The Phoenix Suns acquired Chris Paul from the Oklahoma City Thunder to create a lethal backcourt for their team. Devin Booker elevated his game even more last year when he was given Ricky Rubio-an elite playmaker- and still showed that he can keep his assists totals up around 6.5 a game. This is not a far drop off at all in the season prior without Rubio when he averaged 6.8. The Suns got extremely hot in the bubble (going 8-0) and adding Chris Paul is only going to elevate them more. He was the league leader in clutch points last year and add that with Devin Booker’s closing ability showcased in the bubble, they are going to win a lot of close games. Chris Paul is also a very good defender at the point guard position which will certainly help. Although he is getting up there in age and making a lot of money, the Suns are not going to sign a big name free agent or anything so this is a good deal especially with Devin Booker rumors. Similar to what I think Milwaukee should have done with the Giannis rumors. Plus Chris Paul’s leadership, basketball IQ and the way he carries himself, is a big reason for his large impact on winning basketball that often goes unnoticed. That cannot be taught.

The Thunder get back a haul though as well from the Suns. They received Ricky Rubio who is a very good trade asset as well as Kelly Oubre Jr. He can be young enough to possibly stay though. Ty Jerome and Jalen Lecque could be very good pieces for the Thunder’s future. They now have an unbelievable amount of draft capital by adding another first rounder in 2022. They are set for the future and still have more to give. Overall the deal was good on both sides. The question for the Suns is was it worth it to give up this much if this does not get you a championship? Does this make Devin Booker stay? Only time will tell.

In the west, we have what was expected. Although we did not get the matchup of the LA teams that we wanted, we still ended up with an LA team in the conference finals as expected. The Lakers came out of the west and unexpected by many, the Heat come out of the east. Many did not expect the Heat to come out of the east but I can’t say I am very surprised. The Heat are a well coached defensive team who have shooters that are hot at the right time on offense. The Heat need to remain hot. They need to continue to play how they have been playing. They play aggressive and “up into you” and if the Heat can control the foul trouble game it will be to their strong advantage. Bam needs to stay out of foul trouble because he is going to be a strong catalyst in guarding AD and Lebron. If Miami can get the foul calls and continue to hit their outside shots they can make it into a very good series. Herro and Robinson need to stay hot and Dragic is also still cooking. Jimmy Butler will keep doing his thing and Jae Crowder and Iggy needs to hit their shots. They do have a fighting chance because how good they are at shooting and defense, but they need to avoid fouling so they can play loose to the best of their ability. The Lakers have the same key as usual. Role players knock down shots. AD and Lebron need to be aggressive in getting themselves to the rim and draw fouls early. The more they settle for outside shots the worst position they put themselves in. When Lebron and AD are their best when they got it going in the paint and that makes it easier for their shooters and opens the game more for them. In my opinion, this would be a disappointment for the Lakers if they lose. They are heavily favored and are clearly the better team. But I would not count out the heat at all. They are resilient and always have fight in them. Spolestra is a great coach and it can be a lot of fun to watch them succeed. Jimmy is a great leader and always keeps their minds on straight in order to give them a chance. I look forward to watching the series and I hope the Heat can make it very interesting like I know they can.

