SR – Playoff Preview: The Eastern Conference’s Final Four Teams

SR – Playoff Preview: The Eastern Conference’s Final Four Teams

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by | Aug 31, 2020 | Featured, NBA

Amidst a week filled with playoff competition, Black Lives Matter protests and discussions that nearly wiped out the rest of the season, and a flurry of news stories emanating from the Lake Buena Vista bubble in Orlando, Florida, the NBA Playoffs have graduated from their elementary first rounds, at least that’s the case in the East. As for the West, however, that’s another topic, since two of the four Western first-round series have yet to conclude with the Lakers and Clippers being the only teams to have made it through to the Western semis, so far.

We’ve just about correctly predicted how the four best teams in the East would fare — Milwaukee, Toronto, Boston, and Miami — so now it’s up to fate to decide who gets the golden ticket of an Eastern Conference berth for the NBA Finals, set to be rewarded to one of these four teams within the next few weeks.

With that, let’s not make haste and get to breaking down these four powerhouses in the East, and predict how the second round will go for each of them.

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Eastern Team Breakdowns, From 1 To 4

1. Milwaukee Bucks (56-17, 1st in East, Won First Round vs. ORL 4-1) – Whilst making quick work of the host city’s team Orlando Magic after a confoundingly shocking game one loss, Milwaukee made the adjustments after shaking off rust that oxidized before the postseason had even begun and are heading to the second round of the Eastern playoffs. The top-seeded team we’d expect to see in the Bubble finally got back on track this past series and so did the defense, as Milwaukee had only won three of the eight seeding games heading into the playoffs due to some slouches on both ends.

Give it to the Orlando Magic, though. Though undermanned and without their three of their best defenders in Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac, and Mo Bamba, the Magic didn’t go down without a fight.

However, the league’s most offensively and defensively efficient team dispatched of the eighth-seeded Magic with obvious consistent contributions from the likes of the presumptive MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, as he put up around 30.6 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 assists per game off of 56 percent shooting. He was a freight train heading to the hoop and it didn’t matter what kind of wall the Magic put up defensively to force him to kick it out to wing shooters; when he got downhill, there was very little Nikola Vucevic or any other Magic big to contest him.

The more revelating surprise? Khris Middleton is slowly returning to form, having upped his efficiency and overall numbers in the last two games of the series. Compared to his sluggish start to the postseason of 11.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game while shooting 32.4 percent that was really residue left over from the seeding games, Middleton started to resemble his regular-season form, scoring 21 points in two straight contests.

With that being said, Miami is no joke. They’ll have to continue that hot shooting from both of their All-Stars against an equally stout defensive, sharpshooting juggernaut in the Heat, who have won two games at home against Milwaukee this season.

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2. Toronto Raptors (53-19, 2nd in East, Won First Round vs. BKN 4-0) – To put it quite simply: the defending champions are rolling. In game four of their first-round series against Brooklyn, the Raps’ bench scored — get this — 100 points against Caris LeVert and the rest of Brooklyn’s makeshift rotation, effectively completing the sweep. That’s always been a virtuous attribute for Newly-appointed Coach of the Year Nick Nurse; seeing the value of each piece and how each spindle of a Raptor fits within the non-stopping-any-time-soon wheel that is this fiery start to a title defense.

In that 100-point bench scoring performance during the only game they played this week, they had four non-starters go for double figures, including their two leading scorers Norman Powell who dropped 29 points, and Serge Ibaka, who scored 27 points in the 150-122 mauling of the maligned Nets.

On a more serious note, however, it was brought to the national media’s attention that the Celtics and Raptors were the two most notable teams who discussed the sit-out and boycott of the NBA Playoffs as a result of the cyclical pattern of police brutality and the senseless attempted murder of 29-year old Jacob Blake once his story became apparent. And coincidentally, the top-seeded Bucks just went and did it before Game 5 of their series.

In hindsight, that may have done more good than harm, considering the grade 2 ankle sprain All-Star guard Kyle Lowry sustained in the series’ final game. His health will undoubtedly be a salient storyline heading into the second round of the playoffs, and they’ll need all the offensive firepower they can get against a much more formidable foe in the Boston Celtics.

Some stats to throw out to show how dangerous these Raptors are in the bubble: they’re second in points per game with 126.3, first in rebounds per game with 51, first in assists per game at 30.5, tied for second in blocks per game at 5.5, third in field goal percentage at 49.5, fifth in 3-pointers made at 71 and second in 3-point percentage with 43.3. This could be a fireworks show of a series if both teams are clicking, but the health of the Raptors and Celtics could ultimately decide who survives this grudge match.

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3. Boston Celtics (48-24, 3rd in East, Won First Round vs. PHI 4-0) – It’s been a mix of really good and dishearteningly bad for the third-seeded Boston Celtics, who will be the first team in the bubble to kick off the second round of the NBA Playoffs.

On the good end, count the positives. You’re awash with a litany of selections to pick from. Kemba Walker’s knee seems to be healing up well, and he’s reverting back to the Charlotte Hornets/Connecticut Huskies Cardiac Kemba we remembered him be, drawing switches, creating separation off the bounce, stopping on a time, exploding to the rack, and utilizing that footwork in that in-between game, pulling up from around and within the perimeter.

So far in this postseason, the Celtics’ starting guard is averaging 24.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. This is a career-high in postseason rebounding and scoring in a career-low in playoff minutes per game, which is largely due to the minutes restriction placed on him because of his still-recovering knee.

Jayson Tatum is the no-doubt Numero Uno guy, capable of taking over and flashing his skillset to be the best player on the floor every game with splits of .487/.452/.720 and scoring averages of 27.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game.

As it goes for the negatives, however, the Celtics are still waiting for a massive and efficient Jaylen Brown performance, since his numbers steadily dropped in the four games against Philadelphia. Their bench isn’t all that impressive either, only topping out at 29th in the NBA in total bench points. As said earlier in the Raptors section, that won’t cut it for a Raptors rotation that can go 10 deep, regardless if the Celtics are the third-best defensive team in the league.

And the worst of all: Gordon Hayward, who was an integral part of the Celtics posing as that arduous, threatening Boston team that the Raptors could only beat once all season, probably won’t be back until the Conference Finals due to a Grade 3 ankle sprain and the eventual birth of his son. Length and wingspan will be the key for the Celtics to take this series, and not having the switchable Hayward that is adept at stopping opposing guards off the dribble will cause Boston to have trouble containing the tandem of Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, and Pascal Siakam.

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4. Miami Heat (44-29, 5th in East, Won First Round Series vs. Indiana 4-0) – Well, that was pretty easy for the Heat. What was hyped up as a potentially gritty and hard-fought series for both teams turned into a steamrolling for the Heat, who swept TJ Warren’s Indiana Pacers to advance to the second round of the playoffs. You can call it a matter of different factors as to why the Pacers were swept: Victor Oladipo not being 100 percent affecting his ability to get into a rhythm, no rebounding presence without Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner struggling. But don’t leave out this little tidbit:

The Miami Heat are just that damn good.

This is the first time since 2015 that the Heat have advanced to the second round, and the first time in the post-Dwyane Wade era. Erik Spoelstra knows a thing or two on how to dismantle championship favorites who oppose his Heat; he’s got two rings to prove that. Now, the evident obstacle that lies within he and His Miami Heat’s path are the top-seeded Bucks, but these South Florida hoopers are no easy out for Milwaukee.

In fact, you could argue that the Heat are the ultimate threat to the Bucks in the playoffs as a whole.

There are a lot of reasons why Miami could upset the Bucks and have them packing early to head back home to Wisconsin. First, the shooting. Miami has nine shooters from deep that shoot above 36 percent and as a team, they are shooting 39.1 percent from long range in the playoffs. Jimmy Butler returned from injury and fit in like a glove with the Heat like he has all season in his new home. Averaging 19.8 points off a 40.5 shooting percentage from the field, his presence on the defensive end was the nail in the Pacers’ coffin as he didn’t allow bubble-leading scorer Warren to score 30 points once in the postseason.somewhat

The Bucks have very little margin for error when it comes to letting Miami linger, and they cannot let their pedigree of being the first seed flutter in their minds while thinking that a trip to the Conference Finals for a second-straight season is a predetermined truth. They do that and let up opportunities for the Heat to go on runs, and they’ll find out just as quickly that their title aspirations will burn up into ashes if they lose to Bam Adebayo (who is the best statistical defender against Giannis Antetokounmpo in the NBA) and the rest of the Heat.

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Eastern Conference Playoff Matchups: Semifinals

#1 Milwaukee Bucks vs. #5 Miami Heat

Photo by Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images

As mentioned in previous sections, this will be a physical, knock-down, drag-out fight between two teams that have constructed some sort of rivalry. Miami split the season series against the Bucks, and many speculate this could be the exiting point for the top-seeded Bucks since the Heat match up so well against them. You look on paper, and can easily conclude that it will come down to the All-Stars in Jimmy Butler and Giannis Antetokounmpo having the noteworthy battle that will determine who heads to the conference finals.

For Butler, it’ll be a respawning from last year’s situation, with him being back in the second round with the looming possibility of heading home at the same point as how he did last year as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers.

