Western Conference Playoffs - 2nd Round Discussion Thread

[Hassan Darkside]

Match-ups are set:

1 Utah Jazz vs 4 LA Clippers
2 Phoenix Suns vs 3 Denver Nuggets

[JazzMan]

My gut says Clippers in 7. My heart says Jazz in 6 - The biggest thing here is Mike Conley's injury. If he's not able to go in Game 1 it's going to be a Jazz loss right away IMO. He's looked great already against Memphis but that last game he tweaked his hammy, could be out for Game 1; and even if he's playing he surely won't be 100%

Kawhi should be able to carry this momentum over into this series, I think he's going to will them to a win in Game 1 and punch us in the mouth like the Memphis series. Then Mitchell gets it going in Games 2 and 3, and George struggles a bit while Kawhi and a few others look solid but aren't enough.

Then PG comes back strong the rest of the series and they split games until Game 7. If the Jazz win it's going to be from Gobert dominating inside if the Clippers keep going small. Their biggest guy on the floor all series was Zubac, and he was benched in favor of Nic Batum against Boban and KP. Gobert is going to have to take advantage offensively, and I do think he will. But our defensive rotations are gonna have to be on point, because we know Gobert is gonna be patrolling the paint regardless of who they have at the 5, and our guys play real aggressive at the 3PT line so if Kawhi and PG can get the drive and kick out down it could get ugly for us defensively

Should be a really, really good series IMO

Then I'd say Nuggets in 7. I just think Jokic is too good. He has that offense humming right now, but most importantly is how healthy is CP3 right now with that shoulder. Plus these deep runs have never been kind to him injury-wise, I hope he doesn't get injured but at this point I'm expecting him to keep getting banged up the more the Suns go on. Devin Booker is going to have a ridiculous series though, and he's going to straight-up win them some games on his own. Think about what Mitchell and Dame did to the Nuggets in the Playoffs, and then think of what Devin Booker is going to do lol. Gonna be another fun series, I can see it going either way

[cima]

**** it, let's go Jazz and Suns. Booker vs Mitchell in the WCF for the ultimate 2-guard showdown.


Jazz in 6
Suns in 5

[ProfessaPackMan]

Jazzman stole my post. I was gonna say exactly that and had it typed out but this damn Tapatalk app keeps crashing so **** it, lol

[49UNCFan]

Clippers in 7
Suns in 6

[WarMMA]

Oh boy some fun matchups...

Clippers in 7
I Think this one is gonna be a back and forth just like the Mavs/Clippers series. Two solid teams and we'll see Mitchell and Kawhi go off in this one. Its gonna be interesting to see how Conley holds up with the injury. If both teams stay healthy, I see it going down to the wire with the Clippers being able to pull it off on the shoulders of Kawhi, but its gonna be a tough series. Its definitely winnable for either team tbh.


Nuggets in 6
This one is gonna be fun to watch. Suns will get a couple games. Think Booker is gonna have a couple big nights and torch the Nuggets. Will also be fun to see Joker take on Ayton. Ayton was able to stifle AD a bit in Lakers/Suns game 1...held AD to just 13pts. It'll be interesting to see if he can slow Jokic down at all in any of their games. Ultimately though, I see the Nuggets closing this one out 4 games to 2. Jokic will look good as usual, but I feel like we see some fireworks from Nuggets secret weapon in Porter Jr. Think he steps up big in this series. Kid has tons of potential imo and finally seems to be unlocking it. I think we'll see him have some big games and even carry the load at times. So this should all lead to...


Your WCF matchup Clippers vs Nuggets

[ojandpizza]

I can’t make no Suns/Nuggets prediction without seeing how well Dallas matches up with that backcourt being depleted. Interested in seeing how Ayton plays. He killed the Lakers but AD wanted no part of matching that aggression. Joker gotta bang around on that guy, get him in foul trouble at the other end. Can Bridges defend MPJ? Because as good as Jae is he can’t defend length or guys with quick first steps either. Suns will keep winning games if teams just disregard Payne and let him get 20 a night like the Lakers did. I feel like the Nuggets get good scrappy defense out of both guards, and even Rivers though. Booker most likely getting his in this series like Mitchell did against them last year. Just don’t know if that’s enough.

I still think Utah is the best roster in the league top to bottom, but Clippers have the playoff experience. Jazz in 7 though. If they don’t make them dudes put the ball on the floor and put faith in Rudy to protect the rim they are ****ed though. You can’t just give the Clippers the shots they want and not put pressure on Kahwi and just let him pick his spots. Have to play aggressive defense. I’m assuming they try to go small and negate Rudy, but Rudy needs to just punish them for it. If he doesn’t, could be the series. But for the most part they need to defend the 3 aggressively and stay up on Kahwi, make him a playmaker or finish over Rudy.


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[cima]

Anyone wanna tell OJ he thinks the Nuggets are the Mavs? Lol