2024 Playoffs Prediction Contest

[Split T]

Some of y’all only picked round 1, so I don’t know what to do with that, but here’s the leaderboard after round 1:

1. specialsauce - 80
1. BKinSJC - 80
1. Flagrant Fowl - 80
4. Wally West - 75
5. England Sun - 65
5. Split T - 65
5. Mori Chu - 65
5. Superbone - 65
5. Sunny Orange - 65
10. Shel C - 45
11. Jeremy G - 30

[Mori Chu]

Thanks for compiling those scores. And congrats to saucey, BK, and FF.

[ShelC]

Got you guys right where I want ya.

[Superbone]

Got you guys right where I want ya.

So you're saying there's a chance.

[specialsauce]

Well crap I misunderstood the assignment. Too late now

[England Sun]

1 Boston in 5
2 Philli in 6
3 Pacers in 6
4 Cleveland in 5

West
1 OKC in either 4 or 5 depending on opp
2 Nuggets in 6
3 Suns in 5
4 Clips in 4

OK, from my results I wouild have gone--

Boston in 5
Pacers in 6

OKC in 6
Suns in 7 (what can I say, I'm a glutten for punishment)

Conference finals -
Boston in 7

OKC in 5 (Suns just fall short of the finals )

Final -
A surprise OKC win over Boston.

[JeremyG]

Getting this thread going so people can start preparing. In the past we’ve given 10 points for picking the correct winner of each series and 5 points for picking the number of games correct. Do we want to keep the same scoring process?

Should later rounds count for more?

Here’s the matchups we know so far…I’ll update the 8 seeds after the final play in games.

Eastern Conference playoffs:

1. Boston Celtics vs 8. Miami Heat
2. New York Knicks vs 7. Philadelphia 76ers
3. Milwaukee Bucks vs 6. Indiana Pacers
4. Cleveland Cavaliers vs 5. Orlando Magic

Western Conference Playoffs:

1. OKC Thunder vs 8. New Orleans Pelicans
2. Denver Nuggets vs 7. Los Angeles Lakers
3. Minnesota Timberwolves vs 6. Phoenix Suns
4. Los Angeles Clippers vs 5. Dallas Mavericks

East:
Celtics in 7
Sixers in 6
Bucks in 6
Cavs in 5

Celtics in 4
Sixers in 6

Celtics in 7

West:
Thunder in 6
Lakers in 6
Suns in 5
Clippers in 7

Thunder in 7
Suns in 4

Thunder in 6

Finals:
Celtics in 5

Nuggets out round 1? Bold pick

I don't believe in Denver this year. If they get past LA, I could see us losing to them but other than that, I don't see them going far.

I may have gotten almost every series wrong haha, but I was confident about Denver not going far.

[Split T]

1. BKinSJC - 110
2. Flagrant Fowl - 105
2. Wally West - 105
4. Split T - 95
4. Mori Chu - 95
6. Sunny Orange - 85
6. England Sun - 85
8. specialsauce - 80
8. Superbone - 80
10. Shel C - 45
11. Jeremy G - 40

Please double check my math…I did this quick while on vacation in Europe

[Mori Chu]

Do later rounds count the same as early rounds? Have we always done it that way, or is there any point in "scaling up" since it's harder to predict properly the further you go?

[Split T]

We maybe should’ve had the later rounds count for more…I don’t think we did last year

[Split T]

I was late on updating the conference finals leaderboard…basically everyone got 10 points for picking Boston and FF also picked Dallas, so congrats to FF for nailing the Finals.

1. FF - 125
2. BKinSJC - 120
3. Wally West - 115
3. Mori Chu - 115
5. Split T - 105
6. Sunny Orange - 95
6. England Sun - 95
8. Superbone - 90
9. Specialsauce - 80
10. Jeremy G - 50
11. ShelC- 45

[Split T]

Also FF and BKinSJC both picked Boston in 6 to win the finals so it appears there is no way for FF to lose. He is our official winner…kinda anticlimactic…we should probably change the rules next year to give more points for future rounds.

[Mori Chu]

I was late on updating the conference finals leaderboard…basically everyone got 10 points for picking Boston and FF also picked Dallas, so congrats to FF for nailing the Finals.

1. FF - 125
2. BKinSJC - 120
3. Wally West - 115
4. Split T - 105
4. Mori Chu - 105
6. Sunny Orange - 95
6. England Sun - 95
8. Superbone - 90
9. Specialsauce - 80
10. Jeremy G - 50
11. ShelC- 45

I also picked Dallas, fwiw. Also, I don't know what scoring system we have typically used, but I wonder if it should "scale up" in later rounds. Like, if you get only 10 points for picking the right teams to make it to the Finals / win the title, it seems like that's harder to get right than just predicting some random 1 vs 8 first round series. But just my two cents, biased by the fact that I picked both the Finals teams correctly.

[Split T]

Thanks for catching that…I totally missed it…I’ll update but that moves you up to 3rd

[Split T]

And ya I’m happy to scale up next year…kinda like March madness brackets generally do. I think that makes sense. Always happy for suggestions as well.

[Mori Chu]

I was trying to double-check how many points I had earned up to this point. I think maybe I have picked 9 series correctly, and 4 of them in exactly the correct number of games? So I think that means I have (9 * 10) + (4 * 5) = 110 points? But I think somebody should double-check the whole leaderboard because I think maybe some of the numbers are off. One possible discrepancy: you can't get the "number of games correct" points if you pick the wrong series winner. For example, if the series is Bucks vs 76ers and you pick Bucks in 6 but the actual winner is 76ers in 6, you don't get the 5 points for predicting "in 6." Here's my scribbles on calculating my own score:

https://www.nba.com/playoffs/2024

1. Boston Celtics vs 8. Miami Heat: Celtics in 4.
+10
2. New York Knicks vs 7. Philadelphia 76ers: Knicks in 6.
+10 +5
3. Milwaukee Bucks vs 6. Indiana Pacers: Bucks in 7.
4. Cleveland Cavaliers vs 5. Orlando Magic: Magic in 6.

2nd round (Eastern semifinals):
1. Boston Celtics vs 5. Orlando Magic: Celtics in 5.
+10 +5
2. New York Knicks vs 3. Milwaukee Bucks: Bucks in 6.
3rd round (Eastern finals):
1. Boston Celtics vs 3. Milwaukee Bucks: Celtics in 7.
+10

Western Conference 1st round:
1. OKC Thunder vs 8. NO Pelicans: OKC in 4.
+10 +5
2. Denver Nuggets vs 7. Los Angeles Lakers: Nuggets in 5.
+10 +5
3. Minnesota Timberwolves vs 6. Phoenix Suns: Suns in 6.
4. Los Angeles Clippers vs 5. Dallas Mavericks: Mavs in 5.
+10

2nd round (Western semis):
1. OKC Thunder vs 5. Dallas Mavericks: Mavs in 6.
+10
2. Denver Nuggets vs 6. Phoenix Suns: Nuggets in 5.

3rd round (Western finals):
2. Denver Nuggets vs 5. Dallas Mavericks: Mavs in 6.
+10

NBA Finals:
1. Boston Celtics vs 5. Dallas Mavericks: Celtics in 6.

[Split T]

Looks like you missed your +5 for Mavs in 6 over Thunder…so 115