You have read a lot of playoff predictions over the last however many days. Many of these have tried to give you as straight and rational of a take as possible.
But let’s face it: There’s something fun about being bold. We all want to go out on the limb and make predictions that seem a little wild, especially when it comes to the NBA’s postseason, but it’s sometimes difficult to reconcile the desire to make a bold prediction when logic oftentimes is the best way to proceed.
Still, several members of the UPROXX Sports staff thought it would be fun to explore some of these bold predictions. What has to happen for the Cavaliers to make it to the conference finals? Can the Warriors really run the table during the playoffs? What about a lesser-regarded team like the Rockets, can they actually win it all?
Of course they can! These are bold predictions! To see our writers’ bold predictions about the 2017 NBA Playoffs, we implore you to read on.
Martin Rickman: The Warriors Won’t Make The Finals
I know, I know. It’s crazy. I’m a hater. I’m a Cleveland homer (who picked the Cavs in 7 last year). I don’t appreciate the beauty and excitement that is Warriors basketball. I’m too quick to judge Draymond Green for his antics, and I don’t give Steph Curry enough love, and I still can’t stop laughing over Klay’s “this is a man’s league” thing and that photoshoot and him signing a toaster.
All of that is justification for why you can discount what I’m writing before I even begin. But maybe (just maybe!) the Warriors get tripped up by the Spurs, who have been playing possum all year a little bit. Or the Rockets get hot and can outscore them. Or another darkhorse finally takes them out in a seven-game series in the West. Or there’s an injury or adversity that causes the Warriors’ bench to get even shorter. Maybe Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston break down. Or Steph hits a cold streak after being so hot recently. Or Kevin Durant can’t get it going and didn’t have enough games to work out the kinks. I don’t know. It’s not my job to predict how it’s going to happen. It’s my job to take the field, and I’ll always pull for the under – dogs or otherwise.
Or the Warriors lose like two total games in the playoffs and win their second title in two years and cement their legacy as a dynasty. Whatever. But saying that along with everyone else is boring, and life’s too short to be boring.
Aaron Williams: Beard Is Going To Put The Rockets On His Back And Take Them To A Ring
This hurts me to even put to page, for two reasons: one, in order to accomplish this minor miracle, James Harden will have to steamroll my beloved Clippers (again) – I take some solace that this will have to occur in the Western Conference Finals, which is a goal I’ll gladly accept as a consolation prize – and two, everybody who knows me knows I have beef with James Harden. Not “two gats to go to sleep” type beef. Just a general air of dislike and disdain stemming from certain interactions we’ve had at our mutual “summer job.”
(Cue Thor:Ragnarok trailer for the “We’re friends, from work!” gag)
Now, that being said, that’s how I know with absolute certainty: the man known as Beard has never been more focused, has never played so within himself, and has never been as close to reaching his full potential as a player as he is now. All season I’ve read how stunned people are at his “evolution” to point guard for the Houston Rockets; for three summers straight I’ve been watching him do this and wondering just why no NBA coach was willing to unleash his monstrous skill as a table-setting playmaker. Well, it turns out I was wrong about that — one was. Mike D’Antoni handed the reigns of the Rockets’ offense to James Harden and watched Daryl Morey’s fantasy come to wondrous life, and Houston has been all the better for it.
Witness as the nigh-unstoppable-on-the-drive, 6’5, 220 pound Harden stomps his way into the lane with all the gravity of a collapsing star, only to whip a laser beam pass from deep, deep in the pain to Ryan Anderson in the corner for a wide open short corner three with no defender within even twenty feet. Swoon as he dances and weaves along the perimeter, pick or no pick, stepping back to give himself enough space to launch a silky smooth three of his.
Feel the thrill as that dribble drive from earlier lulls defenders into staying home on the outside as he trundles through paint, arms outstretched to draw the foul, euro-stepping into just the right position to put the leather on the glass, for the and-1. And over and over, like a binary computer; the Rockets may only have two options on offense – lay-up or three-pointer – but they’re so damn good at both. Vindication for efficiency geeks may be just around the corner, and it will be James Harden who delivers it, arms outstretched, on a silver platter.
