despite an abysmal shooting performance of 9/27 from the field, including 4/14 from three scored 25 points with nine assists in 41 minutes. He had a more efficient shooting performance in a near triple-double with 24 points, 10 boards and nine assists on 8/17 from the floor and 4/9 on his triple tries.

“I mean obviously they’re the best team by numbers, statistically in the league. It’s going to be a huge challenge for us. But we’re built for it. We’re excited and we’ve got to cover for Jimmy. So, we’re going into Boston with a great mentality and mindset, and we’ll be ready to roll,” Herro said postgame following the win over the Bulls to ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth.

Then there is Terry Rozier (19.8 ppg, 5.6 apg, 36.3 3-Pt.%), who the Heat acquired in late January from the Charlotte Hornets. Following a slow start, Rozier found his niche in the Heat’s offense and the hope is he can come back from a six-game absence (neck spasms) and be that other offensive threat alongside Adebayo and Herro.

When Herro missed practically all of last postseason with a broken hand suffered in the first game of the opening round at the Bucks, it was Caleb Martin (10.0 ppg), who stepped up and performed, especially in the East Finals versus the Celtics where he averaged 19.3 points on 60 percent shooting in the seven-game series triumph.

The shots that Adebayo, Herro, and Rozier will hopefully create off the attention they will draw from the Celtics defense, the likes of rookie Jaime Jaquez, Jr. (11.9 ppg, 48.9 FG%), Duncan Robinson (12.9 ppg, 45.0 FG%, 39.5 3-Pt.%), Nikola Jovic (7.7 ppg, 45.2 FG%, 39.9 3-Pt.%) and veteran Kevin Love (8.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg), Haywood Highsmith, and veteran Patty Mills will make those shots from the perimeter to loosen up that gritty Celtics defense.

In the Heat’s playoff clinching win versus the aforementioned Bulls, the supporting cast played really well. Jaquez, Jr. scored 21 points with six boards, and six assists on 8/16 shooting. Love scored 16 with seven rebounds off the bench, making two triples and 10/10 at the charity stripe. Highsmith scored nine off the bench with three steals and Robinson scored eight also making two threes off the pine.

This win was another example by the Heat of them even without their best player in Butler, that the rest of the team was going to be prepared for the moment and they were going to deliver, regardless of what others on the outside might think of their chances.

It was also the Heat 14^th in 15 times on the season where they held their opponent under 100 points.

When asked in his postgame presser about what as the team captain he said to his team in the 48 hours leading up to their do-or-die contest versus the Bulls, Adebayo, who scored 13 on Friday night said that there was anyone that “has any doubt” or “if you are scared get a dog.” “Don’t show up because it doesn’t do anything but effect the people who really believe that we can get a win.”

The other wrinkle that the Heat will bring to this series is their zone defense, which they deployed for only 16 possessions in total in the three games against Celtics.

They used it effectively against the Sixers on Wednesday night holding them to 39 points in the opening half to lead 51-39 at intermission. But the sharp-shooting of Nicolas Batum in the second half turned the tide and the Sixers took care of business outscoring the Heat 66-54 in the second half, including 36-30 in the fourth quarter.  

The times when the Celtics faced that Heat zone defense, they managed rather easily, especially from three-point range.

In the Celtics 143-110 win at the Heat on Jan. 25, 2024 (TNT), the Celtics torched the Heat defense, shooting 63.7 percent from the floor (51-80 FGs), including going 22/40 on their triple tries and were 19/20 at the charity stripe.

The first six times the Celtics and Heat have locked horns, it was a very competitive, hard fought, knockout, drag-out series with a lot of high drama.

The Celtics are the better team on paper. They have everything in their favor in terms of how the East Playoff bracket has shaped up. They are healthy and have been focused on conquering some major playoff demons that they have faced over the past three postseasons that has kept them from winning a title in the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown era.

They have the team, offensive and defensive scheme, and hunger to take care of business against a game and gritty Heat squad that will battle and scrap. But the Celtics should prevail and reach the East Semis for the seventh time in the past eight seasons.

Series Prediction: Celtics in five games.  

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers versus (5) Orlando Magic
               (48-34)                                      (47-35)

Season-Series: Tied 2-2
Playoff History: ORL defeated CLE 4-2 2009 Eastern Conference Finals 

A decade-and-a-half ago, the boys from “Disneyworld” took on the boys from “The Land” for the Eastern Conference title. It was the Magic who prevailed behind their then star man in the middle and their marksmanship from three-point range in six games, which denied the nation seeing Finals match with the then best young star in the game against one of the legends in the game. This matchup between the two squads has young star power for the boys from “Disneyworld” against a veteran star of “The Land” and his squad who are trying to have a better showing in the postseason then they did a season ago.

In the fourth quarter of their regular season finale versus the NBA Draft Lottery-Bound Charlotte Hornets, the Cleveland Cavaliers were outscored 32-14 in the fourth quarter and lost 120-110, which dropped them from having the No. 2 Seed to the No. 4 Seed to take on the Orlando Magic in the opening-round of the 2024 Playoffs.

For the Cavaliers, they won three fewer games than they did a season ago because of their abysmal 12-17 finish post All-Star break.

A big part of the struggles by head coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad in the unofficial second half of 2023-24 season was the frequent absence of All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell (26.6 ppg, 6.1 apg-career-high, 5.1 rpg-career-high, 46.2 FG%, 36.8 3-Pt.%), whose injured left knee and a nasal fracture shelved him for 16 of the Cavs 27 games post All-Star break, including.

Donovan Mitchell  Pre-All-Star Break: 28.4 ppg, 6.3 apg, 1.9 spg, 47.3 FG%, 36.1 3-Pt.%
2023-24 Season      Post All-Star Break: 19.5 ppg, 5.2 apg, 1.5 spg, 40.4 FG%, 40.2 3-Pt.%

The health of Mitchell, who closed the regular season averaging just 14.3 points on 33.3 percent from the field the last six games played will play a major role in how the Cavaliers will fair in this series because when he played well against one of the league’s best defensive teams, the Cavs rolled against the Magic.

In the two wins in the season series by the Cavs over the Magic (121-111 at home Dec. 6, 2023 & 126-99 in ORL), Mitchell averaged 30 points, 9.5 assists and five boards on 48.8 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from three.

While Mitchell sat out the 116-109 loss versus the Magic Feb. 22, 2024, the first game post All-Star break, he only managed just 22 points and three assists, with three steals on just 6/18 shooting, including 2/10 from three in the 104-94 setback at the Magic on Dec. 11, 2023.

If Mitchell plays to the tune of 27.3 points, 7.3 assists, and 2.7 steals he averaged against the Magic in 2023-24 (44.3 FG%; 35.7 3-Pt.%), that will for sure help the Cavs cause. 

“You go from (Most Valuable Player) talks to then you’re hurt, and people forget about you,” Mitchell told Cleveland.com about his up-and-down season. “People can say what they want to say. When you’re out and hurt. You’re not there…You’ve got to continue to put your stamp on the game every chance you get. I feel like I’m one of the best players to play this game, so it’s about just continuing to go out there on a daily basis, working, showing it, and proving it.”

What will also help the Cavs if they can get consistent play from their young core players in Darius Garland (18.0 ppg, 6.5 apg, 44.6 FG%, 37.1 3-Pt.%), Evan Mobley (15.7 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 57.9 3-Pt.%), and Jarrett Allen (16.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 63.4 FG%-4^th NBA).

In the Cavs’ first Playoff appearance last spring versus the New York Knicks, Garland, Mobley, and Allen struggled with the Knicks physicality and they just crumbled under it going down 4-1 in that opening-round series.

A broken jaw early this past regular season really hindered Garland, who averaged 3.6 points and 1.3 assists less than he did a season ago and his efficiency shooting wise dropped from 46.2 percent from the field and 41.0 percent from three a season ago. 

Those missed games by Garland also hindered the chance to build even more chemistry with Mitchell. If they can find any cohesion now in their postseason series tilt with the Magic, that will for sure go a long way in helping them win their first Playoff series since 2018.

Unlike the postseason last spring, the Cavs are going into this postseason with much better perimeter snipers in Max Strus (12.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.0 apg, 35.1 3-Pt.%) and Georges Niang (9.4 ppg, 44.9 FG%, 37.6 3-Pt.%), Sam Merrill (8.0 ppg, 40.4 3-Pt.%) and Marcus Morris, Sr. 6.4 ppg, 40.3 3-Pt.%).

To put into context how important perimeter shooting was in the four-game season series between the Cavs and Magic, the Cavs shot 39.6 percent from three compared to the 33 percent by the Magic. The Cavs outscored the Magic by close to 15 points in the four games from three. 

In the Cavs’ aforementioned win on Dec. 6, 2023, they were 14/34 from three-point range, while the Magic were an abysmal 2/23 from the three-point line.

Those additions have allowed the likes of Isaac Okoro (9.4 ppg, 49.0 FG%, 39.1 3-Pt.%) and Caris LeVert (14.0 ppg, 5.1 apg) to be able to play in spots that are necessary instead of being counted on to make shots from the floor, which they have their highs and lows in such scenarios these past couple of seasons

Allen coming off that disappointing series against the Knicks put together the best season of his career where he averaged a career-high in scoring average. Averaged a double-double for the third time of his career and set a career-best with 42 double-doubles.

Against the Magic though, Allen was below his season averages outside of his field goal percentage with 11 points and 9.8 boards on 69.2 percent from the floor.

Mobley, who had knee surgery in the early part of the regular season that shelved him for 22 games in December 2023 and January and then missed nearly three weeks in March with a sprained ankle also hampered his growth as a player and he too was just averaged against the Magic in the two games he played averaging just 15 points and 6.5 rebounds on 61.9 percent from the floor.

Even with the highs and lows offensively from Mobley, the one constant he has brought to the hardwood has been defensively, which is where the Cavs have made their money these past two seasons.

They ranked No. 7 in points allowed (110.2); No. 6 in opponent’s field goal percentage (46.3%); and No. 4 in opponent’s paint points (46.5).

For the Magic, they are back in the Playoffs for the first time since the league’s restart in 2020 in Orlando, FL due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic and will be making just their third postseason appearance in the past 12 springs.

