After a climactic finish to the NBA season, the playoffs are set. My initial reactions are that the mini bracket with the Celtics, Bucks, Bulls, and Nets in the East will not only be the most fun to watch, but it is also the hardest path to the conference final for any of those teams. On the other hand, the mini bracket of the Heat, Sixers, Raptors, and Hawks will be the easiest path to the conference finals for any of those teams, and I think it will be the Sixers. My initial reaction in the West is that the Warriors look scary, and the Timberwolves look dangerous, but the Suns are just too good and should get to the finals again pretty easily.

In the first round, I have four locks. The Suns over the Pelicans, the Heat over the Hawks, the Sixers over the Raptors, and the Bucks over the Bulls. I think both the Heat and Suns will be able to sweep their opponents. Both teams have multiple stars and their opponents don’t have much firepower. Trae Young is a star in Atlanta, but he has no help and the Pelicans don’t even have a true number one scorer. Without Zion, it will be impossible for them to upset the Suns. I have both these teams winning in four, but I could see Trae Young willing the Hawks to a game but they will still lose in 5. The other two locks I have are not because of the lack of star power of the teams, but because of an overdose of star power on one of them. The Sixers and the Bucks should be able to outclass their opponents on both sides of the basketball and take care of business in 5 or 6 games. Philly has a former MVP and an MVP finalist, and the Raptors are composed of a bunch of good players, but no one is great. Toronto should be able to take a game in their building due to the absence of Matisse Thybulle, but I don’t think they will get another one. The Bucks have one of the best defensive guards in the league, a two-time MVP, and an all-star. They should be able to outmatch a weaker Bulls team on both sides of the ball even though the Bulls are no slouches. Demar DeRozan and Zach Lavine who are both all-stars might be able to win a game or two. However, I don’t think they will win a series against the reigning NBA champions. 

The other 4 series I think are all up in the air. I have the Warriors over the Nuggets in 6, the Mavericks over the Jazz in 6, the Grizzlies over the Timberwolves in 7, and the Nets over the Celtics in 7. For the first series, I think a fully healthy Nuggets team would be able to beat the Warriors, but the Nuggets are missing their 2nd and 3rd option in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. The Warriors have too much star power to lose to the Nuggets with only Nikola Jokic putting in real work. Curry, Klay, and Poole will outmatch and outclass the Nuggets guards easily. I think Jokic and the frontcourt will be able to get back a game or two, but this series is the one that I think the Warriors will win comfortably. Next, I have the Mavericks over the Jazz in 6, but I think this series will be more tightly contested than the Warriors vs Nuggets. The only way I see the Jazz taking this is if Luka doesn’t play, and even if he doesn’t this series should be a great one. Jalen Brunson is emerging as a star and the Mavericks have a lot of depth. The Jazz have a lot of scorers, but they don’t seem to be playing well recently and Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley have seen a huge dropoff in production this season. The Jazz need to turn around the way they are playing if they want to make the series competitive. I expect Donovan Mitchell to put the team on his back and be ready to compete, but I think Luka and Brunson will be able to take this series in 6 or 7. The next two series are the two that I see as being the most competitive and fun to watch. First, we have the Timberwolves vs the Grizzlies. Despite the Grizzlies being the 2 seed and the Timberwolves being the 7 I think the teams are well matched. Seeing Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards on the court together should be the most dynamic matchup in the first round. The Timberwolves have more star talent than the Grizzlies, but the Grizzlies have a strong rotation and a lot of depth. Minnesota will rely on KAT, Anthony Edwards, and DeAngelo Russel for most of the scoring, but behind Ja, everyone on the Grizzlies can get a bucket. Dillon Brooks, Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Steven Adams are good players that can all burn you on any given night. I think the Grizzlies' depth outweighs the Timberwolves in a 7 game series and with home-court advantage I see Memphis taking it in 7. Lastly, we have the best first-round series ever possibly. The Nets vs the Celtics. Kyrie’s return to Boston, and Kevin Durant vs Jayson Tatum. I could see this series going either way with stars on both teams. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and Derrick White. The Nets have KD, Kyrie, and Ben Simmons. The two former names have nothing to prove. You don’t have to be a basketball fan to know who Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving is. They are both top 10 players in the league and I think their skill mixed with Kyrie’s drive for vengeance will end up winning them this series in 7. However, the Celtics have two all-stars of their own and with home-court advantage, this series won’t be easy for the Nets. The Celtics are the best defensive team in the league and have been on a tear in the second half of the season. The only question with this series is whether Ben Simmons or Robert Williams will play and when. If only one of these guys plays I think whatever team they are on will win. Both of them need some work on offense, but are amazing defenders and should be able to push their team over the edge. If both of them or neither of them play though I still have the Nets in 7. A possible game 7 in Boston would an amazing game to watch with two heavyweights going at it. I just see Kyrie and KD be able to outscore the Boston offense in crunch time. Both of these teams have championship aspirations and hopes, but one of them will be going home after one series. Either way, this series, and the whole playoffs should be fun to watch for NBA fans.

