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NBA Playoff Predictions: First Round Recap and Second Round Preview

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Tré recaps the NBA playoff first round and previews the upcoming second-round matchups with predictions for which teams will advance to the conference finals.

• Surprising sweep by the Cavaliers over the Heat raises questions about Miami's future identity
• Magic showed heart against the Celtics, potentially setting up a future "big brother, little brother" rivalry
• Knicks didn't look like true contenders despite advancing past the 76ers
• Pacers continue facing the narrative of only winning against injured teams after defeating the Bucks
• OKC Thunder dominated the Grizzlies despite questions about their youth and playoff readiness
• Warriors needed seven games to beat the Rockets, highlighting questions about both teams' futures
• Anthony Edwards officially becomes a star, replacing LeBron James in the top 10 after Wolves eliminated Lakers
• Nuggets-Clippers series went seven games, raising questions about whether the Clippers should rebuild
• Second round predictions: Nuggets, Warriors, Pacers, and Celtics will advance to conference finals

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Speaker 1:

What's up everybody. It's your favorite show's favorite show Get a Bucket. I'm your host, trey, and as usual, I hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're going to talk about the NBA playoff updates, but before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. Comment. Tell anyone who's anyone about the show, trying to get the ratings up a little bit. You know just a little bit.

Speaker 1:

But like I said, ladies and gentlemen, today we talk about the recap of the first round and I guess why not talk about the second round too, expectation wise. So, with that being said, uh, was the playoffs first round entertaining for you guys? For me it was. It was. We had a couple of surprises. Right, playing was cool. First round, it went kind of expected. There were maybe some surprises, but not really surprises though, for me at least. But let's start off. We're gonna start it off with the east too, because you know it's usually called the easy east, ladies and gentlemen. Uh, but let's start off with the calves versus the heat. That's, that's right here. That's right here. That's right here. Now, those boys. This was a good series.

Speaker 1:

The Cavs did sweep the Heat, and the sweep was rather impressive because of the dominance that the Cavs did, I was expecting them to at least go five, six games, maybe even lose, potentially to the Heat, because I thought the Heat had enough talent, had enough experience to at least make it competitive. But they did not. And as a result, now we got to figure out for the Heat what's your new identity post that Jimmy Jeffrey Jordan trade after that Jimmy Butler era. Because getting swept by the Cavs who people might not really praise the Cavs even though they did well this regular season Getting swept was very tough. Sweat, no wins, that means y'all don't have a star. That's what I'm seeing. So that's what I looked at with the Cavs and Heat. So kudos to the Cavs. We'll talk about them later. The Heat, we'll talk about y'all in another episode.

Speaker 1:

But, ladies and gentlemen, the next team that we're going to talk about I'm going to be Celtics versus Magic. All right, celtics versus Magic, we're going to keep it in order because they were the 2C versus 7. Magic, y'all showed heart. I'm not going to lie to you guys, and I've been trying to say that the Celtics and Magic series can be like the big brother, little brother rivalry that we all love to watch. Think of OKC versus Spurs back in the day, when you had a young, hardened Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook trying to battle Tim Duncan, manu Ginobili, tony Parker. That's what I'm thinking about. And keep in mind the Magic weren't healthy, so they did prove that this could be a future rivalry if everyone played their cards right, if everyone played their cards right. So fingers crossed that I'm right on that one. But it was a good playoff matchup. Hope you all enjoyed it.

Speaker 1:

The Knicks versus the Pistons. Three and six, ladies and gentlemen, the Knicks did not dominate, in my opinion, and they needed to. I understand the Pistons were scrappy and keep in mind I've been saying the Pistons are a playoff ready team since last year. So I understand that the Pistons have good talent. Playoff experience matters and the Knicks did not come off like a contender. I wanted them to dominate and I felt like the Knicks could have lost that series. That's right. I thought the Pistons had a shot at beating them. Next year, if they run it back, maybe the Pistons beat them, I don't know, and that's troubling for me, for the Knicks organization. So again, ladies and gentlemen, a good series across the board. I'm happy that the Knicks gutted it out the way they did. But again, ladies and gentlemen, I wanted to see a little more dominance. So, kudos to the Pistons. I like the Pistons, more so in this series, but the Knicks, they did win. Kudos.