And we know how last year ended for the Sixers as Butler came away with an inbound steal to finish an open-court go-ahead layup, tie a pulsating game seven against Toronto, and Kawhi Leonard would subsequently heave a contested deep two that took four bounces on the iron before dropping in, resulting in the first-ever Game 7 buzzer-beater in playoff history and (debatably) perhaps a top-10 moment in NBA History.

This is personal for Miami, as a means to prove to the collective basketball universe that they’re not to be toyed with, and to the Bucks that it doesn’t matter who’s better on paper, because what matters on the hardwood is the say-all factor.

Matchup wise, the heavyweight fight has to be between Giannis and Bam, right? Looking at advanced stats, Adebayo has defended 28 shots against Antetokounmpo this season, and the reigning MVP went 12-of-28, including 0-of-7 from deep on those shots. Antetokounmpo’s worst game this season (using Basketball Reference’s game score) was his 6-of-18 shooting performance in a 16-point loss to Miami on March 2.

Milwaukee has yet to face a real challenge in the bubble, and it’s yet to be seen if they can withstand the onslaught that is Miami’s perimeter shooting and aggressive, airtight defense played by a bunch of lengthy wings. However, Milwaukee can match those intangibles and physicality with that of their own. These are two equally dangerous squads, and this should make for a great series.

FanDuel has Miami as +6.5 underdogs, but ultimately shocking the Bucks in game one as -110 favorites.

Prediction: Miami Wins Series 4-3.

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#2 Toronto Raptors vs. #3 Boston Celtics

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Separated by only 5.5 games in the East during the regular season, Boston has had Toronto’s number in the four times the two Atlantic Division rivals have played all season, but none more so than the 22-point scalping the Raptors suffered by way of a more physically imposing Boston team that utilized positionless basketball, opting for switching their lengthy wings onto smaller guards who are proficient at creating their own shots but struggle to score against taller and longer matchups.

And while that may be an issue for the Raptors, that’s when they can turn to their second All-Star in Pascal Siakam who is an immediate answer to that length Boston uses as their advantage. The issue with him, as we’ve seen throughout their season, is while this is team that puts up a multitude of points by committee, they’ve looked at Siakam to be the take-us-home guy when possessions get tense and defensive coverages get hard to break, and he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations in big games.

The main cause of doubt when assessing Toronto’s legitimate chances of repeating come down to multiple things like health to their most important star pieces and role players, but the main plaguing concern stems from Toronto’s inability to have a highly-skilled mismatch at the wing spot to take over and hit big shots, like how they did when Kawhi was there last year. The Raptors are surely looking at their other All-Star in Siakam to be that guy, but it’s yet to be determined if they have those guys that can carry the offense when the script gets thrown out of the window.

And that’s where the inequality (poor choice of words, sorry, I know) lies. Toronto is a very routine team on the offensive end, since a majority of their points come from motion halfcourt sets, transition opportunities, and fastbreaks when they up the tempo to force natural mismatches in the open court when everyone can’t get back. But other than some jumpers they can get against Boston’s length, don’t expect to see a whole lot of slashing and shot creation from the likes of VanVleet and Lowry, since they’ve had difficulty all season driving against Boston’s wingspan.

Meanwhile Boston, who also runs a set offense and is also lethal in the open court, has three of those isolation scorers: one at the guard spot in Kemba Walker, and two wings that can choose to clear out, take charge of the offensive attack, play one-on-one and ice games late down the stretch.

After all, this game is about a bucket. In the postseason, every made basket is crucial, so in order to win a championship, you need those mentally resilient guys who are fearless to take tough shots and make tough shots. And as history has shown, championship teams have that balance where they can run a set offense where the ball doesn’t stick and role players get their shots in the flow of the offense, but the true Alpha Males will the basket into the nylon when times call for them to be extemporaneous.

FanDuel has Toronto winning the series in six games and have the Raps as -116 favorites. They’ve been great all season, especially on the defensive end. Boston will also be without Boston’s Gordon Hayward, who is out for the foreseeable future. But it’ll be hard to get out of this series without that explosive, offensively-gifted, fearmongering playmaker they once had when they won it all last year.

That might be the deciding factor in this series.

Prediction: Boston Wins Series 4-2.

 

Aug 31, 2020 No Comments
Though The NBA Season Is Set To Resume, The League’s Infrastructure Has Already Made It’s Mark

Though The NBA Season Is Set To Resume, The League’s Infrastructure Has Already Made It’s Mark

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by | Aug 27, 2020 | NBA

And the grip has never been tighter than it has been for the past 12 hours.

While the season was just confirmed to be back on thanks to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski hitting the send button on his phone’s Twitter app, getting a profuse amount of interactions to a tweet proclaiming the league would resume games as soon as Friday, a wide array of emotions were pulled from the mental Rolodex from all league fans alike. Most anticipated for the life support upholding the abbreviated season to ultimately be pulled, as a firestorm of reports escaped just about all sports media outlets in the hours leading up to 11:56 A.M. ET when Woj confirmed the season to be back.

Those reports were spearheaded by the groundbreaking announcement that both the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers were open to boycotting and scrapping the season while the rest of the teams complied to finish the season, as they were empathetic to the NBA who pulled out all the stops to finish the resumed season.

These debates had run rampant throughout the bubble, and civic discourse among players in regards to their voices not being heard as they had wanted them to had grown in fervor. Players and coaches had become notably infuriated over the unjust shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man who was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of multiple brutish police officers inflicting their brutality onto another defenseless citizen of color, and the continuous violence against black men, women, and children in a nation that’s lied under oath to protect them.

Milwaukee Bucks guard George Hill, while using dysphemistic language to explicitly paint the canvas of the players’ questioning of the league’s return and if it’s done enough to amplify the players’ messages, exclaimed his perspective to journalists and fans listening.

“We shouldn’t have even come to this damn place, to be honest,” Hill said. “I think coming here just took all the focal points off what the issues are”.

And yesterday, mutual agreements with Hill’s sentiments were felt, with boiling points and centralized opinions of unrest finally reached.

The Milwaukee Bucks, who were up 3 games to that of the Orlando Magic’s one game in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, stunned league officials by refusing to step foot on the court inside the HP Field House in the Disney Springs bubble, organizing a boycott that would grab national headlines. The reason? The Kenosha Police Department had yet to indict the officer who fired seven unwarranted shots into Blake’s back, and he needed to be held accountable for the infraction he had against black life.

As Kenosha was the closest city to Milwaukee, — 40 miles south of the city, to be exact — the Bucks decided to not only set the precedent of saying that entertainment and sports must take a backseat to the fight against social injustice by boycotting NBA games in order to put pressure on NBA owners.

Talks about boycotting game one of the Raptors – Celtics Eastern Conference Semi-Finals were deep into discussions as a result of the repeated offenses of police brutality Thursday when the Bucks staged their groundbreaking walk-out. This undoubtedly launched the argument of suspending the games into the stratosphere.

In retrospect, however, the players forced owners and league officials’ hands, to make a decision with the possibility of the money being spent on them being relinquished and the ultimate sacrifice of their livelihoods being erased in order for the billionaire owners to see them, and acknowledge what they really came to the bubble for: the achievement of equal justice under the law for Black Americans.

And across the league, other players and teams would concurrently follow suit. The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder were set to tip-off Game 6 on Wednesday evening and decided to boycott NBA play in lockstep for the reasons mentioned. The Lakers and Trail Blazers did the same later on.

But it didn’t stop there in the basketball bubble. Major League Soccer postponed five games Wednesday after players objected to setting foot on the pitch while a sixth match between Orlando F.C. and Nashville F.C. played on — a sign that the situation’s details were still developing at the time.

The WNBA postponed all of its games as a means of being a voice to the voiceless, showing their support to the families of Jacob Blake and the many lives victimized to the plague that is police violence and unnecessary force against minorities with this touching tribute.

Major League Baseball called off three games because of the players’ voices, as the Milwaukee Brewers followed their fellow Bucks and decided not to play against the Cincinnati Reds, the Seattle Mariners (who have the most black players on a team of any team in the majors, by the way) postponed their game against the San Diego Padres, and Mookie Betts’ Los Angeles Dodgers not playing the San Francisco Giants.

The Bucks, who as a team collectively decided to take matters into their own hands Wednesday afternoon, contacted the Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and the Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes in a team-wide conference call to demand justice for Jacob Blake, who’s life will forever be affected by the transgressions of this past week.

Players in both the NBA and WNBA have long been at the forefront of protests against racism and police brutality. This is nothing new. But for this year, in particular, this summer’s tragic murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and last year’s killing of Elijah McClain all had the same things in common: zero accountability and due process under the law for their callous murderers who were still brandishing their police badges after committing such heinous crimes.

The night of Wednesday, August 26th, players hosted a consensus on whether or not it was appropriate to continue playing a spectator sport while the rest of the country continues to wallow in the pit of dystopic ruin from the social unrest, COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide stress of the upcoming election in November.

Though it was reported that a wide majority of players felt like finishing the playoffs was the right thing to do, a lot expressed the sentiment that they were beginning to grow tired of the bubble, and not being with their families during the stress that the playoffs usually have on all competing NBA athletes. They came to a unified decision to continue playing Thursday afternoon, but even with the growing anxieties about the play being stalled and money potentially being sacrificed for the greater good in this boycott, their voices were heard.