Third-year head coach Jamahl Mosley’s, a top candidate for Coach of the Year, is led by a pair of talented youngsters in 21-year-old Paolo Banchero (22.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 5.4 apg, 45.5 FG%) and 22-year-old Franz Wagner (19.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.7 apg, 48.2 FG%), who have the Magic in position to hopefully being a run of being in the postseason for many springs to come.

Banchero at 21 years and 154 days old became the youngest player in NBA history to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, and assists for a single-season. The reigning Kia Rookie of the Year and first time All-Star also led the Magic in minutes, shots, and free throws.

During their four-game series against the Cavs, Banchero averaged a team-leading 23 points and 6.3 boards on 46.1 percent from the floor.

As great as the duo of Banchero and Wagner have been for the Magic at the offensive end, the team as a whole was in the bottom six in scoring (110.5-24^th). In the middle of the pack in overall shooting (47.6 FG%-15^th). In the bottom six in three-point percentage (35.2%-24^th).

While the Magic led the NBA in free throws attempted during the regular season (24.4), they were near the bottom in free throw percentage (75.9%-26^th). They made up for that by ranking No. 8 in paint points per contest (51.8) and were No. 2 in points off turnovers (18.6).

When the Magic made over 10 threes during the regular season, they went 34-23 and just 13-12 when they made under 10 triples.  

In the Magic’s win on Feb. 22, 2024 at the Cavs, they shot 51.2 percent from the field and made 14/25 from three and 16 of their 18 foul shots.

Where the Magic made their mark in reaching 47 wins this season is at the defensive end, where they were No. 4 in points allowed (108.4); No. 3 in forced turnovers (15.0); No. 5 in steals (8.2); No. 10 in opponent’s three-point percentage (35.8%); and No. 6 in rebounding differential (+2.4).

In the four-game set against the Cavs, the Magic averaged 23 points off the Cavs miscues compared to allowing.

That defense is anchored by All-Defensive First or Second team candidate Jalen Suggs (12.6 ppg, 47.1 FG%, 39.7 3-Pt.%) and Gary Harris (6.9 ppg, 44.1 FG%, 37.1 3-Pt.) in the backcourt and the front court of Wendell Carter, Jr. (11.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 52.5 FG%), Moritz Wagner (10.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 60.1 FG%) and Jonathan Isaac (6.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 51.0 FG%, 37.5 3-Pt.%).

“It’s been a while since, you know, a lot of us here have played meaningful basketball at the end of the season,” Suggs said of he and most of his teammates first upcoming Playoff game of their careers.

“So, we’re all looking at this as a real fun opportunity. We’ve been kind of preparing and waiting for this moment for, you know, three weeks, four weeks now. And to finally be here, it’s fun. Let’s go get some road-kill. So, just very excited.”

The wild cards for the Magic in this series could be Cole Anthony (11.6 ppg) and veteran Joe Ingles with their ability to strike a match from three-point range.

This is a series that comes down to who can make shots and whose defense can take care rise to the moment.

The Cavs are the ones with the experience, even if it is small. But the Magic play with the kind of physicality that was the Cavs kryptonite last spring against the Knicks.

The Magic have the healthier star in Banchero while Mitchell is not quite as healthy.

The Magic also entered this postseason in better spirits with a 16-10 to close the season since their last meeting with the Cavs on Feb. 22, 2024. The Cavs on the other hand have gone just 12-16 since that last meeting. The one advantage is the Cavs have home court and have the postseason experience having their introductory to postseason hops last spring.

“There’s no substitute for going through it. You have to go into that first game and then you’ll understand exactly what it means and what it feels like,” Coach Mosley said about the Magic’s first postseason experience most of his team will go through against the Cavaliers.

“And then from there, that’s when the adjustments are made. Communication picks up even more. So, them being able to go through it is the most important piece right now.”   

Series prediction: Cavaliers in seven games.   

(2) New York Knicks versus (7) Philadelphia 76ers
              (50-32)                                    (47-35)

Season Series: Knicks Won 3-1
Playoff History: 76ers/Syracuse Nationals 6-3 Versus Knicks
Most Recent Series: NYK defeated PHI 3-0 In Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

For the boys from the “Big Apple” and the “City of Brotherly Love” they have each battled adversity this season, losing a key player. While one team found a way to thrive without a key part of their roster, the other squad hit a dry spell but recovered thanks to the return of their headliner and earned their way into the postseason through the Play-In Tournament. Now the two Atlantic Division rivals square off the in the opening-round of the Playoffs for the first time since 1989.

For the New York Knicks, this was a very remarkable season that saw them win 50 games for the first time since 2012-13, the last time they won a round in the postseason before their run last season to the East Semis where they lost in six games to the Miami Heat.

This season, the Knicks, who closed 2023-24 NBA regular-season campaign on a five-game winning streak earned consecutive postseason trips for the first time since they authored three straight postseason appearances from 2011-13.

The boys from the “Big Apple” earned their second straight postseason berth thanks to being the most physical team in the league. Being tough-as-nails defensively. Being the best rebounding team in NBA and having one of the most consistent performers in the league in first-time All-Star and sure fire first time All-NBA selection in Jalen Brunson (28.7 ppg-8^th NBA, 6.7 apg, 47.9 FG%, 40.1 3-Pt.%).

How great was Brunson, coming off averages of 27.8 points and 5.6 assists on 47.4 percent from the floor in the 2023 Playoffs? His 36 30-plus points games during the regular season are tied with Hall of Famers Richie Guerin (1961-62) and Patrick Ewing (1989-90) for the most in a season in Knicks history. His 11 40-plus point games were tied with Ewing (1989-90) for the second most in a season in Knicks history, trailing only the 13 such games by Hall of Famer Bernard King (1984-85).

Against the Sixers in the four regular-season meetings, Brunson only averaged 22.3 points on 40 percent from the field and 30 percent on his triple tries. 

“I’ve grown to realize that to be able to be the best player you can be, you have to be able to read situations at a high level at all times. I think I learned that last year Game 6 when it really mattered and I didn’t show up,” Brunson said of his 41-point performance in the Game 6 loss of the East Semis against the Heat that ended the Knicks season last May 2023.

“Why else do you work hard? Why else do you want to do things like this? You work for moments like these. Now it’s just time to focus on Game 1 and see what we got.”

Things were really looking up for the Knicks thanks to a nine-game winning streak and going 14-2 in January in large part to the acquisition of OG Anunoby (14.7 ppg, 48.9 FG%, 38.2 3-Pt.%), whose sharp-shooting and defensive versatility fit in well with the Knicks.

The whole complexion of the season for head coach Tom Thibodeau’s squad changed though in a Jan. 27, 2024 victory (125-109) versus the Heat (ABC) when they lost All-Star Julius Randle (24.0 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 5.0 apg, 47.2 FG%) to a dislocated shoulder sustained in the fourth quarter.

Randle tried to comeback but the shoulder did not heal and that shelved him the final 26 games of the season.

They also lost Anunoby for 18 straight games and 26 out of 29 games from late January to early April, 2024.

With Anunoby in the lineup, the Knicks were an incredible 20-3 averaging 114.1 points on 47.6 percent from the field and giving up just 101.7 points from the floor and just 13-15 without Anunoby averaging just 109.3 points and allowing 108.2 points. 

Before that, the Knicks lost starting center Mitchell Robinson (5.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 57.5 FG%) for 50 games from early December 2023-late March 2024 due to ankle surgery.

What allowed the Knicks to stay in contention for the No. 2 Seed, which they eventually got thanks to winning their regular-season finale on Sunday afternoon (120-119) in overtime versus the Chicago Bulls is the incredible depth of their roster.

Josh Hart (9.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 4.1 apg), Brunson’s former teammate at Villanova University, who the Knicks acquired at the trade deadline a season ago, developed into the Knicks ultimate Swiss army knife providing scoring when needed, rebounding, assists and versatility at the defensive end. In his first 418 regular season games, Hart had zero triple-doubles. In a 24-game stretch while Anunoby was on the shelf, Hart registered all six of his career triple-doubles as part of his career-high 21 double-doubles on the season.

Against the 76ers in their four-game season series, Hart averaged a double-double of 12.3 points, 14.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in 39 minutes. 

Hart and Brunson’s other teammate in college Donte DiVincenzo (15.5 ppg, 44.3 FG%, 40.1 3-Pt.%) went from being a solid reserve into a valuable starter and authored one of the best three-point shooting seasons in Knicks history. His 283 total made three set a new career-high but set a new single-season franchise record, surpassing the 241 made by Evan Fournier in 2021-22. 

Along with acquiring Anunoby on Dec. 30, 2023 from the Raptors, the Knicks acquired Precious Achiuwa (7.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 50.1 FG%) and he really performed in the absence of Anunoby and Randle, where a near double-double as a starter of 12.5 points and 9.5 rebounds on 52.6 shooting in his 18 starts with the Knicks.

The loss of Robinson also opened playing time for Isaiah Hartenstein (7.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 64.4 FG%), who put up 8.7 points and 9.4 boards on 66.3 percent from the floor in 49 starts.

In a trade deadline deal with the Detroit Pistons, the Knicks added more sharp shooting with the acquisitions of Bojan Bogdanovic (15.2 ppg, 45.4 FG%, 39.8 3-Pt.%) and Alec Burks (10.4 ppg, 37.6 3-Pt.%), who was with the Knicks from 2020-22.

The Anunoby deal also opened the door for guard Miles McBride (8.3 ppg, 45.2 FG%, 41.0 3-Pt.%), who showed his ability to both defend and shoot from the perimeter, especially from three.

Regardless of what the Knicks did offensively during this season, they won games because of their defense ranking No. 2 in points allowed (108.2); No. 6 in paint points allowed (46.9).

The Knicks were also one of the best rebounding teams in “The Association” leading the league in rebounding differential at +4.5. They were also one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the NBA, leading the league with 12.7 offensive rebounds and 16.5 second chance points.

In their season series, the Knicks dominated the 76ers, winning by an average of 17.8 points, including winning in both their visits to the 76ers. The Knicks first victory in enemy territory was by 36 (128-92) on Jan. 5, 2024 (ESPN), which was their third largest margin of victory on the season. In their 14-point triumph (110-96) Feb. 22, 2024 at the Sixers, Brunson had a double-double with 21 points and 12 assists.

