It has been 10 days since the NBA’s 2022 playoffs tipped off, and 15 of 16 teams that made the first round are still alive. The one playoff team whose season is over? The Nets, viewed by many fans, league observers, and oddsmakers as the championship favorites coming into the 2021/22 campaign.
While a handful of other clubs are on the verge of elimination, Brooklyn is the only one that was swept out of the playoffs. As a No. 7 seed, the Nets weren’t the title favorites entering the playoffs, but their swift elimination is a reminder that the battle for the 2022 crown remains wide open.
The early results in the Western Conference have provided another reminder of the unpredictable nature of this year’s postseason. The Suns and Grizzlies were the NBA’s two most dominant teams during the regular season, but they now found themselves tied up at 2-2 against a pair of play-in teams, the Pelicans and Timberwolves. Devin Booker is injured for Phoenix and Ja Morant isn’t at 100% for Memphis, but the fact that both clubs are fighting for their playoff lives in the first round is still a surprise.
The Warriors have looked like the best team in the West early in the playoffs, though their Game 4 loss to the Nuggets showed they’re not exactly unbeatable either. The Mavericks, meanwhile, hold a 3-2 lead over the Jazz despite not having All-NBA guard Luka Doncic available until Game 4 — with a healthy Doncic, they look like a threat to make some noise beyond the first round, but they’ll have to get past Utah first.
In the East, the Heat and Bucks briefly looked vulnerable after losing Kyle Lowry and Khris Middleton, respectively, but they’ve since reasserted control over the Hawks and Bulls and hold 3-1 series leads. Miami and Milwaukee remain strong threats to make deep postseason runs, especially if they get their injured stars back sooner rather than later.
The Sixers looked like they were putting all together during the first three games of their series vs. the Raptors, but after two straight losses, they’re no longer even a lock to get out of the first round. Up 3-2, Philadelphia remains a strong favorite to get past Toronto, but Joel Embiid‘s thumb injury is clearing bothering him, and James Harden hasn’t been at his best in the series, averaging 18.4 PPG on 37.3% shooting. If their two superstars aren’t in peak form, the 76ers’ upside is limited.
Unlike the Sixers, the Celtics didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal during their four-game sweep of Brooklyn. Boston looked like the best team in the Eastern Conference in the second half and has carried that success into the playoffs. They’ll have to make sure they don’t get rusty during their current layoff as they prepare for what will likely be a matchup with the defending champs.
Ten days into the postseason, we want to know what you think. Which teams do you expect to meet in the NBA Finals? Have your picks changed at all based on what you’ve seen in the last week-and-a-half? Are there any lower seeds you like as sleepers to make the conference finals, or high seeds you think are in real trouble?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts on the playoffs!
NBA badly needs to shorten the regular season. Post season is just turning into a “which good team is healthiest” competition, which is boring as hell. Was last year, too: The two teams with healthy stars made the finals, and neither had to play a single full strength team on their way there. Lakers were the only one left standing in the bubble in 2020, too.
The problem is that the odds of injury in the postseason are higher since the intensity is elevated. Who are we missing right now because of a regular season injury other than players like MPJ/JM who are out with long term injuries?
Embiid, Middleton, Booker all got hurt in the playoffs. The only team that is somewhat hobbled by regular season injuries is the Hawks, and I dont think they win that matchup healthy. The plain fact is high intensity basketball presents a lot of opportunity to turn an ankle or come up with a leg sprain after a max burst or awkward landing. Should the season be 10 games shorter with almost no back to backs? Probably, but the injuries are racking up in the post season.
Same in last years with a lot of the injuries that mattered like AD game 2, Harden game 2, KI I forget which one. Lots of players get hurt in basketball and since rotations shorten and minutes rise its more often important ones in the playoffs. This is why most title runs include a game or two where role players stepped up to win it while a star was down for a couple.
No way of knowing, but I bet all those guys (well, except Embiid, but maybe him too) had a lingering injury that worsened. As they say, everyone’s hurt after 82 games.
The Nets loss is said to prove a number of things. I think it mostly proves the RS is crucial in getting things optimized for the playoffs.
It also means I’m 0 for 1 in finished series… there have been articles in HR about what Udoka and Tatum were doing that works which I could have heeded. Unfortunately I dislike Tatum so I did not… (Why gambling has failed me).
In the serieses with leaders, I think 5-0, boom. I did say GSW was more or less eventually doomed, but I see Kerr’s strategy is to get rough with bigs inside, not try to equal them in size. That can work too, and keeps the Warrior legacy of wings prominent alive (assuming they finish ahead).
Warriors look great vs some teams, ones that don’t have the athleticism on the perimeter to keep up with the constant movement and screens, and who turn the ball over a lot. Nuggets are both of those things. Both their potential 2nd round opponents are the opposite. That will be the test. I bet the Dubs lose that series, particularly if it’s vs Memphis. Who the heck’s gonna guard Ja?
Which Warriors? The one without Steph, or the one without Dray, or the one without Klay, or the one where Poole gets stuck in a hotel for 10 days with covid and has his only rough patch when he returned? All of those Warriors teams still beat the Suns 2 of 4 and Griz 2 of 4, but this Warriors team is not those Warriors teams. This Warriors team is fully staffed, and Kerr has spent all season working through lineups and matchups to pre game for the playoffs.
No surprises really, except as to the details. Historically, the 1st round of the NBA playoffs tracks the chalk (top 4 seeds in each conference advance, save maybe one 5 or 6 seed beating a team with essentially the same record), and this year looks no different. Seriously, the league could eliminate the 1st round (except for maybe a play-in between 4 & 5 if they’re close) and lose nothing.
BKN was a Vegas favorite from the start of the year, and the bettors never completely lost their infatuation with them. But while it made BOS-BKN an intriguing series, it didn’t really make BKN going down an upset.