They are finally here: Eastern Conference Playoffs - Bracket Watch and Who Ya Got ?

[jacobdr4]

https://www.google.ca/amp/www.cbsspo...-brackets/amp/

And we have another Raptors over Cavs pick! Ethan Skolnic, our good friend Matt Moore doesn't think we will fair as well.

[Demographic Shift]

I wanted to get this thread up and running early so this is a very late edit on the matchups. For transparency.. I am a heart on the sleeve homer Raps fan and I hate the Celtics more than taxes. I am neutral on all the other teams in the playoffs.

Raps vs Bucks. There is going to be a lot of talk around the Alphabet. Its warranted. He is a really good young player. He is going to be great player when he starts to put some old man strength into that torso. But in the here and now he is the third best player in this series behind Lowry and Demar regardless of what you read in the US based media hubs. Along with Alphabet and running the point and handling the ball in the half court on offense is Malcom Brogdon, a rookie out of UVa. He has a lot of promise and has had a good season.. but the operant word here is rookie, Kyle Lowry is a veteran and an all star. If form holds true its hard to see Brodgon getting a friendlier whistle or outplaying the savy Lowry. So with the two best players in the series, with a pronounced edge in physicality on defense and with Bucks having a rookie run the point it looks pretty good for the Raptors.

Lebrons vs Pacers We all saw first hand what a motivated Paul George can do in a playoff series last year. This year he is just as motivated judging by his play down the stretch. Myles Turner has another year under his belt , can rebound and stretch the floor with a pretty good shot from the outside. Thad Young is another good option inside. Jeff Teague is whippet quick and can be a factor but he can also be a spectator and Lance Stevenson brings the “rat” mentality to the Pacers and gives them a bit of an edge that was absent for most of the year. The Pacers had to play hard down the stretch to get in and they did. They have figured out who they are and how they are going to play. They are ready. The Lebrons have limped into the playoffs. Their interior defense is really really poor. It was eye opening watching how easily Norm Powell shredded JR Smith and Tristan Thompson in the lane as they wondered who was supposed to have who on the switch. Whats PG13 or Teague going to do to them. More than half of the guys in the playoff rotation for the Cavs are north of 30 and they have played 130 plus games for two years running. Irving is kinda sorta hurt. On the plus side Love is ready and so is the King…but Lebron , even though it looks like it, can’t be everywhere. There is a cliché .. you are what your record says you are… and since the all star break the Lebrons are not even a 500 team and they have the 29th rated defense since the break. If you believe that defense wins in the playoffs pick the Lebrons at your peril.

Bulls at Celtics. The Celtics are the least imposing first overall seed in recent memory. Yet here they are set to take on the Bulls in the 1-8 matchup. The Celts defense isn’t top 10 but its better than the Cavs is so theres that. Their offense is top 10 but it relies heavily on one guy, Isaiah Thomas, to get points. Good thing for the Celtics is that Thomas is pretty darn good at it. But a strange thing happens in the playoffs, the referees change the way the game is played. Fouls aren’t called at the same rate as in the regular season and in the playoffs the way the game is called allows for far more physicality, which, if you’re a 5’9” point guard driving the lane looking for fouls, is going to be a shit tonne harder to do. Beyond Thomas the Celts don’t have any shot creators. Marcus Smart ? Avery Bradley is more a catch and shoot guy than creator off the dribble. Kelly Olynyk ? Al Horford is a lot of things but a creator off the bounce isn't something you find in the same sentence as Al Horford. The other thing that seems to get ignored in the Celtic love fest is that Celts don’t rebound so well. In fact they are pretty shitty at it. They are 27th out of 30 teams. That’s bad.. and what exacerbates that problem is the Bulls are a pretty damn good offensive rebounding team.. in fact they’re tied for first overall in the league. Throw in Jimmy Butler making life miserable for someone else besides the Raptors,the sentimental whistle for Dwaaaaayne Waaaaade and the Bulls have a pretty good shot at upsetting the blueprint for the Celtics to get to the NBA finals... let alone out of the first round. Look the Bulls can't shoot very well, still sport Micheal Carter Williams on thier roster and are coached by Freddy Hoiberg.... but......if they rebound business as usual, lean all over Thomas and wear him down and get production out of Jimmy BUtler the Bulls can take the Celtics. .

Whiz at Hawks: The Whiz are the next sexy pick after the Celtics to challenge the Lebrons. But the Whiz have had trouble with their defense down the stretch in that they can’t find it. Again another team entering the playoffs one rung above ole defense. This series is pretty close to call. Dwight Howard should be able to handle the Polish Hammer but he is not going to close him down completely. Markieff Morris is going to have his hands full with Paul Milsap and the volatile Morris might blow a gasket as the unflappable Milsap does his 20 and 10 thing upside his head. John Wall is the fastest guard in the league with the ball in his hands but he isn’t going to blow by the equally quick and quirky Schroeder. Not sure if that bad foot Wall has been nursing for a while is real or not but that’s something to consider along with Walls penchant for losing his composure in the tough going in close games. The Hawks are a little deeper down the bench than Whiz but the Whiz have quality with the 3 point machine Bogdonavic coming off theirs. Bud is a good coach and so is Scotty Brooks. This goes 6 or 7 and the nod from this quarter goes to the better defensive team… Da Hawks.