After a 79-73 loss versus the 76ers on Mar. 10, 2024, the Knicks bounced back taking down the 76ers 106-79 two nights later (TNT) when they got Anunoby back from an 18-game absence.

For much of this season, the talk was about the Knicks being the second-best squad in the Eastern Conference. Before that, it was the 76ers that were described as that, especially with how the reigning MVP Joel Embiid (34.7 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 5.6 apg, 52.9 FG%, 38.8 3-Pt.%) played at the start of this season.

When new head coach Nick Nurse’s squad got off to a 28-13 start to this season, they were 25-6 with Embiid in the lineup and just 3-7 without him.

The Sixers season took a major swing in the wrong direction when Embiid was lost for almost two months because of a left meniscus injury sustained Jan. 30, 2024 at the Golden State Warriors (TNT).

The Sixers went from No. 5 in the East down into the Play-In portion of the East, going 11-18 without Embiid despite the efforts first-time All-Star and Most Improved candidate Tyrese Maxey (25.9 ppg, 6.2 apg, 45.0 FG%, 37.3 3-Pt.%).

Embiid did return to play five out of the final seven games to close the regular season, averaging 30.4 points, 9.2 boards, and 5.2 assists on 49.5 percent shooting.

In the one game that Embiid did play against the Knicks, the first one which was a 36-point loss as previously mentioned, Embiid scored 30 points with 10 rebounds on 10/23 from the floor and 9/12 at the foul line.

While Embiid is back and having the best co-pilot a star of his caliber could have in Maxey, the Sixers fortunes in how they do this postseason will rest on their co-stars of Tobias Harris (17.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 48.7 FG%, 35.3 3-Pt.%), Kelly Oubre, Jr. (15.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 44.1 FG%), Buddy Hield (12.1 ppg, 43.6 FG%, 38.6 3-Pt.%), Cameron Payne (7.4 ppg, 39.0 3-Pt.%), Kyle Lowry (8.1 ppg, 4.2 apg, 39.2 3-Pt.%), Paul Reed (7.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 54.0 FG%), and Nicolas Batum.

During this regular season, Harris played his best in the 22 games Batum did not play with averages of 20.7 points and 6.6 rebounds on 53.8 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from three-point range.

The Sixers though were a solid 36-24 when Batum played this season and 11-11 when he did not.

In the Sixers 105-104 win on Wednesday night versus the Heat, their ninth win in a row dating back to the regular season in the No. 8 versus No. 7 Play-In Game that clinched that won them the No. 7 Seed, Embiid led the way with 23 points, 15 boards and five assists going 9/10 at the foul line. He scored 11 of those 25 points coming in the fourth quarter with four rebounds going 3/5 shooting, including 2/2 from three-point range after going 3/12 shooting and 6/7 at the charity stripe the first three quarters.

But it was Batum’s performance that got the Sixers over the finish line with a season-high 20 points with five boards on 7/12 from the floor, including 6/10 from three. Maxey scored 19 with six assists. Oubre, Jr. scored 11 with eight rebounds.

Along with Embiid’s fourth quarter performance, Batum scored eight in the final period going 3/6 from the floor, including 2/4 from three. Maxey also scored six points in the final period making all four of his foul shots.

In the Sixers lone win over the Knicks (79-73) as previously mentioned Mar. 10, 2024 (ESPN) without Embiid or Maxey, it was Oubre, Jr. that led the way with 18 points and 10 boards. Hield scored 16 with seven boards going 4/6 from three. Reed scored 13 with seven rebounds. Harris also had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. 

On a night where the 76ers also struggled offensively in the lowest scoring combined game  since 2016 shooting just 38.8 percent from the floor themselves, making just 9/30 from three, it was their defense that ruled this contest as they held the Knicks to a season-low 73 points on 32.5 percent from the floor and 9/40 from three-point range and forced 21 Knicks turnovers that the visiting Sixers turned into 17 points.

For as great as the Knicks were defensively this season, the Sixers were a top rank defensive team as well. They ranked No. 9 in points allowed (111.5); No. 6 in opponent’s three-point percentage (35.4%); No. 2 steals per game (8.5); and tied No. 6 in block shots (6.0). 

If the Sixers are going to advance past the Knicks, they will need their defense to be at their best, especially against Brunson, where they will need for the likes of Maxey, Batum, Lowry, and at times Oubre, Jr. to slow the Knicks leading scorer at the point of attack on the perimeter and for Embiid to offer some resistance in the paint when Brunson drives down the lane to score.

“He’s unique in that he’ll play any pace that he feels is necessary,” Coach Nurse said of Brunson. “There’s a lot of times he has the ball and he’s throwing it ahead and pushing pace, which they obviously did to us a couple of times.”

“I think a lot of team’s board against us. Like let’s get it up the floor and try to attack the rim before Joel’s back. It almost go to two extremes everywhere and in between with him. Controlling pace, I just want to make sure we’re back if it’s fast. And I want to make sure we’re making him work if it’s slow.”

It will also be on Maxey, who averaged 25.9 points and 6.2 assists on 45 percent from the floor and 37.3 percent on his triple tries against the Knicks in three games to attack Brunson defensively to wear him down defensively.

The last time the Knicks and 76ers met in the postseason, the boys from the “Big Apple” swept the best-of-five series (3-0). In Game 2 of that series, Mark Jackson in the final seconds nailed a long three-pointer  that sealed a 107-106 win on Apr. 29, 1989. In Game 3  Gerald Wilkins capped a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double with eight assists hit the go-ahead three-pointer in the final seconds of overtime that won it for the Knicks (116-115) on May 2, 1989. The Sixers, with chance to win it and extend the series fell short when Hall of Famer Charles Barkley’s last second jumper hit the iron as time expired.

The Sixers might have the star headliner in this series in Joel Embiid. They might have the best co-star in Tyrese Maxey. The Knicks have a player who has shown the past two seasons he can play to the level of any star headliner in the league Jalen Brunson, and they have one of the best two-way players in OG Anunoby.

The Knicks also have the more consistent ancillary players in Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, Donte DiVincenzo, Precious Achiuwa, Isaiah Hartenstein, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Miles McBride. They also have homecourt advantage and the Knicks have played very well at Madison Square Garden this season, registering the third best home record in the East at 27-14. 

“There’s no better place than a big game in ‘The Garden,’” Coach Thibodeau said of Knicks Playoff hoops at Madison Square Garden. “For the people that have been through it. I think the players all knew it. It’s what makes that building MSG. It’s loud. It’s passionate. Just a great atmosphere. If you love competition, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Series Prediction: Knicks in seven games.  

(3) Milwaukee Bucks versus (6) Indiana Pacers
             (49-33)                                  (47-35)

Season Series: Pacers Won 4-1 (1-0 In IST)
Playoff History: IND defeated MIL 3-0 In 1999 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
                            IND defeated MIL 3-2 In 2000 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

For two straight seasons, the boys from “Hoosier Country” were the veteran team and the boys from “Cheese country” were the up-and-coming squad. Almost two-and-a-half decades later it is boys from “Cheese country” that are the veteran bunch and the boys from “Hoosier Country” are the up-and-coming squad with a high-powered offensive attack that enters this series as a legitimate threat to win as their opposition will start this series without their headliner.

For the Milwaukee Bucks, had an up-and-down season that has seen them go through a lot of change.

While they were No. 2 in the East after 43 games (30-13) record, the Bucks front office felt they were not to the level of the Celtics who rolled through this season.

So the Bucks fired first-year head coach Adrian Griffin in late January 2024 and hired right from the ESPN broadcast booth Doc Rivers, three games after assistant coach Joe Prunty went 2-1 before Rivers took over.

While the Bucks played better at times under Coach Rivers, especially defensively, they were just 17-19 under their new head coach.

Things went from bad to worse at the close of the season when two-time Kia MVP and perennial All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.4 ppg-2^nd NBA, 11.5 rpg-6^th, 6.5 apg, 61.1 FG%-7^th NBA) in the Bucks 104-91 victory Apr. 9, 2024 versus the Celtics (TNT) went down with left calf strain early third quarter. He missed the last three games of the season, including the Bucks’ regular season finale this past Sunday at the Magic (113-88) that dropped the Bucks from the second to the third seed in the East.

The Bucks not only lost their best scorer and rebounder, and their second-best passer, they lost the league leader in paint points per game (20.3).

Antetokounmpo shredded the Pacers back on December 13, 2023 for a career-high and single-game franchise-record of 64 points with 14 rebounds and four steals on 20/28 shooting and 24/32 at the foul line.

The game though was remembered for the conclusion when Antetokounmpo was upset that the game ball was taken by the Pacers who gave it to rookie Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first career points. Antetokounmpo was so upset that he had to be held back by security from running into the Pacers locker room to retrieve the game ball.

“I don’t know yet. No,” Coach Rivers said of Antetokounmpo’s status for Sunday’s Game 1 versus the Pacers. “We’re still hoping. He hadn’t done anything. So, would we throw him out there? Yeah. We would. But, for us, it’s still we’re not sure.”

Not having Antetokounmpo is a major blow for the Bucks, they do have the kind of squad that can is good enough to get the job done.

They have fellow perennial All-Star Damian (24.3 ppg, 7.0 apg, 35.4 3-Pt.%), who the Bucks acquired in the offseason from the Portland Trail Blazers for moments like this. To be the head of things offensively like he was for the Trail Blazers.

Lillard though is coming into this series not 100 percent dealing with a hip and adductor soreness since Apr. 9, 2024. He did practice on Friday and Coach Rivers said to the media about Lillard, “He looked good.”

Lillard did say that he did not push himself in the Bucks’ regular season finale loss (113-88) at the Magic last Sunday afternoon that dropped them from No. 2 to the No. 3 Seed.

“After that it was just like we got a week to get right, to get ready and that was kind of the focus,” Lillard, who is back in the Playoffs for the first time since 2021 while still with the Portland Trail Blazers said on Friday. “I didn’t want to go out there with my pride or doing anything unnecessary. That was kind of the plan.”  

