Western Playoff Predictions

🧭Western Conference Playoffs🏆

The Regular season has come to a close and the playoff bracket is set. At the time of writing this, only the first round of the play-in games have been played. I will be going through the west first, then the east tomorrow. I will try and be as unbiased as I can be but there are no promises. Also, I will try and keep it short and sweet.

1. Thunder vs 8. Kings/Pelicans

At the time of this, we do not know if the Kings or the Pelicans will be playing OKC but I think I am going to have the Kings advancing to the real bracket. Zion is not playing which changes a lot for me. he had an amazing night in the loss vs the Lakers putting up 40 points but unfortunately hurt his hamstring landing from a floater.

The Thunder are the 1 seed to everyone’s surprise and they look freakin good. They have all the components to make a run; a star in Shai, a defensive anchor in Lu Dort and Chet, good rotational players, and a secondary scorer in JDub. I will say that I think they are going to take care of business regardless of who plays. I would take the Thunder in 5 games vs either play-in team although I think Zion could cause Chet some problems with his size.

Official Pick: Thunder in 5

1. Nuggets vs 7. Lakers

Well well well, a rematch of the 2023 WCF. The Lakers have looked very good recently despite almost giving up a 20-point lead in the play-in game. Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Nuggets seem to be their kryptonite. Last year the Nuggets swept them en route to the Finals and during the regular season this year, Denver won the season series 3 games to none. The Nuggets have such a perfectly constructed roster that it makes it hard to pick against them. I think that Jokic (future 3 time MVP) will continue his dominance along with Jamal Murray elevating play in the postseason and making this a win to start the playoffs. However, D’Angelo Russel should be better this time around in comparison to last year, with that and the good play as of late, the Lakers will make it interesting.

Official Pick: Nuggets in 6

3. Timberwolves vs 6. Suns

If you had said that the Phoenix Suns with KD, Booker, and newly acquired Bradley Beal barely missed the play-in, I would’ve called you crazy. I do feel bad for the Timberwolves because they were number 1 so much of the season, but they fell to 3 and have to play 3 of the best scorers ever. Even though they have Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, they are the 6 seed for a reason. In the famous words of Anthony Edwards, “They got KD but we got Jaden McDaniels.”

Speaking of Anthony Edwards, he is so good for someone so young. I think he is going to torch the poor defensive Suns for 6 straight games. With that being said, T-Wolves advance.

Official Pick: Timberwolves in 6

4. Clippers vs 5. Mavericks

The best for last. As a Clipper fan, I am upset we are playing the Mavs. For the past 2 months, they have been cooking everyone and the Clippers have been struggling. Being unbiased, I think it goes 7 and I do not know who wins. If Kawhi is shaken up from his knee, I would pick the Mavs 100% of the time. But, I am going to be assuming that Kawhi will be healthy for the start of the series. I am going to pick the Clippers to win.

Official Pick: Clippers in 7

Hopefully, I go 100%, I know I won’t, but that’d be cool to see. I am mainly hoping that the Clippers win but that is the one I am least confident in😕. check back later for the Eastern conference predictions.