Western Conference 1st Round Predictions 2024
- PC
- Apr 20, 2024
- 5 min read
Dude…
The NBA Playoffs are set!! The 16 best teams remain. Who will raise the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy? Who will raise the MVP Award? The Celtics are the favorites in the East and look to make it back to the NBA Finals to win another one for Boston. Youth shines in the West as the OKC Thunder reign with the youngest #1 seed ever. The Nuggets look to repeat as champions. The Knicks are trying to bring the team back into its glory days. The loaded West will be a gladiator fight. Who comes out victorious? Does another team rise to the occasion? The Dudes have their opening round predictions! 3-3 in the play-in, and looking to make the record even better. First, the West!!!!
This OKC Thunder team is incredible. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 30 points per game. Not only that, he is shooting over 50% from the floor and 35% from deep. Shai has incredible powerhouses including Jalen Williams who is a little under 20 points per game, but he’s shooting over 40% from 3. Chet Holgrem has been an outstanding rookie and would be Rookie of the Year if Wemby didn’t exist. Chet has been averaging 16 a game, along with 8 rebounds. OKC has snipers on the outside in Josh Giddey and Lu Dort, with some major talent coming off the bench. This team is young and hungry. They face the New Orleans Pelicans who demonstrated they could win without Zion. Brandon Ingram led the Pels to a victory over the Kings to earn this spot. Trey Murphy played well, but CJ McCollum continues to struggle. If Zion doesn’t play for the majority of this series, then the Thunder sweep the Pels. However, if Zion can play and play healthy, then the Pels may snag a game or two. However, I think the Pels just don’t have enough to beat OKC. I think the Thunder will win in 5.
Oh baby what a matchup!! We get Kawhi back and healthy to see if this veteran team with LOADS of talent can beat Luka Doncic and Kyrie Iriving. I say the Clippers have veterans, but they have all start level talent veterans. Paul George has looked a little like his old self and has helped carry this team in Leonard’s absence. George has averaged 22 points this season and James Harden has contributed with 16 points, but is known to take over playoff games. Russell Westbrook leads the second unit and is just another weapon for this Avengers-esc team. However, they’ll have to take down Thanos in Luka Doncic. Luka is averaging nearly a triple double with 34 points per game, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists per game. Kyrie Irving could be a Thanos of his own, looking like Cavs Irivng once again. Irving has been averaging 25 points per game along with 5 assists per game. Both these two guys need their surrounding piece to play well. Tim Hardaway Jr, Josh Green, and Grant Williams to keep their cool and keep shooting. If the surrounding pieces are hitting for Dallas, they could blow out the Clippers. However, I think the surrounding pieces will fall apart yet again for Luka as PG shuts down Kyrie. Luka goes back to Texas defeated, and questions his future in Dallas. The Clippers keep moving by beating the Mavs in 6.
The young superstar in Anthony Edwards has officially received his first greatest challenge. The Phoenix Suns have 2 All Stars in Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. The Suns are a must win now team, and KD is continuing to snake his way into top tier teams. However, they’ve always under performed unless he has Steph Curry on his team. KD is averaging 27/6/5 this season and has a counterpart in Devin Booker who can take over the game by himself. Booker averages 27/4/6 being the perfect fit to match KDs game. Bradley Beal is another name that strikes a lot of interest as he completes this trio as being one of the best shooting combinations in the league. Not to mention Grayson Allen is playing well. Other than those guys, the Suns bench is severely LACKING TALENT. No true point guard also makes it hard for the team to play anything other than iso ball. The T-Wolves a threesome of their own. Anthony Edwards is one of the most athletically gifted players I’ve ever seen. Averaging 25/5/6 he is incredible at driving to the hoop. Karl-Anthony Towns also known as KAT has been doing well at being the number 2 guy on this offense. 21/8/6 is a great stat line. The defensive paint will be locked down as Rudy Gobert is stalking prey as they try to come inside. This trio is also deadly. The difference may be their benches. The T-Wolves have a solid bench who can put up points. In a dog fight, it’s hard not to take the savvy vets in Phoenix. The project is either going to be ballin or fallin, and I just don’t see KD losing again in the first round. The Suns advance in a 7 games series and D Brau and I will be fighting through the entire thing!
Ok, I love Lebron just like anyone who’s not a hater does. The 39 year old has lost some of his athleticism and turned into Prime Magic Johnson. Even with the King on LA’s side, the Joker rules this world. Nikola Jokic holds the ball in his hand and plays like your average old fart in the community center. However, that old geezer is wiping the floor with some of the best talent the NBA has to offer. He throws up prayer shots that look like it was blessed by god himself to go in. Anthony Davis will have his hands full trying to stop The Joker. AD may be a problem as well, so these two foes will be fun to watch. Jamal Murray is trying to help the Nugs go back-to-back in the year of the back-to-backs. Austin Reeves is trying to make sure that doesn’t happen. I believe the Nuggets are just too much for Lebron and AD to handle on their own. More than likely, the Lakers supporting cast will disappear and the Nuggets won’t. I have the Nuggets winning in 6, Bron gives them a fight, but The Joker will have the last laugh.
Come back tomorrow for the Eastern Conference!!!
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