Even though the Utah Jazz are not in this season’s NBA Playoffs, we plan on covering the playoffs and bringing some of that content onto our site. Add this to the Jazz content we plan on continuing, and we should have a lot of new stuff for you guys the next couple months.
The NBA Playoffs begin today and the journey to an NBA championship is ready to take off. Every team wants to win that coveted trophy and get their rings, but there can only be one team to do that. It starts today with four great games to watch.
(6) Brooklyn Nets @ (3) Toronto Raptors
Tip Off @ 10:30 a.m. MST
TV: ESPN
The Raptors have had a fantastic season, that I don’t think a lot of people outside of Toronto expected them to have. After trading Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings, a lot of analysts thought that this was a huge “tank” move by the Raptors. It was the exact opposite as DeMar Derozan became a big time offensive player, in route to making his first All-Star game. Kyle Lowry has also had a fantastic season running the point for Toronto.
The Nets started off the season pretty slow but finally figured things out to get back into the playoff picture. Brooklyn is one team that could be dangerous in the playoffs if they get on a roll. Brooklyn has experience all across the board with guys like Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett in their starting lineup. They also have a lot of experience with their first year head coach, Jason Kidd. That experience could give them a lift in this series.
Toronto has been great at home, and Brooklyn has played decent on the road. The experience could help the Nets, but the crowd could really give the Raptors an edge for at least game one.
Prediction: Toronto leads 1-0
(6) Golden State Warriors @ (3) Los Angeles Clippers
Tip Off @ 1:30 p.m. MST
TV: ABC
This is one of the really interesting match ups that I want to see this round. Two teams from the same division going at it in the first round. Already, there has been some smack talk between the teams. Klay Thompson came out and was talking about how Blake Griffin is that big and can “flop that easy”. Which could very well be a true statement. Griffin, however, tried to avoid the remarks and said he was ready to play.
With the Warriors, once they get hot, it is hard to cool them down. Between Thompson and Stephen Curry, the two can make you wish you would have just stayed home. The only problem that the Warriors could have in this match up is the fact that they will be missing their big man, Andrew Bogut.
With Bogut out, the Clippers will more than likely take advantage of that with their bigs, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. As good as Curry can be shooting the ball and making defenses shaky, he will be going up against Chris Paul, who is in the discussion when you talk about the best point guards in the league right now. The Clippers are also very deep on their bench and that should be the main difference maker in this match up.
Prediction: Clippers lead 1-0
(8) Atlanta Hawks @ (1) Indiana Pacers
Tip Off @ 5:00 p.m. MST
TV: ESPN
You could say the Pacers really kind of limped into the playoffs. Other one big win in the last week of the season, the Pacers really looked like they hit a wall. Regardless, Indiana enters the playoffs as the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, which is something that they wanted to accomplish since the start of the season. With Paul George leading the way, the Pacers should have a pretty good shot at advancing deep into the playoffs, pending they can bring it back together.
The Hawks are kind of in the same boat as Indiana in terms of how their season went, except the Hawks had it worse. Atlanta started off the season playing fantastic basketball, and were sitting as high as third in the Eastern Conference. Then the wheels somewhat fell off, as their big man Al Horford, went down with an injury and has been sidelined for the entire season. Former Jazzman, Paul Millsap, has had a fantastic season taking over as kind of the go to guy for the Hawks, and he also made his first All-Star game, which was well overdue. However, the Hawks struggled late in the season and don’t look like much of a match up, even for this Pacers team that is struggling as well.
Prediction: Pacers lead 1-0
(7) Memphis Grizzlies @ (2) Oklahoma City Thunder
Tip Off @ 7:30 p.m. MST
TV: ESPN
The first round, game one match ups of the NBA Playoffs on Saturday wrap up with a match up of a Grizzlies team that has been known in the past to pull off a surprise or two. If you can remember, the Grizzlies upset the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs a couple seasons ago as the eighth seed. The Grizzlies have two big guys that can really bang with anybody in the league in Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. They will have a tough match up with the Thunder’s bigs though, who are great on the defensive end.
Oklahoma City is one of the top teams in the league because of their two headed monster in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The two have a great chemistry and have no problems getting their shots up. Memphis really doesn’t have anybody that can stop Durant. He will either be guarded by Tony Allen or Tayshaun Prince, which Allen could cause more problems than Prince, but still won’t have enough effect on Durant to bother him. Mike Conley is one of the most underrated point guards in the league, and the match up with Westbrook is interesting, but the Thunder still have the upper hand on every level.
Prediction: Thunder lead 1-0
Be sure to check back with us here at The J Notes, as we will have previews of tomorrow’s NBA Playoff match ups and highlights and recaps of what happened in today’s action. The Jazz may not have made it to the playoffs, but as fans of basketball, this is still the most exciting time of the year in the NBA.