Brad Rowland: The Warriors’ Best Chance To Lose Comes In Round Two
The Golden State Warriors are the best team in the NBA and it isn’t particularly close. In fact, the now-annual “Warriors or the field?” question seems quite reasonable as a result of just how dominant Stephen Curry and company have been, even in the absence of Kevin Durant. Throw in the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers, long seen as Golden State’s biggest impediment toward a title victory, are struggling mightily and the stage is set for the Warriors to act as overwhelming favorites.
However, it isn’t a ton of fun to look ahead and simply project the “right” result of the Warriors claiming the title and that begs the question of which team can (or will) unseat them. The San Antonio Spurs, by all accounts, have been the second-best team in the NBA this season, racing to 61 wins. There are real questions, though, about San Antonio’s ultimate ceiling to the point where it is tough to see the Spurs taking down the Warriors over seven games. Then, you have the Houston Rockets, who have become a (very) trendy sleeper pick based on an utterly dominant offense and the mere presence of James Harden. Still, it would be difficult to project the Rockets having any sort of defensive resistance against the Warriors and the talent gap between the two teams is quite large.
That brings us to the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers. The West’s No. 4 vs. No. 5 match-up is already drawing excitement as the most competitive and it is easy to see why. Utah, especially when fully healthy, has been quite good on the way to 50-plus victories and they are the new kids on the block when it comes to the big-time playoff contenders. Then, you have the “old guard” of the Clippers, who happen to be playing at nearly a 60-win clip with Chris Paul healthy. Who will be the victor of that series? It is very hard to tell.
With that said, the team that advances from round one has the best chance to upset the Warriors at any point. Utah and Los Angeles might not be the “best” teams that Golden State sees on their way to the NBA Finals, but the integration of Durant back into lineup could take some time and, with all due respect to the Portland Trail Blazers, it won’t matter in the first round. After that advancement, though, the Jazz and Clippers present a large step up in competition.
Don’t hear what I’m not saying. Neither the Clippers nor the Jazz is likely to win a seven-game battle against the Warriors, especially without the benefit of homecourt advantage. With that said, Golden State projects to be more vulnerable early rather than late in these playoffs and the gap between the tier of San Antonio and Houston down to the duo of Los Angeles and Utah just isn’t very large. The Warriors are probably going to win the title but they should probably be a little bit careful in round two.
Robby Kalland: The Cavs Won’t Make The ECF
It’s really, really dumb to bet against LeBron James in the playoffs, especially the Eastern Conference playoffs, but here goes. The Cavs have been a disaster on the defensive end of the floor for the better part of two months, and while I fully expect LeBron to flip the switch for the playoffs I don’t have a great deal of confidence in the rest of the team’s ability to do so. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, the next two best players on the Cavs, are both much better as offensive players than defensive players and Tristan Thompson, the starting lineup’s best rim protector isn’t at 100 percent.
There aren’t a lot of defensive specialists anywhere else on the Cavs roster, either. The biggest additions this season for Cleveland, at the behest of James, were Kyle Korver and Deron Williams, two capable offensive players but neither are especially inspiring on the defensive end. Cleveland, having fallen to the 2-seed after punting on the top seed in the East, has to face an Indiana team that’s more than capable of pushing them to a six-game series – their last regular season meeting was one of the most entertaining of the year – and then Toronto should be lurking in the second round.
The Raptors took the Cavs to six games last year, although the four Cavs wins were all in blowout fashion. I don’t think this Cavs team will play that well in this year’s playoffs and the Raptors’ additions of Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker filled some holes last year’s team had. DeMar DeRozan has been a killer this year and Kyle Lowry’s been solid in his return from wrist injury. Toronto is as hot as any team in the East right now, going 12-2 in their last 14 games, and I think they pull off the upset in the second round.
Where the Cavs have been the league’s second-worst defensive team since the All-Star break, Toronto has been the fourth-best. Whether they can maintain that with Lowry in the lineup full-time – and he’s not a particularly good defender – remains to be seen, but Ibaka and Tucker have made Toronto a much improved defensive unit.
