Playoff Predictions: First Round (Eastern Conference)

[emplep7]

I've been busy adjusting to life with baby number 3, but I'm ready to hit the ground running again. With the first round set to begin today, I'm going to give my brief summary of how I feel this is going to shape up.

Matchups

(1) Boston Celtics vs (8) Brooklyn Nets

How Boston Can Win: The C's finally land the top seed in the East after being a top 3-4 team for the last several years and will be facing off against a Nets team who surged towards the end of the year to lock up the 8th seed. Home Court Advantage is legit in the engine and Boston went a staggering 35-6 at home this year. They are fully healthy, which is a rarity and are going to give their starters more burn now that the real season has begun. Boston needs to play their game and their "losing" tactics and they should be able to make quick work of the Nets.

How Brooklyn Can Win: This is going to be an uphill battle, but Brooklyn has been riding a bit of a wave towards the end of the year to lock up the 8th seed in the playoffs. The Nets have not been so hot on the road with a 15-26 record and the injury Gods have not been on their side with star big man DeAndre Ayton out all year. They need to be aggressive and attack the Celtics to force them into foul trouble if they want to hang around to make this a series.

Predicted Outcome: Boston wins 4-1

(2) Miami Heat vs (7) Cleveland Cavaliers

How Miami Can Win: The Heat have so much depth its ridiculous and their players put up stats to lead to Ws, but it will be interesting to see how they play their tactics against a Cavaliers team that has defensive prowess at several positions. Not having big man Joshua Smith I think will hurt in the playoffs, but they are still a top team in the East and the reigning EC champs. Silo has proven to be a good game manager and whenever you have the best player in the league on your team, it makes things significantly easier for you in the playoffs.

How Cleveland Can Win: Cleveland put together another strong season in the tough East and will need heroic efforts from Blake and Payton to lead them through this one. At 19-22 on the road for the year, they aren't an easy out on the road and with their balanced defensive and three point attack they should be able to halt the zone that Miami typically runs. If they hit their shots and limit Ben Simmons effectiveness, they can potentially be a major upset in the first round.

Predicted Outcome: Miami wins 4-2

(3) Detroit Pistons vs (6) Toronto Raptors

How Detroit Can Win: Detroit has been up and down for the year and were given a fight by the Bulls, but ended up as a top 3 seed. They have limited their starters minutes all year and most likely be unleashing them for the remainder of the playoffs, but losing Julius Randle for the season was a huge hit to their front court. Kaiser Gates versatility will be huge as they will look to use him in an Okaro role to play the 1-4 as needed against the Raptors top offensive players and playoff SJJ will need to be on full blast.

How Toronto Can Win: Toronto somehow can play their players 48 mpg and never get injured so their training staff is by far the best the CSL has ever seen. They are no slouch though regardless. Some injuries will hurt them in this round, especially their front court but they still have the depth to be okay there. They have a great blend of shooting and defense and should give the Pistons fits on both ends. If they hit the three ball consistently and force the Pistons into foul trouble, they could walk away handily into the second round, but this is going to be the closest series IMO.

Predicted Outcome: Detroit wins 4-3

(4) Chicago Bulls vs (5) Philadelphia 76ers

How Chicago Can Win: Lets face it, this might be the most talented team in the league post trades. They have star big man Anthony Davis and guard Milos Teodosic surrounded by great glue guys and solid depth and have surged the back half of this year after a pedestrian start. If they stick to their game, this team will likely land all the way to the ECF and potentially take the crown.

How Philadelphia Can Win: No TJ is a good start for any team, but Regan will have his hands full. The biggest factor in this series though won't be AD or Milos, its going to be Jabari Parker. He has shown the ability to carry this team on his back in the playoffs and upset top seed and if the Bulls can't contain him, this team more than any other could very well upset the Bulls. Philly also has a slew of big man depth to throw at the Bulls, which will prove to be valueable in this years playoffs since they have never had that before. They could make this a series and with the right strategy, move on to the second round.

Predicted Outcome: Chicago wins 4-2

Stay tuned for the Western Conference Predictions...

[hardenwithnod]

Good stuff, and I think your series will be more of a 4-1, or 4-2 win by you guys, as I think your team is a bad matchup for the Raptors especially with their front court being banged up. I am actually intrigued by the CHI/PHI series, as PHI has a ton of talent that might be able to put up a fight against the CHI starting 5. They just need a GM to put in gameplans for them.

Cavs vs Heat should be a fun one too, as I know Drumr has been dialing up some good game plans to win their season series against Miami. But I am sure Silos will bust out some new strats for the playoffs as they have done so in the past.

[emplep7]

Parker dominated and embarrassed us the last time we went against him in the playoffs, so I won't ever doubt him again.

[Rizzo]

I think the analysis on my series is pretty spot on. We were an atrocious team on the road and really need to attack the Celtics as much as possible. It's going to take an incredibly hot shooting series from my scorers and an incredibly bad shooting series from the Celtics for us to push them.

[Flaming Homer]

The Bulls are a notch above all other teams talent wise (and with the injury of Smith). But after that this other 7 teams could not be more even. That should be all very competitive series. I agree with Jon's prediction tho.

[drumr]

Great writeup! I really enjoyed this and agreed with most of it. I think I can steal games in Miami, but ultimately he'll figure out where to place Simmons and we'll see the best player in the league.

Det/Tor is the matchup I'm looking at. Detroit always turns their roster over and keeps on winning. Ive learned quite a bit watching some of their lineups.

[Silogical]

If i hit my 3's I beat everyone, if I dont hit my 3's I lose to everyone. Simmons is a rock, but he cant win games alone.

I think the favorites take it everywhere except SAC and CLE. Those series are toss-ups. CLE is prob the favorite at this point with a game and Smith/Kuzma/PJ/Rubio injured.