Speaker 1:

Now we can talk about the next matchup, right, pacers and Bucs. Ladies and gentlemen, long story short. Bucs were injured. Okay, dane tried to come back. He did come back, then got injured again. Like, come on now, that's tough. So this Bucs team yeah, we're going to talk about them losing to this Pacers squad, but keep in mind this Pacers team has a narrative now that they only win when there's an injured player on the opposition, and I would love for the Pacers team to be able to change that Again. Injuries do happen, they're part of the game. It's just tough Because every team they've battled since last year in the playoffs has had an injured person, a key player injured, not some role player, and that's what we have versus Bucs squad. So the Bucs, they're going to be looking to possibly trade Giannis, because I'm going to be honest with you, if I'm Giannis, I don't know how long I want to stay with this Bucs team. If you're trying to build championships, because, end of day, who will go to the Bucs, but that's another episode for another day.

Speaker 1:

But again, the Pacers-Bucks series. Unfortunately it didn't go as well as I wanted it to. But again, ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the east side, that is the eastern side. So it was a good one. It was a good one. But let's move on down to the west. Let's move on over to the west.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk about OKC versus the Grizzlies. Ladies and gentlemen, long story short, okc dominated. I still get that they're too young, though. That's the vibe that I get, and it's weird to say that because, again, the way they dominated the Grizzlies, it makes you question. Everybody who said they're still too young, are y'all too stupid, and that's including myself Like there's a world where the OKC Thunder win a championship this season Just feels too young, just feels like they're still too young. And this Grizzlies team, I almost want to say blow it up. But there's a structure there where you can still have a championship team and there's some key people where they're able to make some trades. They can get back to to what they were. Remember they were, they were considered contenders not too long ago. The way people look at okc, they were looking at the memphis grizzlies in similar fashion. So you can get back to there. But it's at the point now where it's a 50 50 shot. Should you blow it up? Should you try to retool? That's where we are with the grizzlies. But okay, see, kudos to you guys. And dang, I really do wish, like I really do wish that we can trade john moran and get someone like yannis. But that's another discussion for another day.

Speaker 1:

Let's move on down to the warriors and rockets. Ladies and gentlemen, two through seven, two and and seven the Warriors. I'm wondering if they're still contenders. Okay, now, keep in mind, they did win versus the Rockets. They went to game seven. The Rockets did have the height advantage, the rebound advantage. The Warriors still got Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, and I've said that the Warriors remind me of the 96 Bulls, so they could very well win the championship this season. Okay, the Rockets showed tremendous future promise.

Speaker 1:

I'm in Thompson. He's the star, like I've been saying, he going to be best, believe it. And when they make him the one option, not just the point guard, but the one option. On the Rockets, watch out because they are getting ready to take off. Do have some question marks about Jalen green. I will admit You're not doing. You're not. Yeah, you weren't moving that well fella, you weren't really getting too many buckets and we already said you was inefficient, but dang, you know what I mean. Like that's tough. So I do have some question marks around the Rockets. Should they make a trade for someone like Kevin Durant? Let's wait and see, because I do think, too, they have players like Cam Whitmore who you might be able to do well with. So, again, they have the talent. It's now just about cultivating that team properly, and I think they have the coach to do so. So be on the lookout. For the Rockets, I don't think they need to make a trade right now, but let's see what happens. But again, warriors-rockets was a good series. Hope y'all enjoyed it.

Speaker 1:

Let's move on down to Wolves and Lakers, because damn, that one was tough. Anthony Edwards, officially, is a star for me. I can't. I said he was a fringe star last year, like 11, maybe 12. Officially, right there, poetically replacing LeBron James in the top 10 too, because LeBron was like number 10 for me.

Speaker 1:

My concerns about the Lakers valid, because I can't really talk about anybody else outside of Anthony Edwards. Maybe Julius Randle he played well consistently. Jaden Daniels I get, but he's a defender to me Rudy Gobert. He played his role, but he had an advantage too. Our bigs were trash. You know what I'm saying. So I have a lot of concerns going into the off season for next year.

