The NBA playoffs are quickly getting closer as the season winds down, with more and more attention being paid to potential first-round playoff matchups.
The Western Conference playoffs hold more promise, but don’t discount the Eastern Conference playoffs. The race for the bottom two seeds in the conference has heightened the interest in the East, as have the surprising Hawks and surging Cavaliers.
A host of matchups are possible right now for the first round with all the jockeying going on.
Check out the most intriguing potential matchups below.
Cavaliers vs. Heat
LeBron James against Dwyane Wade. Former Heat role players Mike Miller and James Jones—and possibly even Ray Allen—against their old team. Goran Dragic making his case for a max contract. Hassan Whiteside trying to keep up his insane production in the playoff atmosphere.
A Cleveland–Miami matchup in the first round looks like the most exciting potential matchup, especially considering Miami could actually win with the addition of Dragic and the experience of the Heat core.
The series would suffer from the lack of Chris Bosh, who was recently declared out for the season, but would still be a lot of fun. The Cavs finally acquired a true center, Timofey Mozgov, to replace Anderson Varejao but Whiteside is better right now and would cause problems for Miami. Dragic against Kyrie Irving would be a great matchup, as would James against his replacement Luol Deng.
The Cavs would most likely win, but the series could easily stretch to seven games.
Raptors vs. Nets
Toronto doesn’t want to face Brooklyn again, even if the Nets lost their passionate, over-the-hill stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
Brooklyn is looking hot following the All-Star break. Thaddeus Young gives them an injection of youth along with the continued emergence of Mason Plumlee and the stunning promotion of Markel Brown, who barely played in the first half of the season.
Deron Williams and Brook Lopez are producing in bench roles, and the Nets still have the Raptors’ nightmare—Joe Johnson. The Raptors could make a deep run in the postseason, building on last season’s strong regular season with more growth from Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, and the rest of the crew. Lou Williams figures to win at least one game by himself, although he’s played horribly in his past playoff appearances.
Neither team would be the favorite in this series; expect it to go to seven games and to the last second, as the last one did.
