Sixers 3-1 Wizards
Setting up nicely for the gentleman's sweep. Not surprised Russ and Beal were able to finally blow up to save some face (with a big 3rd quarter after Embiid decided to take the night off). If Embiid is back, this is over in 5; if he's not, I still don't see how this goes more than 5. The Sixers move the ball too well and defend too well for the short-handed Wizards to hang with (that said, Embiid's sudden gimipness does suddenly make this more interesting than it ought to be).
Nets 3-1 Celtics
Well, Game Three was a perfect storm: Net's big 3 all shrank and Jaysun Tatum was just about untouchable as he went for 50. Okay, I'm surprised that happened once, doesn't seem possible it could happen again. Nets in 5.
Bucks 4-0 Heat
What a lame performance from the Heat: balled out in Game One, came up short, packed it in. This is still pretty much the same team that made mincemeat of the Bucks on their way to the Finals last year and yet this squad couldn't muster even a gentleman's W. The Heat have a star, a collection of nice youth and handy veterans, a coach that has won Championships and, you know, all that Heat culture....and they couldn't even take a game off the Bucks? Either the Bucks are better than we thought (which is very possible) or this Heat team was just mailing it in all year long (also possible).
Knicks 1-3 Hawks
Julius Randle was on my MVP ballot and was one of my favorite players to watch this season, but he has disappeared while Trae Young looks like Steph in his prime. Wtf? The Hawks are a deeper team but they're inexperienced, while the Knicks are all veteran mercenaries with a tough guy coach--figured they'd put up a little more fight. There's still time for Randle to re-appear and wreck shop and there's still time for the Knicks to figure out how to slow down Trae...but there ain't much time. Factor in that the Hawks just went cold in the 4th quarter of Game Two and, uh , this series should probably already be over. I'll give the Knicks a W in front of the home crowd, but I'll take the Hawks in 6.
Jazz 3-1 Grizzlies
Remember when the Grizzlies won Game One (after knocking out the Warriors)? Yeah, that feels like a long time ago. The Grizz got a lot of nice talent--Ja is a player, for sure--but the Jazz do everything well: team defense is tight, they move the ball, they all score, they're deep and savvy all around. I just don't see how the Grizz take another game. Jazz in 5.
Suns 2-2 Lakers
When Anthony Davis doesn't play, the Lakers don't win (also: Lebron doesn't exert full effort). So if Anthony Davis plays two more games, I'd give the Lakers at least a shot at winning; but if he doesn't, I think the Suns win all the games he doesn't play. And as much as the talking head crowd adores them some Chris Paul (*), I think the Suns can win without him--indeed, I think he's occasionally detrimental (when trying to run down the clock in Game Four, he nearly killed all their momentum, when actually trying to score was still working just fine). I think the Suns are a good team and they know how to win better without CP than the Lakers can without AD. I dunno what to pick, if AD plays two of the next three games, I'll say the Lakers; if not, it's the Suns. We'll just have to see.
Nuggets 2-2 Blazers
Coin flip. Both teams get so hot and so cold that these games have actually been pretty uninteresting when two years ago this was my favorite matchup. Oh well. Nuggets at home in Seven seems the only reasonable call at this point.
Clippers 2-2 Mavs
Okay, I bit on the hype and figured the Clippers had clipped and this was over. But instead it seems the Mavs have reverted to the mean and their brilliant shooting in the first two games kinda evaporated in the last two games and now we're back to the beginning. The Clippers seem a lot more confident suddenly after looking shellshocked early on; and the Mavs seem a lot more like the one dimensional one-man show they were all season. I think they're even again, which would lead me to take the Clippers in 7.
(*) I like Chris Paul just fine, but the nerds drool over him in a way I find puzzling. He's never won anything and I don't think its the injuries--he wasn't gonna win anyway! He's a helluva regular season player but in the grand scheme of things, he's more of a never-was than a hall of famer. I said it, I meant it: he was never built to go deep into the playoffs even in his prime.
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