They have several members of their championship team from 2021 in Khris Middleton (15.1 ppg, 5.3 apg, 4.7 rpg, 49.3 FG%, 38.1 3-Pt.%), Bobby Portis (13.8 ppg,7.4 rpg, 50.8 FG%, 40.7 3-Pt.%), Pat Connaughton (5.6 ppg), and Brook Lopez (12.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.4 bpg, 48.5 FG%, 36.6 3-Pt.%).

The Bucks also have solid ancillary players in Jae Crowder (6.2 ppg) and Patrick Beverly, who will be counted on defensively in this series against the high-octane offense of the Pacers.

Speaking of boys from “Hoosier Country” they are back in the postseason for the first time since the 2020 restart in Orlando, FL.

They got back to the postseason behind one of the best offensive outputs for a season in NBA history. They led the NBA in points per game (123.3); field goal percentage (50.7); assists (30.8); paint points (57.9). The Pacers also ranked No. 9 in three-point percentage (37.4%); No. 4 in fastbreak points (16.6); No. 7 in second chance points (14.9); No. 4 in points off turnovers.

The Pacers during the season were 23-4 when they registered at least 20 fastbreak points.

The Pacers pace offensively really gave the Bucks a lot of problems as they averaged 128.8 points in the five-game season-series, scoring 120-plus points in all five tilts against the Bucks.  

Leading head coach Rick Carlisle’s high-octane offense was two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton (20.1 ppg, 10.9 apg-Led NBA, 47.7 FG%, 36.4 3-Pt.%), who registered a career-high 44 double-doubles on the season.

Haliburton was particularly special to start this season averaging 24.2 points and 12.7 assists on 49.6 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from three-point range, making on average 3.5 triples in 34.1 minutes. But in the 34 games after returning from hamstring injury that shelved him for 10 games, Haliburton averaged just 16.3 points and 9.3 assists on 44.6 percent shooting, including 32.4 percent from three on 2.3 made triples in 30.7 minutes.

When asked about how that hamstring is entering this postseason, Haliburton said in an interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews during the Thursday edition of “NBA Today,” said that his body “feels good.” That he feels that he is hitting that “second stride.”

“Usually that kind of comes in the middle of the year. But I’ve obviously dealt with injuries and trying to get back after All-Star break and trying to get my body right. So, honestly, I feel really good. Kind of the best I’ve felt since early in the year.”

When asked about competing against the Central Division rival Bucks, Haliburton said that he is “looking forward,” to competing against a “championship level team.”

 

 

Against the Bucks this season, Haliburton was sensational in the five games averaging 27.0 points, 11 assists and 5.8 rpg on 53.2 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three-point range. That included his effort of 27 points, 15 assists and seven boards on 11/19 shooting with three made triples in the Pacers 128-119 win over the Bucks in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament Semis on Dec. 7, 2023.

Scoring off those Haliburton assists this season was a solid cast of Myles Turner (17.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.9 bpg, 52.4 FG%, 35.8 3-Pt.%); Aaron Nesmith (12.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 49.6 FG%, 41.9 3-Pt.%); Obi Toppin (10.3 ppg, 57.3 FG%, 40.3 3-Pt.%); Jalen Smith (9.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 59.2 FG%, 42.4 3-Pt.%) and Andrew Nembhard.

The other cog that the Pacers bring into this series is All-Star Pascal Siakam (21.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 53.6 FG%), who brings championship experience and another scorer since he was acquired from the Toronto Raptors Jan. 17, 2024.

The Pacers also have a wild card in Haliburton’s understudy in T.J. McConnell (10.2 ppg, 5.5 apg, 55.6 FG%), who was a part of the highest scoring bench in the league at 46.8 points per contest.

The Pacers chances in this series would have been even higher if they had second-year sensation Bennedict Mathurin (14.5 ppg, 44.6 FG%, 37.4 3-Pt.%), who will be out for this postseason series because of season ending right shoulder surgery back in March.

Siakam along with Turner and McConnell are the guys on the Pacers who have the postseason experience along with Coach Carlisle, who was the sideline leader when the Dallas Mavericks won their first and only title in 2011 and Haliburton mentioned to Andrews that he and the rest of the Pacers who will be in their first postseason action have stressed to themselves to take the days leading up to their series against the Bucks “one day at a time.”

“We have a lot of guys that have not been there. So, I think we’re just trying to live in the moment. Be in the moment. And understand that this is like a day at a time.”  

While the Pacers won four out of the five meetings over the Bucks in the regular season, their season series concluded on Jan. 3, 2024. That was before they acquired Siakam 20 days later from the Toronto Raptors and before the Bucks fired first-year head coach Adrian Griffin, when the Bucks were 30-13, No. 2 in the East and replaced him with Rivers.

“Honestly, those five games don’t matter,” Haliburton said of the five-game season series win over the Bucks. "The 82 games that we’ve played don’t really matter at this point. It’s a really fresh start and we’ve just got to approach it in that way.”

The NBA Playoffs a lot of times are about matchups and the ability to know what type of team you are and to play to those strengths at a consistent level.

The Indiana Pacers, who lost in the opening round in their last five appearances since 2014 know, including in 2019 and 2020 where they sustain four-game sweeps in both instances. The last time they won a Playoff game was in 2018.

The Pacers hope they can put those postseason failures behind them because of their high-octane offensive approach and that they have proven throughout this season they can score with the best in the NBA. They have a rising star in Tyrese Haliburton and a cast around him that is as in complete sink with one another as you can be entering their first postseason in three springs.

“We’re coming in a fully confident group,” Haliburton, a Wisconsin native said to Andrews about facing the Bucks. “We really feel like we can play with any team in the NBA. We felt that way all year. We’ve proven that all year. That’s not going to change just because we’re in the Playoffs. That’s just exciting to be competing against a team that we’ve had some really competitive games with this year. “

The Bucks have struggled at times this season and they enter the Playoffs possibly without their headliner in Giannis Antetokounmpo for possibly this entire series.

Considering how their season ended last spring when they lost to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Heat in five games. They dealt Jrue Holiday last offseason for essentially Damian Lillard because they felt they needed another scorer next to Antetokounmpo, especially at the end of games to get the job done that they did not over the past two postseasons. That has not worked to level that many, especially within the Bucks expected to. That said, they have more than enough to deal with their First-Round opponent. But they will have to put it together on both ends. They showed they can score against the Pacers this season. The question is can they slow them down to the point that they can control the game.

Series prediction: Pacers in seven games.

Western Conference

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder versus (8) New Orleans Pelicans
                      (57-25)                                             (49-33)

Season Series: Thunder Won 2-1
Playoff History: First Postseason Meeting

Each series in this year’s NBA Playoffs gives a look at some teams that are going to be the future factors in not just the Western Conference but the entire NBA. This series has two of those teams in the boys from OKC, who arrived at this point sooner than expected and the boys from “The Big East.” This series also will have the ultimate question mark in terms of one of the future stars of this league for the boys from “The Big Easy,” as they will be without their star headliner in another Playoff series. The boys from “OKC” will have their star headliner as well as the potential Kia Rookie of the Year and a top candidate for Kia Most Improved Player.

It is very rare in “The Association” that the roster of a Top Seed in a conference consists of very little postseason experience. That is what the Oklahoma City Thunder are entering the 2024 Playoffs as the No. 1 Seed in the West.

When now head coach Mike Daigneault’s were last in the postseason in the 2020 restart in Orlando, FL during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, their leader was future Hall of Famer and perennial All-Star Chris Paul, with their now leader and star attraction Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Luguentz Dort with a chance to win their seven-game Playoff tilt versus the then Jaems Harden and Russell Westbrook led Houston Rockets. But his series-clinching three-point attempt was blocked by Harden in the final seconds. 

Fast forward three years later, Gilgeous-Alexander (30.1 ppg-3^rd NBA, 6.2 apg, 5.5 rpg, 53.5 FG%, 35.3 3-Pt.%) not only become the best player on the Thunder but a leading candidate for Kia MVP.

Dort (10.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 39.4 3-Pt.%) has continued to blossom into one of the best 3-and-D players in the league.

Gilgeous-Alexander (13) and Dort (6) are the ones amongst the key players in the rotation that have the most postseason experience.

Thunder GM Sam Presti at the trade deadline tried to add some postseason experience to the roster by acquiring veteran swingman Gordon Hayward (9.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 46.4 FG%, 41.1 3-Pt.%) from the Charlotte Hornets.

Hayward has struggled to fit in as the injuries he has sustained in his career have taken their tole on him.

The only other player with any kind of postseason experience is little used Mike Muscala.

What the Thunder lack in postseason experience, they have is energetic, skilled, and talented performers that have displayed throughout this season they are more than that.

Chet Holmgren (16.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.4 bpg, 53.0 FG%, 37.0 3-Pt.%) after missing his official rookie season came back to play all 82 games and was a force on both ends from the floor.

Jalen Williams (19.1 ppg, 4.5 apg, 54.0 FG%, 42.7 3-Pt.%) game back from his rookie season an even better two-way player, which has him in contention for Kia Most Improved Player.

Josh Giddey (12.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.8 apg, 47.5 FG%) continued his progression as one of the most versatile young players in the league with an ever-improving jump shot.

The rest of the supporting cast of Isaiah Joe (8.2 ppg, 45.8 FG%, 41.6 3-Pt.%), Aaron Wiggins (6.9 ppg, 56.2 FG%, 49.2 3-Pt.%), rookie Cason Wallace (6.8 ppg, 49.1 FG%, 41.9 3-Pt.%), Kenrich Williams, and Jaylin Williams have been solid.

To put into context how special of a regular season this Thunder team had, 41 percent of their minutes in 2023-24 game came from rookies and second-year players, the fourth highest rate in the league. They had the third highest percentage of minutes (23%) from their rookies and the eighth highest (18%) from second-year players. None of the other seven squads in the NBA this season had 25 percent of their minutes from rookies and second-year players made the postseason.

“Age is just a number,” Coach Daigneault said of his young team entering this postseason atop the West. “There’s a difference between youth and maturity.”   

Head Coach Mike Daigneault’s squad reached the top of the West by their ability to be very effective on both ends of the hardwood. 

