NBA: First Round Predictions

Rockets Ride Momentum In Round 2: Congrats to the Minnesota Timberwolves, you've broken a 13-year playoff drought! You've won the right to death by a thousand pick and rolls. If you're a T-Wolves fan, then this won't be pretty, you won't enjoy this but it will be over quickly. The league MVP James Harden and the Point God, Chris Paul, will have a field day carving up this Thibs defense. On its own, this should have been a highlight matchup. A Thibs defense against a Mike D’Antoni led offense, unfortunately the Wolves have struggled to find cohesion on that end. They have the tools just not the know how. The return of Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns' singular talent may be enough to steal one game, but I doubt it. Thibs, like always, has struggled to find production from his bench and facing a starting unit as tough as Houston's should prove to be fatal. I could throw a bunch of numbers at this series and I will for other rounds but let's leave it at this: It's never a good sign when you clinch a playoff berth on the last day of the season. Houston will win this one easily and move on the the Second Round again. Rockets in four.

Aduroja: Rockets.

Collins: Rockets.

Henderson: Rockets.

Heningburg: Rockets.

O'Bannon: Rockets.

Paige: Rockets.

Post: Rockets.

Stoll: Rockets.

Wejinya: Rockets.

Warriors Win Without Curry: The second seed Golden State Warriors will take on the seven seeded San Antonio Spurs in the First Round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs. Golden State will be without Stephen Curry for presumably the entire series, and hope for a return by the Western Conference Semifinals. While the Warriors are without Curry, they have proven that they can get wins without him. Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are all capable of taking over any given game and boosting their team to victory. The Spurs may have Kawhi Leonard returning from injury after playing only 210 minutes (nine games) this season, but that's still up in the air. If he does play and can jump in healthy, San Antonio might be able to take this series to six or maybe even seven games. Golden State hasn’t had their best season of their recent dynasty, but they still have that same championship mentality come playoff time. This series will be decided by the team that can shoot better from deep. Golden State shoots 39.2 percent from three, and San Antonio hits 35.5 percent. I’m taking the Warriors in five games.

Aduroja: Warriors.

Collins: Warriors.

Henderson: Warriors.

Heningburg: Warriors.

O'Bannon: Warriors.

Paige: Warriors.

Post: Warriors.

Stoll: Warriors.

Wejinya: Warriors.

The Big Men Propel Portland Past Pelicans: The Portland Trail Blazers and the New Orleans Pelicans face off in a First Round matchup of two teams caught in the middle of a cluttered Western Conference. These two teams seem relatively evenly matched on paper. Their records are similar (49-33 for Portland and 48-34 for New Orleans), and they are close in a number of statistics, including rebounds, blocks, and three-point percentage. It seems that one thing that will make or break this series for both teams is their presence in the paint. Both teams were in the bottom half in the NBA this season in three pointers attempted, so this will likely be less of a focal point on offense throughout the series. As far as the best big men in the league goes, it is hard to argue against Pelicans center Anthony Davis. He has carried that team this season, especially after Demarcus Cousins went down with an Achilles injury in January. While the Pelicans have arguably the best player in this series, the Blazers do have more depth in the front court, with Jusuf Nurkic and Al-Farouq Aminu leading the way. They will need be on top of their game to try and contain AD. Give me the Blazers in a very fun seven-game series.

Aduroja: Blazers.

Collins: Blazers.

Henderson: Blazers.

Heningburg: Blazers.

O'Bannon: Blazers.

Paige: Blazers.

Post: Blazers.

Stoll: Pelicans.

Wejinya: Pelicans.

Carmelo Steps Up, OKC Moves On: Whoever guards Russell Westbrook will have their hands full as he is averaging another triple-double for the second straight season, something that has never been done before in NBA history. And he has Paul George and Carmelo Anthony now. So, the Utah Jazz will probably have Donavan Mitchell defend Westbrook and if he does a great job, it can help the Jazz eventually get into the Second Round. The thing that will decide the series, in my eyes, is how well both teams play defense and make it tough for them to score. These are two of the best defenses in the league. The Jazz have a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Rudy Gobert. If he can control the paint then that will give the Jazz an edge. The Thunder's Big 3 that was formed to win a championship would need to gel well together if they plan to make a deep run. I don’t see the Jazz really having a chance to beat them, because of their reliance on Mitchell, a major gap in talent, and OKC has home court advantage. The Thunder need Anthony to return to his form and shoot efficiently from deep. I think he will and Oklahoma City keeps their title hopes intact.

Aduroja: Thunder.

Collins: Jazz.

Henderson: Jazz.

Heningburg: Thunder.

O'Bannon: Thunder.

Paige: Jazz.

Post: Thunder.

Stoll: Thunder.

Wejinya: Thunder.

