Ty Picks the NBA Bubble Playoffs

The NBA playoffs start today. In fact, I am writing this while I watch the first game of the day between the Nuggets and Jazz. This is crazy that the playoffs are just starting now, but hey, it is playoff basketball and I am stoked. I am going to do my final NBA playoff preview and picks today. So far the NBA has been doing this whole "bubble" thing right, and here's hoping they get to finish this off on scheduled time.

I will start with the East because it truly is the JV. The one seed is the Bucks. They are facing the 8th seeded Magic. This series is going to be a total wash. I know the Bucks haven't looked great in the bubble, but they are now, finally, going to be playing games that truly mean something. I heard someone on a pod say that the Bucks haven't played an important game in almost six months, and that is 100 percent true. They are going to raise their level, play like they did before the shutdown and Giannis is going to dominate. No disrespect to the Magic, but they just cannot hang with Milwaukee. They are too young, too thin and cannot score from three enough. Bucks will sweep.

The 2-7 matchup is Toronto, the defending champs, and the haggard lineup that is the Nets right now. That being said, the Nets have played fine in the bubble, and Caris Levert has looked tremendous. He is becoming a solid player that could be the third guy when KD and Kyrie come back next season. But, besides Joe Harris and Jarrett Allen, the Nets are super duper thin, and their bench is trash. The Raptors on the other hand are, maybe, the deepest team in the league, they have everyone back from last year except Kawhi and they are all about business. They don't mess around, they don't play games and they are in Orlando to handle things. They also play phenomenal defense. The Raptors are going to sweep, and after they do people will start to talk about how they have the mettle to repeat. They are a damn good team.

The 3-6 features Boston and Philadelphia. This series would be so much more fun if Ben Simmons were healthy, and if Joel Embiid went 100 percent every night. They don't have Simmons, Embiid has been in and out of the lineup in the bubble and they have not looked great. I really wanted the 76ers to take that leap this year, but they have been extremely underwhelming, and that was even before the suspension of the season. I would love to see them prove me wrong and beat Boston, but the Celtics have looked really good right now. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been dominant, no one on the 76ers can guard them and they will eat them up from the perimeter. Boston is a better, more prepared team right now. Celtics in five.

The 4-5 is going to be fun with Miami and Indiana. But, if the previous game, where Butler shut down a red hot TJ Warren, it may be a wash. Indiana isn't at full health, the Heat have been goofing around during the seeding games and they just look too damn good to be beaten by the Pacers right now. Warren has cooled off, Victor Oladipo is still working his way back, Myles Turner hasn't taken over like many hoped and Damontas Sabonis is still hurt. The Warren Butler matchup will be fun, but it won't matter, Heat in six.

That would give us second round matchups of Milwaukee-Miami and Toronto-Boston. These are good matchups and should be good series. Miami has a guy that can guard Giannis in Bam Adebayo. But do they have enough scoring? Are Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson going to hit enough threes? Will Adebayo be too tired on offense because he has to guard Giannis? How is Butler going to handle the full offensive load? As much as I'd like to see Miami push, I don't think they have enough yet. And Milwaukee has been waiting for real games. I feel like Milwaukee is going to wake up in the first round, and roll that into the rest of the playoffs. This will be a well fought series, and I'm going with the Bucks in six.

The Raptors and Celtics is going to be great. It is young versus vets. It is guys on the verge of stardom versus guys that know their roles and play them perfectly. It is 2 of the best minds in the NBA going head to head. This is going to be a throwback, rough and tumble series. And I think the Raptors are the better team. They are laden with vets that will do every little thing to win. The Celtics are still too young. Raptors in seven.

This will give us a rematch of the East Finals last year, and this time around I think the Bucks will exorcise some demons. Every team needs to have those tumbles, like the Bucks did last year, and then they can taste victory. That is what I think will happen this series. It will be tough and long, but I have the Bucks winning in seven games, all of which will be very, very good. The Bucks will be the East Champs.

Now the Varsity. The West is so much better than the East, and so much more wide open. Take the 1-8 matchup for example. The Trailblazers are the 8 seed, and they were in the conference finals last year. They are now fully healthy, they look good and Damian Lillard has been absolutely lights out. But I feel like the Lakers are playing possum, much like the Bucks. And while I don't think the Lakers are as good, or as deep as Milwaukee, they do have LeBron and AD. The Blazers will give them all they have, but they have had to fight to get this spot, I am sure they are tired and who is going to stop AD on that roster? I think it will go six because Dame is the modern day Allen Iverson, but in the long run LeBron and AD will be too much for the Blazers to handle.