Now onto the second round. I think that Bucks Nets and Sixers Heat should be great series, but I think Suns Mavericks and Warriors Grizzlies should be a bit more lopsided. The Suns should be able to deal with the Mavericks with similar ease that they beat the Pelicans with. The Mavericks have one star and a second one on the come-up, but they will need more than that to compete with the Suns. The Suns had the best record in the league by a lot and they have a bunch of guys that can score the basketball. They will overwhelm this mediocre Dallas team in 5 games. I think the Warriors will be able to do the same against the Grizzlies. The Warriors have too many scorers to lose just to Ja Morant in a 7 game series. I could see this series lasting for 6 games, but I think the Grizzlies will lose in 5. In the East, however, I could easily see both of the series stretching to 7 games. I think the Sixers and Heat are very similar teams. Both of them have an elite big 3 and even a big 4 with not very much depth, and they both play similarly at a very slow pace. I think this series will come down to who has more star power at the top and it is the Sixers. Joel Embiid, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris should be able to outclass Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, and Tyler Herro. The Sixers should be able to score the ball at will even against the very strong Heat defense. The biggest advantage the Sixers have is that Bam is too small to guard Embiid. I have the Sixers taking this series in 7. The Nets vs Bucks should also be a good series, but these two teams are structured very differently. The Bucks have one main star, but a lot of guys around him that can also score the ball. The Nets rely on two main scorers who don’t have much help. I think the Bucks’ depth will outweigh the Nets and help the Bucks advance to the ECF. I also think Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday will be able to keep KD and Kyrie from going off on a nightly basis. I could see this series stretching to 7 games but I bet it will end in 6.

Now onto the conference finals, and while this is the boring choice I have a repeat of last year's NBA Finals. Both the Bucks and Suns were able to win their conferences last year, and neither team lost any pieces. Barring any injuries, I don’t see any reason why they won’t be able to do it again. First I think the Bucks will beat the Sixers in 6, this series will be a scoring competition between Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Sixers won’t be able to guard Giannis and the Bucks won’t be able to guard Embiid. However, I predict this series to be more of a defensive battle. I think that Jrue Holiday will be able to neutralize James Harden and that Tobias Harris can stop Khris Middleton. Both of these teams' second options will not have much production and I think that as the series wears on Giannis will be able to take more than Embiid. Joel is an amazing player, but Giannis is used to playing this far into the playoffs. I predict Embiid to get worse when he gets more touches and minutes, but I think Giannis will be even better. I think that Giannis will be able to bring another straight Eastern Conference Final back to Milwaukee in 6. The other series will be a bit better matched. The best player in the series is Steph Curry, but the Suns have the better team. The Warriors and Suns have played 4 times this year and the series is tied 2-2. I predict that trend to continue into the playoffs and I have this series going to 7. I think that the Suns' depth, experience in this position, and home-court advantage will be able to win them this series. 

That means the NBA Finals will be a rematch between the Suns and Bucks. Phoenix will have the home-court advantage again and this year I don’t expect them to ruin it. Both teams have pretty much the same players from last year, but I feel as if the Suns have made bigger strides in team chemistry and individual star talent. Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, and Cameron Payne are all better players than they were last year. On the other side however the Bucks are still good, but they don’t have a bunch of guys who have improved. Last year, the Bucks were able to take this series in 6, but this year I think it will stretch to 7. These teams are very evenly matched, and I think they will split the first 4 games to make it 2-2. However, when the series returns to Phoenix, Milwaukee will be hungry for the repeat and be able to take control of the series on the Suns’ home court just like they did last year. I expect the much improved Suns to fight back and grind a game out in Milwaukee. Last year the Bucks won in 6 after taking a huge game 5 in Phoenix. This year I expect the series to play out a similar way, but CP3 and Devin Booker won’t want to go out the same way again and they can win game 6 to force a game 7 at home. The biggest game of the NBA season is played in Phoenix between two teams with a whole bunch of stars. The crowd is going to be crazy and the players are going to be hyped up. I am going to take the Suns to win this game because they are not going to want to lose to the Bucks two years in a row and they will have the crowd behind them. CP3 will win the first ring of his hall of fame career and Devin Booker will have a huge accolade to jump-start his career. An amazing year of NBA basketball will end with a Finals rematch from a year ago, but a different team will come out on top.