Hopefully you all enjoyed my Eastern Conference preview. If you haven't checked it out yet, you can find it here. Now for the Western Conference, where the Utah Jazz earned the right to be the conference's number one seed after a stellar regular season, but with the play-in tournament shaking out the way it did, the entire landscape of the playoffs for the West was turned on its head, with real possibilities of upsets in round one being a ton more real than a few months ago. With that said, the Western Conference has a ton of intriguing matchups and storylines, and here are my predictions on how I believe the playoffs will shape out in the West. Play-In Game One: 7 Lakers vs 8 Warriors Well Adam Silver, the luck of the draw played out well for you on this one. The idea of the Los Angeles Lakers going from NBA Finals Champions in 2020 to the play-in tournament in 2021 was never thought of before the season started, but with stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis sidelined for a good chunk of the year after a short offseason, it actually happened as the Lakers continued to slip and slipped into the play-in tournament. For the Warriors, expectations for star Steph Curry were high. Could he bring this team to the playoffs with not a ton of help and after his injury riddled 2020 campaign? Well, he did just that, leading the league in scoring and bringing Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and company to the eighth seed. The idea of Curry and James in a one-game standoff has NBA fans salivating right now. Curry is capable of dropping 50 points a night and James entire career is molded around bringing his best in the biggest moments in the playoffs, and both players will be at their best, and healthy, in this game that should see a ton of offense. Now obviously the Lakers have the advantage of having much better players around James than the Warriors around Curry. If Anthony Davis gets going against Green, who will likely be his primary matchup, the Lakers could coast to victory here. Now if Wiggins, Green and another supporting player for the Warriors bring their A-game, this game has the makings of an instant classic. This game will come down to the wire, but that favors the Lakers, seeing as they just have more options in the final two minutes. Steph's heroics fall short in this one, but the Lakers squeak by and advance to play the Phoenix Suns in round one. Prediction: Lakers, 115 - Warriors, 111 Play In Game Two: 9 Grizzlies vs 10 Spurs In what will be the appetizer to Lakers vs Warriors, the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs do battle in a win-or-go home scenario in the 9 vs 10 play-in game. The Grizzlies fought well down the stretch of the regular season, but Curry knocked them down to the nine seed after going ballistic late in the fourth quarter on Sunday and the Grizzlies weirdly may prefer taking on the Spurs first, but don't test your luck. The Grizzlies did win the season series, but coach Gregg Popovich is one of the best adjusters in the modern NBA, as proven by his track record, and in one game, Popovich can be scary to play against and he knows his team, led by Demar Derozan, Dejounte Murray and a solid array of role players. Derozan did struggle against the Grizzlies this season though, scoring only 14 and 5 points in two of the three matchups, but I think he goes back to the first meeting where he dropped 28 points along with nine rebounds and nine assists and tries to keep San Antonio's season alive. Let's be real here though, the Grizzlies in my opinion are just the better team. Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr have yet to make the postseason in their young careers and will be driven by that in this one as I see both having very solid games against the Spurs and paving the way to a hard fought and physical contest. Derozan and Morant will lead the way in scoring, but the Grizzlies will ultimately outmatch the Spurs and come away with victory here. Prediction: Grizzlies, 109 - Spurs, 102 Play In Game Three: 8 Warriors vs 9 Grizzlies In this scenario, we get a rematch of the season finale between these two sqauds, with the up-and-coming Morant taking on Curry once again, but this time with the season on the line and a chance to face top-ranked Utah in round one. The Warriors would enter this game of the heels of an emotional loss to the Lakers, looking to make the playoffs and give Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz a run for their money. The Grizzlies on the other hand would be looking for revenge from the season finale against Golden State, so this also has the makings of an exciting matchup against two very different teams with the same mindset, keeping your season alive. I think that the result stays the same as the regular season finale though. Curry Looked amazing against the Grizzlies this season despite his only matchup against them coming in the season finale where he dropped 46 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists against Memphis and I fully expect him to have that same kind of fire and turnout in a rematch and allow the Warriors to make the playoffs and deny doubters of how good this team could be. Prediction: Warriors, 115 - Grizzlies, 101 Round One: 1 Jazz vs 8 Warriors The Jazz of course earned the number one seed in the Western Conference and played very impressive basketball en route to that achievement, taking a noticeable step up from what was a tough ending to the season last year against Denver. In this scenario, the Jazz draw the Warriors, and of course Curry can carry the Warriors by himself to a win or two, but the Jazz are the better team in this matchup in pretty much every matchup outside of Curry. Donovan Mitchell should be healthy for this series and I do not see any of the Warriors bigs having any success against Rudy Gobert, who made a real case for defensive player of the year this season. Jordan Clarkson added to the success off the bench with a real chance of winning Sixth Man of the Year, but