The NBA Playoffs will begin on Saturday afternoon when the Warriors and Spurs get things started in a Western Conference Finals rematch from last season. The full TV schedule has been released and after being unable to prepare for any series until after the conclusion of Wednesday, the next two days will be a cram session for team, media, and fans as everyone gets ready for playoff basketball.
When the playoff matchups were finally set in stone late Wednesday night, we got to start getting excited about certain series. This year, you can find some intrigue in each matchup, especially with very few top teams looking like juggernauts right now. However, there are still some that jump out more than others and below you’ll find a ranking of the most interesting series of the first round, from least to most.
Again, you can make a case for some of these teams towards the bottom to be higher, but as far as the general excitement for them, I think there’s at least some pretty clear tiers in the eight series.
8. (1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards
The point you can make for Toronto is that they have never gotten off to good starts to the postseason, so there will certainly be interest in how they fare early on in this series. If Washington manages to pluck a game off of them in Toronto, suddenly the whispers about this team’s playoff struggles will grow louder and this gets far more interesting.
The problem is, the Wizards have been the worst team of all the playoff squads recently by a good margin, having gone 3-7 in their last 10 games including a dismal loss to the Magic on Wednesday night. The Raptors should roll through this series, and there is of course the opportunity for some craziness, but those chances feel slimmer than anywhere else.
7. (2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks
The 2-7 matchup in the East isn’t much better, but it lands higher on our list simply because it at least seems like it’s destined to be competitive. The Celtics are going into this series without the vast majority of their stars, but that skeleton crew has held on down the stretch to maintain the 2-seed. The Bucks are very difficult to pin down simply because they have a legit superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the supporting cast has a tendency to disappear at times and they have serious defensive lapses. This will be a popular upset pick due to Boston’s injury issues, but competitive doesn’t necessarily equal interesting.
6. (4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers
The Pacers finding themselves in the 5-seed is rather incredible and Victor Oladipo is a lock for MIP this season. I think we could have some early drama in this series, much like last year’s Pacers-Cavs matchup, but it’s hard to get too fired up about this one. LeBron is still LeBron and until the unthinkable happens, no one’s going into this with high expectations for him to be handed his first series loss in the first round ever.
5. (2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
If Kawhi Leonard magically returns this ranking is extremely wrong. However, a Leonard-less, Curry-less Warriors-Spurs series is interesting, but not the rematch any of us wanted after last year. We wanted a healthy Kawhi having a chance to prove they could have continued on dominating Golden State, or for the Warriors to put that undying narrative to bed. Instead, we have a Warriors team that’s limped in to the postseason, but everyone expects to turn it on, against a Spurs team that has fought valiantly to get to this spot, but it would seem to lack the pop to get the job done here. I may be proven wrong, but I think this is a solid five or six game series but not the epic slugfest so many wanted.
4. (3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans
If you’re talking about series that might steal the show, this is the one. If New Orleans runs out of gas, it won’t be, but I think both of these teams are capable of producing some fantastic games and wildly impressive individual performances between Damian Lillard and Anthony Davis. This one might not be high on everyone’s radar, but I’m a big fan of this series.
3. (1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves
The Rockets need to make a statement in the first round considering the history of literally every key player and coach on the bench. This is a team that earned the title of the NBA’s best team in the regular season, and now it’s time to show it against a Timberwolves team that, now healthy, presents some very real challenges.
Houston should be able to cook Minnesota’s defense, but the Timberwolves possess the offensive firepower to, at times, keep up with Houston and it will be very interesting to see how the young and much improved Clint Capela handles the challenge of taking on Karl-Anthony Towns. The Wolves with Jimmy Butler back are a very different team and are much more talented than a standard 8-seed. I think these games will be very fun, even if this ends in four or five games.
2. (3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat
You may think this is too high, and that’s fine, but the Sixers are, to me, the most fascinating team in the NBA Playoffs. This is a team that won its last 16 games, eight of which were without superstar center Joel Embiid. They have the presumed Rookie of the Year in Ben Simmons who is having a phenomenal season and they’re getting massive contributions from Dario Saric, Robert Covington, J.J. Redick and others. How this young team handles a playoff series is the top storyline for me in the first round.
The Heat aren’t all that interesting, but Hassan Whiteside and Embiid will get to go back and forth in the media and, hopefully, on the court once Embiid is cleared. Nearly any outcome of this series would be really interesting. If the Sixers beat the brakes off the Heat, it’ll be a statement that they’re way ahead of schedule and ready to compete now. A competitive series would be a bit of a surprise, but bring about some questions about Philly, while a Heat win would stun and produce some very interesting discussion about the Sixers and what they need moving forward.
1. (4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz
They say styles make fights and Jazz-Thunder might be the ultimate example of this. This is a defensive juggernaut in Utah predicated on strong team play, going up against a Thunder team that has the most star power outside of Houston and Golden State. The Jazz have been unfathomably hot since the All-Star break and the play of Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles, and Rudy Gobert has been nothing shy of incredible.
I understand why others might have a different view of this series, but the offensive firepower of the Thunder against the defensive prowess of the Jazz is going to be extremely interesting to watch. I think this, of all the series, is the most likely to go a full seven games and produce some high drama that will have ramifications well into free agency.
