Ty's 2022 NBA Playoff Preview
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With the play in tourney ending tonight, today I have my NBA 2022 playoff preview and prediction.
Real quick, I have the Clippers beating the Pelicans tonight to take the 8 seed in the West, and I have the Hawks beating the Cavs, which hurts my heart because I love Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, and taking the 8 seed in the East. And even if I am wrong, I do not have either number 1 seed going out in the first round, so the play in finale tonight has no real bearing on my predictions today. With all that, let's get to it.
I'll start with the East. The 1-8 pits the Miami Heat versus the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are fun. They score a lot. They have been on a tear. They demolished the Hornets. And they were in the conference finals last year. That is all well and good, but the Heat are a far superior team. And they are whole. They play defense. They muddy the game. They do not mind bullying you. And the Hawks play zero defense. Bam is going to feast. Tyler Herro will thrive against the Hawks second unit. Jimmy Butler is going to get to the rim with ease. Kyle Lowry is going to make Trae Young's life miserable. The Heat are going to win this series, probably in five games.
The 2-7 is going to be fun to watch, but I also loathe both teams. At times I think about picking Boston because they are, relatively speaking, deep, play great defense and Jayson Tatum is ascending to star level. But then I look at the Nets and they have KD, Kyrie Irving is eligible for all the games and they can score in bunches. But when I really sit back and take a deep, deep look, Boston's defense is really, really good. I understand that Robert Williams is out, and that will hurt, but I do not think it will cause them to get beat. I would be terrified of KD, but I do think the Celtics will pull it out in seven games.
The 3-6 matchup pits the Bucks versus the Bulls. My son is a big Bulls fan. He loves DeMar DeRozan and DeRozan has been awesome this year. Zach Lavine has been hot and cold, but when that dude gets it going, watch out. And I have liked Coby White since his lone college season. But the Bulls do not stand a chance. They started too hot and have been really bad down the stretch. Oh, and the Bucks are the defending champs, and Giannis has been amazing all season, and Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton are playing well, and the team is whole. I just do not see a world where the Bulls win even a game over Milwaukee in this series. If the Bucks take it seriously, which I am sure they will, they will sweep the Bulls.
This leaves us the 4-5, Philly and Toronto. Philly is good. Joel Embiid is the MVP. I do not care what white journalists have to say on their podcasts. He led the league in scoring, is a top flight defender and is as dominant as Shaq. James Harden is a great scorer, he just needs to show the hell up in the playoffs. It is time. It is now or never. Unfortunately the 76ers second best defender, Matisse Thybulle, decided to not get fully vaccinated and he cannot play in the games in Toronto. That is a blow to the 76ers. Toronto is playing with house money and Nick Nurse is a very good coach. He will find stuff to throw wrenches in the 76ers game plan. He will frustrate them to no end. And he has the players to do it. Pascal Siakim is playing great. Fred Van Vleet is a young Kyle Lowry, OG Anunoby is hyper athletic and Scottie Barnes has a real case for ROTY. This team is good. But I think Joel Embiid will not let this team get beat. He will single handedly win this series for them. It will be a tough seven games, but the 76ers will find a way.
This leaves us with second round matchups of Miami and Philly and Milwaukee and Boston. As much as I love Joel Embiid, I think this is where the playoff Harden will show up, and that is no good. Miami will frustrate and force Harden to make bad decision after bad decision. I have the Heat winning in six.
The Bucks and Celtics should be a good, hard fought series. But this is where no Robert Williams will hurt Boston. Giannis will feast. And when he gets double teamed he will find wide open shooters like Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton. And Jrue Holiday is going to make Jayson Tatum's life miserable. The Bucks will win in seven.
So this leaves me with an East Finals of Miami and Milwaukee. This is where Miami will not have an answer for all the scorers and shooters on Milwaukee. Giannis proved last season that he has that killer instinct, and he is even better this season. And the fact that Milwaukee is healthy, that changes things drastically. It will be a decent series, and Miami will take two games, both at home. But I have the Bucks winning in six and returning to the Finals.
Now let's move to the West.
The top three teams are legit. Anyone of them would have been the 1 in the East. The West is going to be a killer. The 1-8 features The Suns and the winner of tonight's game, I am assuming the Clippers. The Clippers have been a nice little story this year, winning 42 games with a totally depleted roster. Well, all the fun stops now. The Suns are a machine. They are the best team in basketball by a very wide margin. They have it all. Star power, veteran leadership, young players buying into their roles, depth, great coaching, they are all set. There is a reason they won so many games this season and lapped the field. The Suns are the clear favorites, they will be out for blood and they will sweep the Clippers. The Suns are loaded and ready.
