With play-ins over, let the playoffs begin
With the historic first play-in week now in the books, the real portion of the NBA playoffs begins. A look at the first four series starting Saturday:
> No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks vs. No. 6 Miami Heat
Game 1: 2 p.m. at Milwaukee The person under the most pressure in the series will not make a basket, take a shot or commit a foul. It’s Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. It’s hard to imagine Milwaukee will continue to move forward with their coach if the Bucks don’t have a deep run in the playoffs, and they’ve got a tough first round matchup.
The Heat have some deficiencies — their three-point shooting has fallen off precipitously and they play at a relative snail’s pace — but they are toughminded and will never be an easy out. The question is will anyone step up to help Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo on a consistent basis.
Prediction: Heat in seven.
> No. 2 Brooklyn Nets vs. No. 7 Boston Celtics
Game 1: 8 p.m. at Brooklyn Every signal points to the Nets having all of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden ready to go for the entire series and that should be enough right there. Even if the Nets don’t defend particularly well, they can simply outscore anyone to win often enough to make that deficiency palatable.
The Celtics, without the injured Jaylen Brown, are not nearly good enough to scare a championship-calibre team in a seven-game series. Jayson Tatum
can get 50 points once, but he can’t be that good for as long as his team needs him to win a series.
Prediction: Nets in five. WESTERN CONFERENCE
> No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers vs. No. 5 Dallas Mavericks
Game 1: 4:30 p.m. at L.A. If there’s one thing fans around these parts know to be true, it’s that Kawhi Leonard can indeed elevate his game when the playoffs roll around. He may not have to because the Clippers are stacked. But if Paul George can’t put past failings behind him, it’s going to be an issue.
Luka Doncic is a singular talent and the Mavericks have some depth; they are only going to be able to steal the series if Kristaps Porzingis is the best seven-footer in the series. He’s capable of it but that’s not likely to be enough.
Prediction: Clippers in six. á No. 3 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 6 Portland Trail Blazers Game 1: 10:30 p.m. at Denver The season certainly didn’t go off the rails for the Nuggets when Jamal Murray’s season ended in an early April game, and that only enhanced the MVP bona fides of Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets went 13-5 and Michael Porter Jr. averaged about 24 points a game.
Norm Powell was a big-game, big-time performer in the playoffs with the Raptors and he’ll have to provide a ton of backup for Damian Lillard if the Blazers are to win. And, like Budenholzer, there are serious question about the future of Portland coach Terry Stotts if the Blazers fall.
Prediction: Nuggets in seven.