Speaker 1:

Every single player on my team I'm talking about Luca Braun, austin Reeves, gabe Vincent, it does not matter so that's what the Wolves made the Laker nation do, and keep in mind mind I had concerns before this, before the series started. I'm at the point now where I'm saying we gotta, we gotta flip braun, maybe even trade austin reeves when I say maybe, take the maybe off like it, lucas, our future, apparently. So again, the wolves just got us out of the way and I thought we should have actually won in six based on the talent we had Blown. But that's enough about the Wolves and Lakers, because it's not that appeasing. No more, I ain't going to hold y'all. Yeah, I'm a poor sport, I admit it.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk about the Nuggets and Clippers, right. All right, so this one was interesting. Nuggets, they won the championship in 2023, right, they look like they'll need an all-star starting next year. They do have decent depth. I will say it would be nice for them, for Jokic, to be paired with an all-star and I think they have all-star talent. We need to see him with an all-star official like an official all-star. I like the duo with him and Murray.

Speaker 1:

It can run its course. Somebody may have to get traded eventually with MPJ Jamal Murray hopefully not Aaron Gordon, but Aaron Gordon's athleticism does keep him there. So will they have to find a replacement eventually, like these are things that I'm thinking about. But they still look good and keep in mind they went up against a Clipper team who are, when healthy, actually scary. Like when the Clippers are playing to their potential, ladies and gentlemen, they can win a championship. Problem is, I don't think they can play to their potential, so I never believed in them winning a championship this season. On paper they look cool. Now we got to ask should we blow it up? Do you believe in Kawhi Leonard being healthy as the star? Because maybe if he doesn't have a lot of pressure on him, he can last the season. We'll have to find out.

Speaker 1:

James Harden was the second, maybe even third option on the team. He had a good season, seemed like maybe he was able to produce a little bit. Until you got back to that game seven, he had woes again. So that's a thing like that might just be law. James is going to struggle offensively, he can pass the ball. Shooting the ball might be a little tough. But again, nuggets clippers. It was entertaining because this went seven and it was a good series to watch. And it makes you now wonder, should the clippers actually continue it? Because, let's say, the Nuggets win, they went game seven with the champions. That's not bad. Maybe you don't blow it up, but again I think you might want to. It's looking a little tough.

Speaker 1:

But, ladies and gentlemen, these were again the first round recapsps and they did kind of go with my predictions. I will say I did expect us, the lakers, to win it. I will say that I expected the warriors to win, expected the nuggets to win and okc the calves as well too, although I thought that he could. I said I expected the calves to the bucks. I thought could if they had Dame back. But you know it is what it is, they didn't. The Knicks I expected and the Celtics I expected. So again, they went as predicted, ladies and gentlemen, but maybe some of y'all had it like this, and I do understand it. Again, I picked my Lakers as well too. But we're not in this thing, no more. So now, ladies and gentlemen, we got to talk about my second round expectations Because again, these are some good ones, I got to admit, and we could talk about here the Warriors and Wolves.

Speaker 1:

Jimmy Jeffrey Jordan versus Anthony Edwards. Ladies and gentlemen, we get to see the matchup, the defensive matchup. I love to see it. Also, steph Curry versus Anthony Edwards. Didn't they both make a lot of threes this season? Are they both looked at as stars? Now Got to love that. And on top of that too, the Wolves just beat my Lakers. So there's like a world where you know what Bronco me living vicariously through Ant-Man. So let's enjoy that. That was going to be a fun, entertaining matchup. Also, gobert, yeah, you had the advantage rebound-wise versus us. So did you Randall, so did you Nasri.

Speaker 1:

Y'all are going to be the X-Factors because, hey, do you get second-chance points? I'm sure they're going to try to. The Warriors meeting are going to try to run y'all off the three-point line or have really good team defense. Let me say that team defense can get beat by, often by offensive rebound, real easy. I'm telling you right now second chance points matter a lot and those three players are the wolves x factors because they can tip the ball back into the basket or can kick the ball out for an open three. So again, we get to see what that rules team really looks like now in the second round. And for the warriors, we get to see what that Wolves team really looks like now in the second round. And for the Warriors, we get to see who y'all third option is. We know Jimmy and we know Steph going hoop. We need to get a third option, ladies and gentlemen. We need to get a third option, a consistent one.

