It is said that the NBA season truly begins with the launch of the NBA Playoffs, where after battling through a gruesome 82-game schedule, the league's top 16 teams slug it out for the right to be crowned NBA champions.
Before the spectacle that is the NBA Finals, though, the NBA Playoffs begin with the 1st round matchups. This year, there are several intriguing matchups and several teams to watch if their greatness in the regular season continues into the playoffs.
Eastern Conference
No 1. Atlanta Hawks vs. No 8. New Jersey Nets
At the start of the season, nobody could have predicted that the Hawks would come out as the East's top seed heading into the playoffs. That was made possible by Mike Budenholzer's transformation of the Hawks into the "Spurs of the East," utilizing most of the sets of the highly successful team where he was an assistant coach for eight years. With crisp passing and balanced scoring from a team that had its entire starting five named NBA Eastern Conference Players of the Month for January, the Hawks look to continue their winning ways into the playoffs.
The Nets, on the other hand, barely made it into the playoffs. While most analysts are writing them off as possibly being swept by the Hawks in the first round, the team is still a dangerous one especially if center Brook Lopez manages to put up monster numbers. Even then, it would be a tough task for the Nets to even take one game in this series.
No 2. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 7 Boston Celtics
It didn't look good for the Cavaliers early on in the season, but they were able to recover after the mid-season trades that landed J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the Knicks and Timofey Mozgov from the Nuggets. Now locked in as the second seed for the East and playing their best basketball since the All-Star break, Lebron James is ready to lead his team, this being the first time for fellow superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to enter the Playoffs.
Another team that has played well after the All-Star break is the Celtics, headlined by the improvement of the inconsistent Evan Turner and the explosive scoring of Isaiah Thomas. While they were able to play well enough to land themselves the seventh seed after spending a good time in the season outside of the top eight teams in the East, it will be hard pressed for the young squad to win a game, let alone the series, against the trio of James, Irving and Love, who are all trying to prove themselves, along with first-year Cavaliers head coach David Blatt.
No. 3 Chicago Bulls vs. No. 6 Milwaukee Bucks
For the first time since 2012, Derrick Rose will be suiting up for the Bulls in the playoffs. The former MVP looks to round into form after numerous injuries that have largely held him out of action for the past few years, and with the resurgence of Pau Gasol and the constant improvement of Jimmy Butler, the Bulls have their best shot in years of getting back into the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Bulls will be up against a surprising young Bucks team that vaulted themselves into the sixth seed after the second-worst record in the league last year. Bucks coach Jason Kidd has transformed the team into a worthy competitor, with the massive potential of the team only to improve with playoff experience. The occasional brilliance of 20-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo and the all-around play of Michael Carter-Williams could allow the Bucks to steal a game or two, but the Bulls have gone through so much just to allow themselves to fold in the first round.
No 4. Toronto Raptors vs. No 5 Washington Wizards
The Raptors have also been largely a surprise this season, being among the league's leaders until the team's performance largely dipped after the All-Star break with a 9-15 record. First-time All Star Kyle Lowry has largely been the cause for the Raptors' excellence this season, which has the team boasting the league's third-best offense.
Matching up against Lowry is fellow All Star John Wall, and this head-to-head matchup between the point guards could determine the outcome of this series. The Wizards look evenly matched up against the Raptors, and so this series could go down the wire with no team between the two looking like an expected winner.
Western Conference
No. 1 Golden State Warriors vs. No. 8 New Orleans Pelicans
Steph Curry said that anything else than an NBA Championship will be considered a failed season for the Warriors, which has been transformed by Coach Steve Kerr as a middling playoff team to one of the best teams that the league has ever seen. The Warriors are only the eighth team to outscore opponents by an average of at least 10 points per game, and features the league's second-best offense and best defense despite playing at the fastest pace among all the teams.
The Pelicans have not enjoyed such success as a team, but Anthony Davis as a player has had a historical season, finishing with a Player Efficiency Rating that puts him in elite company of nobody else but Wilt Chamberlain, Lebron James and Michael Jordan. A monster game from David could allow the Pelicans to steal a game, but the overall excellence of the Warriors might prove too much for the Pelicans.
No. 2 Houston Rockets vs. No. 7 Dallas Mavericks
Despite the season-ending injuries to Patrick Beverley and Donatas Montejiunas and with Dwight Howard out for a huge chunk of the season, the Rockets claimed the second seed in the Western Conference on the last day of the regular season largely on the back of the offensive juggernaut that is James Harden, whose MVP-level play has been shredding defenses all year long.
After acquiring the mercurial Rajon Rondo in the middle of the season, the offense of the Mavericks has tapered off. However, it looks like the team has turned it around near the end of the regular season, with Rondo and Monta Ellis finally playing well together. This could be a tough series that could take the entire seven games to decide the winner, as the absence of Beverley's defensive capabilities could allow Rondo and Ellis to wreak havoc. However, if Howard continues his improvement into his All-Star form and Harden continues his caliber of play, the Rockets could still pull this out.
No. 3 Los Angeles Clippers vs. No. 6 San Antonio Spurs
The Clippers have been fantastic for most of the season, despite losing Blake Griffin for a good amount of games. DeAndre Jordan has been putting up monster rebounding numbers and has been a force for interior defense, while Chris Paul's on-court leadership and Griffin's return steered the Clippers to a 14-2 record to close the regular season and claim the third seed.
The Spurs, on the other hand, were the second seed before the last day of the regular season but found themselves as the sixth seed after it, drawing the matchup against the Clippers. The Spurs looked lost at the start of the season but have now regained their form, peaking at just the right time before the playoffs. Led by the ageless Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and anchored by last year's NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, the defending champions will surely be a worthy challenge for the Clippers. In fact, the Spurs are expected to score the "upset," if you can call it that.
No. 4 Portland Trail Blazers vs. No. 5 Memphis Grizzlies
The Blazers, after an impressive start to the season, are limping into the playoffs after a rash of injuries to the team's roster. Sharpshooter and defensive specialist Wesley Matthews tore his Achilles in March, and his replacement, the newly acquired Aaron Afflalo, also suffered a shoulder injury that has him unsure whether he can play in Game 1. Despite the injuries, however, the Blazers still pack plenty of firepower as led by LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard.
The Grizzlies also had an impressive start to the season, staying near the top of the league before there was a huge drop in efficiency due to internal problems related to the acquisition of Jeff Green, who displaced Tony Allen in the starting lineup. The Grizzlies only have a 13-11 record after the All-Star break, but with the continued play of Marc Gasol and Mike Conley, the team can still pull this one out.
The first round of the NBA Playoffs begins on April 18.
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