Assessing the first four days of the NBA playoffs

Davis Rich | Co-News Editor

The NBA playoffs, which can be described as an eight week bare-knuckled fistfight for basketball supremacy, commenced on Saturday with the Warriors downing the Pelicans. Let’s see what we have learned from the first few days of action.

The West isn’t as fun as we thought it would be…

Personally, I thought this was going to be the best first round of the playoffs in years, particularly in the West. Unfortunately, some dominance got in the way. New Orleans, Dallas, and Portland are going to get steamrolled. Yes, Golden State, Houston, and Memphis have played two games at home. But New Orleans seemed to reach peak performance in Game Two against the Warriors and still lost by ten. Dallas has all but given up on Rajon Rondo and Chandler Parsons is out for the year. And Portland is just lost without Wesley Matthews. If anything, the consolation is that we get to see some exceptional basketball from the Warriors, Rockets, and Grizzlies. 

but Spurs-Clippers sure is.  

Everyone thought this was going to be the series to watch and it’s been true so far. These teams are both hot and do not like each other. Expect this series to go back and forth, long after the other Western Conference matchups conclude. It’s a shame one of these teams will have to go home after seven games. 

It’s the Cavaliers’ East to lose. 

Leave it to the Celtics’ offense to make the Cavaliers’ defense look good. All jokes aside, I’ve been very impressed with Cleveland’s defensive intensity so far. The knock on the Cavs was that aside from Lebron, they lacked the playoff experience, and thus the killer instinct, to thrive through June. While Kevin Love’s role has diminished, Kyrie Irving has stepped up on both ends of the court, and Lebron will continue to do Lebron things on both ends of the court. 

The Hawks haven’t been impressive, winning two single-digit games at home to a Nets team they should be smacking around. Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer has concocted an ingenious offensive scheme to aid an Atlanta team that lacks the star power of a quintessential number one seed. But several Hawks are banged up or have regressed since a hot start to the year. I’m forecasting an easy Cleveland romp through the Eastern Conference. 

Stay tuned for more weekly NBA playoff coverage.