On offense, the Thunder were No. 3 in scoring (120.1); No. 3 in field goal percentage (49.9%); No. 1 in the league in three-point percentage (38.9); No. 7 in paint points (52.5);  fastbreak points (15.8) and turnovers (12.7).

Defensively, the Thunder ranked No. 3 in opponent’s field goal percentage (45.5); led the NBA in forced turnovers (15.7) and steals (8.5) and ranked No. 2 in block shots. Those forced turnovers the Thunder per game turned into 20.5 points, which led the NBA.

This amazing season by the Thunder is why Coach Daigneault, 39, is a leading candidate for Kia Coach of the Year.

There is still some skepticism about how ready the Thunder are to make a serious run this postseason because of their lack of postseason experience and the fact that they are not a good rebounding team.

To bring this into clearer context, only four of the 106 teams in league history that had 33.3 percent of the minutes from rookies and second-year players won a Playoff series and only two of those squads reached the Conference Finals.

The lack of experience by the Thunder though may not matter as against a very young New Orleans Pelicans squad who had to earn their second postseason appearance in the past three seasons through the Play-In Tournament.

Two postseasons back, the Thunder announced their arrival as a team to be reckoned with moving forward with how they performed in their six-game setback in the opening-round against the then No. 1 Seeded Phoenix Suns.

They had that success without their headliner Zion Williamson, who missed the series and that entire season because of an injured foot. A hamstring strain in late January 2023 last season.

Williamson (22.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 5.0 apg, 57.0 FG%) came back this season to play a career-high 70 games.

In the Pelicans Play-In defeat on Tuesday night versus the Lakers, Williamson scored 40 points with 11 boards and five assists on 17/27 from the floor and 6/9 at the foul line. On his last bucket late in the fourth quarter, Williamson came down awkwardly and moments later asked out of the game and went straight to the locker room and did not return.

An MRI revealed that Williamson injured his hamstring and it was going to take two weeks before he can be re-evaluated. 

Without Williamson, head coach Willie Green’s squad managed to take down the Sacramento Kings for the sixth time overall on the season (105-98) on Friday night to claim the final Playoff spot in the West.

Leading the way was the Pelicans other two stars in Brandon Ingram, who had 24 points, six rebounds and six assists on 10/20 shooting. That was on the heels of a poor performance of 11 points on 4/12 shooting in his second game back from a 12-game absence due to a hyperextended left knee.

Following his nine-point performance on 4/15 from the floor, including 1/9 from three, veteran CJ McCollum scored just seven points going 3/8 from the field.

McCollum’s production was made up by Jonas Valanciunas as he had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds with two blocks on 8/16 shooting. Trey Murphy III scored 16 with eight rebounds and six assists.

Off the bench for the Pelicans, Larry Nance, Jr. scored 13 with two steals. Naji Marshall scored 11 with six boards and two steals. Jose Alvarado chipped in with 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Two postseasons back, Without Williamson, Brandon Ingram (20.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 5.7 apg, 49.2 FG%, 35.5 3-Pt.%) was stellar against the Suns. They will need him to be that and more if they plan to beat the Thunder.

Before the last two poor performances, McCollum (20.0 ppg, 4.6 apg, 45.9 FG%, 42.9 3-Pt.%) the previous seven games averaged 30.1 points, five assists, and 5.4 rebounds on 52.5 percent from three-point range (42/80 3-Pt.).

If the McCollum the Pelicans had the previous seven games emerges, that will increase the Pelicans chances in this upcoming postseason series.

The Pelicans also have the kind of role players that you want to surround the star players they have in the likes of Valanciunas (12.2 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 55.9 FG%), Murphy III (14.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 44.3 FG%, 38.0 3-Pt.%), Herbert Jones (11.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 49.8 FG%, 42.8 3-Pt.%), rookie Jordan Hawkins (7.8 ppg, 36.6 3-Pt.%), Jose Alvarado (7.1 ppg, 37.7 3-Pt.%), Naji Marshall (7.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 46.3 FG%, 38.7 3-Pt.%), Dyson Daniels (5.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 44.7 FG%), and Larry Nance, Jr. (5.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 57.3 FG%).

The Pelicans, whose 49 wins were tied for the second-most wins in a season (2008-09) in their history did it by being one of the best teams in the league on both ends of the floor. That is how they register the best road record in the league (28-14).

They will need that kind of focus on both ends to take down one of the most efficient offensive teams in the Thunder.

The Pelicans come in with players they can throw on Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams in McCollum, Murphy III, and Alvarado. They have a center in Valanciunas that can cause problems on the boards which has been a major issue for the Thunder, especially Holmgren when he has had to tangle with stronger players inside.

“There’s nothing that a team’s gonna throw at him that he hasn’t seen,” Coach Daigneault said of how the Pelicans will defend Gilgeous-Alexander. “There’s nothing a team’s gonna throw at us that we haven’t seen.”

“There’s not an infinite number of ways to play basketball, schematically, and so we’ve seen a lot of different looks over the course of the season. He’s [Gilgeous-Alexander] seen a lot of different looks over the course of time.”

The Thunder have lost counting their last postseason appearance versus the aforementioned Rockets in 2020 lost four straight First-Round series, with their last series win coming in 2016 where they reached the West Finals, where they lost to the Golden State Warriors. That was also now Phoenix Suns perennial All-Star Kevin Durant’s final season with the team.

For the Pelicans, their last postseason series win came in 2018 where they reached the West Semifinals, where they lost 4-1 to the eventual NBA champion Warriors.

The Thunder on paper have the better team. The Pelicans have the kind of role players that can impact the game.

The Thunder may lack experience. But they have homecourt advantage and they have a player that is ready to make his mark on this postseason in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Pelicans impact player in Zion Williamson will be in street clothes, missing the Playoffs again.

The good news for the Pelicans is that they have gone counting the Play-In victory versus the Kings, gone 8-5 without Williamson.  

Series Prediction: Thunder In Six Games.  

(4) Los Angeles Clippers versus (5) Dallas Mavericks
               (51-31)                                        (50-32)

Season Series: Clippers Won 2-1
Playoff History: LAC defeated DAL 4-2 2020 Western Conference Quarterfinals
                            LAC defeated DAL 4-3 2021 Western Conference Quarterfinals 

There comes a point in every team’s maturation that it is now or never when it comes to getting over the hump of competing legitimately for an NBA title. There also comes a point in a star player’s maturation of being able to advance in the postseason. That what will be a big part in third First-Round series tilt between the so-called “Little Brother” from L.A. against the boys from “Big D” where the six of the principal players in this series have a combined 47 All-Star nods, two-Kia MVPs, two NBA Finals MVPs, and six scoring titles.

Ever since 2019-20, the Los Angeles Clippers were touted as the team which was going to dominate the West and represent it in The Finals or at least compete to be in the championship round. That is a far cry from past seasons where they were lucky to just to make the postseason. Those are the expectations when you bring in a two-time NBA champion and two-time Finals MVP in Kawhi Leonard and perennial All-Star and two-way player in Paul George, and along the way 2017 Kia MVP Russell Westbrook.

Injuries at inopportune times have devastated those championship dreams for the Clippers, who have only one West Finals appearance in the Leonard and George era.

The expectations as well as the scrutiny went sky-high the early part of this past regular season for head coach Tyronn Lue’s team when 2018 Kia MVP and fellow perennial All-Star James Harden was acquired in November 2023.

Things did not start out great when Harden arrived, which brought out the pitch forks of Clipper nation and all their detractors. But the Clippers found their rhythm and even soared atop the West because Leonard (23.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.6 spg, 52.5 FG%, 41.7 3-Pt.%) and George (22.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.5 spg, 47.1 FG%, 41.3 3-Pt.%) were healthy and playing at an elite level on both ends of the hardwood.

Westbrook (11.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.5 apg, 45.4 FG%) volunteered to come off the bench to be a spark with the second unit alongside Kia Sixth Man of the Year candidate Norman Powell 13.9 ppg48.6 FG%, 43.5 3-Pt.%).

Harden (16.6 ppg, 8.5 apg-4^th NBA, 5.1 rpg, 38.1 3-Pt.%) fully immersed himself into being the Clippers’ floor general and developed real chemistry with, especially in the pick-and-roll with starting center Ivica Zubac (11.7 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 64.9 FG%-3^rd NBA).

Unfortunately, the injury bug has hit the Clippers again entering this postseason as Harden is dealing with a foot issue and Leonard is dealing with an inflamed right knee that shelved him for the final eight games of the regular season. Leonard status for Game 1 on Sunday is still up in the air. 

“At the end of the day, injuries happen,” George said on Saturday about Leonard, who missed the 2021 and last three games of their 2023 First-Round versus the Phoenix Suns because of injury. “That’s part of the game, no way of really avoiding it. As much as it is about chemistry, being on the floor together and playing the best basketball you possibly can, a lot of it has to do with luck, too…I do think at some point he’ll be with us.”

The Clippers registered their sixth 50-plus win season in their history, including their first since 2016-17 was also the result of the likes of Terance Mann (8.8 ppg, 51.5 FG%) with the starters and Amir Coffey (6.6 ppg, 47.2 FG%, 38.0 3-Pt.%), Bones Hyland (6.9 ppg) Daniel Theis (6.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 53.6 FG%), and Mason Plumlee (5.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 56.9 FG%).

The Clippers will need their entire roster to deal with a Dallas Mavericks squad that is far different from the one they won two of their three regular season meetings and who they have taken down in the postseason in 2020 and 2021.

After an unprecedented run to the West Finals in spring of 2022, the Dallas Mavericks 9-18 finish to 2022-23 left them out of the postseason party for the first time since 2019.

Through Feb. 3, 2024, the Mavericks were just 26-23 outside the Top 6 of the West. They closed the season 24-9 and earned the No. 5 Seed in the West to meet up with the Clippers in the postseason for third time.

The Mavericks headliner that makes everything go is perennial All-Star and candidate for Kia MVP Luka Doncic (33.9 ppg, 9.8 apg-2^nd NBA, 9.2 rpg, 48.7 FG%, 38.2 3-Pt.%), who once again showed himself to be an unstoppable force at the offensive end.

What is different about head coach Jason Kidd’s squad at this stage of the Doncic era compared to the early part is the supporting cast surrounding him is as cohesive as ever.