In making this pick, I’m breaking two of my chief rules about the NBA Playoffs: Never bet against LeBron and never trust the Raptors. I know LeBron teams have historically found ways to turn it on and he’s capable of dragging a team to the Finals, but I have legitimate concerns about Cleveland’s defense and think the Raptors will take advantage.
Bill DiFilippo: The Warriors Are Going To Go “Fo’ Fo’ Fo’ Fo'”
So much of this year has involved trying to find some kind of flaw with the Warriors. They went 73-9 last year. They added Kevin Durant. They went 67-15 this year.
Here’s the thing: None of that matters. The regular season for Golden State was a vessel through which they could build chemistry, find out what works for them, and iron out whatever kinks they would have after adding Durant into the fold en route to a playoff run. Ultimately, this season is based on winning a championship. If the Warriors got the eight seed, they would have been perfectly content, as everyone on this team knows that all that matters is getting into the playoffs.
But instead, Golden State got the one seed. It got Durant back from an injury. The team has been playing incredible basketball over the last month – they’ve lost one time over the last 31 days. Steph Curry has found his MVP-caliber form. This is the best roster with the second-best coach in the NBA, and it will have home court advantage all postseason while everyone is peaking.
That is a recipe for disaster for the rest of the league. To be clear, saying Golden State is going to go Fo’ Fo’ Fo’ Fo’ – shout out to Moses Malone, who coined this term back in 1982-83 (well, when he said it, it was just “Fo’ Fo’ Fo'” – is not meant to demean any of the teams they will face, they’re just really good. I find it hard to see the Blazers getting any games off of them, even if Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are magicians. Same for the team they’ll play in the second round – I can’t see Golden State losing to the Clippers or the Jazz (yes, I know Utah beat them in the penultimate regular season game, but once the Warriors flip the postseason switch, I don’t think that’ll be the case).
Their toughest chance to lose will come to San Antonio or Houston. I think with homecourt advantage and the fact that they will likely be rolling at that point, a sweep is very much possible. It will be difficult but possible. Then in the Finals, the only roster that can give them trouble is Cleveland, but I don’t know how anyone can trust the Cavs to stop Golden State from running all over them. (Ok, I do, they have LeBron James, but the singular brilliance of LeBron will not be enough.)
This Warriors team is unreal. There were times when we kind of lost sight of that this year, but I think we’ll all be reminded why when they lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy after going 16-0 this postseason.
Jamie Cooper: The Grizzlies Will Upset The Spurs In The Opening Round
It seems like almost every Western Conference powerhouse has a postseason history with the Memphis Grizzlies, and they all have the battle scars and night terrors to prove it.
They split a pair of grueling match-ups against the Clippers in back-to-back years in 2012 and 2013, and have slugged it out with the Thunder in seven-game thrillers on two separate occasions. And let’s not forget they were up 2-1 on the Warriors before the latter went on to win the championship in 2015.
Their historic run to the conference finals in 2013 ended in a sweep at the hands of a Spurs squad that was such a well-oiled machine at that point that they categorically dismantled the Big 3 Heat to win their fifth title in franchise history, so it’s difficult to read too much into that.
San Antonio was, of course, the prohibitive favorite going in, but that was also true in 2011 when the No. 8 seeded Grizzlies stunned them in the opening round in six games. Memphis got swept by the Spurs again last spring when their injury-ravaged roster was merely a specter of its former Grit-n-Grind self, so when Game 1 tips off on Saturday, they’ll be searching for some sweet redemption.
And they just might get it. As an assistant to Erik Spoelstra in Miami, Grizzlies coach David Fizdale has been in two consecutive chess matches with San Antonio in the Finals and can cull from those experiences. Memphis certainly has the advantage in the front court with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, who can play in tandem and in staggered minutes to bully the Spurs on the block on both ends of the floor.
Defensively, they can hound Kawhi Leonard with a two-pronged assault of former First Team All-Defender Tony Allen and the bigger, younger, more athletic JaMychal Green. Mike Conley will also have the advantage over an aging Tony Parker in the backcourt.
This is a matchup of two very good defensive teams who both struggle to score at times, which is exactly how the Grizzlies like it. They manage to thrive in the muck, and the Spurs will be the ones left mauled and bleeding in the postseason wilderness. Grizzlies in six.