Speaker 1:

Buddy Hill dropped 33 game seven. Shout out, buddy. Are we going to expect that again? All the time I wouldn't. So again, I'm expecting the Warriors to win. I do like the matchups, I do like the stars. Experience does matter. Wolves have good experience too. Now, don't get me wrong. Warriors got the better coach. I still think they have the better star and they have enough pieces to get the job done. Defensively, I'm leaning on Warriors. But again, those are my expectations.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk about the Thunder Nuggets. Ladies and gentlemen, this one's going to be a good one. I believe you got Jokic mismatch. No real container for Jokic, I'm sorry. I like Hardenstein, I like Chet Holmgren. I don't think they're going to be able to stop Nikola Yoki. Nobody really can stop Nikola Yoki. You can even say the same thing about Shea. Thing is, though, I think someone like Aaron Gordon can actually contain Shea to a degree. I think someone like Christian Braun can actually do well against Shea. They're both taller, they're both lankier, they're both decent athletes, good athletes. They can guard Shea. Who's stocky enough to contain Yoki? So now you've got to send doubles at Yoki, which now means the OKC Thunder are going to be playing at a mismatch. So now the others for the Nuggets. Yeah, they can actually thrive easier. So again, I lean the Nuggets for me, even though the Thunder can win. They're a defensive unit, they're deeper, they got good talent. I believe Shea was the MVP, but again, they have a chance. I just believe in the Nuggets a little bit more, and also they have more experience as well too. Let's not forget about that. But again, ladies and gentlemen, those are my expectations for the West.

Speaker 1:

So let's move it on down to the East, where we get to talk about the Celtics versus the Knicks, which, mind you, my concern about this one is this could be the Eastern Conference Finals matchup. Hopefully not, fingers crossed, but this could be because you have Mikael Bridges, og Ananobi. Can they guard JB and JT? Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum you got Jalen Brunson. Is he going to be able to eat versus Drew Holiday and Derek White, carl Anthony Towns, josh Hart can they dominate Christoph Porzingis, al Horford, jason Tatum on the rebounding advantage? And then the Knicks depth. It's severely lacking in comparison to the Celtics but even still there's a world where McKellen OG can contain JB and JT. There's a world where even Jalen Brunson can eat when guarded by Drew Holiday and Derek White, the great white hope for the celtics. Like there's a world where carl anthony towns and john's heart actually out rebound christoph porzingis, al horford, jason tatum. So again, this knicks celtics series, ladies and gentlemen, it can be good, and the celtics are defending champs too. They always have a target on their back and the knicks are scrappy team. So it would be good to see this matchup. Just wish it was the eastern conference finals. But who the celtics should face in the eastern conference finals? I don't know if y'all peeped my expectation winner prediction, but you know it shouldn't be the celtics. This one's gonna be interesting. The Celtics. This one's going to be interesting.

Speaker 1:

The Cavs and Pacers Because again, I'm kind of torn. I want to lean Pacers, but then sometimes I want to lean the Cavs, because in my world, who on the Pacers can guard Donovan Mitchell? I got to find that out. Then we also got to figure out this Pascal Siakam and and tyrese halliburton nba duo is going to get tested next. Can miles turner, the center for the pacers, can he dominate jared allen? These are things that we got to figure out. Ladies and gentlemen, jared allen's a good defensive player. So is miles turner. I think miles turner is a good offensive player as well too. Can miles turner dominate? He's a little stockier, same height, actually, a little taller than Jared Allen. Should be able to dominate Jared Allen. Let's find out.

Speaker 1:

And then the Pacers. Well, this is their first prove-it series. I think the Cavs are healthy. Well, all right, darius Garland is a key player and he's injured as well too. So that goes back to the whole Pacers narrative of always having to play injured teams. But this could be perceived as a prove-it series still, because the Cavs are primarily healthy. Like DG is the main one that's injured. So maybe we'll allow this one, we'll accept this one, but because of that injury, it does help me lean the Pacers a little bit DG. We're playing all games. I don't know how I'd lean Darius Garland's a good player but I do lean the Pacers again because of injuries.

Speaker 1:

So, ladies and gentlemen, y'all heard my expectations for the second round. We got Nuggets advancing, we got the Warriors advancing, we have the Pacers advancing and we have the Celtics advancing. So let's see what happens with this second round. It should be a good one one, but let's find out. But, ladies and gentlemen, that does about conclude the end of the episode. So I'm curious, who you all are thinking goes to the second round. Past the second round, the conference finals is just around the corner, so I definitely want to hear y'all thoughts. But, like I said, ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the end of the episode. I thank you all for listening. Please make make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey. I'm the host to get a bucket. Hope you all have a good one, take care.