Let’s Make Some NBA Playoff Predictions

The NBA playoffs don’t officially start until Saturday, but the play-in games get rolling tonight. And that means there are chances for intrigue.

In fact, the end of the regular season already delivered quite a few wild moments.

The Dallas Mavericks had a chance to make the playoffs and still opted to sit just about every starter except Luka Doncic, who only played because it was a Slovenian-themed night at American Airlines Arena.

Jason Kidd waited until early in the second quarter to sub Doncic out so he could get a standing ovation. Except nobody knew it was Doncic’s final time on the court this year, so he got a random smattering of applause instead.

Then Kidd had to sub out bench players who were performing too well since the Mavericks were trying to lose. It was bananas.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves had their own internal scuffles.

Kyle Anderson called Gobert some variant of “bitch,” and Gobert threw a punch at Anderson. I should point out these two are teammates. Gobert has been suspended for the team’s play-in against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Not to be outdone, Jaden McDaniels punched a wall while heading to the locker room and fractured his hand.

This was a game the Timberwolves ultimately WON. I don’t think those outbursts had any impact on the victory, but who’s to say?

Finally, Udonis Haslem dropped 24 points in his final regular-season game, one of his highest-scoring outputs ever. Haslem is approximately 78 years old, and it’s going to be weird not seeing a Miami Heat roster with him on it.

All of this chaos could be setting us up for one of the most bonkers playoff runs of all time. Especially with these bold predictions.

We’re getting a Nuggets/Kings Western Conference Finals

In the final weeks of the regular season, teams that were IN the playoffs had to consider losing on purpose to get what appears to be a more favorable matchup on paper.

The Phoenix Suns were set as the No. 4 seed. This is a team that made the NBA Finals in 2021 and had the best record last season. Now they have many of those same pieces and Kevin Durant.

The No. 3 seed Sacramento Kings are largely untested, with minimal playoff experience. It would have perhaps behooved teams to lose enough games to avoid the Suns while meeting the Kings.

So, Sacramento will now be playing the reigning champion Golden State Warriors.

I DON’T CARE. KINGS IN SIX.

The Denver Nuggets have Nikola Jokic, who has been an MVP two seasons in a row and is one of the contenders for the award again this year.

They’ve also got Jamal Murray, who had one of the most impressive playoff runs we’ve ever seen during the 2021 bubble season.

Yet people seem down on the Nuggets. “They don’t have what it takes!” fans and media cry out into the universe.

I DON’T CARE. NUGGETS IN FIVE.

We don’t even know who the Nuggets will play in the first round. Doesn’t matter. They’re on a collision course with Sactown.

We’ll have three 50-Point scorers — all in losses

Scoring 50 points in a game is hard to do. Usually, someone dropping 50 leads to a victory. But not in these playoffs.

I’m venturing we’ll see three different players hit at least 50 points, and those players’ teams will win none of the games where that happens.

It’s safe to guess Klay Thompson, who made an NBA-high 301 threes this year, will have a game where he shoots like 12-of-17 from downtown en route to 52 points.

We’re getting playoff Jimmy Butler against playoff Trae Young in the play-in game. Let’s see Young give us 54 while Butler hits 45, including the game-winning basket with under three seconds remaining.

And the Nets have about seven players who could go off on a hot shooting night. While it’s more realistic that they’ll evenly distribute points into six double-digit scorers, we could see Cam Thomas (who recently scored 46) add a few more to reach an even 50.

Someone will have an INSANELY cocky game-winner

Reggie Jackson probably holds the award for a cocky game-winning shot with this performance against the Lakers.

He’s skipping down the court, lollygagging along like an Easter Bunny or a kid playing hopscotch. It’s phenomenal. (And even better that Kevin Harlan is calling it.)

We’re going to see something even better during these playoffs.

What would be the most entertaining? Bouncing the ball up high and doing a cartwheel? A forward roll? Pulling out a wad of cash and tossing it at an opponent?

There’s endless potential for overconfident creativity, and I can’t wait to see it unfold.

We’ll have a shot that’s somehow worse than this

Every time I see this clip, it makes me giggle uncontrollably.

I hope it does the same for you.

And then I hope we both laugh at bunch at the shot that will happen this postseason that’s even more egregious.

You’ll see at least one fan/player interaction that will make you smile

We just need more heart-warming moments in the world. I hope it’s like this.