So yes, play will go on.

And yes, in a week’s time we’ll be back debating about whether or not LeBron’s Lakers or Kawhi’s Clippers will be in the finals.

But now, the focus is on the topic of the players truly realizing and recognizing their power and leverage on the league’s overall influence on, essentially, how this country is run. It’s rather within the incorrect frame to see the athlete as just the entertainer who avoids politics at every turn and not the advocate for social change.

And obviously, history tells us that’s not the case at all.

Just how differently would The Plight Of The Black Athlete In America by Dr. Ben Salazar be written if the legendary Bill Russell, who as we know endured countless threats of racial hate crimes as the first Black head coach to win an NBA title with the Boston Celtics, had said enough is enough, openly opting out of the role of head coach amidst fears of himself being in danger?

If a Jackie Robinson or Roberto Clemente shied away from their responsibilities of creating a brighter, less racially charged future for players that looked like them?

If a certain John Carlos and Tommie Smith refuse to raise their black-gloved fists in support of Black Power at the ’68 Olympics?

And in recent terms, for a Colin Kaepernick, who literally became a martyr for that conversation of equality under the law to keep afloat in the national discourse, as yesterday marked the four-year anniversary of his National Anthem protest?

NBA owners who carry a large financial stake in how the league is run aren’t Public Enemy No. 1 to the players. The players know that they have the influence and power to motorize change and steer those billionaires in power who call the shots and who are buddy-buddy with some of the country’s most powerful legislators into making the right decisions to help change the nation for the better.

If they refuse to buy into what the players are selling, letting apathy and disregard for their infrastructure to pave the way, so be it. They have a plan to make them change their minds: hitting them in their wallets.

Just having “Black Lives Matter” on a basketball court and on warm-up shirts is a quarter of the battle. Simply sending a tweet to raise awareness isn’t and never will be enough. NBA history says that the exertion of financial leverage shows us that (see how the league’s boycott of the 1964 All-Star game ties into player unions here.) Players threaten the power of higher-ups by sitting out, thus forcing owners to act on fighting for the justice of the helpless black lives being lost to police brutality in this country.

The time for kind words and PR-written statements is behind us. The time for action must be now, or never.

Photo cred: AP/ Ashley Landis, Pool.

Aug 27, 2020 No Comments
2020 NBA Draft Lottery: The Information You Need To Know

2020 NBA Draft Lottery: The Information You Need To Know

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by | Aug 20, 2020 | Featured, NBA

Amidst all the enjoyment that onlookers of the Playoffs have felt, it’s time to look to next season — whenever that’ll start — and declare who will officially hear their name called out for the grace of the first selection in this year’s NBA Draft during the NBA Draft Lottery, starting today, August 20, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. This lottery will begin just a half-hour before Game 2 of Laker-Blazers tips off at 9 p.m. ET.

While the teams inside the bubble are battling for a championship, the teams outside of it have been making the preparations for a better 2020-21 campaign than the one they had this season, evident in them not being one of the 22 teams invited to the Lake Buena Vista bubble in Disney Springs.

Though under different circumstances and not in person due to the whole COVID-19 thing, this will be the first-ever virtual draft lottery. As to how it will go, the league won’t fix what’s broken as NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum will announce the order of who will pick from 14th to 1st overall by plucking ping-pong balls from a bowl, just like he has every year.

For this season’s lottery draft, there are a lot of storylines left on the table awaiting their fate. Here are just a few:

Possible first-and-second-overall picks LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards’ potential destination, the sleeping giant Golden State Warriors who have a high probability of continuing their dynasty with the addition of a high first-rounder, the San Antonio Spurs having to hear their name announced as a lottery pick team for the first time since 1997, and shockingly unpredictable odds that leverage the opportunity to land the first overall pick for everyone.

The amenity of landing the first-overall pick is a franchise-changing experience for both fan and executive, and the golden ticket of a pick is known to bump the morale of an organization overnight. So what lucky franchise will be granted that chance tonight?

With that said, we’ll let you know about all of the information you need about tonight’s draft lottery, as well as the odds for each team and if they’ll be in the middle of the pack for picks, or at the top of the mountain with the first selection.

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How To Watch

As mentioned earlier, the draft lottery will begin at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN, 30 minutes before the Los Angeles Lakers look to tie the series against the Portland Trail Blazers at 9 p.m. ET on the same channel. You can also catch it on the ESPN App.

The show will feature a combination of players and organizational members posing as representatives from all 14 lottery teams, including two-time MVP and 3-time NBA champion Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, former second-overall pick and All-Star D’Angelo Russell of the Minnesota Timberwolves and another former first-rounder De’Aaron Fox of the recently-outed-from-the-bubble Sacramento Kings.

The NBA Draft will be held on October 16 and will be shown on both ESPN and the ESPN app.

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This Year’s Lottery Odds

Last season, the NBA began drawing the top four selections in the lottery with new odds for each slot. These are some things to know about these odds:

  • The teams with the three worst records have the same odds for both the No. 1 pick (14%) and staying in the top four (52%).
  • The team with the worst record has a 47.9% chance to fall to No. 5. The lowest a team could fall under the old system was to No. 4 — there was previously just a 35.7% chance of that happening.
  • Teams in Slots 9 through 6 have a 20-37% chance of jumping into the top five. Previously, that range was 6-22%.

Here’s a quick look at the odds for every team with a chance to win a top pick this year, per ESPN and the NBA’s official odds:

1. Golden State Warriors

  • Average pick: 3.7
  • No. 1: 14%
  • Top three: 40.1%

2. Cleveland Cavaliers

  • Average pick: 3.9
  • No. 1: 14%
  • Top three: 40.1%

3. Minnesota Timberwolves

  • Average pick: 4.1
  • No. 1: 14%
  • Top three: 40.1%

4. Atlanta Hawks

  • Average pick: 4.4
  • No. 1: 12.5%
  • Top three: 36.6%

5. Detroit Pistons

  • Average pick: 5.0
  • No. 1: 10.5%
  • Top three: 31.6%

6. New York Knicks

  • Average pick: 5.5
  • No. 1: 9.0%
  • Top three: 27.6%

7. Chicago Bulls

  • Average pick: 6.2
  • No. 1: 7.5%
  • Top three: 23.4%

8. Charlotte Hornets

  • Average pick: 7.0
  • No. 1: 6.0%
  • Top three: 19.0%

9. Washington Wizards

  • Average pick: 8.0
  • No. 1: 4.5%
  • Top three: 14.5%

10. Phoenix Suns

  • Average pick: 9.2
  • No. 1: 3.0%
  • Top three: 9.9%

11. San Antonio Spurs

  • Average pick: 10.3
  • No. 1: 2.0%
  • Top three: 6.6%

12. Sacramento Kings

  • Average pick: 11.9
  • No. 1: 1.3%
  • Top three: 4.3%

13. New Orleans Pelicans

  • Average pick: 12.1
  • No. 1: 1.2%
  • Top three: 4.0%

14. Memphis Grizzlies

  • Average pick: 13.7
  • No. 1: 0.5%
  • Top three: 1.7%

Aug 20, 2020 No Comments
SR – NBA Playoff Preview: The Eastern Conference, At A Glance

SR – NBA Playoff Preview: The Eastern Conference, At A Glance

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by | Aug 17, 2020 | Featured, NBA

Happy Playoffs day! It feels good to say that.

By now, all of the teams inside the bubble have finished up their final regular-season games inside the Lake Buena Vista Bubble on the Disney Springs campus. That means one thing, and one thing only: the Playoffs picture is ready to determine itself a winner in both conferences, and they’re awaiting play to formulate a winner of each Finals berth.

It feels refreshing to have some parity for a change in an East so easily dominated by one major faction for just about half a decade (Miami, Cleveland, etc.) and as it stands, the Eastern Conference is realistically split between four to six teams that have a viable and legitimate chance to head to the Finals outright.

But surprisingly, what we all prophesized before the season opener was wrong, in regards to the maximum number of competitive squads that would be deemed a threat in a conference that’s been described as inferior when compared to the West. At the top of the food chain lie the Milwaukee Bucks for a second-straight year, thanks to the help of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the sportsbook’s favorite to reclaim the MVP in consecutive seasons.

But not too far behind them are our defending champion Toronto Raptors, who have a better record without Kawhi Leonard this year than what they did last year with him suiting up in Raptor red. Next to them, are the not-too-distant Boston Celtics who, led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, are a top-3 offensive and defensive team in all of basketball.

And the dark horse of the East, Miami is slotted at fourth with much more dangerous intentions of a measly second-round exit. An (almost) healthy Pacers squad, as well as an Al Horford and Joel Embiid-led 76ers team, round out an arduous path for any and all Eastern Conference factions looking to stamp their tickets to what could be far and away the most interesting and difficult NBA Finals ever won, to date.

So what better way to prepare our readers than a brief team breakdown of each Eastern Conference team looking to clash in the playoffs this year as well as a first-round matchup breakdown, with the postseason officially tipping off on Monday, August 17? I can’t think of a better one, so let’s get into it.

