2024 NBA PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS

So it's that time of year again, the NBA Playoffs start tomorrow, so we'll give you our picks for every first-round series except the Clippers and the Mavericks, because we already talked about that on Monday and we'll give you guys too , guys, our picks of who we think wins it all before we get into our picks for the NBA

playoff

s, if you haven't already, make sure to leave this video, like, subscribe and hit the notification bell so never miss it. one of our videos, so we'll start with the Western Conference, one of the two

playoff

series that hasn't been finalized yet, it's Oak City against New Orleans or the Sacramento Pelicans, obviously they were beaten by the Lakers and the Kings beat Golden State , So, now.

They're playing later tonight, neither New Orleans nor Sacramento have much playoff experience, but they still have more than Oklahoma City. Yeah, it just sucks that Zion got hurt in that Lakers game because he was playing like a demon, it was his first. like a playoff game, put it in quotes, a postseason game and I think if they had a healthy Zion, maybe the Pelicans could make this a series and now maybe Zion won't play tonight and the Kings would have a decent chance. to win if that's the case Yes, if Zion is back and healthy, I think his ability to team up on the interior could present some problems for the Thunder, same for the Kings.

I think Damont Sabonis on the interior I think could do pretty well, obviously, Chad on the interior is a great defensive player, but the Thunder are really missing some size, but I don't know, the Kings haven't been the same since They lost Malik Monk and, as you say, if Zion is not 100%, given his history, if that injury has any kind of significance. He's not going to get his full strength back by the time they have to play, so I think if it's the Pelicans, I think the Thunder wins five comfortably. I think if it's the Kings, they push it a little more, but the Thunder still wins six.

I think it really depends on the Zion thing, if Zion was completely healthy, maybe seven. I think maybe even the Pelicans could have won the series, but now, even just the ham injury, even if they say, oh, it's good to go. I'm just not going to buy it, so I'll probably say Thunder at six if it's the Pelicans and then it's the Kings. I'm also going to say Thunder and Six. I just think Thunder, you know, first playoff series really with this core going. There will be some issues here and there, they will lose a game or two, but I was going to say they will lose at least one game due to inexperience.

Yes, the Kings are good at home. The Pelicans aren't that good at home, but they are really good. on the road, so they could steal one on the road, but since Zion is injured, I think the Thunder still win handily either way, now we have the Lakers versus Nuggets in a Conference Finals rematch. I'm more excited for this series than any of them. even beating the Mavericks and Clippers right now and I'm a little more optimistic than most people and by that I mean I think Denver still wins in six Did Denver still sweep the season series?

When was the last time? the Lakers beat them, there should be no reason for the Lakers to get a win, but my opinion is like last year's playoff series, it's a sweep, make fun of me if you want, but it was a close one, the games were more even, watch the game. per game, every game was close, this Lakers team is better than last year, even Gabe Vincent had a decent game. DLo is playing like the Nets Allstar. DLo Anthony Davis is playing very well. LeBron, solid as always, they're going to win a game or two, esp. at home the nuggets still win but the lakers at least make it competitive this time that's my opinion and i think it's a good opinion right now from what i've seen on twitter everything you just said is completely acc , yeah, and you'll get the The Lakers have an extra game in this series, they're going to fall in five.

Look, the Nuggets have his number for whatever reason and as we talked about in our Lakers video, literally a week ago, Joic and Michael Malone just get excited about beating the Lakers and they've been doing it for the last two years. I think if you're the Lakers, now is when you want to catch the Nuggets, get them early, you'll have a couple days off, you'll rest, you'll play your best basketball of the year potentially doesn't wait until later in the playoffs to get it, so this It is the best chance for the Lakers to beat the Nuggets.

It's not going to happen, no, the Nuggets are too good, they have the best player. The world's Jamal Murray always appears in the playoffs. They have the best coach by a mile. The Nuggets win in five. I mean, that's probably true. My opinion is that there is a chance for them to win the series. Is it a good possibility? No. There's even a 10% chance, probably not, but there's a chance that's all I'm going to say. Your good opinion is not even that they win this series, but that they have a 10% chance. I mean, like I said, look anywhere else.

Haven't I seen a Lakers fan in ours say he chose the Lakers? Everyone else has said nuggets at four or five, so it's a good idea at this point. I mean, the Uber driver probably would. It's true, he thinks they are beating them, yes, probably, so the Timberwolves against the Suns. I think if you had told people before the season that these two teams were going to play in the playoffs, a lot of people would have changed the seeds. I mean, I'm sure, like H, I was. Very excited about the Suns' start to the season and they improved it a little bit, but I would have thought that the Suns were like the top three seed or that at least the four seed would have their home court, but no, it was the Timberwolves that they Rudy actually experimented.

