The play-in starts tonight and the stakes are very high. The Western Conference has been neck and neck all year long and finally we get to see the best of the best battle it out in the bloodbath of the west.
Tonight the first play-in game for the west showcases the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers got hot at the right time during the regular season as they made it all the way up to the #7 seed after being a much lower seed beforehand.
The Timberwolves are all discombobulated right now with the whole Rudy Gobert punching Kyle Anderson situation and the Lakers are very hot right now so you can see why I am going to take the Lakers in this one. I will never understand why the Timberwolves would give up that many assets this offseason for Rudy Gobert when he can't even play in the biggest game of their season thus far.
The Lakers will go on to face the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round in a matchup that could definitely be an upset with the Lakers taking that series. The Grizzlies are very banged up and to me are an overrated team. The Lakers could shock some people, but if they don't take the series, expect it to go to at least 6 or 7 games.
The second play-in game takes place between the Thunder and the Pelicans. The Thunder are the youngest team in the league with their average age just under 23 years old. No one on their team really has any playoff experience, so I'm going to take the Pelicans in this one. The Pelicans will face the Wolves in the second play-in matchup.
The Wolves will have Gobert back so I expect them to capitalize off that and eliminate the Pelicans on their way to a first-round matchup with the Nuggets. The Nuggets and the Wolves both have a lot of star power but at the end of the day, the Nuggets have the potential back to back to back MVP. Jokic against KAT should be a fun matchup to watch but I don't see any 8 seeds taking down 1 seeds this year.
The next matchup is the #4 seeded Suns taking on the #5 seeded Clippers. The Clippers are an old team that is not healthy right now and not expecting Paul George to take part in this series. Meanwhile on the other side with the Suns, we will see the newest big 3 in the league in KD, Booker, and CP3. I think the Suns take this series easily and in the offseason I think it's time to blow up this Clippers team, move on and try something new out.
Finally, to my favorite series on the Western Conference side, the Warriors taking on the Kings. To me, I think it is unfair that one of these teams will not be competing in the second round. They are both such fun and great teams to watch with the Kings finally making the playoffs for the first time in over a decade and a half and the Warriors just being the Warriors.
It is going to be an uphill battle for the Kings to try and stop this Warriors team as no one has an easy time trying to chase the Dubs off their path. As a coach, Steve Kerr has never lost to a western conference team in the playoffs and I don't think this trend changes here. I hope this series get to at least 6 or 7 games but in the end the Warriors will take it.
The play-in starts tonight and the playoffs are right around the corner. The Western Conference is showing some promising matchups and lots of fun and intensity right around the corner as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment