We Predict Every West First Round Series

Western Conference.

We touched a little bit at the top on this Blazers-Spurs matchup, uh, to quote the great Duke Evers, the trainer for Apollo Creed.

They're all wrong for us, baby.

I think that the Spurs are all wrong for your Portland Trail Blazers.

I think their length is gonna be a huge problem.

I think the rapid development of those backcourt guys, Steph Cassel, Dylan Harper, of course, De'Aaron Fox has got some playoff experience.

Keldon Johnson was my 6th Man of the Year.

I, I just think the, the Spurs are clicking right now.

They're rolling into the playoffs.

And shout out to the, the Blazers for fighting through all they did all season long from the Chauncey Billups stuff to all the in-season stuff, but, this is not, to me, it's a 4-game series.

I like, I'm gonna go right off the bat and say Spurs at 4.

I don't think the Blazers win a single game in this series.

I think Wemby is too much of a matchup nightmare.

I think Donovan Klingen is going to be looking at his back all, all series long because Wemby's Gonna be playing him off the dribble, I think, like I said at the top, Danny Abia, all those drives to the basket, man, uh, uh, uh, you better get your mid-range shot polished.

You better get your 3-point shot ready.

You try to go to the rim, and that guy's gonna be meeting you there every single time.

I love the Spurs in this matchup.

Yeah, with the Spurs, which where the Portland Trail Blazers are gonna learn pretty soon.

You have to play 48 solid minutes.

I think right now Portland, they're still developing, they're still getting their feet under them.

And their identity under them as a culture, as a franchise.

And you've seen throughout their season, they've had, you know, stints where they played unbelievable, and then they had several different stints where they struggle.

And I feel as though that's been their identity as of right now.

You can't go on a road versus San Antonio that's so good defensively, unbelievable offensively, and they have a full nine that's clicking on all cylinders.

And like you just said, the backcourt, I don't.

It's not even like they're not good, it's just you have to damn near be perfect.

There's only a few teams that are going to be able to beat the Spurs in this situation, and you have to play.

A full 48 minutes and sometimes the Blazers, their lineups, their, their lineup changes, they kind of go through droughts a couple of times, not a half, but a quarter.

Yeah, I, I just think it's bad.

It's very bad and, uh, great for them for getting into the tournament.

First time in 5 years.

Give themselves something to build on going into next year.

But I, even though the Spurs are very inexperienced, all of their playoff, you know, numbers come from like a handful of guys, Harrison Barnes, Luke Cornett, like guys that have been there before.

Uh, this is not the series where the inexperience of the Spurs potentially becomes a problem.

That could happen next round, uh, if the Denver Nuggets get there.

So let's talk about the Nuggets.

Nuggets against Timberwolves.

This is another series, Evan, that I really like the favorite in.

Like, I, I, I look at these two teams and Denver is going into the playoffs with some momentum.

A couple of weeks ago, they had that big win at home against San Antonio.

Couple of weeks later, they beat the Spurs.

They don't even have to beat the Spurs.

They were like trying to lose the game and they still won.

Um , you've got Aaron Gordon back healthy, playing at a high level, giving them minutes.

Jokic, maybe he's not the MVP but he's still the best offensive player in the NBA.

Jamal Murray, All-Star this year.

You've got a little bit of depth, even though you don't really need it because the Spurs, I mean, sorry, the Nuggets, they just play their starters.

They're a big starter-heavy team, especially in the postseason.

Whereas Minnesota, like Anthony Edwards played like 3 times since mid-March, um, You know, Randall has not been shooting the ball particularly well.

Like, I, I just, I think one team is trending up and the other team is kind of trending down.

I think the team trending up is a championship level team that I think is gonna show it in this series.

I like the Nuggets to win this series in 6 games.

What do you think?

I'm, I'm kind of 50/50 in a sense, due to the fact that like, I understand why you like the Nuggets.

I love that Aaron Gordon is getting healthy.

I love that, uh, Like I said, we talked Kim Johnson starting to show up.

Christian Braun's been able to ball out a little bit, and then they're top twos.

If you want to, you can tell me Jamal Murray's played at all NBA level this year.

You know what I mean?

And I felt like that.

In the past month or so, they finally have gotten healthy, they finally clicked on all cylinders.

The question marks are starting to not become question marks anymore.

They're just waiting and be like, when's my turn?

You got Tim Hardaway.

Like I said, we weren't too sure about Cam Johnson.

He's finally found his shot.

Christian Braun looks healthy.

But one thing I will say about the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Anthony Edwards is a psycho, you never know what's up his sleeve.

You know what I mean?

The same way I say you can't go against Steph Curry, I'm starting to believe that with Anthony Edwards in certain instances.

But one thing after That that you can never really go against is talent and grit.

And I believe like the Timberwolves have very, very gritty players since they did a trade for Ayo Dussamu.

You got uh um Dante Di Vincenzo playing well, and, and you have like length, you have, um, Jaden McDaniels as well, and also Julius Randall.

They're going to step up and one thing that they always They have history against Denver, Denver Nuggets with success.

But they're gonna come hit somebody, they're gonna come get in your face, they're gonna come junk it up.

When you go to Minnesota, it's not going to be an easy win.

And I guarantee one thing where I'm thinking like, hey, maybe Miami's a mental midget, maybe New York Knicks are mental midgets.

The Timberwolves are led by a psycho, and they don't give a fuck.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

All that regular, I believe like Anthony Edwards is just like, Yo, sit me out because you know how I get come Western Conference Finals time.

My baby, I'd be tired.

Like, do you understand what I'm saying?

Yeah, feel like he's, he's battling injuries too though, man.

Like, like 1111 of the last 14 games he missed with that knee injury.

Like that's real.

Like in this team, you look at some of the numbers, this team offensively.

It is a middle of the pack offensive team.

They're right around the same where they were defensively, but it took a little bit of a step back.

I don't think they're a bad team by any stretch, but I just think this is a bad matchup.

Like Gobert, like, if you're gonna make a list of the guys Gobert does not do well against, number 1 is Lukadic, and number 2 is Nikola Jokic.

Like it's and Jokic seems to know it.

Like he just absolutely positively knows that Rudy can do nothing with him.

That means you got to get some Randall on him, some Naz Reed on him.

Um, look, the Denver Wolves are good.

It's just, you know, this is a, I think this is a tough matchup.

The Nuggets won 3 out of the 4 during the regular season.

I think we see a similar thing play out in this series.

Yeah, I'm, I mean, I'm not against it.

You have to go against with culture.

I mean, the Nuggets are fully full throttle.

They would know when they're looking good, and at the end of the day, they're clicking at the same time.

I just know for sure it's gonna be a playoff series.

It's gonna be hard and physical and tough, and, you know, if the right things occur, who knows how Minnesota can go, but you're right.

I, I think they'll need a Massively big series from Anthony Edwards.

He needs to be the best player in the series.

That's gonna be tough to do.

With Nikola Jokic on the floor.

And look, the defense of the Nuggets always comes under scrutiny.

Like, officially they were a bottom third in the NBA defensive team this year, but since Aaron Gordon has come back, they've crept right there to the middle of the pack.

I remember when they won that championship in 2023, that's kind of right where they were, 12th or 13th in defensive efficiency.

So that's all they have to be.

Like they don't have to be top 5, top 10 defensive team.

They just have to be a middle of the pack defensive team because their offense is so damn good.

And I'm with you when you're right, and, and, and maybe I could be wrong, and, and it's, when you play Nikola Jokic so much, there's going to be some liability on that defensive end, but he makes up for it so much offensively.

You know what I'm saying?

So, at the end of the day, if he's saying like, hey, bro, like if this gets to a shootout, I'll be good enough to uh end it.

But you're you're right, those numbers are good.

That that offense is potent and that culture, when you have a group that's used to winning 50 games a year and You know, is being tested and being primed by that wild, wild west.

Like , I'm, they're dangerous, bro.

They're very, very dangerous for anybody.

All right, so what's your pick then?

Did I turn you around?

What do you, uh, what's your pick?

Fucking, I mean, damn, I, I know since I already said enough wild shit for this week, bro, I'm gonna go with the, uh, no, I'm, I'm gonna go with the, um, with the Nuggets, bro.

You can't go like Jokic damn, if, if Jokic was black, I'd be arguing that he's Jordan.

That's stuff I'd be sitting there like, man, if he was black, I'd be, I'd be calling it racist, like, you know, so yeah, he's special, man.

6 games, 7 games, what are you taking?

I'm gonna take because it's Anthony Edwards.

I give.

Man, you gotta give one game up for that altitude.

I'm gonna give it 6.

I'm just gonna give it 6.

I'm gonna give it 6.

Nuggets in 6.

OK.

All right.

Uh, I, I think that's fair.

That's how I got it as well.

All right, last one for you is the Lakers against the Rockets, LeBron James against Kevin Durant.

Uh, not the marquee matchup that we probably would have hoped given the injuries to the Lakers.

Lukadoncic is out with a hamstring injury.

Uh, Austin Reeves is out with that, uh, oblique injury.

You know, there's a lot of speculation that one or both could return during the series, but I think it's a safer assumption to say that neither one of them is, especially with Luca hamstring.

That's the kind of thing you can really hurt, and I don't think you want to take too many chances if you're the Lakers with Luca Doncis, but it's a fascinating matchup because it's LeBron against KD.

It's two of the greatest players.

Uh, of all time, certainly, two of the greatest players of this generation going at it one more time.

We know what they did in those NBA Finals back in the late teens when it was the Warriors against the Cavaliers.

Here they are now doing it again when both of these guys are the most important players on their teams coming into the series.

And the question I have, Evan, with this one, well, it's twofold.

One, like what is the defensive strategy that the Rockets have against LeBron James?

Cause you got some dog.

Out there in Houston.

You have got, you know, Aman Thompson , Tarry Eason, Jabari Smith, uh, a whole bunch of tough, tough defenders.

Jashaun Tate, you can throw in there if you need to use them.

Like a whole bunch of guys that can be physical.

And LeBron, in addition to being the best scorer on the team, is really the only primary playmaker.

Like Marcus Smart, I guess, can do a little bit of it.

Luke Kinnard can do a little bit of it, but LeBron James is the playmaker on that team.

I can imagine Ime Udoka telling his guys, like, go.

Up there and wear this guy down.

Jostle him, bust him up, mix it up with him.

Tarry Eason, you might only play 1520 minutes per game, but you go out there and you hound that guy every possession, uh, that you're out there against him.

I'm curious to see what that looks like and where does the offense come from the Lakers when LeBron's not playing?

Like, what are the sets that JJ Reddick is going to run when LeBron's off the floor?

Are we talking about DeAndre Ayton post-ups?

Are we talking about like Luke Kinnard pick and rolls, Rui Hashiur isolation, like, It's unknown, like what they're gonna do in the 1015 minutes LeBron can't play.

Yeah, um, I don't have an answer for the latter.

I don't get paid the big bucks for that.

I really do not know, to be completely honest with you.

I think, I think when it comes down to the first question of being like, how do you approach LeBron, I mean, he's 41, 42 years old, Send as many bodies as you can at him.

Like you do have a lot of physical guys.

You got Jashaun Tate, he's very good defensively, physical at the very least.

Tarry Eason.

You got Imon Thompson.

I would literally just smother him and try to make the others beat us.

Literally, I, I think it's as simple as that.

Make sure he doesn't feel comfortable.

Make sure his, his shot attempts and his points are somewhat equal, which you'll be able to do.

And if he tries to slow the game down.

With you and it becomes a half-court game, just shrink the court, make the others beat you.

Even if DeAndre Ayden goes and gets 30.

I don't know if that helps us, you know what I mean?

As, as, as long as the dominant guy isn't finding a rhythm.

So, I would definitely go against that .

I don't um Man, I really don't know how the Lakers are going to score.

I, I, I really don't.

I mean, I, it would have to be some LeBron magic, it would have to be.