Doncic has a true tag team partner in Kyrie Irving (25.6 ppg, 5.2 apg, 5.0 rpg, 49.7 FG%, 41.4 3-Pt.%), who was healthy compared to past seasons and brought no drama to “Big D,” compared to his time with the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Nets.

To put how Irving finished the regular season, he played 31 straight games before missing the final two for rest after the Mavericks locked up the No. 5 Seed in the West.  

The complexion of the Mavericks really changed with the Feb. 8, 2024 trade deadline acquisitions of Daniel Gafford from the Washington Wizards (11.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 72.5 FG%-Led NBA, 2.1 bpg) and P.J. Washington (12.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg).

The Mavericks since the arrival of Gafford and Washington, who not only provided two more offensive tools that Doncic can use out of his toolbox, but they are two big reasons the Mavericks improved at the defensive end particularly at the rim.

Those additions took a lot of pressure off the rest of the supporting cast in Tim Hardaway, Jr. (14.4 ppg, 35.3 FG%) rookie Derrick Lively II (8.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.9 bpg, 74.7 FG%), Derrick Jones, Jr. (8.6 ppg, 48.3 FG%), Josh Green (8.2ppg, 47.9 FG%, 38.5 3-Pt.%), and Dante Exum (7.8 ppg, 53.3 FG%, 49.1 3-Pt.%).

Before the arrivals of Gafford and Washington, the Mavericks were a team that were a jump shooting team that was very inconsistent defensively. The additions have provided better balance on both ends, which resulted in a 21-9 mark, including a 16-2 record to close the 2023-24 campaign. That 16-2 mark also consisted of a mark of 12-1 over their final 13 games of the regular season.

In the Mavericks final 18 games of the regular season, Doncic averaged 33.1 points, 10.2 boards and 9.9 assists.

The first two times the Mavericks took on the Clippers in 2020 and 2021, Doncic was a one-man show. The second-best player in terms of scoring was either Hardaway, Jr. or now Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis.

This time around, Doncic, who averaged 34 points, 6.7 assists and six rebounds (52.1 FG%) versus the Clippers during the season will have a true second scorer alongside him in Irving, who has a championship ring on his career resume.

He averaged 26.5 points and six rebounds (46.3 FG%, 50.0 3-Pt.%) in two of the three games against the Clippers in 2023-24.

“After Game 1, it’s pretty much adjustments,” Irving, who has played 17 postseason series in his career, said of the message he delivered to his younger teammates about advancing in the postseason. “You just got to stay balanced and limit distractions.”

“Just do what you’ve been doing since you were a kid and have fun doing it. Our young guys will be prepared, but until they go through it, they won’t have any idea what it’s like.”

What that means for the Clippers is Leonard, George, and Westbrook will be in for a challenge in not just trying to check Doncic defensively but Irving.

If they do not have Leonard specifically, that could spell trouble for the Clippers. That will put even more pressure on George on both ends of the hardwood to be productive.

The Mavericks enter the Playoffs with series momentum with as mentioned a 16-2 mark. Their star player in Luka Doncic is as good of a groove on both ends as he as ever been in his career. The cast around him is as cohesive as you can be.

That brings some serious pressure for the Mavericks and Doncic because now, they are expected to win this series and make the kind of run they did two seasons back to the Western Conference Finals.

For the Clippers it is now or never. Whether they have Kawhi Leonard to start this series or not, they have enough to get the job done. They also have homecourt advantage and the last time they met with the Mavericks in the opening-round of the 2021 Playoffs, they lost their first three at home in that series. But won the last home opportunity in Game 7.

Series Prediction: Mavericks In Six Games.  

(2) Denver Nuggets versus (7) Los Angeles Lakers
            (57-25)                                    (47-35)

Season Series: Nuggets Won 3-0
Playoff History: LAL defeated DEN 2-1 1979 Western Conference Quarterfinals
                            LAL defeated DEN 4-1 1985 Western Conference Finals
                            LAL defeated DEN 3-0 1987 Western Conference Quarterfinals
                            LAL defeated DEN 4-0 2008 Western Conference Quarterfinals
                            LAL defeated DEN 4-2 2009 Western Conference Quarterfinals
                            LAL defeated DEN 4-3 2012 Western Conference Quarterfinals
                            LAL defeated DEN 4-1 2020 Western Conference Quarterfinals
                            DEN defeated LAL 4-0 2023 Western Conference Finals

Whether it was them closing the door on their season in the First-Round of the postseason or ending their championship journey in the West Finals, the boys from “City of Angels” blocked the championship hopes or sent the boys from the “Colorado Rockies” home early in the postseason, capturing Mr. Larry O’Brien four times in the process. Last season, the boys from the “Colorado Rockies” behind their dynamic duo turned the tied and sent the boys from “Hollywood” home in a sweep, on route to their first title in franchise history. Now the two Western Conference rivals lock horns in the opening-round of the 2024 Playoffs in what they hope is the start of their quest for back-to-back titles.

On route to their first title a season ago, the Denver Nuggets having such a comfortable lead a top the Western Conference, they had a rough close to the regular season going 12-11 post All-Star break, including a 2-5 mark to close 2022-23 NBA campaign. This season with the West so stacked, the Nuggets entered post All-Star break on a three-game losing streak answered with a six-game winning streak and an NBA-best 21-6 record post All-Star break, including a 6-2 mark to close the 2023-24 NBA campaign.

To illustrate how stacked a top the Western Conference was, the Nuggets loss at the San Antonio Spurs (121-120), where they gave up a 23-point second half lead lost out on No. 1 Seed in the West. Their 126-111 victory in their regular-season finale on Sunday at the Memphis Grizzlies clinched the No. 2 Seed because the Oklahoma City Thunder won the season-series over the Nuggets 3-1, giving them the No. 1 Seed in West.

The Nuggets 57-win season tied the 2012-13 squad for the most single-season wins in franchise history. They tied the Thunder for the best home record in the league at 33-8 and their 24-17 mark on the road tied with the Thunder, Phoenix Suns, and Heat for sixth best road mark in “The Association.”

Head Coach Michael Malone’s squad registered their 11^th 50-plus win season in their history behind one of the best top staring units in the league anchored by the MVP to be for the third time in the last four seasons in Nikola Jokic (26.4 ppg-10^th NBA, 12.4 rpg-4^th NBA,  9.0 apg-3^rd NBA, 58.3 FG%-10^th NBA), who continued his march as one of the best centers and one of the best players in the league and of all-time.

The reigning Finals MVP put the world on notice in the Nuggets march towards the title the series prior to their triumph over the Miami Heat to win their first title in franchise history when he averaged a triple-double (27.8 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 11.8 assists) in the four-game sweep of the 2023 West Finals over the Lakers.

“I think every game in the Playoff Series last year was really tough,” Jokic said of last season’s title run. He added about the Laker squad they are facing in this postseason, “Could’ve gone either way…Yes, we beat them [Lakers] 4-0, but they’re a really talented team They’re really well-built.”

Flanking Jokic is Jamal Murray (21.2 ppg, 6.5 apg, 48.1 FG%, 42.5 3-Pt.%), who despite missing 23 games due to injury put together the best season of his eight-year NBA career, picking up right where he left off in last year’s West Finals against the Lakers where he averaged 32.5 points on 52.7 percent from the floor, 40.5 percent from three-point range and 95 percent at the charity stripe. The Canadian registered just the 11^th 50/40/90 shooting line in a postseason series by a player that averaged 30 points or more.

 

It also served notice that what Murray did three postseasons prior in leading the Nuggets to the West Finals was not a fluke. He was particularly magnificent in Game 3 of the 2023 West Finals at the Lakers where he dropped 30 of his 37 points in the opening half of the 118-105 victory.  

“We’ve got to be the ones that are still taking it to them. Still being forceful. Still trying to give them no life,” Murray, who averaged 24.7 points on 47.4 percent shooting from three against the Lakers this season said of what the Nuggets approach has to be against the Lakers this postseason. “Just trying to be aware that we have a target on our back. I think that’s the most important thing.”

The dynamic twosome of Jokic and Murray are flanked in the starting lineup by sharp-shooter Michael Porter, Jr. (16.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 48.4 FG%, 39.7 3-Pt.%), who continued improvement defensively and rebounding has made him into one of the best all-around forwards in the game.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (10.0 ppg, 46.0 FG%, 40.6 3-Pt.%) and Aaron Gordon (13.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 55.6 FG%) are two of the best compliments you can have to start alongside your star headliners but are solid all-around players that do it on both ends of the hardwood.

This starting five of Jokic, Murray, Gordon, Porter, Jr., and Caldwell-Pope produced a 50-14 when they all played in 2023-24 (7-11) when one of them was out.

That continuity amongst the starters is a major reason they have defeated the Lakers counting last season’s Playoffs eight straight times, including all three meetings this past regular season and are 9-2 their last 11 games against the “Purple And Gold.”

The three areas the Nuggets dominated the Lakers in the three-game season-series was on the glass by a +8.3 (46.3-38) and were a +8.4 in Second Chance points (16.7-8.3).

The Nuggets continuity amongst their starters specifically really showed in clutch time over the past two seasons against the Lakers, where they had a +22-point differential (45-23) with the game within five points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter/overtime.

In Clutch Time Lakers Versus         LAL                DEN
Nuggets Last Two Seasons                 23     Points     55
(Including Playoffs)                           6/24      FGs    17/28
                                                            25%    FG%    61%

What will be different from last season to this season for the Nuggets are the understudies behind their starting unit. Last season, the Nuggets had trusted veterans in Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, who unfortunately because of the Nuggets high payroll sought bigger paydays back in the offseason joining Pacers and Rockets, respectively. Brown was traded from the Pacers to the Toronto Raptors in the middle of January.

This meant the likes of veterans in Reggie Jackson (10.2 ppg, 3.8 apg, 35.9 3-Pt.%), and Justin Holiday and youngsters Peyton Watson (6.7 ppg, 46.5 FG%) and Christian Braun (7.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 46.0 FG%, 38.4 3-Pt.%) were going to see minutes and for the most part they all held their own. But that was in the regular season. The postseason is entirely different and how this bench unit performs, particularly to start this postseason will go a long way in deciding if the Nuggets will be champions again. 

