Western Conference
(1) Utah Jazz vs (8) the Golden State-Memphis winner (projection: Warriors): Donovan Mitchell is expected to return to action, which is great news for the Jazz. They finished with the NBA’s undisputable best record for the first time ever and will open their playoff season against Thursday night’s play-in winner.
Utah has under-performed in the postseason the last four years in the playoffs under Coach Quin Snyder. They better be ready to play from the start against either Golden State or Memphis. But they have too many offensive weapons for the eighth seed to handle.
The pick: Utah Jazz in 5
(2) Phoenix Suns vs (7) Los Angeles Lakers: The Suns were one of the few teams to avoid losing players to injury. Perhaps not by coincidence, their 2020 season ended earlier than most because they missed the playoffs. That helped them compile the NBA’s second-best record, one game behind Utah. And they should not be under-estimated.
But the Suns reward for their stellar season is a dreaded first-round match-up against the defending champion Lakers. Phoenix has one player with Finals experience, Jae Crowder, who will be asked to defend either James or Davis.
Chris Paul, the future first-round Hall of Famer and probably one of the top five point guards in NBA history, still had an outstanding age 36 season. But in six playoff trips with the Clippers, a talented squad with Blake Griffin in his prime, CP3 could never lead the team past the second round.
This Suns’ squad features several young guns making their first postseason appearances, including star guard Devin Booker, big man Deandre Ayton and wing Mikal Bridges. They will have match-up defensive problems with the Lakers frontline but hope to compensate by spreading the court for their three-point shooters, who connected on nearly 38% of their tries this season.
The Lakers want to start strong and make a statement by capturing game 1 in Phoenix. Although the Suns won’t go quietly, they are LA’s preferred opponent. Look for Phoenix to have one blow-out win when their offense is clicking on all cylinders, but otherwise, the Los Angeles Lakers should move past them, perhaps losing just one more game.
The pick: Los Angeles Lakers in 6
(3) Denver Nuggets vs (6) Portland Trail Blazers: The Blazers have a great offensive backcourt in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. But defense is not their strength as they allowed 114.3 points per game. The Nuggets, meanwhile, managed to continue their winning ways without injured Jamal Murray, although they’ll miss his creative offense in the playoffs. An upset is possible but unlikely
The pick: Denver Nuggets in 6.
(4) Los Angeles Clippers vs (5) Dallas Mavericks: This is a rematch from last season’s first-round matchup when the Mavs pushed the Clips to 6 games even though Porzingis injured his knee. He missed 29 games this season, but the Mavs expect that he’ll be ready for the playoffs.
They’ll need him to have a chance against LA, which should be at full strength. Dallas should challenge here and there, but should fall short.
The pick: Los Angeles Clippers in 7