Taking advantage of what I just said, uh, aforementioned double teams, throwing bodies at them, having them see the shrink the floor, but the, the guys are gonna have to stop and make a lot of big shots, uh, continue to have nonstop movement, you know, uh, flying a pass and try to wear out the Rockets, you know, defense and their fatigue as well, just by constant movement because I don't know if there's anybody you can throw the ball to and be like, here, go get a bucket for us.

And that's been like a large identity.

You can make a similar argument.

Maybe not a similar mark because Shengoon is a good scorer.

Shengoon's a bucket, um, but we've seen in the second half of the season as Shengoon has struggled a little bit, like the number of double and triple teams that Kevin Durant has faced has grown.

Like he's teams have locked in on him defensively.

Now I think if Shengoon.

is playing at the All-Star level we've seen him play at, this could be a very short series because then the Rockets can score.

They're not overly reliant on Kevin Durant.

The floor opens up for like a Reed Shepherd to make threes and you're asking the Lakers to come back from double-digit deficits.

I don't think that they can do it.

Um, but, you know, if, if Shangoon has some off nights, if the three-point ball, which hasn't really been falling for the Rockets, hasn't been a weapon for them most of the season.

Maybe there can be something special done if you're LeBron James, but I'm not really counting on it.

I'm not really counting on it.

I, I think, I think this, if, if LeBron could pull off a win the series, it would go up there amongst his better accomplishments.

That, that's how, you know, kind of behind the eight ball I think this team is right now with the guys out.

And, and it's a shot in the dark, literally a shot in the dark, but if I had to choose any team from the west to shift the bed.

It would be the Rockets.

If there's anybody last year, what did the Rockets do?

Yeah, well, I mean, I, I, to, to give the counterargument, last year they didn't have KD, and last year they were a very inexperienced team going up against a very experienced team, right?

And and Jalen Green was one of your, your first options.

I mean that, that gave them an education on what they, that's why they went out and got Kevin Durant, got the guy that can be the postseason scorer, not that diss him, bro.

Cause I, I like this game a lot, but like, there's certain people in the league.

Like when Jalen Green had 39, 30, like 30 something the other night, like the game almost seems like elementary when he's killing.

Am I wrong for saying that.

Like, I like, I don't know if we'll ever not see him go multiple games throughout the course of his career and just be 7 for 24.

Like, I wonder when they're gonna cut his water off from being like.

This is a guy that's allowed to shoot 20 something times a night.

You know how good you gotta be in the NBA to consistently shoot 20 something times a night.

It should be great, you know.

I mean, especially in big moments, like sometimes when we, we go in playoff times and like ET, what'd you do?

Like, bro, the *** that shot 80 times a night should have showed up.

Like after I got my little 7, I'm done.

You know what I'm saying?

7 to 10, get me out of the game.

I cracked double digits.

I'm out.

Yeah, I get 5 rebounds, 4 assists, hey.

You, you ain't want me doing more, but I, I, I, I, I, that, that is, you're absolutely right with the Rockets.

They did go get KD.

I'm not knocking.

I just think like if there's a team to do it against, because there's a, there's a factor where we might go after game two and Brian might be like, fuck it, we can't win and call it.

And I think there's the same, there's, there's the same fucking mentality sometimes.

In teams that Katie has been on.

I, I think they're definitely flawed, um, and if the Lakers were going to win a matchup, this is probably the only one in the Western Conference field that they could have, they could potentially win.

I, I just, I like, I'm just, are we gonna go back to DeAndre Ay in the post like 15 times a game, like trying to bring back Phoenix Suns DeAndre Ayton.

Um, Finals, Marcus Smart, it's, it's, it's tough.

Like, you know, these guys in their roles are excellent.

Like if the Lakers were at full strength, I would favor them over the Rockets all day because I think Ayton's been great in his role.

Smart, you know, he's been banged up, but he's a great defensive player.

Kinnard's making shots, but you take away like 50+ points out of your lineup and you don't replace it.

Like that's, that's hard, man.

That's hard.

You ain't lying .

You're not lying.

You're not lying, but that's, that's, that's some bad luck right there too, you know what I mean, so.