Which bring us to the main difference from last season to this postseason. The Nuggets are the hunted not the hunter. They are the reigning NBA champions and every team throughout this season came into action wanting to take them down. For the most part, the Nuggets held up well in the regular season. Now they have to show they can do it in the postseason.

There have teams like the great Lakers, Bulls, Celtics, Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons teams that were in the position the Nuggets were in and they saw it as a blessing, not a burden.

“Come Saturday, there are 15 other teams that want what we have. But now when you win a championship and now comes, you know, a very hungry Laker team whose pissed off that we’ve beaten them eight straight times,” Coach Malone said of this upcoming postseason tilt against the Lakers.

Over the past two seasons, the Lakers have had to use a stellar mark post All-Star break to dig out of an early season whole to need a win in the Play-In Tournament just to make the Playoffs.

The Lakers went 17-9 post All-Star break, including a 12-3 mark to close the regular season. But because the West was so stacked, they never moved from outside the Play-In to just the No. 8 spot in the West Play-In.

Since winning the title in 2020, the Lakers struggled over the next two seasons just to make the Playoffs in the bottom portion of the West due to injuries, particularly to their future Hall of Fame duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

This past season both James and Davis were pretty much injury free and their play was a big reason the Lakers stayed afloat in the Western Conference.

James (25.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 8.3 apg, 54.0 FG% 41.0 3-Pt.%), who continued his unprecedented greatness in Season No. 21 on both ends of the floor. He had his most  double-doubles (27) since the 46 he authored in their championship season and his five triple-doubles are as many as he had in 2020-21 (5). 

Davis (24.7 ppg, 12.6 rpg-3^rd NBA, 2.3 bpg-55.6 FG%) because he stayed healthy, missing only six games in 2023-24 put together one of the best seasons of his 12-year NBA career, setting career highs in double-doubles (64), which included two of his three career triple-doubles.

If the Lakers are going to put any kind of scare into the Nuggets this postseason, they need James and Davis to match level of Jokic and Murray on both ends of the hardwood.

To put into context the kind of success James has had in his postseason career, he has lost only once in the opening-round of the Playoffs, which came in 2021 versus the Suns 4-2.   

Head Coach Darvin Ham’s squad will also need the supporting cast of Austin Reaves (15.9 ppg, 5.5 apg, 48.6 FG%, 36.7 3-Pt.%), D’Angelo Russell (18.0 ppg, 6.3 apg, 45.6 FG%, 41.5 3-Pt.%), Rui Hachimura(13.6 ppg, 53.7 FG%, 42.2 3-Pt.%), Taurean Prince (8.9 ppg44.2 FG%, 39.6 3-Pt.%), Spencer Dinwiddie (10.5 ppg, 4.7 apg), Jaxon Hayes, and Gabe Vincent to play at high level, especially when it comes to making shots.

The spotlight will especially be on Russell after Murray dominated him in last season’s West Finals, where he averaged just 6.3 points on just 32.3 percent from the floor. It was so bad for Russell that Coach Ham replaced him in the starting lineup with the now departed Dennis Schroder.

“Public humiliation has done nothing but mold me into the killer that you see today,” Russell recently said.

When Russell scored at least 25 points or more this past regular season, the Lakers were 15-3. That was a far cry from the eight points on 4/11 shooting that Russell had in Game 1 of last season’s West Finals. The question is can he bring what displayed at times this season consistently this postseason to give the Nuggets something else to worry about.

When asked at the end of this week when asked about Jokic’s game is that he “does everything.” He added that the best part of his game is “that he changes the way his teammates think about their own play.”

“When you’re able to inspire your teammates to play at a level that they even sometimes don’t think they can play at, that’s a true testament of greatness.”

In the Lakers 110-106 win in their Play-In contest on Tuesday night at the Pelicans (TNT), their headliners played well and their supporting cast was productive making big plays down the stretch to hold off a Pelicans rally.

James led the way with a near triple-double of 23 points, nine boards and nine assists, on 10/10 at the charity stripes. Davis had a double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds with three blocks on 8/10 at the foul line.

While James (6/20 FGs) and Davis (6/16) did not shoot well from the field, the supporting cast made up for that. Russell scored 21 with six assists on 7/14 from the field, including 5/11 on his triple tries, including the game ceiling one that he made right in front of the Pelicans bench late in the final period. Reaves scored 16 with six assists and five rebounds on 5/11 shooting, making two triples. Hachimura scored 13.

For two teams where they do not use the three-point line as an important part of their offensive attack, it could play a role in determining the winner of this series.

In the Lakers’ Play-In victory at the Pelicans on Tuesday, they went 14/35 from three, while the Pelicans were just 9/30, outscoring them by 15 (42-27) from three-point range.

Their offensive improvement where the Lakers had the third ranked offense the final half of 2023-24 going from 35.7 percent on their triple tries the first 41 games (20^th NBA) to 39.7 percent from three (2^nd NBA).

The Nuggets in last season’s West Finals though were a +27-point differential from three-point range.

While the Lakers have lost to the Nuggets as mentioned eight straight times and nine out of the last 11 meetings it is about the now and what will they do in this postseason compared to the 2023 West Finals.

“This is our First-Round matchup and we look forward to the postseason. But I have not been looking forward to the rematch,” James said to the press on Thursday about the Lakers facing the Nuggets again in the postseason.

“We’ve just got to be better, you know, all around. I mean this is a great team we’re playing against. A team that won a championship. So, they’ve been in a lot of big games and know what they want to get to late game. So, you know, we’ve just got to be very disciplined. Have our mind into it throughout the course of 48 minutes.”

“It’s going to be challenging. But that’s what the postseason is all about. It should be.”

Outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers starting five as a whole has not shown that they can keep up with the Nuggets starting quintet, especially in clutch games. While the Lakers might have the better supporting cast, especially in their reserves, the Nuggets have the experience and the continuity to overtake the Lakers. Also, the Nuggets have the better duo in Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, whose two-many attack has proven to be unstoppable, particularly in the clutch.

Series Predication: Nuggets In Six Games.  

(3) Minnesota Timberwolves versus (6) Phoenix Suns
                   (56-26)                                         (49-33)

Season Series: Suns won 3-0.
Playoff History: First Ever Postseason Meeting.

What makes for a good postseason series is two teams that are on opposite spectrums in terms of strengths of a great offense against a great defense. That one side has proven star power and other has an up-and-coming star ready to make their mark in the postseason. What also makes for a great series are X-Factors that can tilt a series in one direction or the other. All of that and more participates in this first postseason clash between the boys from the “Twin Cities” against the boys from the “Valley of the Sun.”

The Minnesota Timberwolves put together the second-most wins in a season in franchise history (56), trailing only the 58-win squad from two decades ago, which was the only time they advanced past the Quarterfinals, reaching the Western Conference Finals where they fell to Hall of Famers Shaquille O’Neal, the late Kobe Bryant, and then head coach Phil Jackson and the Lakers 4-2.

That season they were led by Kia MVP Kevin Garnett and All-Stars in now Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell and the late head coach Flip Saunders.

The trio that has led now head coach Chris Finch’s squad back to a Top 3 Seed in the Western Conference is rising star and Kia MVP in the future in All-Star Anthony Edwards (25.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 5.1 apg, 46.1 FG%, 35.7 3-Pt.%) and fellow All-Stars in Karl-Anthony Towns (21.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 50.4 FG%, 41.6 3-Pt.%), and top candidate for possibly his NBA-record-tying fourth Kia Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert (14.0 ppg, 12.9 rpg-2^nd NBA, 2.2 bpg, 66.1 FG%-2^nd NBA).

Edwards, who put together the first 25/5/5 (points/rebounds/assists) season in franchise history has been a problem for most of the league from his second-year to now.

The only team Edwards struggled against this regular season is the Suns where he only averaged just 14.3 points, six boards and 3.7 assists on 31 percent from the field and 27.3 percent (3/11 3-Pt.) on his triple tries.

“I mean the last three matchups against Phoenix; they beat us into the ground. So, we’ve got to come out and establish some physicality, you know, just trying to be tough or we’re going to get punked the whole series. So, we’ve just got to come out and establish that,” Edwards told Malika Andrews on the Thursday edition of ESPN’s “NBA Today” on how the Wolves have to set the tone right from the start of their series against the Suns, who defeated them by an average of 15.7 points in their three regular season tilts.

In a series where they will be going up against one of the most prolific offenses in “The Association,” the Timberwolves, who gone 2-13 their last 15 tilts against the  will need Edwards to be at his A+ best offensively as a scorer and shot creator.

When asked by Andrews what he wanted to show in this series specifically offensively against the Suns, who the Wolves lost all three meetings by 10-plus points, Edwards said “double teams” cannot stop him. That the Suns have “doing a great job” of allowing a second and third defender, which he has let it “bother” and “frustrate” him and slow down his ability to be “aggressive” at the offensive end.

When asked by former teammate and now ESPN NBA analyst Austin Rivers about being the best shooting guard in the league next to Suns guard Devin Booker, Edwards said, “Yes. For sure.”

“I think this is the matchup that I wanted personally because, you know, they’ve got two of the best two-guards in the NBA. Like before Brad [Beal] went there, he was with Washington [Wizards] and he was averaging 30 [points]. And Book been the best two-guard in the NBA for a minute. So, this is the series. The matchup that I want to showcase to the world that I’m the best player and the best two-guard in the world,” Edwards added.

Before being put on the shelf for 18 games getting only one tune up performance before the start of this series, Towns was playing a solid No. 2 in the Wolves offensive pecking order providing efficient shooting from the floor, especially from three-point range and down low in the post.

He will be especially important in this series just like Edwards because those are the only two proven 20-plus point scorers that the Wolves will have on the hardwood.

Towns, who was the Wolves leading scorer against the Suns in their three-game season series at 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds was also the Wolves most effective three-point shooter and that will be key for the Wolves, who shot just 29.3 percent from three-point range in season-series against the Suns.

That offensive production will also hinge on how quickly Towns can shake off the rust from missing nearly the final portion of the regular season. While Towns shot 52 percent during the season against the Suns in the two games he played, he shot just 12.5 percent from three.  