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Eastern Team Breakdowns, From Seeds 1 Through 8

1. Milwaukee Bucks (56-17, 1st in East) – Quite simply, it’s Giannis’ Bucks’ Eastern Conference to lose. They have all they need on paper, no injuries, or opt-outs to report on their player activation list. This big, lanky, sharpshooting Goliath that stands atop the East and the entire NBA with the league’s best record, Milwaukee is undoubtedly the East’s most balanced team with the greatest of probabilities of anyone in the conference to get to the Finals.

Nary has there been so many accolades and seasonal milestones achieved in a shorter time frame than Mike Budenholzer’s Bucks during their historic 2019-20 regular season. MVPs, Coach of the Year awards, two straight years of 50+ wins, the second-highest average scoring margin of any team in NBA history during their 56-win season, the finishing the season as the most offensively and defensively-efficient team in the league, have all been a part of this championship effort a whole half-decade in the making.

MVP frontrunner Antetokounmpo (29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game) isn’t dubbed the Greek Freak without reason. The 6’8 wing is a gifted and virtually unguardable slasher both in the halfcourt and in transition, and he is averaging more points, rebounds, and assists than he did last year when he won his first MVP. He’s had help to get to the top of the rankings again, most notably from the other double-digit scorer and Giannis’ accomplice Khris Middleton (20.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game). Middleton is the team’s second All-Star and is the team’s go-to scorer that is known for searching for his own shot when Antetokounmpo can’t break down the defense by himself.

With the help of the Lopez Twins (Brook and Robin, if you didn’t know) who specialize in posting up and stretching the floor with their three-ball, overpowering point guard Eric Bledsoe, 3 and D man Wesley Mathews, and a wide array of scorers that get theirs from behind the perimeter, Milwaukee wants to exorcise the demons of their Conference Finals loss last year, with much more potential for things to be done differently this time.

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2. Toronto Raptors (53-19, 2nd in East) – No Kawhi Leonard, no problem. At least, in Nick Nurse’s eyes. With the second seed in the East, these resilient Raptors have proven themselves to be no easy out as a team that plays such a unified brand of ball night-in and night-out.

Nurse’s response to the question of who could immediately step up and replace the 26.6 ppg., 7.3 rpg., and 3.3 apg. the two-time Finals MVP Leonard put up during Toronto’s first championship year (and more specifically, the 30.5 ppg., 9.1 rpg., and 3.9 apg.- averaged record performances he put up during that playoff run)?

More bodies, and the faith entrusted in first-time All-Star Pascal Siakam to get them back into the realm of title retention.

All of the headlines centered around Toronto centered to one point: they’re an incomplete, mid-tier team missing a go-to scorer who can take over games by isolating and collapsing defenses with their singular movement. Of course, that’s been the case for Toronto at times, but they’ve accomplished a multitude of things this year playing by committee, furthering the belief that no one man is superior to the next.

“Underdogs” were the title bestowed upon Canada’s defending champs even with fellow All-Star (and quite frankly, the — debatable — greatest Raptor of all-time) Kyle Lowry, and other proven vets like Fred VanVleet, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka accompanying Siakam. What really garnered Coach of the Year votes for Nick Nurse, who finished third in the award voting: Toronto’s rotational pieces.

Guys on the depth chart like Chris Boucher, rookie Terance Davis III, Norman Powell, and OG Anunoby have contributed greatly to a Raps team that’s pesky on the defensive end, finishing their regular season at 2nd in the NBA in total defensive efficiency. However, It’ll be up for the playoffs to show if Leonard’s presence will be missed come playoff time since we all know how hard it can be to get favorable looks for your stars, as Toronto is ranked 13th in the league for total offensive rating.

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3. Boston Celtics (48-24, 3rd in East) – For Boston, they can go ahead and scratch last year’s inability to turn title expectations into Banner #18. A lot went into Boston being trounced in five by Milwaukee last year, and it simply boiled down to a lack of fit when talking about the ongoing stagger and decline of Boston’s chemistry with former All-Star Kyrie Irving. A good relationship soured forced Boston’s hand in trade talks, as they let Kyrie walk in Free Agency. He’d end up in Brooklyn and, well, you know the rest of the story.

This year, the chemistry problems are quite definitely no more. The 2019-20 Boston Celtics are an exact antithesis to what they were a season ago. Their problems ranged from key wing scorers struggling to find their way in Brad Stevens’ system, the difficulty in mingling in the still-healing Gordon Hayward who was readjusting to NBA pace after that gruesome leg injury in 2017, and the jumps that both first-rounders Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had to make after such a successful 2017-18 campaign.

That quickly became retrospect for the Celtics. Getting Kemba Walker in the summer of 2019 was already a part of a tumultuous offseason, an offseason that also included the long-term signings of Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart as well as the trade of Marcus Morris to the Knicks.

But Boston’s year felt like a breath of fresh air, regardless if Boston came up short of their goal of consecutive seasons with 50 wins. Those ego clashes vanished, the ball didn’t stick with just the guard creating shots, Walker picked up right where he left off while previously in Charlotte, Hayward seemed like his old self, Brown proved that he was worth the money averaging 20.3 ppg., 6.4 rpg., and 2.1 apg. and Jayson Tatum may have ascended himself into nationwide, household-name superstardom in the matter of a year, becoming the only Celtic since Larry Bird to average 30+ ppg. in a single month a little before the All-Star break.

Third-year big Daniel Theis has been roaming the paint this year, sending shots back as well as being an efficient screen setter for both perimeter scorers and drivers, and Marcus Smart should expect to earn First-Team All-Defense honors after this year’s over.

Boston’s bench is questionable, considering they’re 13th in the league in total bench points, but no injuries and opt-outs have affected them during their bubble restart, in which they’ve gone 5-3. If they can carry their offensive firepower and length-endowed defense into the postseason, don’t be surprised if you happen to see these Celtics somewhere near the Conference Finals.

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4. Indiana Pacers (45-28, 5th in East) – A team that’s had one of the more complex situations entering the playoffs, Indiana has more optimism than ever, even with losing their lone All-Star Domantas Sabonis to plantar fasciitis in his left foot. The timetable for his return is still very much up in the air. As his replacement, Myles Turner will be looked at as the starting center/forward combination that’ll have to hold things down for Indiana in Sabonis’ inconclusive absence.

Additionally, the impending health of Victor Oladipo will tell the tale of whether this Pacers team is serious about a deep playoff run during this time in Florida, but if anything’s considered, he’s been ready to go for a while and could be another lethal weapon in Nate McMillan’s arsenal if he’s 100 percent healed up from his ruptured quad tendon suffered last January. Only averaging a little over 14 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game this season, Victor Oladipo is one of the game’s most dynamic and explosive superstars that can break a game wide open if you let him get hot.

Assisted in that backcourt by Oladipo is the 2017 Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, acquired last offseason from the contending Milwaukee Bucks. It was a jackpot kind of investment for Indy in more ways than just on-court as he averaged 16.2 points, 7 assists, and 4.6 rebounds a game this season, a compliment to his transcendent leadership qualities as a leader.

But the talk of the team — better yet the whole bubble — has been the emergence of “Tony Bubble” himself, TJ Warren. If there was a Most Improved Player award in the Bubble like how there’s been an MVP, Sixth Man of the Year, and Rookie of the Year, Warren would be running uncontested in that award’s campaign.

The Pacers forward has been the pleasant surprise for Indiana in the bubble, making the All-Bubble First Team by averaging 31.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks in six games. Call it a streak of catching fire at the perfect opportunity, but to think he was averaging 19.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists on the season when seeing him cook defenses left and right just draining tough off-balance jumpers and floaters has been elating. He missed the last two regular-season games due to the same plantar fasciitis impediment that Sabonis is being held out with but in his words, “I’m gonna be good, either way. I’m gonna be ready.”

The Pacers’ bench, who of the 9 players in this team’s rotation combine for 38 missed games in just the first half of the season, have shown that they’ve been productive this season averaging around 34 points per game. Sort-of.  It’s not bad, but not superb, either. With the help of guys like JaKarrr Sampson, Goga Bitadze, and Edmond Sumner, Indiana’s starters have been supported well enough. As a team, the Pacers are sixth in total defensive rating, and they’re not the ones to easily let offenses do what they want in the halfcourt.

Despite an injury-filled 2019-20 campaign, Indiana’s season and chances for a longer trip in Orlando is heavily incumbent on the health of their most integral roster parts in Brogdon, Oladipo, and now Warren.

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5. Miami Heat (44-29, 4th in East) – Clawing up to Boston but not close enough to overtake them in the East is the Miami Heat, who return to the postseason for the first time since 2017-18. Led by new frontman Jimmy Butler, the term Heat Culture has been reified and supplanted as the leading philosophy for both the players and coaches of the organization. The organizing tactician Erik Spoelstra has done a phenomenal job in preparing these Heat for the opportunity to take pole position to get the NBA world’s attention, even more so in the bubble.

Both supplied with an abundant amount of high-energy, capable defenders who have the ability to guard some of the best players in the East with versatile guys deep on their roster, as well as selfless cutters that work to get shooters more open off-ball and absolute snipers behind the arc, the Heat certainly have what it takes to reach the Conference Finals.

