Everything Playoffs

[golden]

Very interesting sked for them. 3 of their next 5 games are @Sixers, @bucks, @Raptors.

If they drop all those games it's more and more likely their spot will be 5th..on the road against a very very good team. Yes even indy has not lost much a step and added a rejuvenated Matthews

If Boston doesnt start rolling then forget the 2nd round, theyll struggle to get out of the 2nd week..

Root for the Pacers. If the current standings holdup, we won't face any of the Bucks, Sixers or Celtics until the ECF. That's an easy path to the finals, with the Bucks weaknesses being exposed by then.

[Scraptor]

Not a playoff prediction but rather an interesting observation for the remainder of the season: we play a potential play off opponent only twice (Brooklyn and Boston) until the end of the season. Kind of interesting in that none of them will have a tested game plan against the new look Raptors, and same goes for the Raptors against the opponents (Bucks, Sixers)

Playoffs will be a real test of coaches' values. Of the four tough outs in the East, not one of them has a weak coach:
Stevens
Bud
Brown
Nurse

Nurse is the least tested of them but I have faith in his basketball mind. Neither Bud nor Brown worry me too much. Despite all the trouble in Chowdertown, Stevens is the one who scares me most. So shifty and such a smart tactician.

[KeonClark]

Root for the Pacers. If the current standings holdup, we won't face any of the Bucks, Sixers or Celtics until the ECF. That's an easy path to the finals, with the Bucks weaknesses being exposed by then.

What would be "so Raptors" is us scratching and clawing to still win the east, and then drawing winner of 6ers celtics instead of indy.

As it stands today you're probably better off as 2nd seed than 3rd seed.

It happened to us before too, we won the east and yipee drew lebron in round 2

[Zainab]

Pay attention to the away records

[MixxAOR]

I'm done with predictions to be honest.

[KeonClark]

Pay attention to the away records

yes, the battle of 4th and 5th is for Eastern supremacy. Never changes #ESPNculture

[G__Deane]

At the beginning of the season, the Celtics were presumed to be the ralatively clear favourites with the Raps not too far behind pending how Kawhi fit in. After a blistering fast start, the Raptors assumed the mantle of (relatively) clear favourite to come out of the East.

Now with the unexpected elevated play of the Freaky Bucks along with excellent deadline acquisitions for both the Bucks and Sixers, the playoff is a crap shoot in the finest sense of the term :>)

As I've said before, no one should be blown away if even the Pacers win a first round series. Hell, even the Nets could fluke one out. But ANY of the Bucks, Raps, Sixers or Celtics could be in the ECF and it wouldn't exactly be mind blowing. It's that close.

[Demographic Shift]

If you follow ESPN you might think that there are only 4 or 5 teams in the NBA.

The Lakers... Warriors.... Celtics... Philly....and Houston and purely co incidental in a TV driven league here are the top 10 media markets in the USA. To think if the Knicks sign Durant

New York (#1)
Los Angeles (#2)
Chicago (#3)
Philadelphia (#4)
Dallas-Fort Worth (#5)
Washington, D.C. (Hagerstown) (#6)
Houston (#7)
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose (#8)
Boston (Manchester) (#9)
Atlanta (#10)

[Zainab]

DISCUSS.

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[spicy_d]

all i know is that the raptors worst first round opponent as a high seed would be Detroit....i could see it being tougher than it should be due to coaching.

[MixxAOR]

http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=25997057

Zach Lowe ranked Top 4 in the East

1) Bucks
2) Philly
3) Raps
4) Boston

His reasoning is that the whole vibe of the team is weird. Team is scared of Kawhi leaving and it takes toll on players' psyche. (weird take but ok) Lowry issues:Is it back or else, something is going on. And they don't have another gear to go to for the playoffs.

[Maury]

Playoff Predictions

http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=25997057

Zach Lowe ranked Top 4 in the East

1) Bucks
2) Philly
3) Raps
4) Boston

His reasoning is that the whole vibe of the team is weird. Team is scared of Kawhi leaving and it takes toll on players' psyche. (weird take but ok) Lowry issues:Is it back or else, something is going on. And they don't have another gear to go to for the playoffs.

I feel like of all the years to make this argument this is the worst of them. We absolutely have another gear or two to get to. Our team doesn’t even try most games. When they’re engaged and locked in they are so so much better than they usually are. That’s a sign of a great playoff team. Milwaukee on the other hand is max effort and relying on incredible shooting from role players. Frankly I don’t believe they will be able to sustain their shooting in the playoffs where role players tend to suck ass, and their dominance is built on a bubble of dominating crappy teams. Sure they have some wins against plus 500 teams but I’d take us, Boston and probably philly over Milwaukee in the playoffs. Giannis’ space will disappear, the role players will stop hitting threes, and they won’t be getting the calls they usually get. That’s a recipe for disaster against playoff tested championship caliber teams in Boston philly and especially Toronto now with Kawhi, Danny, gasol, and even Kyle who has played in many more playoff games than that team.

[Zak24gege]

http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=25997057

Zach Lowe ranked Top 4 in the East

1) Bucks
2) Philly
3) Raps
4) Boston

His reasoning is that the whole vibe of the team is weird. Team is scared of Kawhi leaving and it takes toll on players' psyche. (weird take but ok) Lowry issues:Is it back or else, something is going on. And they don't have another gear to go to for the playoffs.

OK with vibe thing, but not reason. Lowry looks like he is coming back to some level of consistency and the last point doesn't make since the team has not played well (for a whole game) and Kawhi has been not his dominating self lately and we have won the last 6 including wins in Philly and in BKN against a good, confident team playing well (hitting 3's like crazy).

[golden]

http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=25997057

Zach Lowe ranked Top 4 in the East

1) Bucks
2) Philly
3) Raps
4) Boston

His reasoning is that the whole vibe of the team is weird. Team is scared of Kawhi leaving and it takes toll on players' psyche. (weird take but ok) Lowry issues:Is it back or else, something is going on. And they don't have another gear to go to for the playoffs.

The playoff mental midget stigma continues to dog this team. Even the fairest of fair-minded basketball purists, Zach Lowe, is predicting another collapse for reasons even he can't explain. And yet, if it does happen, everyone will say... yep, same old Raptors.

[Zak24gege]

And even with GSW's recent 11 ? game winning streak we have a better record than Steph, KD and Co. With GSW's loss to Portland, Raps now own the longest WIN streak in NBA.