The Wolves reached the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference and flirted with being the Top Seed in the West for nearly the entire season mainly because of their exceptional play at the defensive end.

They led the NBA in points allowed (106.5) and opponent’s field goal percentage (45.0%). The Wolves also were No. 7 in opponent’s three-point percentage (35.4%); No. 5 in block shots (6.1); and No. 6 in steals (7.9).

Anchoring that defense in the paint is Rudy Gobert, whose rim protection was solid the entire season but more so as an intimidator more so than as a great shot blocker and he was stellar as he has been his entire career on the glass.

That being said he will be more relied upon defensively to move his feet and guard on the perimeter, which he has shown great improvement from years past.

Back in the 2021 West Semis against the Clippers while with the Utah Jazz, Gobert was hunted the entire time by the Clippers perimeter threats who isolated themselves on Gobert and he just got torched.

Even with Gobert’s improvement as a perimeter defender, his strength is being in the paint and deterring drivers to the rim. He will have to be at his best on the perimeter against the Suns prolific jump shooters.

“I’m really embracing the moment,” Gobert said the other day about this upcoming postseason for the Wolves that brings a lot of excitement and pressure on advancing past the First-Round for only the second time as mentioned in their postseason history.

“I don’t plan on obviously on retiring anytime soon. But I really believe that we have a chance. I really believe that type of season that we had don’t come just like that. And some teams…don’t have the opportunity to get back together for a lot of different reasons. So, we have a unique opportunity, and I truly believe that everyone in this locker room is aware of that.”

The Wolves will need the likes of veteran Mike Conley (11.4 ppg, 5.9 apg, 45.7 FG%, 44.2 3-Pt.%-3^rd NBA), Naz Reid (13.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 47.7 FG%, 41.4 3-Pt.%), Jaden McDaniels (10.5 ppg, 48.9 FG%), Kyle Anderson (6.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.2 apg, 46.0 FG%), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (8.0 ppg, 43.9 FG%, 39.1 3-Pt.%, and Monte Morris to be impactful on both ends, particularly with their perimeter touch to allow Edwards and Towns to have space to operate on the perimeter and off the dribble.

For McDaniels, who will be in the conversation for one of the two NBA All-Defensive teams this season and moving forward will be tasked to try to slow down Durant, Booker, or Beal in this series. Simple to ask. Hard to do

This past offseason, the Phoenix Suns acquired Bradley Beal (18.2 ppg, 5.0 apg,  51.3 FG%, 41.3 3-Pt.%) to team up alongside fellow perennial All-Stars Devin Booker (27.1 ppg, 6.9 apg, 4.5 rpg, 49.2 FG%, 36.4 3-Pt.%), and two-time NBA champion and two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant 27.1 ppg-5^th NBA, 6.6 rpg, 5.0 apg, 52.3 FG%, 41.3 3-Pt.%).

Injuries and a lack of a true point guard were the two main roadblocks for the NBA’s most lethal scoring trio of establishing the kind of chemistry that could have had them a top the Western Conference instead of having to use a 10-4 mark, which included a three-game winning streak to close the regular season and clinched the final guaranteed Playoff Spot in the West.

Now fully healthy entering this postseason, there is some real optimism that the Suns’ despite not having homecourt advantage entering this postseason, they have a real chance to make some serious noise.

“Our team is whole now,” Suns General Manager James Jones said. “You can look backwards or you can look forward, and I look forward to continuing to build the momentum that we’ve built over the last 10 games. I think we’ve started to see our team come together.”

The Suns clinched that final guaranteed Playoff spot with a 125-106 win at the Timberwolves, where they led 44-22 after the first quarter and also outscored the Wolves 36-28 in the fourth quarter, leading in the game by as many as 24.

The boys from the “Valley of the Sun” shot 54.7 percent (47/86 FGs), 16/29 from three with 28 assists and just 13 turnovers.

The offensive prowess last Sunday afternoon by head coach Frank Vogel’s squad came off their stellar defense where they held forced 24 Wolves turnover that they turned into 35 points, registering 13 steals. While the Wolves shot 51.4 percent from the floor this evening and 25/31 at the charity stripe, they were just 9/26 from three.

Beal led the Suns with 36 points, six boards, and five assists on 14/21 shooting, including making all six of his three pointers. Booker scored 23 with seven assists hitting three triples and was 8/10 at the foul line.

When Beal scored 20-plus points, the Suns were 15-6 during the season, including 4-2 when scored 30-plus.

Booker, Durant, and Beal are very unique and old school in how the score the basketball. It is mostly from the mid-range while also being able to strike a real match from three-point range.

While the Suns as a team score mostly from the perimeter, the ability of Booker, Durant, and Beal to manage their business offensively from the perimeter is what forces the opposition to send that second defender to them.

That is how the likes of Grayson Allen (13.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 49.9 FG%, 46.1 3-Pt.%-Led NBA), Eric Gordon (11.0 ppg, 44.3 FG%, 37.8 3-Pt.%), Royce O’Neale (7.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 37.0 3-Pt.%), have gotten open, particularly from three and against the Wolves have as a team connected on 48.8 percent of their triples.

Allen, whose career-year just earned him a new four-year, $70 million contract will be a major X-factor in this series because if he can make threes at the clip he did against the Wolves (19.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 55.9 FG%, 62.5 3-Pt.%), that will allow more room for Booker, Durant, and Beal to operate and torch the Wolves perimeter defenders.

When it comes to slowing down the Wolves, particularly inside, that is where Jusuf Nurkic (10.9 ppg, 11.0 rpg-7^th NBA, 51.0 FG%) will come into play in this series.

It will be up to him along with at times Bol Bol, if he does play and veteran Thaddeus Young to man the paint against Gobert, Towns, and Reid.

The other factor that makes a series like this between teams like the Suns and Timberwolves are the expectations and the consequences when you fail to live up to those high expectations.

Over the past two seasons, the Suns basically traded all their draft assets and young talent that they had in the fold to bring in the likes of Durant and Beal to team up with Booker and made additions on the edges to win it all this season.

To put into context how the Suns have changed since their Finals appearance in the spring of 2021, only Devin Booker is the lone remaining player from that squad.

That kind of pressure would make a lot of people tight and unsure of themselves. Kevin Durant though sees this as more of an opportunity than pressure.

“Every player in the league sees this time as a time to continue to keep their habits that you’ve built throughout the whole season. And, you know, play even more free, knowing that you’ve put that work in all season,” Durant said.

“So, it’s a relaxing time. I know it’s a high-pressure time of the season for people outside the game. But with all the work and stuff that you’ve put in through the year, you should be comfortable.”

For the Timberwolves as mentioned it has been two decades since they have had a team that can say they are legit title contender. They had that as mentioned with now Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell and never recaptured that magic after that unforgettable 2004 postseason.

Now they are on the cusp of that same glory led by their rising star in Anthony Edwards who said when asked by Andrews what percentage he is at now and the best he can possibly get to? Edwards answer was at about “40 percent.”

“I’m just in Year 4, man. I think people forget that I’m 22. Like I’m not even touching my prime yet,” Edwards added about where he is in his NBA career. “I’m just 22 [years old] in Year 4. Still trying to figure it out. Like my spots and were I like to go and what side of the court I like to be on. I still ain’t figured that out yet. But I feel like I’m just about like 40 percent.”

This series has the makings of a classic where we learn which style can win out. The offensive perimeter attack of the Phoenix Suns or the defensive minded approach by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Can the proven star trio with a proven champion in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal of the Suns hold off the rise of Anthony Edwards, who is coming fast and furious? 

Series Prediction: Timberwolves in seven

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 4/14/2024 www.nba.com: “NBA , Playoffs: What To Expect In Cavaliers-Magic Series,” and 4/18/2024 www.nba.com: “NBA Playoffs” What To Expect In Knicks-76ers Series,” By Steve Aschburner; 4/14/2024 www.nba.com: “NBA Playoffs: What To Expect In Timberwolves-Suns Series,” and 4/20/2024 www.nba.com: “NBA Playoffs: What To Expect In Thunder-Pelicans Series,” By Shaun Powell; 4/19/2024 1 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime” with Nabil Karim and Dennis Scott; 4/19/2024 www.nba.com: “NBA Playoffs: What To Expect In Celtics-Heat Series,” By John Schuhmann; 4/18/2024 www.nba.com: “NBA Playoffs: What To Expect In Nuggets-Lakers Series,” and 4/14 www.nba.com “NBA Playoffs: What To Expect In Clippers-Mavericks Series,” By Michael C. Wright; 4/18/2024 1 a.m. ESPN’s “Sportscenter” With Michael Eaves and John Anderson 4/18/2024 3 p.m. “NBA Today,” ESPN, presented by American Express With Malika Andrews, Kendrick Perkins, Austin Rivers, Tim Bontemps, and Tim Legler; 4/19/2024 2 a.m. ESPN’s “Sportscenter” from Los Angeles, CA With Linda Cohn and Stan Verrett; 4/19/204 7 p.m. “Bulls vs. Heat” 2024 No. 8 Seed Play-In Game ESPN, presented by SoFi With Ryan Ruocco, Richard Jefferson, and Cassidy Hubbarth; 4/19/2024 11 p.m. WABC 7 “Eyewitness News At 11” With Mike Marza, Sade Barderinwa, Lee Goldberg With Weather and Sam Ryan With Sports; 4/20/2024 12 a.m. “Inside the NBA,” TNT, presented by Kia With Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal; 4/20/2024 www.nba.com: “5 Teams That Went From The Lottery To 2024 NBA Playoffs,” By Steve Aschburner; 4/20/2204 12 p.m. NBATV’s “Playoff Preview Live,” presented by Google Pixel With Matt Winer, Dennis Scott, Carlos Boozer; 4/20/2024 www.espn.com “NBA Playoffs 2024:Everything To Know About The 16 Teams Still Vying For The Title,” With Tim Bontemps, Chris Herring, Jamal Collier, Andre Snellings, Kevin Pelton, Tim MacMahon, Ohm Youngmisuk, Dave McMenamin, Andrew Lopez,  www.landofbasketball.com;  www.espn.com/nba/player/splits/gamelog/_/id/3908809/donovan-mitchell; https://www.espn.com/nba/matchup/_/gameid/40161645