Fun fact: the league’s best defender against Bucks star and MVP favorite Giannis Antetokounmpo? Bam Adebayo, who has held Antetokounmpo to under 34 percent shooting in every contest the two have played against each other. Adebayo, a second-year man out of Kentucky, is a bonafide favorite to win the Most Improved Player award with his 17 points,11 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. He leads his team in blocks at 1.4 blocks per game and is a sparkplug and boost to team morale when they need strength down low and hustle in the open floor.

Mixed with Butler’s defensive savvy, who as a guard/wing hybrid for this new-look Heat team, has given a dangerous Heat squad an identity as a pervasive threat to overthrow the top three squads in the East.

Oh, and did I mention Miami was stacked to the brim in outside shooters? The Heat have NINE players on the roster who are shooting above 30% from 3 point range this season, and that includes the likes of guards Goran Dragic (37 percent), Rookie Tyler Herro (39 percent), fellow rook Kendrick Nunn (36 percent), their unreal off-balance shooter Duncan Robinson (44.8 percent), and forwards Jae Crowder (36.8 percent) and Kelly Olynyk (41.2 percent).

Keep in mind: they also signed Andre Iguodala back in February during the trade deadline from Memphis, so the addition of championship experience is another ace in Spo’s deck of cards.

If they can find a way to execute inside the bubble during the playoffs…watch out.

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6. Philadelphia 76ers (43-30, 6th in East) – Once the quarantine began, and the season was abruptly halted, Philly saw the time off as an advantage for guys who were tending to lingering afflictions. Ben Simmons could nurture his ailing back problems with rest, Joel Embiid withstood some work to his cardio and conditioning, and as a whole Philadelphia looked like one of the bigger danger matchups for any team in the East.

But what started out as a blessing in disguise quickly turned into the worst of misfortunes for a Philly team so decimated by injuries, it’s unlikely they even make it out of the first round.

Just announced last week, All-Star Ben Simmons had a loose body removed from his left knee during arthroscopic knee surgery and will miss the rest of the season as he “subluxated” (a scholastic way of saying dislocated) his kneecap against the Washington Wizards.

There’s no sugarcoating it: losing Simmons is perhaps the biggest blow and last thing a sixth-seeded Sixers team needs right now. He’s arguably the most versatile defender on the floor for Philadelphia, accounting for both the responsibilities of locking down perimeter and post scorers. He’s No. 1 in the league in steals and is arguably the most efficient finisher at the cup and was the leading man for assists as the Sixers’ starting point forward with around eight dishes per game. His speed in the open court and the pressure he puts on defenses once he gets rolling downhill will be missed in quantities come playoff time.

So, it’s up to Joel Embiid to save the day, and though he’s faced a litany of criticism toward his ferocity and showing how much he wants to win when big games arrive on the schedule, he’ll surely have the chance to rewrite narratives this postseason as the Sixers’ most dangerous threat from both inside and outside the perimeter.

Embiid’s averages of 23 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 3 assists will have to be juiced up as head coach Brett Brown will now be tasked with not only coaching for his job, but manufacturing a makeshift offense that runs through Embiid entirely.

As for the rest of the Sixers’ starters, Al Horford will likely get the start at the four with usual staple Tobias Harris accompanying him at small forward. And for their backcourt, they’ll look to the guard combinations of Josh Richardson, Shake Milton, Raul Neto, Alec Burks, and Glenn Robinson III to provide a semblance of offense where they’ll need spacing the most.

It’ll be difficult for Philly’s team to get past the first round, but when Embiid is performing at full capacity, he can easily be the most unstoppable big man in the NBA. He’ll have to show that intent if the Sixers are to have any chance of clawing away a series.  ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Brooklyn Nets (35-37, 7th in East) – Injuries haven’t quite played such a significant role in diminishing a trial year for Brooklyn as they await the pairing of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving for next season as they’ve been the most affected team due to five season restart opt-outs, but for a solid campaign in 2019-20, the Nets have made the playoffs in consecutive seasons.

Even after letting Kenny Atkinson go, this Nets team was able to secure the seventh seed in the East, and even with the chips stacked against them in the first round, they will look to defend that seeding with, albeit, a new-look Nets team led by Caris LeVert. The former Michigan Wolverine was on a tear before the season was suspended, averaging 24.1 points per contest in the season’s last 16 games, and in the bubble, LeVert was the constant source of offense, averaging 25 points, 5 rebounds and 6.7 assists, with 1.5 steals per game to boot.

As a team, however, they may not appear as menacing with 2/3 of their initial roster not even in the bubble, but they’ve certainly competed in the bubble with the best of them all, winning five of their eight seeding games in respective fashion. Backed up by the consistent high scoring coming by way of their backcourt composed of Garrett Temple, the increasingly impressive Chris Chiozza, and Tyler Johnson. Interim head coach Jacque Vaughn has gotten a lot out of his rotation in which he can go six deep in, as productivity from guys like Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Rodions Kurucs, Dzanan Musa, and recently, Jeremiah Martin on the defensive end.

Not a lot of the scoring averages will really jump out at you, but this Nets team plays hard, gritty, and with a lot of heart, even if there’s only LeVert to help facilitate the offense.

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8. Orlando Magic (33-40, 8th in East) – Another team that’s had their season deterred by injury, Orlando’s final eight games weren’t so much of a determinant that would affect their positioning in the final eighth spot in the East. But that didn’t stop them from still not only trying to remain competitive but stay hot and prepared for the first round of the playoffs.

The Magic may have lost Jonathan Isaac for the remainder of the year, and possibly beyond, from a torn ACL suffered in a double-digit blowout win over Sacramento. Not having their arguable best defender and a possible First-Team All-Defense member someday (pending his health) severely impacts whatever chance Orlando has during their postseason run.

Still, they’ll be backed up by the efforts of leading scorer and former All-Star Nikola Vucevic, who is averaging 19.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game. Their premier inside and outside scorer, who is adept at drawing double teams and making defenses pay when he’s not being trapped with his 47 percent field shooting. Additionally, his supporting cast of frontcourt companion Aaron Gordon, who is averaging 14.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game is a key part of Steve Clifford’s offense.

Shot creator Evan Fournier is still there in the frontcourt and is the team’s most efficient scorer from all three levels of the halfcourt. While averaging a little over 18 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game, the Frenchman has been a big help in their spacing. Markelle Fultz is having a rebirth season as well averaging 12 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists, and for a point guard’s coach in Clifford, it’s been a revelation of a year for the third-year man out of Washington who needed a change of scenery to open eyes and prove that he was worthy of being selected first overall back in 2017.

But aside from other integral pieces like Terrence Ross, DJ Augustin, Wesley Iwundu, and others, there may not be that much that’s all too menacing enough to come to the conclusion that these Magic can be competitive enough in the postseason.

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Eastern Conference Playoff Matchups: First Round

#1 Milwaukee Bucks vs. #8 Orlando Magic

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks attempt their first trip back to the NBA Finals since 1974, and their first-round matchup is against the eighth-seeded Magic, who will miss Jonathan Isaac for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. To be quite honest, it’ll be difficult for a Magic team missing such an important piece in Isaac on the defensive end, considering his length to both stop perimeter scorers from getting up shots as well as his adept ability to protect the rim, especially now since the Magic are going up against the most offensively efficient team in the NBA.

Milwaukee is looking to Antetokounmpo, the frontrunner for the MVP award this year, to carry the load offensively. Matched up against the presumptive tandem of Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon, Antetokounmpo will be asked to slash, finish at the cup, punish the Magic’s defense with an improving jumper when they sag off of him, and when doubled, look to the wings or to the top of the key where Khris Middleton will be, as Middleton is their go-to scorer when things break down.

Conversely, Orlando is banking on their bigs to cause trouble in the paint against Milwaukee, as well as their increasingly talented backcourt of Fultz, Augustin, Fournier, and company to make good looks for each other against Milwaukee’s length.

The MyBookie.ag sportsbook prediction has the Bucks as -140 favorites to win the series. Just like the regular season, where the Bucks didn’t lose a single game against the Magic, this will probably be a sweep. Without Isaac’s dynamic length for Milwaukee, it’ll be hard to imagine any different.

Prediction: Bucks Win Series 4-0.

#2 Toronto Raptors vs. #7 Brooklyn Nets

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

As mentioned in the team breakdowns, Toronto is the second-most defensively efficient team in the East and top-3 overall in the bubble. Though they may find struggle scoring in the halfcourt, the defending champions will find some simplicity going at a shorthanded team with no true starters, considering the Nets’ roster was one of the most affected rosters in NBA due to their seven opt-outs.

Expect Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet to be matched up against the likes of guards Caris LeVert and Joe Harris, and in the frontcourt OG Anunoby, Marc Gasol and Pascal Siakam will handle the duties of scoring over Nets big men Jarrett Allen, as well as rotating bigs Rodions Kurucs and Dzanan Musa. Toronto is looking to capitalize on a weaker opponent in Brooklyn, possibly preparing for a trip back to the conference finals later in the postseason.

