By Lourence Alturino
Image from NBA
16 teams. 2 teams in the Finals. 1 team wins it all. Who will be the 2021 NBA Champion? As usual, the Western Conference is a super tough conference, so who makes it out this year? Who makes it out of the first round? Let's see who I have moving on to the second round in the West.
No. 1 Utah Jazz vs No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies
The Jazz have undoubtedly been the best team in the NBA this season. The Grizzlies surprisingly got here by defeating the Spurs and Warriors in their 2 Play-In games. The Jazz has their star duo in Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. The Grizzlies have their star PG in Ja Morant. This could be a very fun series, but I have the Jazz winning this one.
Prediction: Jazz in 5
No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers vs No. 5 Dallas Mavericks
This is also a repeat of a first round series as these two teams played each other last year. LA defeated Dallas in a 4-2 series. I think we get an exact replica of last year. While the Mavericks do have Luka Doncic, the Clippers have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George with a great supporting cast. Luka can definitely win a couple of games, but I think the Clippers are just too good.
Prediction: Clippers in 6
No. 3 Denver Nuggets vs No. 6 Portland Trailblazers
It's always a joy watching these two teams play each other, especially at full health. With Denver missing Jamal Murray, Portland has the advantage. NBA MVP frontrunner, Nikola Jokic will definitely win Denver some games and keep the Blazers on their toes a couple of times, but it might not be enough. The Trailblazers' guard play with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum is just going to barely edge it out.
Prediction: Trailblazers in 7
No. 2 Phoenix Suns vs No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers
Now this is an interesting series. There is a high possibility that the winner of this series could be in the Finals. Both of these teams are two of the best in the NBA. Phoenix seems to be the heavy underdogs, as while the Lakers are the 7th seed, they still have Lebron James and Anthony Davis. The Suns do have an elite backcourt with Chris Paul and Devin Booker. This is a tough series and I'm going with the upset.
Prediction: Suns in 7
The Jazz, Clippers, Trailblazers, and Suns make it over to the second round in my predictions. Let's see what really happens when the playoffs start tomorrow.
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