The 2-7 features my squad, the Grizzlies, facing the Timberwolves. I'm kind of nervous about this matchup. The Timberwolves are very similar to the Grizz. They both have the same team makeup. They both talk shit and back it up. They both really, really want to win for their city. This will be fun. But where the Grizz separate themselves from the Timberwolves is their depth and star power at the point guard position. Ja Morant is better than D'Angelo Russell and Patrick Beverly. Jaren Jackson Jr is not the offensive weapon KAT is, but he is a far superior defender. Anthony Edwards is going to hate going up against Dillon Brooks for a whole series. The Grizzlies will prove this season was no fluke and take this first round matchup in six games.
The 3-6 matchup pits the Warriors against the Nuggets. Steph will not be 100 percent, and I do not know when he will return, but the Warriors have Klay, who has been great as of late. Draymond Green is looking more and more like himself. And Jordan Poole has been a revelation this year. Sure the Nuggets have Nikola Jokic, and I cannot believe he will win a second straight MVP, that is pure nonsense. Quick little rant coming up here. When Russell Westbrook won his MVP a ton of the sports writers I read and listen to called it all types of names. They said the people who voted for Russ were basketball perverts, whatever in the hell that means. They chastised the fact that the Thunder had 45 wins and were a 6 seed. He averaged a triple double and dragged a team that lost KD to the playoffs in the West. Jokic's Nuggets are a 6 seed. They have three more wins than the Thunder did in Russ' MVP year, which is not all that much. And while Jokic is missing two key guys, the Nuggets bench players and current players are better than anyone Russ played with, with Steven Adams being the lone exception. I'm sick of all the excuses being made for Jokic when these same guys were crushing Russ and bitching and moaning all throughout his MVP season. It is racism at its best. Anyway, the Warriors are going to win this series. They are the better team. I think it will go seven, but when Steph gets back, it is lights out for Denver.
The 4-5 has another journalist beloved player-led team in Luka Doncic and the Mavericks, playing the new team that gets shit on, the Utah Jazz. The white journalists that are begging and pleading for Doncic to be "appreciated like the star he is", will finally get their wish and the Mavericks will finally win a series. The Jazz are too dysfunctional. Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell clearly dislike one another. Quinn Snyder seems to have one foot out the door. It looks like Utah is about to blow up their team. The Jazz may take a game, Doncic is out for game one, but they will not muster another one in the series. The Mavs will win in five and all the white guys at ESPN, Bleacher Report and SI will finally be able to cream their jeans now that Luka will get out of round one of the playoffs.
So, I have the Suns and Mavs in one second round matchup, and the Grizz and Warriors in another. All those journalists that will be drooling and bending the knee for Luka will have to eat their words. Again, the Suns are on a mission. They do not care who is in front of them. They will score and score and score all over the Mavericks. And they will force everyone not named Luka Doncic on the Mavs to beat them. That will not work. I have the Suns sweeping yet another round. They are that good.
The Warriors and Grizzlies should be a total blast to watch. And I have some faith in the Grizz in round two. The Timberwolves will be tougher than the Warriors to face. The Warriors are better, and they have the two greatest shooters of all time, and Draymond is awesome, but there is something in the air in Memphis this season. I think Ja, after having beat the Warriors in the play in last year, will have no fear. I think JJJ will be able to help off Looney and Green and cover the shooters. Dillon Brooks is a beast and he can score. Tyus Jones is one of the better backup point guards in the league, and the Grizzlies second unit is better than the Warriors. I really, truly think the Grizz will win in seven games and advance to the West Finals.
Then the party will be over. The Suns are too good. I do not know how many times I have to write it. They are absolutely loaded. They are locked in. They have a bad taste in their mouths from last year. They are out for blood. I do think Memphis will get a game, but no more after that. Suns in five.
That means I have a rematch from last year. I have to be this boring, but the Suns and Bucks are the two best teams in the NBA in my opinion. I think the series will go six again, but this time the Suns will win. Chris Paul will get his ring. Devin Booker will establish himself as one of the new faces of the league. Mikal Bridges will start getting his much due respect. Deandre Ayton will be the first number one pick that has played a smaller role to grab a ring. And Monty Williams will etch his name as one of the best coaches in the league. Devin Booker will also score his way to Finals MVP.
So there you have it, my 2022 NBA preview and predictions. Hey, the Suns look that good everybody. I do not know what else to say. Enjoy the playoffs.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.