chess

chess

West:

OKC in 5
Clippers in 6
Denver in 5
Spurs in 6

East

Miami in 4
Brooklyn in 6
Indiana in 5
Knicks in 5

Larry C.

I'm not big on predictions but I agree with you on most, but I think the Bulls are gonna take it to 7. If not win before that.

LurkerDan

West:

OKC in 5
Grizz in 6
Denver in 5
Spurs in 5

East

Miami in 4
Chicago in 6
Indiana in 6
Knicks in 6

Next:
OKC in 5
Spurs in 6

Miami in 5
NY in 7

Next
OKC in 6
Miami in 5

Next
Miami in 6

gerrythedon

Rockets over Thunder
Warriors over Nuggets
Grizzlies over Clippers
LAKERS over Spurs
Bucks over Heat
Pacers over Hawks
Bulls over Nets
Knicks over Celtics

spainlinx0

Not many Nets believers in here. I'm also not overly confident.

I need the Nets to make it past the first round, and for the Celtics to take out the Knicks, or I'm never going to hear the end of it from my buddy.

chess

Beyond the predictions, how great are these first round matchups?

• Hardin vs. the Thunder? Fear the beard.
• Clips vs. Grizz? Epic rematch of 7 game series.
• Lakers vs. Spurs? Two most successful franchises in past 15 years.
• Nuggets vs. Warriors? Where you can score 120 and lose.
• Knicks vs. Celtics? Tastes like Honeynut Cheerios.

fujishig

Those are some unique predictions. I'm surprised you have the Pacers and Knicks coming out on top.

fujishig

The best part is that we don't have to witness Pacers vs. Bulls unless they somehow meet in the ECF.

Matt

Agree with everything here except I like the Clippers over the Grizzlies in the first round.

Decker

Amazing stat from ESPN.com : Pau, Howard and Nash have played on the floor at the same time without Kobe for exactly five minutes this season. We have literally no idea how this unit will play together.

gerrythedon

For the other 7 games I just pick teams I hate the least to win.

JumpCutz

Well you could have fooled me.

Arpeggi

Like trash.

chess

Found a more attractive bracket for the OP...wasn't setting right with my OCD.

fujishig

Well, the games the starting five with Kobe actually played together, aren't they winless?

fumanstan

Got my tickets for Game 3 in LA next week.

Decker

Yes. 0-7. Which is a remarkable number both for the zero wins and for the total number of games they played together. That pretty much encapsulates the 2012-2013 Lakers' season right there.

fujishig

I still think Nash will solve a crucial problem for them in who will setup or take the last shot (Blake has been great, but it seems like he gets most of his scoring in early in the game). The problems are that at this point I doubt he'll be healthy enough to play, and whether his contributions on the offensive end will make up for the negatives on the defensive end. A healthy Parker will kill them anyway, so maybe it won't matter that much. And with Kobe distributing on the floor he was wasted as a spot up shooter.

Boston and LA both seven seeds, who would have thought? And I think both have a decent chance of making it to the second round, even if for Boston it's mainly based on how emotional that building will be when they come home to play.

Arpeggi

There won't be any last shot if he plays. His shitty defense will make sure we are getting routed.

Michael T Hudson

Close game in New York.

chess

Not a bad game, but it's over. NY showing some defense...who knew?

JumpCutz

Some ugly offense in Denver. Curry 0-7. Warriors 34-32 middle of the 2nd quarter.

Matt925

If the warriors can steal this game after all the talk about the nuggets home record they will be in GREAT shape. Playing great defense and denver looks awful, although frankly if I was nuggets fan I would be pissed at the officials. Everything going warriors way. Still can't ask for a better half and curry has to heat up at some point.

Tabletopjoe

What a great game! I hope this series goes 7 games.