Sixers 4-1 Wizards. Yup. If Embiid is hurt, I don't see the Sixers beating either the Bucks or Nets; but if Embiid plays, they can hang with anyone. Simmons is so allergic to scoring that its cringeworthy considering what a pleasure he is to watch otherwise. I think Tobias Harris is criminally underappreciated, a guy cursed with the luck of a player-friendly contract and surrounded by fan favorites. Seth Curry is nice but the fact that they have to rely pretty heavily on him is a little scary. Doc Rivers is the right coach for them right now but it's all about Embiid's health, the more games he plays, the deeper they can go.
Nets 4-1 Celtics. Yup. Looking back on it, I'm really quite surprised they let the Celtics take a game. I guess it doesn't matter: they were gonna be in Boston for Game Four and then back in Brooklyn win or lose, so who needs to win? (The core component of the "Gentleman's Sweep") But, still, the Nets are trying to convince everyone they're untouchable, so getting housed by Tatum is a little disappointing. Oh well, they've got the scoring to hang with anyone.
Bucks 4-0 Heat. The Bucks have come into the playoffs as the overrated front runner the last two years but now they're the overlooked #3 seed and I think that's the spot for them.
Knicks 1-4 Hawks. Here's something we definitely learned about the Knicks: when Julius Randle and RJ Barrett don't show up, they're not very good. I don't think I needed five games of watching that to know, but at least now I'm sure I know. To say Randle was bad doesn't even capture it: he didn't rise up to the level of "bad", he was way worse. And, dude, Barrett was so bad in this series, I can't even remember his lowlights, he just disappeared. And, hey, I love Taj Gibson as much as the next guy but every time Trae got in the lane, Taj just watched him. Nerlens is the only guy on that roster that has any hope of hanging with Trae Young and Clint Capela at the same time, so what was Taj doing that earned him so many minutes? Immanuel Quickly probably wasn't the answer but wasn't it worth seeing if he could do something? Derrick Rose was the only Knick that showed up and I blame Thibs (yeah, I was a never a Thibs guy and this series didn't change my mind). As for the Hawks, well, they look pretty good but I dunno, man, the Knicks were really horrible, so it's hard to tell.
Jazz 4-1 Grizzlies. The Jazz tried to get cute by resting Donovan Mitchell in Game One and the Grizz stepped up and broke off a piece. Good for them but that's as good as it was gonna get for the Grizzlies. Nice team, I like the whole team (Ja with some seasoning is gonna be all right) but they weren't ready to go long with the Jazz. This Jazz team is good at everything, well coached and kinda deep. They're the #1 seed for a reason.
Suns 4-2 Lakers. Look, when Anthony Davis plays, the Lakers can beat anyone, when he doesn't, they can't beat anyone. The Suns are good--they're the #2 seed--and the Lakers have one great player that doesn't play enough and another great player that doesn't play when the other great player doesn't show up and not much else. This series was never over to my mind, the Lakers did well to take Games Two and Three, but when AD went gimpy, that was the end of their season. If he had played in Six and Seven, I would've given the Lakers a puncher's chance but even then I would not have seen them as the clear favorite in either game. The Suns move the ball and they shoot well and when a guy like Jae Crowder gets hot (*), it's kinda over for the other team, because CP won't turn it over, Ayton gets rebounds and possessions become bitterly precious.
Nuggets 4-2 Blazers. Oh! Thought this was going seven games, but outta nowhere the Nuggets just locked down the Blaze in the 4th quarter and stole Game Six--brilliant team effort. Figured the Blazers were cruising to a win and send the Series back to Denver but they got tight down the stretch right as the Nuggets got hot. Good W for Denver, for the MVP. Still an uphill battle for the Nuggets but I think Suns is a matchup they can hang with.
Clippers (3-3) Mavs. Going Seven games! The Mavs winning in Game Five came outta nowhere. I thought they were spent, thought Luka was hurt, thought the Clippers had righted their ship, but just like in the first two games, the Mavs just kept pace, held their lead and outlasted the furious comeback. Great W for the Mavs! Another stomach-churning L for the Clippers. Then when I figured the calamity had returned to Clipper-land, Kawhi goes off in the 4th and they steal back Game Six in Dallas (I believe this is the first series ever where the road team won the first six games). Who ya got back in LA? Well, I mean, the Mavs have owned Staples so far, but you gotta feel like the Clippers understand the sword of Damocles that hovers above them...I wanna say Clippers but it's hard, man, it's hard to bet on the Clippers.
(*) Dude, if Jae Crowder makes a shot in the 3rd quarter of Game Three, then this series would've been over a lot sooner--and before Davis went out.
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