Team that will be missed most in the postseason…
Warriors of the Golden State. It feels downright wrong to have a postseason without Stephen Curry, but as good as he still is, that’s the way the cookie crumbles if you don’t give him enough of a supporting cast. Hopefully the Warriors will use the summer to reshape a clearly inadequate roster. CDL
Warriors of the Golden State. We may have seen the end of the Big 3 era. It will be very strange if Klay is galloping across the Chase Center floor in a Utah Jazz uniform and Draymond is working out his frustrations in Detroit. ALREADY
Memphis Grizzlies. We were supposed to see how a newly acquired Marcus Smart transforms Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr and company into a group that can go deeper into the playoffs. Instead, we got an endless wave of injuries: Last week, Memphis listed 13 players for their game against the Lakers, which seems almost impossible. Fresh off his suspension, Morant led the Grizzlies to a 6-3 record before suffering a season-ending injury. Smart only played 20 games, Bane 42. A bit of a shame not to see what kind of chaos this core could have caused. Wait until next season. DL
San Antonio Spurs. But that’s not really because of their team. It’s because of Victor Wembanyama. He is the most exciting player absent this postseason and this could be the only time he misses in his career. The 2.30 meter tall Frenchman has been shortlisted for Defensive Player of the Year and All-NBA Third Team, despite Spurs winning just 22 games. He is a alien. JU
High seed with the risk of going out early
The Minnesota Timberwolves have had a truly impressive season and Anthony Edwards will clearly be at the top of the league’s star rankings for years to come. But in the Phoenix Suns, they drew a worst-case scenario opponent in the first round: a high-octane offense backed by All-Star veterans with tons of postseason experience. CDL
Oklahoma City Thunder. They face the Sacramento Kings, who already ended the Warriors dynasty and split the season series with OKC this year. Plus, the Kings are still excited about last year’s first-round exit, and Domantas Sabonis is playing like a man on a mission. ALREADY
Minnesota Timberwolves. Karl-Anthony Towns never made it to the second round of the playoffs. Will this year be different? It better be: The series that Towns calls the most important of his career comes after the Timberwolves’ best regular season since Kevin Garnett took Minny to the conference finals in 2004. So yes, expectations are high, but their opponents are no ordinary sixth seed. Phoenix, with Kevin Durant the healthiest he’s been in years, went 3-0 against the Wolves this season, a season in which Devin Booker was his usual All-Star self, playing alongside a retooled roster better suited to a reach the final. The bookmakers don’t believe it: Minnesota is a small underdog despite the placements and will surprise few if they leave early again. DL
Milwaukee Bucks. With Giannis Antetokounmpo injured and set to miss a few games, Milwaukee, a team that is sputtering, could be bounced back by the Indiana Pacers, who have beaten them multiple times this season anyway. Damian Lillard has carried the Bucks at times, but he has also looked less than himself this year. While the inexperienced Thunder and Timberwolves were able to get away early, the Bucks were actually able to get swept. JU
Long odds of winning
I don’t know how much consideration can be given to a team with a star that will likely come second in this year’s MVP voting, but the Dallas Mavericks are my favorites to upset the venerable Denver Nuggets and come out West. Luka Doncic has never looked better, he and Kyrie Irving have sorted out their chemistry, the Mavericks’ trade deadline moves have been sensational and they’re firing on all cylinders at the perfect time. CDL
Philadelphia 76ers. If they can get past the New York Knicks, who, let’s face it, aren’t exactly over their playoff demons yet, the conference bracket is the Sixers’ oyster. ALREADY
As a second seed, you’re not supposed to be a 40-1 longshot, but the New York Knicks are exactly that. Knicks fans first point to their all-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson as the main reason their team could make a title run. That New York is 20-3 when OG Anunoby is on the field, and only a .500 team while he was away, might be a better reason to believe the Knicks could win their first ring since 1973. the oft-injured British forward out of the trainer’s room and onto the field, a challenge amid the physicality of play-off basketball. DL
