The NBA regular season has come to a close, mercifully for some, and the playoffs are upon us. We start our NBA playoff preview in the Western Conference as the playoff picture is clearer than that in the East. There was no suspense as to whom was going to make the playoffs as there were no bubble teams. In fact the fall off from the eighth spot to the next closest contender was a whopping four games.
The clear-cut class of the West is and was the Miami Heat. The Heat posted 66 wins on the season that was punctuated by a ridiculous 27 game winning streak. A season of such dominance hasn’t been seen since the era of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan.
As the Miami heat roll into the playoffs as the favorite, there are some teams that could make some noise and perhaps even give the Heat a challenge for the Division title. Check back to eDraft for our Eastern Conference playoff preview as we break down each series, predict the winner and give some fantasy advice on players who are poised for a big series.
(1) Miami Heat vs. (8) Milwaukee Bucks
Miami lost a total of 16 games during the regular season as they rolled through the 82 game schedule and treated it as a tuneup for the postseason. One of those 16 losses came at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks. On December 29, 2012 the Heat strolled into Milwaukee and promptly got handed a beat-down as the Bucks hung a 19 point thrashing on the startled heat squad.
Only five eight seeds have advanced past the first round of the playoffs. Having said that, it has now happened in consecutive season as both 2011 and 2012 saw number one seeds go down. This trend is not going to continue as the Heat are just too good and too rehearsed as a team to drop four games in a series.
PREDICTION: Miami Heat win this series in five games as the Bucks will put up a fight once facing elimination.
FANTASY IMPACT: It goes without saying that LeBron James will be at his finest and he will ultimately post the best fantasy numbers out of everyone. For the Bucks, Monta Ellis is poised for a tremendous series. Ellis is basically in a contract year as he is going to decline his player option in order to seek a long-term deal. This playoff series could go along way in procuring a few extra million as this series could showcase his scoring ability. In addition to Ellis, look at John Henson who has really emerged as a solid rebounder; as evidenced by a 25 rebound performance against Orlando last week. Miami has notoriously been a poor rebounding team and Henson could very well take advantage of that weakness.
(2) New York Knicks vs. (7) Boston Celtics
The Knicks turned around last season’s six games over .500 record and managed to win 54 games this year. They are riding the hot-hand of Carmelo Anthony into the playoffs and have hopes that their team can perform well enough to secure a Division Title showdown with the Miami Heat.
The Celtics have been battling injuries all season long and they are definitely not the same playoff threat that they once were. The big-three has been paired down to the aging-duo as Rajon Rondo is out, and Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett just don’t have enough left in the tank. The complementary pieces brought into Beantown just haven’t done enough to keep the Celtics afloat.
PREDICTION: The New York Knicks will take this series, but they will lose one game on the road in Boston. Take the Knicks in five games.
FANTASY IMPACT: While the Celtics will be doing everything possible to keep Anthony in-check, it just won’t be enough. Anthony is going to get his points as he is too stubborn to stop shooting the ball. I like J.R. Smith in this series as he comes in off the bench and can launch from anywhere. Smith can put up starter-like numbers in his reserve role. For the Celtics take a look at Jeff Green. Green gives good scoring numbers as well as rebounds and assists. Green could very well be the best fantasy player on the court for the Celtics.
(3) Indiana Pacers vs. (6) Atlanta Hawks
The upstart Pacers finished out the year on a bit of a down note as they went 2-5 in their last seven games. Regardless of their recent performances they still managed to procure the third seed heading into postseason action. This season’s success has been due in large part to the emergence of Paul George as the Pacers were thought to be in trouble once it was announced that Danny Granger was likely lost for the season. The Pacers were once viewed as being the only legitimate threat to the Heat in the East; instead their late season slide has some concerned about advancing past the first round. The reasons for optimism in Indiana are that Roy Hibbert seems to save his best basketball for the playoffs.
The Hawks are looking to pull the upset here and will call upon the strength of their front court pairing of Al Horford and Josh Smith to carry them past the first round. Unfortunately for Hawks fans, the Pacers matchup very well here as both Hibbert and David West are far more natural scorers. Despite the Hawks ability to move the basketball (they finished 2nd in the league in assists per game) and make defenses work it won’t be enough to push the Pacers in this series.
PREDICTION: Pacers take this series in six games. Atlanta’s 44 wins on the season wouldn’t have been good enough to secure a playoff bid in the West and it isn’t good enough to keep them around in the Western Conference past this round.
FANTASY IMPACT: As mentioned, Hibbert is a beast come playoff time. He is rounding into his late-season form and appears poised for another dominant playoff run. Last season he was a force in the middle for the Pacers and in this series he has a definite advantage over the under-sized Horford.
(4) Brooklyn Nets vs. (5) Chicago Bulls
The Nets finished out the season on a high note as they went 7-2 in the month of April. With the strong finish they managed to grab the fourth seed and procure a first-round matchup with the Bulls. Deron Williams finally started playing like the perennial MVP candidate that many projected him to be and as a result the Nets are the slight favorite to advance into the second-round.
The Bulls are sorely missing Derrick Rose as they played .500 basketball over the past two months. Luol Deng is doing an admirable job; however, the lack of a go-to scorer will come back to haunt the Bulls. Granted they do have a lot of options offensively, no one is a real consistent shot-creating threat to score. Nate Robinson will be a featured part of the offense and that really doesn‘t bode well for the Bulls.
PREDICTION: Despite the better regular season record, I see the Nets falling prey to the Bulls playoff experience. The Bulls have an emotional leader in Joakim Noah and they have just enough playmakers to squeeze out a series victory. This series goes the distance with the Bulls winning in a game seven showdown in Brooklyn.
FANTASY IMPACT: Outside of Williams, the best fantasy option on the Nets is Brook Lopez as his scoring and rebounding number are fairly consistent. For the Bulls my fantasy preference is Jimmy Butler who has emerged as a viable option offensively. Noah may end up with better numbers, but Butler is so often overlooked that he is deceptive in his production and will often shoot a much higher field goal percentage while still being very capable of giving you a double-double on the night.