Both the first and second rounds of this year’s playoffs were truly hectic. “The Process” of the Philadelphia 76ers collapsing to the depleted Boston Celtics in 5, and the 1 seed of the East, the Toronto Raptors getting swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers, were two of the biggest surprises of the past round. Let’s hope more interesting things come with these later rounds. Now, on to the predictions!
NBA Eastern Conference Finals
(2) Boston Celtics v (4) Cleveland Cavaliers
Cavs win in 6 games.
How many times does LeBron James have to prove to everyone in the world to never bet again his team in the playoffs? Despite the fact that this year’s Cleveland Cavaliers team is definitely the worst, talent-wise since the King’s return back, they are favored at returning back to NBA Finals and competing for a championship. Young stars for the Celtics like Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum will eventually have their time, but this is a year too soon, especially without key stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.
NBA Western Conference Finals
(1) Houston Rockets v (2) Golden State Warriors
GSW pulls a tough one out in 7 games.
This is one of the toughest matchup I’ve had to predict in recent memory. These two juggernauts are extremely evenly matched, and play a very similar brand of 3 point oriented basketball. In analyzing this matchup, I took into account each team’s successes throughout the season against each other and the superstar power each power have. Houston beat Golden State in 2 out of 3 total matchups throughout the season, but the Warriors have a tendency to not put as much effort, nor care as much in general in the regular season compared to that of the postseason. Also taking into account Golden State’s greater postseason experience than Houston, I need to naturally give them the slight advantage to win this series.