This week's focus is on the NBA Play-In Tournament, with matchups that will determine who will face the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams in the Western and Eastern Conferences. However, our NBA playoff predictions are focusing on the first round only.
Let's take a look at some of our early bold predictions for the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Houston Rockets take on Los Angeles Lakers
Any excitement for the first-round playoff series between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers quickly vanished following injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. With all due respect to the second-best player in NBA history, 41-year-old LeBron James can no longer carry a team. James is the only healthy Lakers player averaging double-digit shots per game this season and we certainly don't see Deandre Ayton making strides in the playoffs. Additionally, Houston finished the season by winning 10 of its last 14 games, with two of those losses coming by a total of 16 points to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Rockets are better defensively, have more depth, and match up perfectly with this version of the Lakers. LeBron's tenure in Los Angeles ended in the first round.
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Anthony Edwards kills Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets
We look at Anthony Edwards like Patrick Mahomes in the early rounds of the NBA playoffs – it's not wise to pick against him. The Minnesota Timberwolves superstar has averaged 27.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game over the last three postseasons, shooting 37.2 percent from the perimeter. Although Edwards has a 21-21 career postseason record, Edwards now has an opportunity to defeat the best NBA player of all time in Nikola Jokic. We're confident Jokic and the Denver Nuggets will take this series, but Edwards' clutch performance propels Minnesota to give the No. 9 seed a knockout over the No. 3 seed in a winner-take-all Game 7 in Denver.
Dyson Daniels has 30-point game, Knicks pull off gentleman sweep
We wanted to make some bold NBA playoff predictions for the first round, so why not a 30-burger for Dyson Daniels? He scored 25-plus points only twice this season and has never had a 30-point game in his career. However, the New York Knicks are going to give him some wide-open threes in this series, and Daniels has shot 36.7 percent from the perimeter in his last 16 games. We're saying he's going to have a hot night in Atlanta, hitting three three-pointers for the first time in over a year (April 2, 2025). This would be one of the reasons Atlanta would win a game in this series, with New York sweeping the Gentlemen.
Donovan Mitchell scored 30+ in every game
Most likely, we will see RJ Barrett matched up against Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell. This does not bode well for the Toronto Raptors. Mitchell has averaged 29.6 points per game over the past two postseasons with Cleveland, and he averaged just 23.8 ppg in last year's first-round series against the Miami Heat. While Toronto has enough talent to take this series to six games, Mitchell will drop over 30 points in every game and obliterate the Raptors like a meteor.
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Play-in teams are swept
We would like to thank all the teams participating in the NBA Play-In Tournament for playing. By the time the first round rolls around, we'll see just how wide the gap is between the best NBA teams and the teams that are in the playoff race this season. The Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics will all win in the first round, which will be easily decided. It's more likely that the Detroit Pistons lose a game, but we're going to bet on Cade Cunningham and company to pull off a clean sweep in Round 1.
