Eastern conference predictions
The 2022 NBA playoffs have officially started and one of the 16 teams will win the first to four wins tournament.
The Miami Heat is up 2-0 against the Atlanta hawks and I predict that the Heat will win in a 4-0 sweep. They are the one seed in the eastern conference and players like Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro have had exceptional seasons with Tyler Herro even being nominated for sixth man of the year. Although the Hawks tend to play well at home I don’t think that they will be able to beat the Heat.
The Philadelphia 76ers also have a significant lead against the Toronto Raptors and I think that the 76ers will win in four games as well. They have a strong duo in Joel Embiid and James Harden and a rising star in Tyrese Maxey who had an impressive season.
I believe that the Bucks will win in six games because the Chicago Bulls have no way of stopping the Bucks power forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo, in the paint. The Boston Celtics will beat the Brooklyn Nets in seven games since the Brooklyn Nets have been having a generally inconsistent regular season riddled with injuries and full of their best players not playing. Kyrie Irving was not able to play most of the home games throughout the season, Kevin Durant was injured for a short while, and a superstar caliber player in James Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in February. The Celtics have had an incredible regular season, being the second seed in the east. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, the defensive player of the year, make a very successful big 3 to lead the Celtics to the second round.
Western conference predictions
The Phoenix Suns were the one seed in the western conference and I predict that they will beat the New Orleans Pelicans in five games. The Sun’s team chemistry is unmatched with arguably the best playmaker in the league, Chris Paul, having had an incredible season. Cam Johnson, the Phoenix Suns small forward, has also had a great season and was a finalist for the defensive player of the year and sixth man of the year awards.
The Golden State Warriors are up 2-0 against the Denver Nuggets and will beat the Nuggets in five or six games. The Golden State Warriors have the best shooter of all time on their team in Stephen Curry with another lethal three point shooter in Klay Thompson who has proved that he is still a driving force for the Warriors success even after his injury.
The Memphis Grizzlies are beating the Minnesota Timberwolves by one game and I predict that the Grizzlies will win in 6 games. Ja Morant is having a historic season with the Grizzlies and the Wolves have a significantly worse regular season record than the Grizzlies. The wolves just lost a game when they blew a 26 point lead and I suspect that their morale will be low. Even though the Timberwolves always bring a lot of energy to their games, suffering such a collapse at a home game is hard to come back from mentally.
The Dallas Mavericks are up 2-1 against the Utah Jazz in a very strange upset and I predict that they will beat the Jazz in 6 games. Luka Doncic, the star point guard of the Mavericks is expected to be out for the entire playoff run and many people expected Utah to sweep the Mavericks. Jalen Brunson has taken up Luka’s role with two incredible back to back 30+ point performances with 31 points on Thursday and 41 on Monday.