For now, they’ll have to stop second-team All-Bubble member Caris LeVert. A lot is riding on the shoulders of the starting guard and for a majority of the series, Brooklyn’s offense will be reliant on his production.

Still, as hard as this Brooklyn team plays, it might be too much of an order for them to claw away a game or two this series. The Nets have beaten the Raptors once this year and have lost three times against them. Sportsbook favorites have the Raptors sweeping the Nets at -110. But granted, the Raptors have never won the first game of a first-round playoff series since they are 4-15 all-time in the first games of the first round. History may not precede them this time, however.

Prediction: Raptors win series 4-0.

#3 Boston Celtics vs. #6 Philadelphia 76ers

Bill Streicher/CBS Sports

The questions remain: is Jayson Tatum ready to ascend to the title of superstar during Boston’s playoff run? Will Joel Embiid provide enough on both the offensive and defensive end for the Sixers to be deemed competitive? How will Al Horford contribute to the containment of the Celtics’ immensely talented roster choc-full o’ wings?

These questions and more may be answered rather swiftly rather than them be drawn out. Philly is missing their best on-ball defender Ben Simmons, who when on the court led the NBA in steals and was a pest to perimeter scorers as well as a shutdown post defender. Additionally, he was their starting point guard and mismatch when he spaced the floor with his 6’10 frame, and without him, moving the rock and scoring in transition will be quite the difficulty.

Philly can try their best to utilize as much of Brett Brown’s rotation as much as possible to contest Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Gordon Hayward, but their lack of offensive presence in their backcourt will ultimately be the deciding factor on whether or not they move on. Kemba Walker’s knee shouldn’t be much of a problem for Boston, and though Boston won only one game against the Sixers all year, that was when Simmons was on the court.

It’s still a relatively difficult out for Boston, but without Simmons facilitating an offense that allows outside shooters to get good looks as a result of Simmons’ proficiency in driving to the basket, it’s unlikely Philly makes any noise. Sportsbooks have Boston winning in 5, which seems appropriate.

Prediction: Boston Wins Series 4-1.

#4 Indiana Pacers vs. #5 Miami Heat

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Quite possibly the most entertaining matchup of the first round, Jimmy Butler and TJ Warren settle their differences in a seven-game series with a trip to play Milwaukee on the line. Looking at both rosters, you could say that Miami has a better advantage with their efficient shooters from deep, lanky perimeter scorers and defenders and collection of sturdy rim protectors. Indiana is banged up in their frontcourt missing Domantas Sabonis, and will likely be without him for this entire series.

You could possibly call this an upset since Miami is the lower-seeded team, but this may not be much of an upset. Though Miami hasn’t really been rolling in the bubble, having won only three of their eight contests, some of those games were without Butler who when in the game can be instant offense as well as a reliable defender who won’t be scared to lock up positions 1-4. Indiana has some real threats to this Heat team, however.

Even at 85 percent health, Victor Oladipo makes plays and punishes defenders if they give him a sliver of a lane to drive through, a mismatch on a guy who can’t guard him, or a wide-open jumper that he’ll capitalize on. Malcolm Brogdon will do the same, thus allowing enough space on the floor for TJ Warren to operate, as “Tony Buckets” has been unstoppable in the bubble.

Miami, on the other hand, has seen a rise in confidence and productivity from guys like rookies Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, and Kendrick Nunn. They’ve been three of the nine guys that shoot over 36 percent from downtown this year, so if the Pacers are to stir up any semblance of good defensive possessions, they’ll have to do their best against Miami’s wings.

And of course, you can’t forget about Most Improved Player candidate Bam Adebayo matching up 1v1 against Myles Turner and the other bigs that Nate McMillan will roll out. It should be a good series, but Miami, who have won the season series 3-1, should be walking out of this series as the victors. Sportsbooks have Miami winning in either five or six games.

Prediction: Miami Wins Series 4-1.

Aug 17, 2020 No Comments
SR-NBA Bubble Power Rankings: Week 2

SR-NBA Bubble Power Rankings: Week 2

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by | Aug 11, 2020 | Featured, NBA

The playoffs have practically arrived on our doorstep, the postseason picture clearly accentuated as we head into the final stretch of the regular season. There are just about 1-2 games left on each team’s schedule and for the teams that don’t have a shot in forcing a play-in tournament in their respective conference, they are just using their time to get more playing time to their young developmental pieces.

With that being said, that isn’t the case for three of the Western Conference’s squads still battling for that final playoff spot. Portland, San Antonio, and remarkably, Phoenix are all still mathematically alive as we enter the final full week of the regular season. Memphis losing their second-highest scorer Jaren Jackson Jr. was a heavy blow on the momentum and psyche of a young Grizzlies team, and it’s likely they fall through the cracks of playoff qualification criteria.

Portland (now only a full 0.5 games back) is on their heels, and with another 50-piece from Damian Lillard against the Sixers Sunday night, they could look to overtake Memphis on Tuesday if they can knock off seventh-seeded Dallas and if Boston can beat Memphis.

Phoenix, on the other hand, is the remaining undefeated team in the bubble at 6-0 and though they are a full 2.5 games under the Trail Blazers for the ninth seed, the deficit can somehow still be made up. As for the rest of the teams up in the rankings, the time that’d usually be utilized to give starters a breather have matriculated into valuable moments on the court to tune-up any breaches in chemistry or offensive/defensive inefficiency.

Both LA teams, Toronto, Milwaukee, Boston, Denver, and the rest are getting ready to piece together a deep playoff run, meaning the final games of this regular season should be exciting enough for fans to enjoy.

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1. Milwaukee Bucks (55-16, Bubble Record: 2-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

For Milwaukee, health and rest is the answer. No need to bother chasing any more wins; Coach of the Year award recipient Mike Budenholzer has secured the best record in the NBA for the second year in a row for these Bucks. Clinching the No. 1 seed in the East was no minor feat nor was it remiss of difficulty, but the Bucks have been on this year, regardless if they’ve lost four of their five games inside the bubble.

MVP front-runner Giannis Antetokounmpo may have already secured his second-straight award, an accomplishment not seen since Stephen Curry’s marvelous back-to-back MVP seasons in 2015-2016, but further meshing Eric Bledsoe and Pat Connaughton (who recently returned to play after overcoming the Coronavirus) in the rotation to get them back into the swing of things is of utmost urgency.

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2. Toronto Raptors (51-19, Bubble Record: 5-1, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

Raptors head coach Nick Nurse is a fearless, uninhibited leader of men who has proven he can throw the worst of losses out of the window and out of memory. Bouncing back from a grotesque 22-point can opening of you-know-what handed to them by third-seeded Boston, Toronto put their only loss inside the bubble behind them, surviving a late-game push by Memphis and further proceeding to hand the fourth bubble loss to Eastern superior Milwaukee one night later.

A gameplan that’s full of lineup combinations where guys like Chris Boucher and Matt Thomas are expected to receive a hefty uptick in meaningful minutes, Nurse’s confidence in a Toronto team that’s secured their third-straight 50-win season is probably through the roof now, considering that they’re on pace to have an even better record than last year’s championship team when a significant All-Star by the name of Kawhi Leonard propelled them up to the pantheon of championship contenders.

This year, however, they’ve gotten it done by committee and are hoping this year turns out the same way last year did. If their record — and playoff path, they’ll play the undermanned seventh-seeded Brooklyn Nets first — permits, Toronto’s probability of retaining their place on top of the NBA hill could be increasingly likely.

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3. Los Angeles Clippers (47-23, Bubble Record: 3-3, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

The Clippers go up one spot in this week’s rankings, not because of their average-at-best .500 record inside the Lake Buena Vista bubble, but because of who they’ll have healthy and returning to the team for what could be the definitive chase for a ring amongst every other team in the playoffs. Montrezl Harrell left the bubble on July 17 to tend to personal family matters as the NBA world collectively expressed their sympathies and support for the Louisville product, but now that he is back, a Clippers team at full capacity is perhaps the last thing anyone wants to see in the playoffs.

The Clippers had a rather eventful week, to put it euphemistically. It started out on Saturday as they kept resilient Portland at bay with Patrick Beverley and Paul George trolling Damian Lillard both at the free-throw line and on social media during Lillard’s game-sealing consecutive misses and bricked pull-up three, and on Sunday they lost a nail-biter to a personnel-deprived Brooklyn team in which Kawhi Leonard dropped 40.

Did those games matter in the grand scheme of things? Yes, and no. This didn’t quite impact their playoff seeding and positioning in the West, but it didn’t help either in their efforts to stop the Nuggets from swiping their spot in the West, now only 2.5 games away from doing so.

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4. Boston Celtics (47-23, Bubble Record: 4-2, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

Starting out the week with a close loss to the Miami Heat, a potential team that these Celtics could very well be matched up with during the first round of the playoffs, Boston bounced back to lock themselves into the third seed in the East, one higher mark than their fourth seed last year.

The Celtics will fall short of 50 wins for a second-straight year, but that’s not really a means for concern for Celtics coach Brad Stevens. For just about every team in the East, Boston matches up well against each and every single one of them and to some, now growing into many, Boston has ascended the dark horse moniker, now with increased chances to overthrow Milwaukee and Toronto as the East’s likely candidate to earn a Finals berth.

