The 2022-23 NBA Regular Season is done and the Play-In Tournament has concluded. All eight seeds are set for the playoffs, with very few wins to separate the slots. However, the talent gap is massive from the top of the group to the bottom, as we’ll find discuss in our previews & predictions:
#1 Milwaukee Bucks vs. #8 Miami Heat
Milwaukee has secured home-court advantage throughout the entire playoffs, thanks to the 58 wins in the regular season. Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing, once again, at a historically elite level. It’s a shame he will most likely finish third in the MVP vote because when he’s at the top of his game, The Greek Freak is the best player in the league. No other player can have such an influence on both the offensive and defensive side of the floor. The Bucks are deep at every position, but their Achilles heel may be the availability of Khris Middleton. His lingering knee injury could put his production in doubt as the playoffs labor on. Thankfully for Milwaukee, they have Jrue Holiday, who is perennially underrated but always steps up to the occasion.
Congratulations to the Miami Heat for surviving the Play-In Tournament and making it to the first round of the playoffs. Their reward is a potential sweep at the hands of the favorites to win the East, despite the expected playoff heroics of Jimmy Butler. There is no value in being stuck in the middle of the pack in the NBA, but that’s where the Heat have slid after almost winning the Conference Finals last year. Miami has some tough decisions to make in the off-season as to whether they’re going to add pieces, or strip and fall into a rebuild mode.
Prediction: Milwaukee in 4
#2 Boston Celtics v #7 Atlanta Hawks
The Celtics are looking to get back to the NBA finals after a disappointing showing last year. Jason Tatum was in the conversation earlier this year for MVP, but his play trailed off slightly in the second half and will likely only garner some Top 5 votes. Jaylen Brown will be a factor and Marcus Smart will no doubt create chaos on the defensive end. Boston was the only team to finish in the Top 5 in both offensive PPG (4th) and defensive PPG (also 4th).
The Hawks are a difficult team to gauge. The team showed a stunning propensity for hanging around the .500 mark all year.
However, Trae Young has shown he’s at his best come playoff time. Despite his atrociously and historically bad defense, his offensive game is still enough to steal one, if not two games from the Celtics. However, the rest of the roster is not nearly deep enough to deal with Boston’s overall talent and recent playoff experience.
Prediction: Boston in 5
#3 Philadelphia 76ers v #6 Brooklyn Nets
If the league could have promised this matchup at the beginning of the season, the networks would have jumped for joy. However, the Nets roster is nothing like it was at the start of the season. Gone are the two biggest stars in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who both requested trades in the middle of the year. The only other former All-Star on the roster, Ben Simmons, is done for the season after barely contributing in any way, shape or form whatsoever.
The 76ers are still holding up their end of the bargain. They have the odds on favorite for the MVP, Joel Embiid, and an aging but slightly more efficient James Harden. Hopefully, we don’t see the usual pattern of playoff regression from The Beard, as Embiid can’t be expected to carry the entire load. The Sixers have a legitimate shot of getting through the entire East, although they will have to knock off both a potential Celtics team and a Bucks team to get through to the Finals.
The Nets are feisty and skilled enough to steal two games, but this should end in a six-game win for Philadelphia.
Prediction: Sixers in 6
#4 Cleveland Cavaliers v #5 New York Knicks
The future of the Cavaliers has not looked this bright since The King was playing for his hometown team. The off-season trade for Donovan Mitchell has paid off in spades and accelerated the growth of this young group (and who can forget the 71 he put up on January 2nd?). Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen each bring some form of elite skill (scoring, defense, rebounding) to the roster.
While talking about off-season moves, the New York signing of Jalen Brunson was first looked at as a slight overpay, but that money has proven to be a steal of a deal (Dallas not offering this deal is why we now have Kyrie playing for the Mavericks, and how did that turn out?). Brunson, who should have been the All-Star representative over Julius Randle, is the heart and soul of a gritty and tenacious Knicks team. RJ Barrett has yet to take that leap to the next level but is capable of busting out a 30-point performance at any time.
Expect this series to go the distance, with Cleveland leveraging the Game 7 home-court advantage for the win.
Prediction: Cleveland in 7