Earlier this year I said in our ‘bold predictions’ that a team could win the championship for the first time this season. So I’m going to stand by that and say it Los Angeles Clippers, a four-seed, could handle it. In fact, I think the Clippers-Mavericks winner will make the Western Conference finals and face Denver. JU
Most important player this postseason
Jimmy Butler has been hobbledJoel Embiid doesn’t seem quite right yet, and while the Knicks look formidable, they’re still a star and a half behind Julius Randle and a sub-fully healthy Anunoby. The stars are aligning for the Boston Celtics to finally get over the hump, pending one thing: will Jayson Tatum finally slay his postseason demons and look as good in the later rounds as he did during the regular season? Can he become unstoppable in time? Tatum holds the key for the Celtics. CDL
Joel Embid. The reigning MVP proved the haters right by spraining his knee as Philly opened the playoffs against Boston last year. And behold, he is injured again. If the Sixers falter again, there will be more than a few fans ready to move on from this “process” – if they haven’t already. ALREADY
We often wondered, “What if Kyrie Irving could he just keep his head down and just play Hall of Fame basketball, wouldn’t that be something? And so it was in 2023-24, when Irving finally shared less of his less endearing self off the court, staying out of the NBA doghouse while flourishing alongside Doncic in Dallas. All Kyrie ever has to do to be vital to his team is be there, which he was for 58 games, answering all the questions about whether he and Doncic could play together. Now Irving is ready to be the difference in Dallas against a Clippers team that has knocked Luka’s Mavs out of the playoffs twice. DL
It’s a long list, from rookie Chet Holmgren to Anthony Edwards, Doncic, Giannis, Nikola Jokić and Kristaps Porziņģis. But the answer is Jalen Brunson. If he gets hot, the Knicks could make it to the Eastern Conference Finals and challenge the Boston Celtics. JU
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Western Conference Finals
Nuggets over Mavericks. CDL
Gold nuggets above the thunder. ALREADY
Timberwolves over Mavericks. DL
Nuggets over Mavericks. JU
Eastern Conference Finals
Celtics over Knicks. CDL
Celtics over Bucks. ALREADY
Knicks about magic. DL
Celtics over Knicks. JU
Your NBA champion will be …
Denver Nuggets. The biggest challenges facing the Nuggets will occur long before they reach the Finals, if they succeed. The West is an absolute glove this season much more difficult than the one they crossed last year. Denver will have to beat a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis, followed by a tough, huge Timberwolves team or Durant and Booker with a better supporting cast than last year, and possibly Doncic and Irving and a red-hot Mavericks. Yes, the Celtics had a sensational regular season and will theoretically be better equipped due to a much easier path to the Finals than Denver, but beating the best of the best gives me more confidence in a team, and the Celtics simply won’t have to. I have the Nuggets in Game 7. CDL
Denver Nuggets. Boston tries and tries – and let’s be clear: the preseason trade for Holiday is at least proving successful in getting them back to the Finals. But when it comes down to it, no one beats the Wiz – and by that I mean the Serbian seven-footer whose acting and supporting cast are head and shoulders above the rest. ALREADY
New York Knicks. The league is so wide open that the Knicks are going to win what I’ll call a “title of opportunity.” There will be a lot of turmoil if the big boys collapse, allowing the Knicks to walk through a wide-open championship window and win their first ring since the Nixon administration. Few would look at their roster and say, “that’s a championship team,” but with a little help, a lot of hustle and the tight teamwork that has made New York so resilient this season, it’s more than possible that Broadway plays host to one of the most unlikely ticker tape parades in NYC history. And yes, I know I said the Wolves are at risk of going out early, but if they can survive the first round, I want them to gain momentum and reach the finals. DL
Boston Celtics. This could come back to haunt me, but it also just seems like their year. They won 64 regular season games, while the next best total was 57. While I would pick Denver in a vacuum, they seemed half a step slow and have played a ton of games this past year. Boston is younger, fresher and perhaps hungrier. If Tatum can avoid wilting late in the game and if Jaylen Brown can take care of the ball, they will too should to win. But Boston has to to take it, something they have avoided since the Garnett era. Boston over Denver in seven. JU