Their week was headlined by two massive blowouts, both in significant proportion and by margin of victory. Boston avenged their loss to Miami with an explosive 149-115 blowout of No. 7 seed Brooklyn on Wednesday and kept the ball rolling two nights later, stomping a Toronto team they’ve only lost to once this year by a score of 122-100.

They led by as much as 40 at one point, and for a Boston team that a bevy of journalists and media personalities claimed they didn’t have enough firepower on the offensive end to hang with the best of them, the play of their two athletic wings in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Kemba Walker’s inconsistent, unimpressive numbers are certainly a fair cause for skepticism, though.

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5. Los Angeles Lakers (52-18, Bubble Record: 3-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)

Umm..could someone please tell the Lakers that the season restarted…

What we’ve seen from them inside the bubble raises eyebrows in all the wrong ways. Los Angeles has not resembled the regular season juggernaut they painted themselves to be during their seven games inside the bubble, and for Lakers fans, certain anxieties are justified after witnessing the slow jump out of the blocks by the tandem of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Offensively, the Lake Show has been anything but. Currently posing as the 27th-ranked team in basketball in effective field goal percentage on shots from outside the paint at 47.4 percent, (AKA the worst in the bubble) a lot of their integral rotational pieces have struggled mightily in the restart.

Dion Waiters, who started his tenure with LAL on the right foot with a fiery preseason, is currently shooting 4-23 from deep inside the bubble. Quinn Cook drained five threes on Saturday against Houston, but as a whole has not been that effective in the bubble, only shooting a combined 31 percent from the field in the five games he’s been active.

Woken up by two strong games by Davis and LBJ, as Davis dropped a game-high 42 points against Utah and James scored 22, as well as James leading the night in scoring with 29 (the first time he dropped more than his season average 25.4 in points per game in the bubble) and Davis scoring 27, it came down to a buzzer-beating fadeaway three by Kyle Kuzma (25 points in the win) called in an ATO side-out, against a Nuggets team that didn’t have any of their starters in.

Call it Frank Vogel resting his stars for the playoffs in a couple of days, but the struggling Lakers offense doesn’t ease the minds of the Laker faithful as they end their regular season.

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6. Houston Rockets (44-25, Bubble Record: 4-1, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

Four of the Rockets’ five games have been against the league’s No. 1 offense for the season in the Dallas Mavericks, the league’s No. 1 offense in the bubble in the Portland Trail Blazers, and the top seeds in each conference in the Bucks and Lakers. You’d think small ball and getting those tough stops and defensive rebounds would have become a problem for Houston by now, right?

Wrong.

Surprisingly, Houston has posted the sixth-best defensive ranking in Orlando, having allowed just 102.6 points per 100 possessions in the four games since their 153-149 offensive bonanza against Dallas to restart the season. James Harden was voted as a finalist for the MVP award, his third-straight nomination in three seasons, and within the bubble, has taken on the challenge of guarding an opposing team’s best player.

He’s further contributed to the stellar numbers when it comes to Houston’s perimeter defense, as Houston was able to keep their first four opponents to shooting percentages to under 27 percent. Currently 4-1 in the bubble, they’ve had some hiccups in the health department, with both Russell Westbrook and Eric Gordon missing time due to lower-body ailments. That wasn’t an issue for Austin Rivers, who took it back to his Winter Park days with a career-high 41 points in 33 boosted minutes that you’d think was mixtape-worthy if you were to go through his highlights.

Rhythm is the name of the game for Houston, since it’s looking like Oklahoma City may be in their sights for the first round of the playoffs. If both Gordon and Westbrook are able to come back for the season’s conclusion in good health, that likely pits Russell Westbrook against his former team that he won an MVP and competed for in his first 11 years as an NBA pro.

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7. Denver Nuggets (46-25, Bubble Record: 3-2, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

The Nuggets have a lot to look forward to in their not-too-distant future with Bol Bol and Michael Porter Jr. as the tall tandem was essentially the talk of the bubble for the past two weeks. It’s crazy to think that Bol Bol slipped down so far on draft boards because of injury concerns, and just how productive Porter Jr. has been out of the gate for his career while only participating in only three games at the collegiate level.

The former Gatorade Male Athlete of the Year back in 2017 has been and is ready to contribute now to add another dimension of scoring to an already dominant offense. Porter averaged 29.3 points while shooting 66 percent from the field (and shooting 23-for-24 from the charity stripe) in their four games last week and with his help, Denver kept their spot amidst the game’s best scoring teams, ranking sixth in total offensive rating.

Though they fought hard against a Lakers team that was clawing for a win, Denver lost by way of a Kyle Kuzma buzzer-beater. That doesn’t damage the morale of a Nuggets team that’s already locked in a playoff berth, since not a single starter (other than Mason Plumlee, you could argue) was on the floor during the fourth quarter. Will Barton, Gary Harris, and Jamal Murray are still in the process of getting back into basketball shape and when they do, this Nuggets team will be an arduous out come postseason time.

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8. Miami Heat (44-27, Bubble Record: 3-3, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

TJ Warren was human after all, so it seems.

At least in the eyes of Heat star Jimmy Butler, perhaps. With both he and Goran Dragic’ returning to the starting five, Miami was at full capacity in Miami’s much-anticipated Monday night heavyweight duel and rematch between the Bubble-leading scorer TJ Warren and trash-talking Jimmy Butler. And promptly, Warren was dealt with, only held to 12 points on 5-14 shooting. And who was guarding him for the entire night? You guessed it…Jimmy Butler. He talked his trash back in January and backed it up, beating Warren’s Pacers in dominating fashion by double-digits.

Without him prior to their 114-92 win over Indiana, this Miami team deserved credit. They beat Boston without Jimmy Butler, losing Goran Dragic to an ankle injury during the win. They lost to the Bucks, but at one point led by 23 over the league’s best defense prior to losing it during a 20-5 run to start the second half (not to mention, a 20-5 run to end the game as well).

With the way Erik Spoelstra has them playing, #HEATCulture must really be a thing, considering the pesky defense, aggressive cutting, gratuitous screen-setting, and off-ball floor spacing for each perimeter scorer that has been done for each other.

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9. Dallas Mavericks (43-30, Bubble Record: 3-3, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

So, good news: Dallas finally won a game in the clutch. Evident by the “Razmatazz Hop Skiddily Doo” Luka flashed on national airwaves to onlookers across the country and world during their overtime win against Milwaukee, the 21-year-old overcame the adversity onset by media experts talking about his inability to finish in the clutch with a signature Trip-Dub, the 25th in his career and the 12th Triple-Double of his career where he’s scored over 30 points.

The Slovenian superstar received criticism with his struggle to close games this season, (Mavs were 3-10 in total games coming down the final 3 minutes, worst clutch offensive rating in the NBA coming into Saturday’s contest, but he was able to force OT with two clutch free throws. There, he took over the game as a facilitator, dishing out four of his career-high 19 dimes in the extra period.

And speaking of that fourth assist, Doncic capped off the night with a web gem, whipping a nifty through-the-legs feed to the pick-and-rolling big Maxi Kleiber to attain that career-high 19th assist. As a team, Luka then contributed as a teammate and spectator during Dallas’ game against Utah, as Tim Hardaway Jr. caught fire from deep, scoring 27 in the win.

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10. Indiana Pacers (43-28, Bubble Record: 4-2, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

The TJ Warren scoring expedition finally conceded last night during Indiana’s humbling 22-point loss to the Miami Heat, but what a run it was for a player no one expected to be the bubble’s leading scorer.

And what exactly was Warren’s most phenomenal game during this streak in the bubble, you ask? It’s all personal preference, really. The choices range between his 53 against Philly, his 34 against Washington, 32 against Orlando, or his capping-off 39 points against the Lakers, so take your pick. Though defeated by the Heat in which Warren was held to 12 points, Indiana has a greater chance of going up a seed over Philadelphia thanks to his play, who will be without Ben Simmons for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

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11. Oklahoma City Thunder (43-27, Bubble Record: 3-3, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

For OKC, they take some momentous strides forward, and drastic steps back inside the bubble. Keep in mind, they’ve missed the presence of a Sixth Man of the Year candidate Dennis Schroeder as he’s left the bubble to be with his pregnant wife. Though they were able to beat the Lakers by 19 last Wednesday, they were trounced by the Grizzlies and Suns, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinariall sat out during the Suns game.

Co-Coach of the Year Billy Donovan’s number one priority coming into the seeding games was all about keeping that momentum and chemistry built up prior to the season’s suspension on March 11, but that’s easier said than done when you’re missing several key pieces. The upside: more minutes for others like Hamidou Diallo and 2019 first-rounder Darius Bazley, who scored a career-high 23 points against the Wizards on Sunday.

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   12. Portland Trail Blazers (33-39, Bubble Record: 4-2, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

Two missed free throws followed by a missed pull-up three sparked a social media (and national media) firestorm on Saturday. Thanks to a troll job by Patrick Beverley, who served as a shouting distraction during Lillard’s missed chances at the charity stripe, an incensed Damian Lillard came about one night later during a 51-point explosion by Lillard against the 76ers.