Both of these teams took very different roads to get to where they are at. The Nuggets were down 3-1 twice and came back to win. The first team to ever do that twice in a single playoffs and they have only played in 2 rounds. For the Lakers, they lost game 1 in both series, but after flipping the switch the Lakers cruised to win the next 4 in both. The Lakers are the clear favorite as the 1 seed with Lebron James and Anthony Davis. They need their role players to step up and knock down shots. Danny Green, KCP and all other spot up shooters mush show up this series. I am also interested to see whether they have AD guarding Jokic or they have Javale. They can throw a lot of different looks at him which the Clippers and Jazz both did not have the rosters to do. They have multiple big men who can match up with him. Other than matching up on him you need to close out on their perimeter shooters and you need to watch the cuts when Jokic has the ball in the post. He is a lethal passer and can fit it into any window to hit his player. If the Lakers can minimize the Nuggets offense, theirs could be just enough to get them the wins they need. On the other side of the ball, the Nuggets really stepped up defensively when it mattered most this playoffs. I have talked about this as the key all along for the Nuggets. Can Jokic match up and keep up with AD and all the other big centers on their team. Not to mention that they have Lebron who is an oversized point guard. The height of the Lakers is very hard to match, especially for the poor defensive Nuggets team. However, I give Mike Malone a lot of credit. His defensive adjustments for the second half of games have been spot on. They have made multiple large deficit comebacks all playoffs and it is mostly because of their defense. The Nuggets team +/- in the 2nd half was -23 through the first 4 games in the Clippers series in which they went down 3-1. The Clippers were getting their buckets, playing their defense and doing their thing. But Mike Malone must have found something because the 3 games in a row that the Nuggets had won, their team plus minus was +63 in the second half of the final 3 games of the series. That means that the Nuggets outscored the clippers by an average of 21 points in the second half of the each of the final 3 games of the series. That is almost unheard of. The Clippers completely fell apart and struggled to even score 15 points in the final quarter of the series. If the Nuggets can keep up this 2nd have defense and intensity, they have a pretty solid chance. It ain’t easy to go through Lebron and Lebron will make sure of the fact that he does not blow a 3-1 lead. I think if the Nuggets want a chance they gotta get off to a hot start and keep it going in game 2. If you win game 1 you gotta come out and win game 2. I think this is important because the last 2 series losing game 1 was a “wake up call” for Lebron and the Lakers. They were steam rolling after that. If the Nuggets could go up 2-0 (I would still not count the Lakers out not even a little bit) than it makes it a lot easier on them only having to win 2 out of the next 4. With Jamal Murray’s ability to take over games down the stretch and steal a game for you, and the Lakers somewhat lack of that, will make for a fun series.

This is the matchup that I thought would be the most competitive and fun to watch and I am beyond glad that we got it. I think these teams are very similar and matchup very evenly. Both these teams have such a great mix of veteran and young players that all contribute and play together well as a team and I think that is shining more than anything in this weird 2020 in the bubble. The Heat had little to no problem taking down the top record of the league in the Bucks in just 5 games. Their versatility on defense is elite. Jimmy is an elite defender all around and Bam Adebayo is as well. Having a small ball center that can switch onto point guards is quickly becoming an essential in today’s modern NBA. Both teams actually have this. Bam being the obvious one for the Heat as he made all defensive second team. But for the Celtics they actually have 2 guys like that. That is Daniel Theis and Robert Williams. Their offensive/tall center is Enes Kenter. Brad Stevens gets extremely creative with his subs when it comes to his centers including sometimes switching them before 2 minutes in the first quarter has even passed. Both these coaches unique styles and ability to adapt on the fly is another reason this series will be great. They both are elite defensive coaches and the offense is always there as well. They always seem to find ways to get their players in spots on offense where they can succeed and do what they are best at which I think sometimes is the biggest problem for coaches. It is easier said than done though of course. Sometimes, coaches try to mold their players to fit their system when really the job of a coach is the other way around, mold your system to your players. Call offensive sets that put your guys in position where they feel comfortable (for example have a right handed player catch a screen handoff running to his right not his left) which I think is often overlooked skill of a coach. Not only do both these teams have elite defenses, elite coaching and elite offense, they also have elite shot making ability in the 4th quarter down the stretch. This is also made a lot easier if your coach puts you in a good position to succeed in the half court offense like I mentioned earlier. I talked about how the Heat had this “shot making” ability and the Bucks did not and that is why I thought they would beat the Bucks in my preview article for that series. (If you want to look at my take it was spot on at https://vicspx.com/2020/08/31/miami-heat-vs-milwaukee-bucks-ec-semis-preview/ ) The teams main closers down the stretch are Jayson Tatum for the Celtics and Jimmy Butler for the Heat. They have knocked down big shots for the entire playoffs, the entire season and their entires careers. What makes these teams so fun though is that they aren’t the only guys on their team that do that. All last series Goran Dragic and Tyler Herro knocked down timely shot after timely shot. Dragic was the Heat’s leading scorer or tied for it in 2 out of 5 games last series. He is a huge spark to their scoring and is a great team player. For the Celtics, other than Tatum, Kemba is also an elite shot maker down the stretch which we have seen since back to his collegiate days at Uconn. Jaylen Brown knocked down timely shots last series and so did Marcus Smart. Smart’s elite defense will be there all series but if he can shoot well from 3 like he did against the Bucks, that is a very good sign for the Celtics. He shot 39% from 3 against the Raptors compared to his 13% in the Sixers series in the first round. Hopefully for the Celtics he is catching fire just in time for a run. These teams are extremely similar in terms of their “new school” small ball centers, elite defensive players like Jimmy and Bam vs Jaylen Brown and Smart, mixed with elite coaches and great 4th quarter shot making. This series is set up to be the great one and I think it will come down to which team has the “clutch gene” at the end of the game more often than the other. Who can “steal the game” at the end? This could very well go 7 and even if not, all the games will probably be close anyway. I think this is going to be one of the best series so far this playoffs. Feel free to comment/debate in the comments I am all for it.