It seemed to work very well this season, the best defense in the league. Anthony Edwards had that breakout that many people predicted, but what if the Timberwolves hosted a playoff series for the first time since the Bush administration? Do people remember it like our viewers? I barely knew we were children at that time. I was exactly 6 years old. I was probably playing computer games on Cartoon Network.com back then, addictinggames.com. Yeah, yeah, the Suns, meanwhile, felt like they weren't reaching their potential all season long. and I mean, considering how much of their future they've mortgaged, which is basically everything at this point, sixth place is hugely disappointing and also considering the offensive firepower this team has, the fact that their offensive rating is only the ninth, big disappointment.

I mean, I think before the season people were pointing out that this team needs a real point guard and saying, oh no, we're going to have Bradley Beal or Booker at point guard because Book played the point in a playoff series when Chris Paul got hurt. like oh yeah no he could do it for a whole season yeah he looked good then but yeah for a whole season maybe they need a point guard but they still gave Timberl the job during the regular season they did it , they devastated the season. The series beat them twice in the last two weeks, the last game of the season gave them the job.

All three wins by 10 points or more in this series. I actually feel pretty good about the Suns. I mean, I picked them to win the title before. The season starts, so obviously I'm biased and I think screw it, I'll take the hype for him, but if I'm a Suns fan or you know, if I'm Katie and the book, I'm not feeling too much. The bad thing about this matchup, I don't either, I mean, do you think the strength of the Timberwolves, which is their defense, I mean, on the perimeter, they have excellent perimeter defenders, they have Jay McDaniels, they have Mike Conley, they are phenomenal, but the regular one.

The results of the season have said otherwise, the Suns completely dominated them in the regular season in the playoffs, although I am very tempted to choose Minnesota. I really am. I think this series is going to go to the end. I think it's going to get to a seventh game. and I think Phoenix does it as a visitor in the game. I just think they have more experience, more playoff experience. Durant has obviously been to the top of the mountain, he has won a title. Booker has been to the NBA Finals. The Wolves don't have much experience. playoff experience, obviously they've played a couple of series.

Mike Conley has been around the block with the Grizzlies and Jazz, but I feel like these teams are going to play a tough series and when the last game comes I'm going to be confident. Katie, to do it on the road, yeah, I'm pretty much the same. I'm going to go with Suns and Six, but I feel like there will be a couple games in this series where Cat kinda sucks and then book and KD and Beal just combine for 70 or something and then that's enough. I mean the Toms, yeah, they don't have a lot of experience in the game and what worries me about the Timberwolves is that they just don't have that much experience. enough bucket getters like in the playoffs, sometimes you just need a guy that just gets one bucket like things slow down the defense is harder, you need someone that can just make shots and keep the stretch.

Anthony Edwards can obviously do that, he did it last year, but I can't. I don't trust Cat Gobear in the playoffs he's been shaky the last few years so I think Suns in Six. I'm feeling a little confident about this, but I want to say that the Tims were great all season. I would be surprised either way now in the Eastern Conference. The second series that has not ended at this time is Boston against Miami or Chicago and at the time of this recording there were reports that the heater feared that Jimmy Butler may have suffered a MCL injury in the game against the Sixers.

However, it has not been confirmed, if any new news has come out, I will post it on the screen. Another Boston Miami series had the potential to be really, really interesting, obviously these teams have a lot of history with each other, recent history from both fan bases, if you've ever been. Twitter doesn't like each other, so it could have been a lot of fun, but considering that Butler is probably injured now, I mean he clearly wasn't himself against Philadelphia and if he looks like he looked like he did against Philly against Boston, it's going to be a game. quick series, I mean, I still hope we get heat with the Celtics just because it would still be fun, there would be a little bit of intrigue there.

Twitter would at least be entertaining, yes. Twitter will be entertaining, maybe Jimmy's MCL knee, whatever is completely healed, I doubt it. He was limping badly coming out of that game, but yeah, either way, I think Boston will take him in four or five. This reminds me of when the Bucks went out in the heat during the bubble and then the next year played each other. In the first round, people say, "Oh, is the Heat going to be him again?" and then he got hit, yeah, so I feel like that's going to be the case, even if Jimmy was healthy, this Boston team just feels different now that he's injured.

I mean, if it's not 100%, I think it's a sweep and Chicago, if it's Chicago, it's a sweep, that's Chicago, yeah, yeah, now the Knicks against the 76ers, another great two versus matchup and I think we're going to have some. There are disagreements here, but we'll get to that in a second, first of all, the Sixers beat Miami thanks to Nick Patum simply putting himself on the spot. That's why Nick Batum is in the fourth quarter because the Dude is apparently the key moment. Shout out to Blazers Legend. Nick Batum had some clutch shots for us in his time, yes he did.