the Jazz are so deep and have way too many bodies defensively to throw at the Warriors offense. The Jazz lose one game from Curry heroics but outmatch a lesser Warriors team in five games to advance to round two. Prediction: Jazz in 5 over Warriors Round One: 2 Suns vs 7 Lakers For most, this matchup has been considered the Phoenix Suns worst nightmare, and I don't exactly disagree. The Los Angeles Lakers enter the playoffs as the seventh seed and I predict them to beat the Warriors in the play-in and shift their focus to the Suns, and this has the potential of a seven-game slugfest between the defending Champions and an up-and-coming Suns team. Chris Paul does amazing things. This Suns team has needed a point guard for years and opted to go with the veteran and it paid dividends for star guard Devin Booker. Booker has seen a ton of great shots due to Paul's playmaking and has had some great moments, but its safe to say Deandre Ayton has improved even more. Ayton's PPG may have dropped, but his efficiency skyrocketed, and seeing Ayton and Anthony Davis going at it in the playoffs could be a potential treat for NBA fans. The X-factor in this series will be the Lakers health. LeBron James, Davis and others all came back for the season finale, but could the play-in affect this team more than some think with the lack of rest? It's very possible, but the Lakers at full strength, or remotely near it, are arguably better than the Suns. The Suns are an exciting team no doubt, but the Lakers are the defending champs for a reason and I would expect this potential series to be a slugfest, but the Lakers win in Phoenix is a pivotal game seven to move on to the second round as a seven seed. Prediction: Lakers in 7 over Suns Round One: 3 Nuggets vs 6 Blazers This matchup was played on the season finale and the Blazers rocked the Nuggets, but Nikola Jokic did not play most of the contest and made a real MVP case with his play this season. If the Nuggets had Jamal Murray, who was lost to a season-ending injury, this series swings in the Nuggets favor pretty heavily. With his absence being reality, it could be the time for Damian Lillard to completely take over this series. Now this series of course, like many past Blazers and Nuggets series, have been evenly matched(I'm saying any series the team has been in, not against each other), so expect this series to come down to not only Jokic and Lillard, but the play of the surrounding players, but I would side with CJ McCollum and Carmelo Anthony over Michael Porter Jr. and Paul Millsap or the other array of the players the Nuggets have. I think this series is close, but in close games, Lillard thrives. I think the Nuggets missing Murray means too much and the Blazers pull off the upset and defeat the Nuggets to move on against the Lakers. Prediction: Blazers in 6 over Nuggets Round One: 4 Clippers vs 5 Mavericks A rematch of round one a season ago, the LA Clippers and Dallas Mavericks meet again, with both teams looking slightly different and improved from last year. Kristaps Porzingis is expected to be fully healthy for this series as he missed most of the series last year, so seeing his impact this year could change things, but the Clippers acquired Serge Ibaka and Demarcus Cousins and I think both bigs can give Porzingis fits on the outside. Along with that, the Clippers struggled last year against Dallas due to spacing and ball movement despite winning in six games, but the acquisition of Rajon Rondo could make all the difference for the Clippers as we all know Rondo ramps it up in the postseason and can be a great playmaker for the Clippers stars. Head coach Ty Lue has already noted he wanted the team to be better prepared for playoff basketball, and of course Luka Doncic will likely be an unstoppable force, but the Clippers have a ton of bodies to throw at him and tire him down throughout the series. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will do their thing also, and although the Mavericks have improved, their defense hasn't, so I fully expect a ton of high scoring games in this series but will side with the better defensive squad in LA over a six game series. Prediction: Clippers in 6 over Mavericks Round Two: 1 Jazz vs 4 Clippers
This matchup is a three-point lovers dream as the Clippers take on the Jazz in this scenario. The Clippers had one of the most efficient three-point season in history while the Jazz make a high volume number of three pointers, so that alone could be the X-factor in this series between the two teams. Mitchell would likely see both Leonard and George guarding him in this series and would be a tough ask for him to completely carry the offensive load, but his supporting cast can and likely would help him here. Now, the Clippers matchup well against the Jazz. Unlike other teams, the Clippers have solid outside shooting and wing defenders and if they could stifle the Jazz on the perimeter, it could be trouble for the top seed. Gobert would also play a huge part in this series when Ivica Zubac is on the floor as the spacing would not be great for the Clippers, but with Serge Ibaka's defensive ability both inside and outside as well as an offensive arsenal that features both as well, Gobert could be doing suicides from the paint to the three point line trying to guard the pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop that Ty Lue enjoys running so much. The Clippers have yet to make a WCF in their time in the league, but that streak ends here. It won't be easy as they face the top team in the West, but they take advantage of their matchups against Utah and bounce the Jazz is a well-played seven game series between two of the West's best teams. Prediction: Clippers in 7 over Jazz *ran out of time here* So I ran out of time to finish this article before work and the play-in games, but the results below are the predictions for the rest of the bracket. Prediction: Lakers in 6 over Blazers Prediction: Clippers in 7 over Lakers
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