This may be a way more interesting series than some think. The Heat were 2-1 against the Bucks in the regular season. Yes the Bucks have the best record in the league. Yes they have the DPOY and probably future back to back MVP. But the Heat have a bad bad man on their team named Jimmy Butler. The heat have proved this season that they are a legit contender. Jimmy has been taking over games down the stretch with his elite shot making ability and defense. Something a poised vet like him does very well is also “make the right play.” Which is a lot harder than it sounds. He lets the game come to him and does everything he can to win. He needs his guys to show up too. Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, Goran Dragic all showed up last series. Bam Adebayo is gonna also have to be that defensive animal we all know and don’t forget about playoff Iggy. They will be key bodies to throw at Giannis to contain him. There is not much to say about the Bucks that has not already been said. We know why the Bucks should win but the Heat have a very comelling arugument. The key for the Bucks has been the same all year. Role players knock down shots, especially Middleton, and get big halfcourt buckets late in games: Middleton and Giannis (something the Heat specialize in). I think this is going to be a very gritty series of 2 great NBA teams and coaches and I am excited to watch. Do not be surprised if the Heat make it very competitive or even win (not a prediction).

This has been a weird year to say the least. It’s August and at this time I’d usually be gearing up for the MLB playoffs, but I can’t complain about having that and the NBA. Us sports fans are aloud to be a little spoiled after the 4-5 month drought we had when the most entertaining things on TV were Korean baseball and Corn Hole. Luckily the NBA is back and we are ready to head into the long awaited playoffs. This article I will preview every matchup as well as share my opinion on them and on the bubble in general. I may make rough predictions but I never like to make predictions. I like to discuss and then enjoy we’ll history is happening. If I predict, too often I find myself rooting for one team we’ll a basketball fan of a non playoff team like myself really just wants to see a great game. Also, with no fans this year and unfamiliar scenery, anything can happen. The Suns went 8-0.

Truthfully, only time will tell who is going to win and I like to enjoy it we’ll it’s happening.

I am absolutely loving the bubble so far. The players are pure entertainment. Seeing them interact around the campus and everything is extremely fun. Especially watching some of the guys post their vlogs on YouTube. I think it’s also been really cool to see players step up in bigger roles because of the absences of some players. TJ Warren and Gary Trent are just a few examples. Overall the NBA restart went better than almost everyone expected and I’m extremely excited for the playoffs.

Bucks vs Magic

Last year the Magic surprised us and took game 1 against the eventual champs Toronto Raptors. DJ Augustin hit the most cold blooded shot of his life. Guarding Giannis is a difficult enough task as it is. With Johnathan Issac recently tearing his ACL, the Magic will be missing their best defensive player and their best one on one matchup against Giannis on the defensive side of the ball. His frame is similar. He’s long lengthy and has a nose for the ball. I hope he gets well soon and comes back strong in the future. Even with John Issac healthy, the Magic are still severe underdogs to the team with the best record in the league, as well as the front runner to win MVP and maybe even DPOY too.

Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers

Oh boy am I excited for this one. This series can end up being a long and gritty one. The beef between TJ Warren and Jimmy Butler is starting to heat up just in time. They have had multiple altercations on the court over this season and in the past. Now that TJ Warren is playing at an elite all star level, it’s going to be a lot of fun watching him go back and fourth with Jimmy Buckets. They still have plenty of other young guys like Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn that are all going to have to step up. I’m interested to see how this young team plays in the playoffs together for the first time. With a good leader like Jimmy Butler, who is focused on one goal and that’s to win, I’d be satisfied with where the Heat are if I was a fan. They are set up perfectly to sign a big name pretty soon to fit in with the great core they already have. Don’t forget about playoff Iggy too, we all know he turns up. For the Pacers, Victor Oladipo has been working back from the injury he suffered last year and has showed glimpses of his all star self, but hasn’t quite bursted out of the bubble wrap yet (no pun intended). In the bubble when he has played hes looked alright just has not been very effiecent. Overall this is defientley going to be one of the best of the first round matchups I think with a lot of drama.

76ers vs Celtics

Unfortuantely for the 76ers thery will be missing their all star point guard/power forward Ben Simmon who suffered a season ending injury during his time in the bubble. This will be a major negative with him as the floor general on offense, and an elite defender on the other side of the ball. The Sixers are built for defense though with Josh Richardson, Matisse Thybulle, Al Horford and Joel Embid. When Simmons missed time most recently this last season, the team did not take a huge fall however. They were able to succeed still because the game opened up more for them with Simmons off the court. But besides shooting, hes a guy that does everything well and you definitely wish you could have him out there to guard 1-5 on a nightly basis like he does. Joel Embid needs to dominate because he is the mismatch against Danie Theis. The Celtics can make a big statement here if they “take care of business like they should.” The reason I say this is because they are the 3 seed and the Sixers are the 6. They are already the favorite in the series without Simmons out. If the Celtics take this in 6 or less games it could be a very good confidence booster for them because they are a team that can definitely make a run with the emerging star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The positionless lineup the Celtics run might be able to expose the absence of Ben Simmons. With the sixers missing a key defensive player, it may be harder to guard the more versital Celtics lineup.

Raptors vs Nets

Unfortunately, a common theme of the bubble, the Nets are not at full stentgh. But no team compares to them at all. Obviously they are missing KD which is a lot to begin with but we knew that and expected that coming in. Kyrie had season ending shoulder surgery and same with rookie Nicholas Claxton. Deandre Jordan, Michael Beasely and Taurean Prince all had Covid-19 before the restart and decided not to participate. Spencer Dinwidee and Wilson Chandler also decided not to play in the restart. Even Jamal Crawford who they signed as a roster filler in the bubble got hurt his first game back. This year ultimately is not the year for the Nets and hopefully next year they are healthy and can contend. The Raptors on the other hand are a team that nobody wants to face this year. They are coming in with a chip on their shoulder and a winning attitude. They act like they been there before, and are one of the most well coached teams in the league. In my opinion, without a doubt the coach of the year should be Nick Nurse and executive of the year should be Masai Uriji. The winning culture that them two have built there is the model all teams around the league should use. They might not be the most talented team, but their length and grit on defense gives them and edge that very few teams have. They had the number 2 defense in the league this year and it is all because of Nick Nurse’s unique way of getting the best out of all his players. He mixes in different traps in the halfcourt and backcourt and also will often switch to zone for a few possessions. They make professional NBA players look confused sometimes with their different defensives looks. All this mixed with their great depth is scary because many teams do not have that in the bubble.