Nicks won the season series 3-1, they had three big wins by 26, 14 and 27 they had that loss where they scored 73 points, which was the lowest point. scored I think this season maybe the Blazers scored less, but I think that might have been the lowest point scored 73 points in 2023

2024

is crazy. I don't think the Blazers have scored less and that's damning in itself and the Sixers, I mean, They're the seventh seed, but this is not the normal seventh seed. They won 47 games and when Joel Embiid played for them, they were completely dominant. They were 31-8 in the games he played, that's a winning pace of 65.

They made the playoffs in one game. winning streak if you include the game and it's also worth noting that Embiid played in only one of those three losses so it's hard to judge those matchups in the regular season and then as a 2-7 matchup like this, it's not your stereotype. 27 and on the other hand, I mean the Knicks, they are also making the RedHot playoffs. I mean, I think a lot of people were questioning their playoff chances when Julius Randall went down, of course, Stepen a was on the first take or whatever it is on ESPN, you know what it does, but they're also undefeated since Randall fell 5-0, they went on the road, beat Milwaukee on the road.

They beat Boston ALS Alo since they traded for OG and Anobi, they are 20 and 3, so These are two teams that are making the playoffs again oneagainst the other. I think it's Philadelphia in this series, although I think it will definitely be close. It will come down to whether the Knicks can stop Joel and, I mean, it sounds obvious. but they're 31 and 8 when he plays for a reason because he gives you 35 points and 11 rebounds a night so Mitchell Robinson is going to have to work overtime and then for the Knicks it's like replacing the 24 points that you lose.

When Randall is now out of the game can other guys step up because in the five games they won at the end of the regular season it was a lot of Jayen Brunson scoring 43 times and the other games he scored 39 and 30 so I I just don't think they're going to have enough to do it and I think Philly wins in six okay I'm going with Nick in six of course you're first of all Jaylen Brunson like this guy is a top 10 guy players. season I'm not saying he's one of the 10 best NBA players in the world but this season he was one of the 10 best players in the league and they got two very good centers to handle Embiid, you have Mitchell Robinson, you have Hartenstein, so I think they can slow him down enough and have enough type of scoring from Kittee.

Og Divon Chenzo was shot this year. You have guys like Josh Hart on defense. Great, they can play very well on the boards. They have the size. Jaylen Brunson is going to make some clutch shots and shoot 40 a couple of times. I got the Knicks to win this for six bucks against the Pacers. Now, of course, I picked the Bucks to win the NBA. championship, I did it even after they fired Adrien Griffin after only 43 games and brought in the good doctor mhm. I said thinking Doc could at least get to 500 with that roster, he couldn't even do that and now they're starting their playoff run with Indiana, a team that in the regular season was a terrible matchup for them, they actually faced each other five times because they met in overtime in the midseason tournament.

Indiana finished 4-1 and the only game they lost was the game. Giannis scored 64, it took Yiannis to set a franchise record for points in a game just for the Bucks to beat the Pacers, yeah, and Yannis might not even be healthy for the first two games, so yeah, that It's scary for the Milwaukee Bucks, especially when they're in that four. games, they gave up 126 128 122 and 142 and even the game they won they still gave up 126 because Daman Lillard can't handle Tyrese Halbert on the perimeter. I don't know how to feel about this, especially Giannis' injury, like Giannis is healthy.

I'd say Bucks and six for sure, maybe he's injured or maybe he's not at full strength. Oh, this is a really scary matchup for the Bucks. It's also a bad matchup for the Bucks because Indiana has the No. 1 scoring offense in the NBA. They're second and offensively rated, I mean, they can't defend a stick, but for most of the season, Milwaukee hasn't gotten any better under the dock either, I think they've gotten their defensive rating back into the top half of the league. since he took over he still isn't a fortress and like you said we love Dame to death he can't handle the tires like Burt I'm going to say dollars and six even with Giannis you know the question I'm on .

Dame like the last time Dame was in the playoff series a while ago, three years ago, but he was great, I mean, traditionally since that Pelican series, he's been solid in the playoffs, I think Dame takes a step forward, I think Giannis plays, he plays well, I think. We're going to have some shootouts and I'm sure the Pacers will find a way to lose like 140 in a game, but the Bucs did it, they got more experience, they got the best team, I'm not sure if they have the best coach. They don't have the best coach, they have the best player in this series, so I'm going to take dollars and six.

I'm going to take dollars and seven and I think this is going to be a shootout. City like this team, this is going to be a lot of 135 130 games I mean I don't trust the Bucks defense at all this year, we know the Pacers defense isn't good so it's going to come down to which team can outperform the other. Giannis' injury is scary, but I have to travel with Dame like you said. I believe in Dame in the playoffs. I think the Bucks will get it done. I think they need to score a lot of points to achieve it, but I think they will achieve it in seven, now the Cavs against the magic four. five matchups in the east, this series reminds me a lot, I actually thought a lot about the Cavs versus Nicks last year, the Cavs once again in the four, seeded the magic, on the other hand, in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, shout out magic fans. they split series 2 of the season in two, they are similar teams in a way, they are very good defensive teams led by an offensive star, the Cavs, maybe you could say it was a little disappointing that they had that stretch where they were crazy . they were 18 and two in a 20-game span, but they really faded recently and were destroyed by injuries.

