The second round of NBA playoffs is already underway and the clashes of the Western Conference are finally defined. Who wins Thunder-Nuggets and Wolves-Warriors? And what should we do with pacers flying match 1 to the riders? Let's decompose it.
The biggest point to remember from the Cavs-Pacers match 1?
Vincent Goodwill: That Cavs need Darius Garland, in the words of Morgan Freeman like Joe Clark in “Lean on Me”, ” quickly! Their two-component attack works with two head guards capable of making pick-and-rolls on each side of the ground. Part of this is a general variance, playing a more difficult opponent and not hitting the riders. But Donovan Mitchell is better when Garland is by his side, and vice versa. The Pacers have struck everything by 3, it will probably not continue. But Garland being there helps the tempo and allows Mitchell to be more loose offensively.
Advertisement
Tom Haberstro: It is a league to do or miss. The Cavs have ahead of the pacers in just about all the facets of the game, except a large: the 3 -point column. The Pacers pulled one 19 out of 36 (52.8%) deep while the CAVs stung the articulation at 9 out of 38 (23.7%). When you lose the long -term column of 30 points, it is too much for anyone to overcome. I wouldn't change much if I am the Cavs. Darius Garland could stem the tide there!
Ben Rohrbach: The riders, who operated on a week of rest after swallowing Miami's warmth, were not prepared for the speed with which the Pacers attack. Indiana obtained 13 shots in the first six seconds of the shooting chronometer, pulling 62%. This did not help that Cleveland cannot buy a jump, contributing to these transitional opportunities. Expect that the riders are better prepared for the Indiana tempo in match 2.
Dan becomes: Indiana will prove the Cavs. When you see that Cleveland finished match 1 with an advantage of 70-38 in the points of the painting, you think that the favorites have dominated; When you see that Cleveland went only 9-in-38 of the range of 3 points, it is tempting of chalk the loss to the vicissitudes of the variance of the shooting. Look more closely, however, and you will see that Cleveland has obtained all these photos in part because the defenders of the Pacers' perimeter refused to help the arc.
Maybe if you give Donovan Mitchell, Ty Jerome, Sam Merrill, Max Strus and Co. But the bet of Indiana that the Cavs would not beat them by exchanging 2s for 3s have already paid once. If Cleveland cannot change mathematics – the status of the Darius Garland toe is looming – the Pacers could be in excellent position to eliminate the upheaval.
Celtics-Knicks, Round 2: Who wins?
Devine: Celtics in 5. This is the nightmarish match for these Knicks – the bar they saw unfolding last season and that they were Very clearly try to reach with their intersection movementsBut that they have proven the whole season to remain unable to reach. (For the millionth time: New York has gone 0-10 Against the Celtics, the Cavs and the Thunder during the regular season, and 51-21 against everyone.) Respect for Jalen Brunson's record on the stellar performances of the playoff series obliges me to project a type of victory to experience out of the body. Beyond that, however? I expect the C to be Gentlemen to move on to another final of the Eastern Conference.
Advertisement
Rohrbach: Celtics in 6. It makes me nervous that consensus considers that it is an easy series for Celtics. Jalen Brunson is incredible and the boys of Villanova de New York have never left. Boston is also struck. But I just can't imagine a scenario in which the defensive combination of the cities of Brunson and Karl-Anthony is not done to death. This is what the Celtics have done to them in the past, and he gave 130.2 points per 100 possessions This season.
Goodwill: Celtics in 5. Knicks will have the chance to get a match. Perhaps if the Cs are more injured than this week of leave allows, but they are built to easily deconstruct the Knicks with size advantages at all levels and that no one keeps Jayson Tatum.
Hasters: Celtics in 5. As good as Jalen Brunson was in the clutch, the porous defense of the Knicks will not be able to contain the offensive of Boston Celtics. He will seem foreign compared to the offensive of the Strait pistons which often had several non-poussers on the ground. Kristaps porziņģis in celtics green at msg? Register me.
Thunder-nuggets, round 2: Who wins?
Hasters: Thunder in 6. I see the young Thunder winning the Battle of the MVP (I think Shai prevails in a landslide) with the rest advantage. The Nuggets have manipulated a defense of the steep clippers, but the Thunder is now a different beast with Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein. The four talls of Thunder – with SGA, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Hartenstein – shredded the Nuggets this season in two clashes (before JDUB leaves a match early). I think we will see more in this one.
Advertisement
Goodwill: Thunder in 5. Match 7 was impressive for the Nuggets, but they scratched a few games against the Clippers. It is believed that thunder will not suffer the same fate. Nikola Jokić will take a game or two on the will, but it is too much to ask. If OKC is legitimate, they make sure that it does not spend seven games here. There are too many defenders, too many combinations for it to work.
Devine: Thunder in 6. Oklahoma City is the coolest, younger, more deep, more balanced and flat team with a double-big look to throw in Nikola Jokić, an armada of defenders of attack points in Sic on Jamal Murray, and an all-world goalscorer in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capable of cutting the perimeter of Denver. I had OKC to go to the final since the season went in October; As much respect as I am for the way Denver has survived the clippers, I don't see any reason to change now.
Rohrbach: Thunder in 6. If it was only Nikola Jokić against Shai Gilgeous -Alexander – a battle of the two main MVP candidates – we could expect a series of lips, but a series of dragout, but the depth of Oklahoma City will exhaust the six -year rotation of the Nuggets during a round of seven games. Thunder is relentless.
Wolves-Warriors, Round 2: Who wins?
Rohrbach: Wolves in 6. The Warriors, following a series of seven games against the Rockets, apparently operate on smoke. Jimmy Butler is hampered … and older, just like Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. And they do not get enough help to follow the pace of a younger and more hunger and deeper team from Minnesota.
Advertisement
Hasters: Warriors in 7. The last time Rudy Gobert faced Draymond Green in the playoffs, it led to the scanning of Gobert's team in 2017. It was a long time ago and Kevin Durant was no longer next to Green. However, I see Stephen Curry and the Warriors take the Timberwolves as they did in the regular season (3-1). I like Kevon Looney in this match, and my boy do I trust the newcomers of the Warriors, Jimmy Butler, more in a setting in playoffs than the addition of the Wolves, Julius Randle.
Devine: Wolves in 6. The idea of choosing against Stephen Curry against a team he burned down during the regular season makes me feel uncomfortable. But with Golden State which comes out of a seven -game war against Houston, with the top Guns of the Warriors in the mid -1930s having all put a ton of minutes and kilometers on their legs to eliminate the Rockets, with a day off before the match 1 And a rest advantage, And With a single day between the matches through the first five things, everything seems to be aligned for the Wolves to possibly force the more experienced oppressed to lack gas.
Goodwill: Wolves in 7. Difficult to see the Warriors descend on their floor at home, at least not as sweet as the Lakers did it around 1. It is a proud group, an Ornery group. It looks like fatigue will catch the Warriors by playing every two days until match 6 at home, which could give them a new life if they are still alive. But Anthony Edwards has skins on the wall, and it seems that Steph is the next one. (Wait, does that mean that I bet against Steph?) Oy.