Lakers vs Blazers

The Lakers have been atop the West all year and are ready to make a run. They are a top 5 offense and defense in the league. Oh and also they have these 2 guys on their team named Lebron James and Anthony Davis. These two have been the dynamic duo all year. Lebron led the league in assists for the first time and he is geared up for another deep playoff run. Anthony Davis has never been in a deep playoff run, but we know the type of player he is and the impact he adds on both sides of the court. For this Blazers team it will definitely be tough. Lillard has been going off in the bubble and I am interested to see what Frank Vogel plans to do to stop him from putting up 60. It was interesting to see to see multiple teams try and trap Lillard at the top of the key but that leaves a 3 on 2 for Nurkic who just needs to make the right play. However, the Lakers interior defense is their strong suit so this might be the best way of stopping him. They have so many shot blockers on their team backed up by the fact that they led the league in blocks this year. With AD at the 4 and whoever running the 5, especially with Lebron at point guard, their lineup will always be big. But the difference between this team and most is that they can also go small and play AD at the 5 and Lebron at the 4 which they haven’t showed much of this season because they do not have to. Watching the play in game, it was interesting to see Terry Stotts run a lineup with both Nurkic and Whiteside in it to combat the Lakers big lineup. I am very interested to see how these teams play against each other as they have very different play styles. If the Blazers want any chance, they need to step up their defense. This could also be one of the last times we see Melo and Bron on the court together dating nack to high school on this big of a stage so enjoy it.

Rockets vs Thunder

This is a matchup only the Thunder could have dreamed about since last offseason. When Russell Westbrook was traded, many thought the Thunder were done contending, but CP3 and my man Shai Gilgeous-Alexander thought otherwise. CP3 is one of the most underated players in the league and he may not put up the most mind blowing stats, but he contributes to winning basketball always. There is no question the Rockets have more talent. They have 2 former MVPs on their team and both of them will probably finish in the top 10 of voting this year as well. But for the Rockets it’s all about making timely shots. We all know James Harden and Russel Westbrook will get there numbers and put up stats. But they got to get hot right now and make timely shots if they want to make a deep playoff run. The Thunder having Roberson back from injury after over 2 years of not playing is huge. He was an elirte permiter defender and hopefully for the Thunder he can help guard James Harden. This series is really hard to predict and I am just going to enjoy every second of it.

Jazz vs Nuggets

The Nuggets have been great all year behind Jokic and company and they are looking to make a deep run finally this year. The Nuggets main focus should be their defense. The Jazz are a very good defensive team and also a good offense team. If they can slow down the Jazz just enough for their offense to prevail, that would be their best shot at the series. The chances of you winning a shootout against the Jazz are very low because of how good they are defensively. Led by 2x defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert and 1st time all-star for him and Donovan Mitchell, this team has a lot of talent and they would not be someone I would want to matchup against in the first round. They play gritty and are well coached. The Nuggets are also very well coached. Mike Malone is going to have to mix up his matchups and try to slow down the Jazz’s offense for the best shot to win the series. For the Jazz, their role players gotta step up like they have all year. Ingles and especially Mike Conley (congrats on the new born son I know you may miss the first 3-4 games) all need to come up in big moments. Jordan Clarkson is also a great spark plug off the bench for them. The Nuggets need their guys like Michael Porter Jr. and Bol Bol to really step up. This is going to be a good series and I am exited to see what happens.

Clippers vs Mavs

The Mavericks drew the worst draw here. After finishing the season with one of the best offenses in NBA history they get matched up against the juggernut of the Clippers. Luka had an unreal season, one of the best sophmore campaigns we have ever seen. Him and Kristaps as a future duo is going to be lethal. The Mavs have great role players as well like Maxi Kleber, Tim Hardaway Jr, and Seth Curry who are all great shooters for Luka to kick out to. It will not be easy for Luka in this series because he will probably be guarded by a surpluss of elite defenders that the Clippers have. For the Clippers, you just cannot lose focus. Yes they are the 7 seed but this is one of the more talented 7 seeds we have ever seen. Luka brings it every night. They will probably throw guys like Kawhi, Paul George and Pat Beverley on him to mix up the looks. I think this is going to be one of the more fun series to watch.

This NBA playoffs is the most unpredictable one yet and it is more competitive now than ever before.