Mitchell Garland and Mobley missed a lot of time, but are expected to be mostly healthy, they may be missing some role players like Dean Wade. and they still have the sixth-best defensive R in the league. I don't know, this is another one where it's kind of a blowout, but the Cavs should win like they have no excuses, they have more experience, they have the better player. in the series they have home court, but they also had some of those things last year, yes, remember Jared Allen, the lights were too bright, just a little. I mean, the Cavs think they have to be a little.

A little disappointed with this season. I know they were overwhelmed with injuries, but I really thought this was going to be the year they really took the next step into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference and I mean, damn, I was there for him. With just a couple more wins throughout the season, you could easily be the second seed instead of the fourth. Orlando, on the other hand, may not have won as many games as the Cavs, but I mean, few expect them to be in the top five much less. They make the playoffs like Cleveland They are a defensive-minded team They are fourth in the NBA defensive rating They have an offensive superstar in Paulo B Caro avoided the dreaded sophomore slump He has improved across the board this year and after him and the Vagner's front is kind of a score by committee, you know, Jaylen Suggs, Carter Cole, Anthony Mo, Vagner Marquel Foltz, if both teams play with a defensive boost, although I think you have to trust the team that has the better offense and the best scores, and I believe.

That's Cleveland. I trust Donovan Mitchell. I know since his rookie year he hasn't played very well in the playoffs, but I trust him more than the car right now and the Cavs were hungry. They embarrassed themselves last year. Donovan Mitch. I have to come out playing well, there will be a low score, there will be ugly or beautiful basketball, depending on what you like to watch, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, yes, but the main thing with Orlando is kind of like you said. Can they score enough points and are they shooting? They were last and scored three-pointers in the playoffs.

You just need to make some shots, sometimes make some runs and I think there will be some stretches where it just kind of cools down and the Cavs' experience will allow them to win in six. I think the Cavs in five. There is something against Orlando. I just think the Cavs steal a road game in the third or fourth game and then close it out. in game five in Cleveland is still a phenomenal season for magic, absolutely building to something bigger and even better, but I think this year it's Cleveland in five, so now to summarize, just our

predictions

for all the playoffs that don't let's do. the whole bracket thing because that would take forever and this video is long enough as it is, so in the Western Conference Finals I have Denver and I have Dallas.

I think Dallas beats OKC in the second round. I think it's a close series, but I think Dallas pulls it off. work, obviously, I think the nuggets are going to go through the Western Conference classification. I think they will go to the NBA Finals, but in the conference finals I have Dallas and Denver. Mine is similar, but I'm actually going to say OKC makes it to the conference. Finals I want to give them the respect I know they're young, we just talked about how young and a little vulnerable, but I think they beat Dallas in like seven in the second round, but then I think Denver just gets by. them in five in the Conference Finals makes sense now in the east I have the Boston Celtics like how can you not play them?

I guess I'll pick the Bucks like I'm not too sure about that, but who else do I go for? Am I going to pick the Knicks and 76ers like I don't really like any other team that much? I'm not going to pick the Pacers to make the Conference Finals, so I'm going to say Celtics over Bucks in the Conference Finals. on Sex and I say Milwaukee over Boston, oh my God, in the Conference Finals. I picked Milwaukee before the season. I stay with them. I have virtually no confidence in that choice, but I'm riding or dying with Damen, sir, them.

They're making the NBA Finals, they're beating the Nuggets, man, Milwaukee is winning it all this year. I don't have any confidence in this, but I have to hold on. You've lost your mind, but at least I respect you. I made a choice. and I'll take that, well, obviously I got nuggets from the Celtics in the NBA Finals. I'm going to pick Denver and seven. I really want to take the Boston Celtics. Surprisingly to me, he's a guy who hates the Celtics, but the Celtics, I mean. I've been so dominant all year, but they remind me a lot of the San Francisco 49ers like, oh, they're crazy every year, okay, this is the year they're going to do it and the Nuggets feel like the Chiefs I would like the 49ers.

It might even be the best team. The Celtics might be the better team. The Nuggets got the best player. The Chiefs had the best quarterback. They will find a way to win. I think it will be a very close series. Very good series, but the Denver Nuggets come back. back that's the video guys what are your

predictions

for the NBA playoffs this year? I'd love to hear what you have to say in the comments below, if you enjoyed the video please consider leaving a like as it really helps us out. And while you're here, why don't you also check out some of our other videos and don't forget to subscribe to Synthetic Sports.