Phx-Suns.Net

Who wins it all? My money is on the West, Lakers or Clippers. The Bucks didn't impress me too much. Toronto and Celtics have an outside chance. I'm looking forward to watching the Blazers/Grizzlies play in game today. Grizzlies don't stand a chance.

Here’s my predictions:

Blazers over Grizzlies in 1(would have picked this before seeing first half)

Lakers over Blazers in 5
Clippers over Mavs in 5
Nuggets over Jazz in 6
Thunder over Rockets in 6

Bucks over Magic in 4
Raptors over Nets in 4
Celtics over Sixers in 5
Heat over Pacers in 6

Lakers over Thunder in 6
Clippers over Nuggets in 6

Bucks over Heat in 7
Raptors over Celtics in 7

Clippers over Lakers in 6

Bucks over Raptors in 7

Clippers over Bucks in 7

Nurkic is looking like he should be ranked ahead of Ayton.

Brandon Clarke has been really nice.

Blazers defense is bad. I think the bubble suns would have cruised through either of these teams

Grizzlies should have challenged that, that was a clean block on Lillard

Split T wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 15, 2020 1:32 pm

Blazers defense is bad. I think the bubble suns would have cruised through either of these teams

It's easy to say that when the Suns are at home. The Suns don't have a Ja Morant to put pressure on the Blazers. And they would have a hard time slowing down Lillard. Nurkic would also have a field day.

I'm not saying the Suns couldn't win, but I think it is a given they would.

Lillard would have been a problem. And this 4th Q version of CJ would have been tough, but Booker would have gotten wherever he wanted as well. I think we would have gone on big runs with the blazers bench in.

Yes Ja quickness is crazy so his ability to put pressure on defenses is indeed great but must remember LeVert also made light work of them so once again how our Centers fared would have been the key

Blazers-Suns would've been a fun matchup. Their backccourt is obviously a handful so I would've liked to see how we played them with combos of Rubio, Book, Jevon, Payne and maybe Bridges. Bridge and Cam would've handled Melo easily I think. Nurk and Whiteside would've given us some problems unless we had Baynes available.

Split T wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 15, 2020 1:32 pm

Blazers defense is bad. I think the bubble suns would have cruised through either of these teams

Yeah, I forgot they are so bad defensively. That's the only reason the game was close with the Grizzlies today.

That’s why every blazers game is close. They can put up points like crazy, but they can’t stop anyone.

My quick playoff predictions, with the usual caveat that I'm horrible at predictions:

First round:
Lakers over Blazers in 5
Clippers over Mavs in 4
Nuggets over Jazz in 4
Rockets over Thunder in 6
Bucks over Magic in 4
Raptors over Nets in 5
Celtics over Sixers in 4
Pacers over Heat in 7

Second round (conference semifinals):
Lakers over Rockets in 6
Clippers over Nuggets in 5
Bucks over Pacers in 4
Celtics over Raptors in 6

Third round (conference finals):
Clippers over Lakers in 6
Bucks over Celtics in 7

Fourth round (NBA Finals):
Bucks over Clippers in 6

...

I have to admit that I find this playoffs really hard to predict. It does seem very likely that the eventual champ will be one of Lakers, Clippers, or Bucks. But outside that, the individual series are really hard to peg. This is especially true given the weirdness added by the bubble, lack of homecourt advantage, etc. I just don't know how that will change things. If there's a Game 7, the "road" team doesn't have to face nearly as much intense energy of the jeering crowd, and the "home" team doesn't get pumped up by their cheers. That's a pretty big deal. Will it mean that we see more upsets? Who knows.

My craziest predictions are the Pacers over Heat and maybe the Celtics going to the ECF and taking the Bucks to 7. I think Boston will give Milwaukee its greatest challenge on its way to the title. I don't believe in the Lakers and think their lack of depth (esp. without guys like Bradley) will really hurt them in later rounds. But I do dislike Lebron and kind of want him to lose, I admit.

A lot of people seem to think that the Thunder will beat the Rockets. I put Houston winning that series because they still have immense firepower and the best player in the series (Harden). I like the Nuggets and would love to see them go far, but I think a methodical team with great defense like the Clips will exploit their flaws.

My predictions:

East
Round 1
Bucks over Magic 4-1
Heat over Pacers 4-2
Celtics over 76ers 4-1
Raptors over Nets 4-0

East Semis
Bucks over Heat 4-2 (Jimmy never gets out of Round 1)
Raptors over Celtics 4-3

East Finals
Raptors over Bucks 4-2


West
Round 1
Lakers over Blazers 4-1
Thunders over Rockets 4-3 (Dantoni doesn't come back)
Nuggets over Jazz 4-2
Clips over Mavs 4-2

West Semis
Lakers over Thunder 4-1
Nuggets over Clippers 4-3 (I think this is more what I want to happen than what will happen...just don't want to see an all LA final)

West Finals
Lakers over Nuggets 4-2

NBA Finals
Lakers over Raptors 4-2 (LeBron leads 3rd franchise to a title)

Indy wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:26 am

Lakers over Raptors 4-2 (LeBron leads 3rd franchise to a title)

Joining Robert Horry and John Salley as the only players to do it.

Cap wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:53 pm

Indy wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:26 am

Lakers over Raptors 4-2 (LeBron leads 3rd franchise to a title)

Joining Robert Horry and John Salley as the only players to do it.

I think you missed a key word there, cap.

Cap wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:53 pm

Indy wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:26 am

Lakers over Raptors 4-2 (LeBron leads 3rd franchise to a title)

Joining Robert Horry and John Salley as the only players to do it.

The more players catching and passing Horry the better.

Everyone is using the family intros
Suns the trend setters lol

Refs gave the game to the Clippers with a bullshit Porzingis ejection

Hey, that guy with the 42 points for the Mavs was really good. Some kind of record. Who was that? Promising young lad.

Furlanfufi wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 17, 2020 7:44 pm

Refs gave the game to the Clippers with a bullshit Porzingis ejection

That was a Markieff Morris special in the Robert Horry mold.