It got pretty personal between the Clippers’ duo of Beverley and Paul George (whose S/Os somehow got involved in an Instagram back-and-forth over the small debacle that took place inside the comments section of a Bleacher Report IG post) and Lillard festered that energy into his fifth 50+ point game this season, and the 10th 50+ point game for his career.

Portland is in the best position to claim the eighth and final seed in the Western playoffs from the struggling Memphis Grizzlies, who lost their second-best player Jaren Jackson Jr. for the rest of the season due to a torn meniscus. A favorable end to their schedule with Dallas and Brooklyn to close out their regular season may imply that Dame D.O.L.L.A may have successfully run the table to will the Blazers into playoff contention.

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13. Utah Jazz (43-28, Bubble Record: 2-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

The playoff outlook for the Utah Jazz doesn’t look all that accomodating for a 43-win team that’s struggled to both defend the perimeter and score from it, and with their blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night, it’s likely they’ll have to face the Denver Nuggets as the fourth-seeded team out West since they’ll be unable to improve their position with such a limited amount of games left. In fact, their only game is against a Spurs team that is also tenacious and hungry in their efforts to force a play-in tournament for the eighth seed in the West.

It’s both a blessing and a curse for these Jazz to face up against a “lesser” opponent in the Nuggets in the first round, namely because of the avoidance of playing Houston to kick off their postseason campaign.

Houston has eliminated the Jazz from the playoffs for the last three years, but Denver is no slouch. Not even in the slightest.

The Jazz have failed to beat the Nuggets once this year, and at 0-3 on the season, Rudy Gobert has struggled to stop Nugs big man Nikola Jokic on several occasions. Asking Gobert, a defensive player of the year, to stop the best big man in the NBA in Jokic poses more as a huge question mark for the Jazz than a definitive order. Jokic has averaged 29.3 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists during their three wins over Utah this year.

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14. Phoenix Suns (32-39, Bubble Record: 6-0, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

So…the nonsensical jibber-jabber muttered from us to our readers about discerning all of this exciting play by this Suns team…we were wrong about this being a time for “development”.

The Phoenix Suns…are legit.

Devin Booker looks and plays like a superstar when he has consistent help around him, and it’s gratifying to see a Suns team with a bright future perform so well against some tough competition during this magical 6-0 run. Some crazy numbers, brought to you by ESPN’s Marc Young: “Before the shutdown, the Suns ranked 16th in offensive rating (110.2) and 19th in defensive rating (111.3). In the bubble, the Suns are seventh offensively (115.0) and suddenly elite defensively, ranking fourth (107.0).”

During the longest winning streak of Devin Booker’s career and the Phoenix Suns’ longest winning streak since 2014, their rotation has been magnificent. The Cameron crew: Cameron Payne and Cameron Johnson have been a sparkplug offensively, and don’t be surprised if you see rookie Cam Johnson earn All-Rookie First (or second) Team selections after this season is over.

They are only 0.5 games out of grabbing the ninth seed and with a win on Tuesday against undermanned Philadelphia, a Portland loss to the Dallas Mavericks and a Grizzlies loss to the Celtics, the Phoenix Suns will be in prime position to overtake the eighth seed, just like that.

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15. San Antonio Spurs (31-38, Bubble Record: 4-2, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

Hope is still alive for the San Antonio Spurs, who don’t want their 22-year streak of making the postseason vanish. They keep climbing the ranks and toppling teams inching closer to the eighth seed, and what’s more important, they’re winning with some valuable minutes coming from Jakob Poetl and Drew Eubanks off the bench. DeMar DeRozan has unsuspectingly transformed himself back into his 2018 MVP candidate form, evident in their double-digit victory over the Pelicans, who were eliminated from playoff contention this past weekend as a result of the loss.

Just like Portland, Gregg Popovich’s Spurs sit right below the Grizzlies with a deficit of 0.5 games needed to catch up on the Blazers and a full game behind Grizzlies. If they can find a way to beat Houston on Tuesday, a berth in the Western play-in tournament will be their incentive.

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16. Philadelphia 76ers (42-28, Bubble Record: 3-2, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

Things have gone from bad to really, really bad for Brett Brown and his Philadelphia 76ers. Losing Ben Simmons for what will probably be the year to a knee procedure to remove a loose body was a terrible enough blow to the confidence of an offensively stifled Sixers team that’ll be without their point forward, but losing Joel Embiid for an “insignificant” ankle injury isn’t something Philly can afford right now.

Their final three games on the schedule (6-0 Phoenix, 6-1 Toronto and Houston) all aren’t the type to go easy on them, either.

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17. Brooklyn Nets (34-36, Bubble Record: 4-2, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

Not a bad week at all for the Brooklyn Nets and more specifically, interim head coach Jacque Vaughn. The Nets have already clinched the seventh seed in the playoffs, and though a majority of their starters are out due to opt-outs or injuries, the Nets were able to be pragmatic toward their pessimistic situation of a difficult schedule meeting a lack of personnel. Going 4-2 on the week is no small feat, especially when you beat the West’s best candidate to represent them in the Finals in the Clippers while also surviving a scoring onslaught by Kawhi Leonard in a 129-120 win.

Additionally, a win against the Bucks in which Joe Harris, Caris LeVert, and Jarrett Allen upped the morale of a Nets team that a lot of speculators didn’t think they would come into the bubble with.

The first round of the playoffs will probably be forgetful one as a date with the Toronto Raptors is imminent. But Vaughn is impressed with what he’s seen from his rotational guys, and can only be more confident to factor guys like Rodions Kurucs, Dzanan Musa, Caris LeVert, Joe Harris and Jarrett Allen with the likes of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving the moment the next season arrives.

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18. Memphis Grizzlies (33-38, Bubble Record: 1-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

The lack of movement in this week’s power rankings by these Grizzlies is understandable: since last week, Taylor Jenkins received word of Jaren Jackson Jr. tearing the meniscus in his left knee during a contest of an opponent’s shot, and the second-year big man out of Michigan State, who was averaging a steady 17.1 points per game, will be sidelined for the rest of the year. That’s unfortunate news for the Grizzlies who are hanging on to the mere strings of a thread trying to keep their postseason hopes alive, though it’s not looking peachy with a 1-5 record inside the Bubble.

Ja Morant is a surefire choice for Rookie of the Year, but the Celtics and Bucks are next on the schedule for the Grizz. And it seems like a play-in tournament featuring either the Suns, Blazers or Spurs will determine who walks into a first-round matchup with the No. 1 seeded Lakers is the most likely event to happen now.

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19. Orlando Magic (32-39, Bubble Record: 2-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

The last of the playoff-qualifying teams is the second-most damaged one. As the Magic lost Jonathan Isaac to a torn ACL, a severely disappointing week followed. Aaron Gordon suffered a hamstring injury as a result of a dirty foul by Toronto’s Kyle Lowry. Michael Carter-Williams went down with a foot injury. And Evan Fournier came down with a sickness (not COVID-19). On top of that, they lost a five-point lead late in the fourth quarter of their overtime loss thanks to the heroics of Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics.

But even without the bodies needed to accumulate wins, Markelle Fultz, Gary Clark, Nikola Vucevic, and Terrence Ross all gave a mightly effort. That’s been the mantra of their season, though: enough guys to play hard and hang on until late, but too little star power to get those wins against higher-tier opponents.

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20. New Orleans Pelicans (30-40, Bubble Record: 2-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

Alvin Gentry could be looking for a new job come the offseason. The Pelicans were eliminated from the postseason following a defeat at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs as a result of a molasses-like start, as well as a Portland win against the Philadelphia 76ers just hours later.

Lonzo Ball came into the bubble as one of the hottest shooters in basketball at the point guard spot, averaging 20.8 points ant a 40 percent shooting percentage from downtown. The jerky shot method went away and Ball’s jumper was finally falling.

But since the restart began, he was never able to find a consistent rhythm, averaging 5.7 points while shooting less than 26 percent with a downtown average of 19 percent. Though not relied on as a third scoring option, New Orleans was seriously affected by his abhorrent shooting performances.

Now, they’re getting ready to pack their bags and head back to the Big Easy.

So much for “the easiest schedule”.

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21. Sacramento Kings (29-41, Bubble Record: 1-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

The Kings were also eliminated from postseason contention for the 14th season in a row, the longest drought of any team in the NBA.

Portland beating Philly was the final nail in the coffin as Dame Time took over in the second half against the Sixers, but that wasn’t the final cause of death for the Kings. Injury to integral parts of their team like Marvin Bagley Jr. (someone they’ll seriously have to evaluate in the coming months to see if he can really be a part of the Kings’ future plans due to his fearsome injury history) have hurt them drastically, but their offensive inconsistency, questionable lineup combinations and poor defense — Sacramento has posted a 119.4 defensive rating, making them the 19th best defensive team in the bubble — is sending them home early.

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  22. Washington Wizards (24-46, Bubble Record: 0-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

The Wizards have officially been eliminated from playoff contention, but not like that really shocked anyone. Still, they’re the only winless team inside the bubble and pose a total net rating of -4.5.

Their plans lie in next year’s chase at a playoff spot, as both Bradley Beal and John Wall will return to a new-look Wizards team that’ll be 100 percent healthy.

Aug 11, 2020 No Comments