Playoff Harden may be a thing but he and his team has gotten out of the first round like 9 of the last 10 years.
Doesn’t matter. We need the experience win or lose. If it’s a win, then you gotta beat them all. If it’s a loss, then the other team is more talented or veteran led. Opponent doesn’t matter. Personally, I believe Memphis is a crater we would beat, Clips look like a Juggernaut that would beat us, Minny looks like the toughest and most balanced to face. I’d rather face the wolves if I had a choice.
1. Thunder 8. Wolves 4. Lakers 5. Warriors 3. Nuggets 6. Clippers 2. Rockets 7. Grizzlies or something like that? Spoiler Right now, they’d play Clippers/Grizzlies play-in winner and if they were to advance a round, winner of Lakers/Wolves
I’d also prefer The Lakers over The Nuggets (or Warriors) in RD2. Memphis should be the obvious preferred 1st RD opponent
Memphis first but any of those three I feel pretty decent playing. Rockets have showed up against all 3 of those teams, they have not showed up against Warriors for the last 20 years lol so they may be the only first round matchup that I’d prefer to avoid if possible.
This is the best case scenario that is less likely to happen with the Nuggets losing to the Warriors last night. After Sunday night, we'll have more clarity. At this moment, I think the Warriors probably finish 3rd.
From easiest to toughest: Memphis - Obvious answer. They are on a donward spiral right now, and they aren't as experienced or deep as the other teams. Minnesota - We matchup well with them. Alpi plays with a chip on the shoulder against Gobert, ditto for Jalen against Ant. If Jalen can come close or match Ant's output, we're winning the series. Randle is a wildcard but I don't see him swinging a series by himself. Denver - Yes Jokic is insane, and Murray has another gear in the playoffs, but as a team they don't scare me as much as the California trio. Lakers - Luka + Bron + refs is a tough combo, but they're old and banged up, don't have a center except Hayes (modern day shaqtin Javale), and Jalen turns into a beast against them most of the time. They scare me because the league will do everything to keep them in the playoffs as long as possible. Clippers - Kawhi is ramping up for a run, James is always dangerous, and they have a bunch of other guys that can go off and kill us. Bogi is an assasin, he will be their best non-star player in the playoffs. I have an uneasy feeling regarding them. GSW - Our nightmare, kryptonite. Even if they weren't the best team since the trade deadline, I would fear them the most. Denver really shat the bed with their recent slide. I wanted them in our bracket, and LAL/GSW on the OKC side, so that they can tire eachother out. Still a week to go, so let's see how things shake out.
Definitely Memphis. The Clippers and T'Wolves are playing really good ball right now. And Kawhi is finally healthy for LA.
Memphis. Among other things, they don’t have the playoff experience advantage over us like the other teams.
