The second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs is set. After sweeping the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks prepare to play the Brooklyn Nets, who beat the Boston Celtics in 5 games. On the other side of the bracket, the Atlanta Hawks will play the Philadelphia 76ers, after both teams won their first round series in 5 games (Atlanta beat the Knicks and Philly beat the Wizards). There are a lot of factors going into both of these series, so let’s dive into them and see who can come out and battle in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Philadelphia 76ers won 49 games this season, good enough for 1st in the East and the 3rd best record in the entire NBA. They have a superstar duo in the form of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and should defeat the Hawks. If only it was that easy. Embiid, who has battled injuries throughout his entire career, has a knee injury and who knows how long he will be out (Philly has him listed day to day but sometimes teams are unreliable). For as great as a player as Ben Simmons is defensively, and he might be the best in the game and is my pick for defensive player of the year, Simmons has shown that he can’t be trusted last in games as well, free throw shooting is a massive issue for him and it was a prime reason Philadelphia lost game 4 to the Wizards. The Hawks are coming as well. Trae Young proved to the world that he is that dude. He gave the New York Knicks, 29.2 points and 9.8 assists on shooting percentages of 44% from the field and 34% from 3 point range in their first round matchup, and took a bow to conclude the series. He was dominant and should look to continue that against this Sixers team. Atlanta also played an excellent series on the defensive end as well. They made sure Julius Randle never got going throughout the series as he shot 29% for the series. However, this is not the Knicks anymore. When Ben Simmons starts running down hill, he can kick the ball to Tobais Harris, Seth Curry, or Danny Green, all players that shot 39% or above for the season, that presents different challenges, and that does not even factor in if Embiid is playing or not. If Embiid plays, Clint Capela’s hands will be full, as Embiid is one of the most skilled centers we have ever seen. If the Hawks are going to win they are going to need special performances from Young, gut out some hard fought games and win games in the final quarter, ride the home crowd to win one, and get it to a game 7, and hope Trae can carry you. Guys like Danilo Gallinari, De’Andre Hunter, Kevin Hueter, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are going to need to hit shots as well. With that being said, I think Philly takes care of the Hawks and we should not panic should Atlanta steal game 1, Embiid might be on the sidelines for that one. Joel is listed as day to day and though I am not really sure whether to trust that or not, we can assume he plays at some point in the series and I will pick the 76ers win in 6 games. Game 1 is Sunday.
There are people who believe that Bucks/Nets is a de facto NBA Finals, now I am not sure I am one of those people but they exist. It should be an epic series with both teams being loaded with talent. For the Nets it is the big 3 we have spent all year talking about. Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant, are 3 of the biggest superstars we have in the sport, they can all score 50 in any given game and Brooklyn is the favorites to win the championship. On the other side, it has not always been easy for Milwaukee, as they lost after being the number one seed in the east in each of the past 2 seasons. So, they made 2 moves, one to acquire Jrue Holiday and another to get P.J. Tucker. These 2 players have brought a toughness the Bucks were lacking over the past 2 seasons. These two teams are very evenly matched up and it should be a great series. The question is defense. Who will get enough stops? Milwaukee is the far superior team on that end but when you are going up against Harden, Irving, and Durant, they are hard to contain. The goal has to be to hold the big 3 to 90 points per game. That could lead to the Nets scoring in the 120 range. Against this Brooklyn defense, that should be good enough to win. Khris Middleton needs to step up in a big way as well and be the primary scorer for the Bucks, as it will free up the court for Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Antetokounmpo-Jrue Holiday pick-and-roll needs to be used heavily throughout the series to create switches and should Brooklyn go to DeAndre Jordan, as they did in the regular season, create a miss match. Milwaukee also needs to find a 3rd defender, Giannis can guard Durant, Holiday can guard Harden, but who guards Kyrie? Donte DiVincenzo, who would have been the choice, was lost for the season in game 3 of the Miami series so I assume Pat Connaughton, Khris Middleton, Bryn Forbes, and P.J. Tucker will all be considered to guard Brooklyn’s 3rd star. My guess is it will be Connaughton who ends up being the guy but coach Mike Budenholzer probably takes a look at every option he has. One thing Milwaukee must do is exploit Blake Griffin on the defensive end. He does not have the speed to keep up with guys so put him in pick and rolls and does not have the size to guard Brook Lopez in the post. Griffin was the starter during the Nets series against the Celtics so Milwaukee will have an opportunity to go at him. The series will come down to if Milwaukee can contain the Nets big 3, if they do they will likely win, if they don’t they will likely lose. It is a tall task but I think they can do it. However, I am picking the Nets in 7 as I think Durant would be too lethal in a 7th game and Brooklyn would win that game. Game 1 is Saturday.
All 4 first round series in the East ended in 4 or 5 games, with the Bucks being the only team that swept, and I think there should be a little more drama in the 2nd round with these teams being better matchups for one another, especially the Bucks and Nets. Both series should provide excitement and it should be fun to watch as we head to the Eastern Conference Finals. There are plenty of x-factors to both series and I am excited for them to get started over the weekend.
Comentarios