The 2-7 is strength versus strength. The Mavericks are historically great on offense and the Clippers have the two best perimeter defenders in the league. What the Mavericks don't have though is a defense of any kind. They are going to have to score 130 every night to stay in this series, and I still think the Clippers would win, and win easily. The Clippers will throw Kawhi and Paul George at Luka and he will have his struggles. Also, Kristaps Porzingis is now simply a 7 footer that shoots threes. He is not a low post threat. The Clippers have too much on defense and more than enough on offense. Clippers in five.

The 3-6, the game I am watching now, features Utah and Denver. I'd be more prone to go with Utah to make it close if Mike Conley were still there. He left to be home for the birth of his kid, and I cannot think of a better reason to leave the bubble. Without him though, I just don't know how they can beat Denver. Rudy Gobert is going to have to use all his energy on defense guarding Nikola Jokic, which will make it tough on the offensive end. Denver is also going to be able to throw a plethora of people at Donovan Mitchell with no Conley there. And even though he has some dumbass theories about the CoronaVirus, Michale Porter Jr has been amazing in the bubble. The Nuggets are good, deep and can score in bunches. The Jazz are okay, but Conley going home hurts and their bench is not very good. Nuggets in six.

The 4-5 is my favorite matchup in all of the first round of the playoffs. We have Houston and OKC. Chris Paul facing Harden, and Russ if he comes back from injury. OKC also has so much more size, is deeper and has the best point guard playing in the playoffs. The Rockets though, they have James Harden and this funky lineup with no one taller than 6'8. How is that going to affect Steven Adams?  Is Harden going to score 40 every night? Will CP3 be seeking revenge? If Russ comes back, how hard is he going to go? This series is going to rule. It is going to be fun, with tons of points, scuffles, history and great games. As much as I'd love to see OKC advance, especially after they made all those trades and people like me thought they were going to tank, I think Harden is going to carry the Rockets to the second round. He is so good offensively, the Rockets are going to shoot a million threes and they will make enough to win four games. I have the Rockets in seven.

The second then features the Lakers and Rockets and the Nuggets and Clippers. The Rockets small ball lineup is going to get destroyed by AD, JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard. AD is going to eat like he never has before. He is going to absolutely own this series. He could easily go for 40 points and 20 rebounds a night. Harden could go off too, but it still won't be enough. The Rockets lack of size will cost them this series. The Lakers will win in six, but it could easily be five.

The Nuggets and Clippers will be harder fought, but with a similar outcome. Jokic will cause problems for the Clippers, as will Porter Jr if he keeps this up. But again, the Clippers can throw Kawhi, George, Patrick Beverly and the Morris brother at Porter Jr. They can also throw Kawhi, George and Zubac at Jokic. He may be able to pass out, or get up shots over these guys, but the Clippers are too good on defense, healthy and finally all back together. Clippers in six.

This gives us the battle of LA, and yes I am very aware I went chalk with the entire playoffs in both conferences. I think that is what the bubble is going to produce. The best, most veteran laden teams will advance. As far as the battle of LA, I think playing in the bubble favors the Clippers. There is no home court advantage, and if we never had a stoppage, the Clippers wouldn't have had a home court advantage anyway. LA is a Lakers town. But in Orlando, with no fans, none of that matters. And while the Lakers won the last game before the stoppage, and the first in the bubble, they were going all out while I felt the Clippers were kind of going through the motions. Now the games matter, Kawhi is going to turn that switch and Paul George is as healthy as he has ever been. It will be a good series. It will go seven games. But I just think the Clippers depth, when they unleash Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, they are a better team. AD will eat in this series too, but the Clippers can throw everyone else at everyone else on the Lakers. I don't like to ever pick against LeBron,  but the Clippers depth and defensively switch ability will be too much for the Lakers to overcome. I have the Clippers in seven.

As for the Finals, I am going with the Clippers in six. I have stuck with them the moment they acquired Kawhi and PG, so why would I change now? For all the same reasons I think they will beat the Lakers, you can say the same for the Bucks. Giannis can go off, but will the rest of the Bucks roster do the same? I don't think they will be able too because of the defense the Clippers can, and will, play. The Clippers will win the Finals in the bubble, and it will go down in history. I'm also going with Kawhi as the MVP because he is the best overall player in the NBA.

There you have it, my NBA playoff preview and picks. Now lets all go watch some basketball. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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