After tonight's final play in game the NBA will have its 16 teams set for the playoffs.

The play in has been a success by the way. The East's games were blow outs, but I enjoyed watching Tatum put in 50, and the Pacers light up the Hornets and then the Wizards putting that same hurt on Indiana. The West's games have been much more competitive and fun. The Lakers got a great knock down shot from LeBron, the Grizzlies held on to beat the Spurs after building a 20 point lead and Steph was being Steph, and will probably be Steph tonight. I do think, as much as it upsets me, that the Warriors will beat the Grizzlies tonight and claim that 8th seed. Then the playoffs will be set. So let's just imagine that the Warriors claim that spot, and I will go on with my playoff preview.

I will start in the East as I always do.

The 1-8 matchup is the 76ers and the Wizards. The 76ers should roll in this series. They are bigger, stronger, longer, deeper and have played like the best team in the East all season. Simmons is as lock down as they come, Embiid is a MVP finalist and the rest of the roster plays their role. Brad Beal and Russell Westbrook will make it fun and exciting, but outside of those two, the Wizards do not have much else. The 76ers should, and will, sweep.

The 2-7 matchup is Brooklyn and Boston. Boston was supposed to be a top team. They were supposed to take the leap. They have all these great young players, but it just did not come together this season. And now that Jaylen Brown is out, they are toast. The Nets have the best three headed monster the NBA has seen in quite some time. They also have excellent role players. They may not play much defense, but they cannot be stopped when they are at full health, which they are right now. The Nets will sweep.

The 3-6 matchup features Milwaukee and Miami. This may be the best first round matchup in either conference. This is exactly what Milwaukee did not want, but here we are. Miami matches up great and they are finally healthy. Milwaukee has been quietly solid all year, and Giannis is still Giannis. Jrue Holiday is also a major upgrade over Eric Bledsoe and the PJ Tucker addition is great. This will be hard fought, gritty and old school. I do have Milwaukee winning, but it will take 7 games and it will be brutal.

The 4-5 is the RD special. We have the Knicks and the Hawks. This is like going back to the 90's. I love this. And, for RD, I have the Knicks winning, and winning it relatively easy. I think it will only take five games. Atlanta is fun, Trae Young is great, but they do not play a lick of defense. The Knicks do, and they have a very solid offense as well.

That would leave us with second round matchups of 76ers-Knicks and Bucks-Nets. The 76ers will end the fun Knicks story. They are just a better team. The Bucks will unfortunately leave the playoffs too early according to their fans because they do not have enough defense to slow down the Nets if they stay healthy. I actually think both series will be no more than six games.

So that leaves us with a 76ers and Nets East Finals. This is, according to the seeding, how it should play out. And while the 76ers are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, they simply do not have enough to stop the Nets. The Nets are absolutely loaded offensively. They will be able to outscore everyone. I think Embiid will feast, but he will be the only 76er that strikes fear offensively in the Nets. The Nets will win in six and be the East representative in the Finals.

Now the West.

As I stated, the 1-8 will most likely be the Jazz and Warriors. The Warriors have Steph, and he is amazing. He may very well win the MVP. Every time he shoots I think it is going in. They also have Draymond who is a defensive genius. He is so so so good on that end of the floor. Outside them we are looking at guys like Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, Kevon Looney and Kent Bazemore. Not exactly a murderers row. The Jazz, with a healthy Donovan Mitchell, are a much better team. Mitchell and Conley are shot creators and makers. They can go and get buckets in a myriad of ways. Rudy Gobert is the best defender in the league and a great rim runner and pick and roll partner. Joe Ingles, Bojan Bojanovic and Jordan Clarkson are better than streak shooters. They make tons of shots. The Jazz look like the team we all thought they would be last season. The Jazz will win this series. Steph will have a game or two where he scores 40 or 50 plus, but it will not be enough.

The 2-7 are Phoenix and the LA Lakers. This is a bummer for Phoenix. They had such a great season, a breakthrough season, and their reward is the Lakers in the first round. Pardon me, a healthy Lakers. This is exactly what they wanted and what the Suns did not. This should be a good series, and I hope Phoenix proves me wrong. But they just do not have the dudes yet. Chris Paul is one of those dudes, but this is Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton and Mikail Bridges and pretty much everyone else on this roster's first time in the playoffs. This stinks for them, but they will be back. The Lakers will win in 7.

The 3-6 is pretty awesome with Denver and Portland. It would be way better if Jamal Murray were not injured, but he is, and here we are. I do love how the Nuggets have played since he went out, but they really need him for the playoffs. He was a revelation in the bubble. Portland is really great offensively, especially Dame, but they are horrendous defensively. Like worst in the league. Dame and CJ McCollum will pour in buckets and get the Trailblazers two wins, but that is it. Denver, even without Murray, will win this series in six.

The 4-5 here is pretty awesome. We have Dallas and the LA Clippers. This was a fun first round last season. Luka Doncic, who I am not a fan of, was great. He has been every bit as advertised, warts and all, since he got into the NBA. I do not like him, but the dude is good. Tim Hardaway Jr is also having his best NBA season. He has been really good. But Kristaps Porzingis is not great, Maxi Kleeber is hurt. Josh Richardson hasn't been that great. This feels like it will all fall on Doncic. The Clippers have the best roster in the league, on paper. They also upgraded their head coach in the offseason. Kawhi seems like he is going to turn it on. PG has had a really good year. Patrick Beverly is still one of the better point guard defenders in the league. Playoff Rondo is back. But they did choke last season. They melted the hell down. I wonder if that will happen again. I do not think so. I think they will be more locked in. I think they want to prove the doubters wrong. And I do think they will beat the Mavericks in round one, and I think it will be easier than last season. They are going to load up on Doncic and make everyone else beat them. I think they learned their lesson last season, and I think Kawhi wants to get back to the top of the NBA mountain.

So that gives us a second round of Utah and the Clippers and Denver and the Lakers. The Clippers will carry over their round one dominance to the second round. I feel like Beverly and Kawhi will shut down Conley and Mitchell. That will leave the offense to Gobert, which isn't a bad thing, but he is not the guy you want as your leading scorer. The Clippers should win in six.

The other matchup would be so much better if Murray wasn't hurt. I know I keep harping on that, but that injury stinks. It is brutal. That being said, I do think the Nuggets will be way more competitive than last season. Jokic is playing on a whole other level, and Aaron Gordon is a really good, really underrated defender. I do think the Lakers will win, they have LeBron and AD, and they are two of the top 4 or 5 players in the league. They also won the title last year, and they are way more seasoned. This will be a good series, but the Lakers will pull this one out in 7 also, setting us up for the battle in LA in the West Finals.

This is what we all wanted last season, but we will finally get it. I also think this is where the Lakers will run out of gas. I think the play in, the 2 7 round series before and the "injuries" to star players will finally take its toll. I think the Clippers will win and they will win in six.

That means I have the Clippers, yet again, as the West representative in the Finals. This means it is Brooklyn and the Clippers playing for the title. And I have the Nets outscoring everyone on their way to a title. They have too much. Harden, Kyrie and KD are too good. They can score 90 points between the three of them every night. The Clippers are the best matchup for them, but even they do not have enough defense to stop the Nets. This feels inevitable. The moment they got Harden I felt like it was a foregone conclusion, especially when I saw them play, and saw that Harden was finally trying again. They are just too loaded and too good. The Nets will win in six and KD will take home the MVP. He will be the best player on the floor in every game. He is incredible.

There you have it, my NBA playoff preview. I'm so excited to watch. Let's get to it.

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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