[Scraptor]

THERE IS NO H IN WIZARDS

Rhaps in 4

[ebrian]

The Cavaliers remind me a lot of the year when we were swept by the Wizards. I could be wrong but I don't recall anyone thinking we would even lose the series, let alone getting swept. We had a rough second half to the season and went into the playoffs playing some of our worst basketball all season, and yet most of us felt they could turn it around based on our previous playoff experience. It's eerily similar to the Cavaliers' situation. That said they do still have the NBA's best player so I don't think they'll be swept because the Pacers aren't that great of a team. If I recall the Wizards still took 2 games from the Hawks in the 2nd round including one game in Atlanta.

But I just don't see the Cavs being as sharp as we've seen in the past and it's not as simple as a quick players only meeting (which they've already tried) to turn it all around, especially during the playoffs. It could take 6 or 7 games to beat the Pacers, and then they'll come up against our Raptors, who have played very well in the last 20-25 games -- imo our best ball of the season.

It'll be interesting to see in the 2nd round, if Lebron can transcend over the Cavaliers' poor play. I mean, he is an unbelievable ball player but he still just one man, not a dictator, not a magical being that can spread his powers over his teammates.

[3inthekeon]

I voted all favourites, because odds are the favourite will win each series. Odds are probably 50-50 one series will have an upset, but whatever.

Fouls aren’t called at the same rate as in the regular season

This is probably true, but opposite to the way most people perceive it. I think MORE fouls are called. If anyone can prove me wrong, please do.

[DanH]

I voted all favourites, because odds are the favourite will win each series. Odds are probably 50-50 one series will have an upset, but whatever.



This is probably true, but opposite to the way most people perceive it. I think MORE fouls are called. If anyone can prove me wrong, please do.

It's basically impossible to prove anything on this topic. Even if fouls are called at a higher per minute rate, if they are actually committed at an insanely high rate but mostly not called, the evidence would show an increase in fouls called even though there is actually a relative decrease.

[3inthekeon]

It's basically impossible to prove anything on this topic. Even if fouls are called at a higher per minute rate, if they are actually committed at an insanely high rate but mostly not called, the evidence would show an increase in fouls called even though there is actually a relative decrease.

So the answer is maybe more fouls are called in the playoffs. but maybe more fouls are committed in the playoffs. But maybe the ratio of fouls committed to fouls called is much different in the playoffs. Or maybe not.

[Demographic Shift]

THERE IS NO H IN WIZARDS

Rhaps in 4

Yes...it's right there between the "W" and the "I"
Will use bigger font next time if it's hard to see..

WHIZ

[007]

Maybe since we finally beat them the Chicago curse will move on to a fellow Atlantic division victim

[Joey]

How many people picked the Bulls only because "F*ck Boston"? haha *Raises Hand*

[Demographic Shift]

How many people picked the Bulls only because "F*ck Boston"? haha *Raises Hand*

Right here...it's the lesser of two evils to cheer for....
Still of the 4 Eastern series..this is the one with plausible upset probabilities..

[TrueTorontoFan]

What's Wade's official status? Will he be playing?

Yeah he was practising and he is active .... he will play

[TrueTorontoFan]

I really think the Hawks will win over the Wiz. I also think there is a punchers chance that Bulls make it.


Raptors will win against the bucks but they need to win in 5 games... and I think they can. We are a more experienced team. We are a better team. Aside form Giannis we have advantages at every spot. Yes Middleton is good ... very underrated and if we had him instead of demarre (couldn't because he was a RFA), we would probably be favorites to win it all. Here are my hot takes for that series for us:

Lowry: They have no answer for our #1 shotmaker and play maker. Their point guard is a rookie. Yes they have Delly but he is on the bench and they will over play Jason Terry and it will come back to bite them.

Derozan: Derozan has seen it all this season. I think it will take him a game or two to figure it out but he will figure it out. That said I don't think he will be the one "going off". That said I have faith in Derozan now. He has learned not to force his shot any more. He has become more of a distributor and I think he will pick his spots wisely and not force the issue like last year vs Indiana.

Ibaka: I feel like we focus on Demar and Kyle. We keep forgetting Ibaka. He has been like an allstar version of 2Pat and thats exactly what we needed. In addition to that he brings the rim protection. He also brings something that they won't be able to beat. We can play small ball and beat them with Ibaka at the 5. I don't think they have answer for Ibaka.


Rebounding: We can dominate them on the boards. Yes they are a long team but they are in experienced and we have bigger guys. Guys like Jakob and Jonas can help us bang down low. The second they put out Greg Monroe they are done.


Bench: This is our biggest strength with Ppat, Delon, Corey, and the rest of the gang I think we have a slight advantage here as well.

Defence: We have the 4th best NBA defence since the break. They are not in the top 10 in either of their metrics. I think that we have more fire power and we have the talent to stop them. It will be a hard fought series, but we can beat them in 5.


All in all I think Ibaka is our x-factor in this series. We have all long talked about our advantages but I have seen people miss out on our advantage at the 4/5 spot. I think everyone talks about how ibaka will help our defence but they dont remember how much of a boon he has had on our offence. He can get you a steady 16 points and 7 rebounds without even thinking about it.

[A.I]

Right here...it's the lesser of two evils to cheer for....
Still of the 4 Eastern series..this is the one with plausible upset probabilities..

Agreed. If Rondo focuses and has a good series, Bulls have a good shot at winning. I mean Isaiah will be guarded by Rondo or Butler.

[The Great One]

This is so disrespectful though lol