Most Entertaining 1st rd matchups

[dwtaylor1055]

My pick would be Pacers vs Heat for the East and the Thunder vs Rockets in the West.

TJ Warren vs Jimmy Butler
1.) Key here is if Warren starts off hot. If he starts 1/5 shooting Warren will struggle like he did in their last game and end up 5/14. If he starts out 4/5, he'll get his 30.
2.) Butler will get to the line, but how many times? Challenge him to earn his shots way from FT line

Adebayo vs Turner(Adebayo is more physical and better offensively, however, Turner is the better defender and shot blocker)
1.) Miami can stroke the 3 ball with Duncan and Herro, they are shooting lights out. Dragic has been playing better as of late, even behind the 3pt line
2.) Brogdon/Oladipo/Turner/Warren could each average close to 20 per game, can the bench and Aaron Holiday chip in 30 points at a min?

James Harden/Westbrook vs CP3
1.) Harden is a scoring machine, Westbrook is a wrecking train that most cannot stop when coming full steam to the rim.
2.) CP3 will need help from SGA but I think this series could go the full length.
3.) Will Thunder force the Rockets to play big ball or will the Rockets shot 60 3s per game and force the Thunder to play small?

[libruary]

My pick would be Pacers vs Heat for the East and the Thunder vs Rockets in the West.

TJ Warren vs Jimmy Butler
1.) Key here is if Warren starts off hot. If he starts 1/5 shooting Warren will struggle like he did in their last game and end up 5/14. If he starts out 4/5, he'll get his 30.
2.) Butler will get to the line, but how many times? Challenge him to earn his shots way from FT line

Adebayo vs Turner(Adebayo is more physical and better offensively, however, Turner is the better defender and shot blocker)
1.) Miami can stroke the 3 ball with Duncan and Herro, they are shooting lights out. Dragic has been playing better as of late, even behind the 3pt line
2.) Brogdon/Oladipo/Turner/Warren could each average close to 20 per game, can the bench and Aaron Holiday chip in 30 points at a min?

James Harden/Westbrook vs CP3
1.) Harden is a scoring machine, Westbrook is a wrecking train that most cannot stop when coming full steam to the rim.
2.) CP3 will need help from SGA but I think this series could go the full length.
3.) Will Thunder force the Rockets to play big ball or will the Rockets shot 60 3s per game and force the Thunder to play small?

I'm not really interested either of those matchups because I don't think any of those teams will go far.

I am most excited for these matchups:

Lakers vs Blazers
- Dame is on fire and I'd like to see them torch the Lakers for a couple games atleast.

Clippers vs Mavs
- Kawhi vs Doncic, nuff said

Nuggets vs Jazz
- I really enjoy watching the Nuggets lately and I am personally invested in MPJ, I hope he can rise to the challenge and not get hurt. I also really like watching Jokic play, great passing big man that may not get the respect he deserves yet, but that will hopefully change.

[gowizards0]

sorry man nobody cares about the Pacers outside of Indiana

[jrnelson]

Clippers vs Mavs

[Zacy87]

Did you say Turner is a better defender than Bam?

[rustywest]

Rockets vs Thunder

Gonna be physical, will be emotional, and surely goes 6 or 7. The team who comes out on top will get beat up to some degree. Actually furious my two teams meet in the first :mad:

Lakers vs Trail Blazers (potentially) could be tremendous. Much intrigue... Melo gets another crack, Dame catching fire at the right time, the Lakers seemingly spluttering. Would LOVE to see an upset here.....

Celtics vs & 76ers clearly the matchup of the East.

[the mesiah]

Rockets vs Thunder

Gonna be physical, will be emotional, and surely goes 6 or 7. The team who comes out on top will get beat up to some degree. Actually furious my two teams meet in the first :mad:

Lakers vs Trail Blazers (potentially) could be tremendous. Much intrigue... Melo gets another crack, Dame catching fire at the right time, the Lakers seemingly spluttering. Would LOVE to see an upset here.....

Celtics vs & 76ers clearly the matchup of the East.



I hear you on that, I would love to see an upset there . Dame is like a throwback and wants to carry that team on his back and calls out the other players for jumping team to team .. im excited for all matchups to be honest , happy nba playoffs are Going to be in full swing now and hope nothing derails it. C’s vs 6ers even without ben should still be fun to watch ..

[daeve]

Every series in the West should be good...East 1st round might be kinda boring aside from Pacers/Heat.

Best series should be OKC/Hou and there's this little nugget I think many [myself included] might have forgotten about... OKC was predicted to have a 0.2% of making the playoffs per ESPN's BPI in the preseason

https://okcthunderwire.usatoday.com/2020/08/05/chris-paul-trolls-espn-for-giving-thunder-0-2-chance-of-playoff-berth/

An amazing turnaround that disproved a lot of narratives. CP3 being washed to likely his first All-NBA spot since 2016, people wanting Billy Donovan fired to voted as co-COTY among his peers, OKC blowing it up after trading away a former MVP to finishing with a higher seed than the team Westbrook was traded to and it's best regular season record since 2016

[gomiamigo]

Philly v Boston should be amazing if Embiid is healthy. Shame no Simmons but what can you do. A rivalry for the ages.