Raptors Ride Their Backcourt: The 1-8 seed matchup is a very interesting one in the Eastern Conference this season. On one side, there’s a team that well overachieved their expectations this season, and on the other there’s a team that disappointed after last season. The Toronto Raptors were definitely expected to make the playoffs this season, but to get the number one overall seed? I don’t think many people saw that coming. Meanwhile for the Washington Wizards, after coming oh so close to beating the Boston Celtics last season, to have only barely snuck into the playoffs this season is a disappointment to say the least. However, that doesn’t mean Washington isn’t still dangerous tho. With John Wall and Bradley Beal still there, they definitely have a shot. However, it just seems like Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan will be a little too much for them to handle. DeRozan had a career year, going for 23.0 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game. Lowry is now playing the sidekick role, but still puts up 16.2 points and 6.9 assists per outing. Give me the Raptors in six games because of how strong their backcourt is.

Aduroja: Raptors.

Collins: Raptors.

Henderson: Raptors.

Heningburg: Raptors.

O'Bannon: Raptors.

Paige: Wizards.

Post: Raptors.

Stoll: Raptors.

Wejinya: Raptors.

Brad Stevens Leads Celtics Past Bucks: Kyrie Irving's season ending injury looms large over the result of this series. The Boston Celtics managed to win with Irving in the regular season, but they'll definitely miss his scoring punch, shot creating abilities, and overall offensive wizardry. On paper, that would be a horrible sign. A team with the Milwaukee Bucks' length and athleticism should be able to make life difficult for everyone with a switch-heavy scheme. Unfortunately, erstwhile head coach Jason Kidd preferred a trap-heavy scheme, which led to the Bucks giving up tons of corners threes and open layups. Every offensive set seems to be a stiff, I-go-now-you-go type of deal. That doesn't bode well against a Celtics team who's been absolutely phenomenal defensively this year. The Celts have a really good defensive wing tandem in Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown and Al Horford has played Defensive Player of the Year-caliber defense operating as an anchor. Milwaukee's big aren't physical enough, which means they won't be able to punish Boston's lack of rebounding prowess. It'll be a fight, but I'm picking the Celtics in seven games.

Aduroja: Celtics.

Collins: Celtics.

Henderson: Celtics.

Heningburg: Bucks.

O'Bannon: Bucks.

Paige: Celtics.

Post: Celtics.

Stoll: Bucks.

Wejinya: Celtics.

Simmons Helps the Sixers Advance: The Philadelphia 76ers have a lot of momentum heading into the postseason having won 16 straight games, and are capable of putting teams away early. They have shown consistently throughout the season as being the aggressor. However, the young group tends to fall asleep after big leads. Miami will try to take advantage of their lack of experience but the Sixers have enough weapons to turn the tide quickly. Miami's Tyler Johnson and Josh Richardson will try to make things tough as they are two of the grittiest defenders in the league. But Philly has two of the most talented players in the league in Ben Simmons and Embiid, with a third trying to find his way into that category in Markelle Fultz. Miami will rely heavily on Goran Dragic and Dion Waiters to score the ball, and will run a lot of pick and rolls to get switches on the defensive end. Due to Joel Embiid’s injury and the Sixers inability to stay aggressive as they should, Miami may escape with a game or two, depending on which Philadelphia team shows up. I have the series being a hard fought, energetic slugfest with Philly moving on, winning 4-2.

Aduroja: Sixers.

Collins: Heat.

Henderson: Sixers.

Heningburg: Sixers.

O'Bannon: Sixers.

Paige: Sixers.

Post: Sixers.

Stoll: Sixers.

Wejinya: Sixers.

Love Lifts Cavaliers over Pacers: Lebron James is coming into the playoffs as the four-seed, which is his lowest seed since 2008. Lebron is playing at his highest level, tying his career high in rebounds (8.6), averaging career high in assists (9.1), and averaging his most points per game (27.5) since the 2009-10 season. The Indiana Pacers come in winning seven out of their last 10 games. Led by Victor Oladipo, the Pacers have a lot of role players who can put the ball in the basket, like Myles Turner and Bojan Bogdanovic. The key matchup will be Kevin Love vs. Thaddeus Young. Being an undersized power forward, will he be able to control Love, or will Love be able to take advantage of the mismatch inside and out? Young may have the stature and ability to get out on the perimeter with Love, but he won't be able to contain the sharp shooter, especially with Lebron's incredible vision. Love will get open shots continuously because the Pacers' help will collapse whenever the King gets into the paint. Love is averaging 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game this year, and has been great since returning from injury. I don't think the Pacers stand a chance. Cavs sweep.

Aduroja: Cavaliers.

Collins: Cavaliers.

Henderson: Cavaliers.

Heningburg: Cavaliers.

O'Bannon: Cavaliers.

Paige: Cavaliers.

Post: Cavaliers.

Stoll: Cavaliers.

Wejinya: Cavaliers.

Photo Credit: Clutch Points.