NBA Eastern Conference First Round Predictions.

[Shaq O'Neal]

1.MIL v 8.DET

Injuries



MIL-Brogdon(out for the first round),Snell(likely to be out for first 2 games),Mirotic(probable for Game 1),DiVincenzo(out for the season),Pau Gasol(out for 2 weeks)

DET-Blake Griffin(day to day),Mykhailiuk(out for the season)



Stats Comparison



Category     MIL     DET      Advantage

OFFRTG      112.7 108.3      MIL

DEFRTG      106.4 108.6      MIL

NETRTG      6.3      -0.3       MIL

REB%         51.7   50.9       MIL

AST%         60.8   57.9       MIL

TOV%         13.6   14.0       MIL

EFG%         54.4  50.9        MIL



Note-MIL’s stats are Brogdon’s off the court stats to factor in his absence from this series.

Advantage-MIL in terms of stats comparison

MIL is better than DET in all statistical aspects even without Brogdon.



Comparison of Starting Lineups



MIL          DET      Advantage

Bledsoe Reggie      MIL

Snell     Bruce        MIL

Middleton Ellington MIL

Giannis   Griffin      MIL

Lopez  Drummond  DET





Advantage-MIL has the better starting lineup and the best player on the court in Giannis even with them being injury plagued.

Drummond is better than Lopez in a vaccum but Lopez fits perfectly in the Bucks system as a stretch big.



Playoff Experience

MIL              DET

252 games 129 games



Advantage-MIL

This total is the sum of playoff games played by the 10 players with the most mpg on either roster.



Prediction-MIL in 5



The only reason why I do not have MIL in 4 is because of all the injuries the Bucks have which may cause them to drop one game.However,as long as Giannis is healthy ,the Bucks will win this series easily.



If Griffin misses games then the Pistons are bound to get swept and for DET to even fight well,they need Griffin healthy and playing the way he did in the regular season which will be tough against Giannis who is one of the best two-way players in the league.

I expect Middleton to ball out like last year too and Bledsoe will have a better performance than last year when he was outplayed by Scary Terry.

There is no way MIL loses this series.

[Shaq O'Neal]

2.TOR v 7.ORL

Injuries
TOR-Anunoby(out for 2 weeks),McCaw(out for a week)
ORL-Fultz(out for the season),Bamba (out indefinitely)

Stats Comparison

Category TOR ORL Advantage
OFFRTG 117.0 108.1 TOR
DEFRTG 106.9 107.5 TOR
NETRTG 10.1 0.6 TOR
REB% 50.6 50.4 TOR
AST% 61.6 63.2 ORL
TOV% 13.7 13.3 ORL
EFG% 56.0 51.8 TOR

Advantage-TOR in terms of stats comparison


Comparison of Starting Lineups

TOR ORL Advantage
Lowry Augustin TOR
Green Fournier TOR
Kawhi Isaac TOR
Siakam Gordon TOR
Ibaka Vuc ORL


Advantage-Toronto by a mile .
Vooch is the only all star calibre player that ORL have while TOR have Kawhi,Lowry and a fringe all star in Spicy P while also having Green and Ibaka who are great role players
Depth
Advantage-TOR all the way.
TOR possess one of the deepest teams in the league while ORL doesn’t even have a decent PG.TOR have Marc Gasol off the bench who is a former DPOTY and the backbone of the Grit and Grind Era of Memphis along with Conley.Also,

Playoff Experience
TOR ORL
522 games 76 games

Advantage-TOR
This total is the sum of playoff games played by the 10 players with the most mpg on either roster.

ORl is very inexperienced while TOR has a proven playoff performer in Kawhi Leonard who won the 2014 Finals MVP over Duncan,Parker and Ginobili.TOR also has Gasol and Lowry who have been in the playoffs often too and while Lowry has underperformed in the playoffs before but he didn’t have Kawhi who can take on a bigger responsibility.

Prediction-TOR in 4

TOR outmaches ORL in every department and while Vooch has had a career year,he doesn’t have playoff experience or a secondary star which will make things extremely tough for him.

TOR has both star power and depth and while they have underperformed in the playoffs in previous seasons,they didn’t have Kawhi Leonard at that point of time.He is arguably a top 5 player in the league and one of the best two way players.He is a significant upgrade over DeRozan which will be even more evident in the playoffs where DeRozan has a history of underperforming.The addition of Gasol which boost TOR further and lets see what Siakam provides in the playoffs too.

I feel like it can be a sweep for the Raptors and even if they falter,they will drop only 1 game at the most.

[Shaq O'Neal]

3.PHI V 6.BKN
Injuries
PHI-Embiid(doubtful for Game 1),Bolden(questionable for Game 1)
BKN-Crabbe (out for the season)
Stats Comparison

Category PHI BKN Advantage
OFFRTG 110.7 108.8 PHI
DEFRTG 110.2 108.9 BKN
NETRTG 0.5 -0.1 PHI
REB% 52.3 50.1 PHI
AST% 61.7 59.2 PHI
TOV% 13.1 14.6 PHI
TS% 55.6 55.6 Even

Advantage-PHI in terms of stats comparison
Note-PHI’s stats are post ASB to include the impact of Tobias Harris

Comparison of Starting Lineups

PHI BKN Advantage
Ben D’Angelo PHI
JJ Harris Even
Butler Carroll PHI
Tobias Kurucs PHI
Embiid Allen PHI

Advantage-PHI which is no surprise considering they have the second best starting lineup in the league.
Harris and JJ perform similar roles and while JJ has scored more points ,Harris has been more efficient.
Ben v D’Angelo resulted in me choosing Ben due to the fact he is the better overall player but his lack of a shot can hurt Philly and he had choked last year against the Celtics while having a 1 point game.

Playoff Experience
PHI BKN
234 games 110 games

Advantage-PHI
This total is the sum of playoff games played by the 10 players with the most mpg on either roster.

Prediction-PHI in 5
Yes ,the Nets have been fun to watch after years but I don’t believe they can provide a close contest against the 76ers unless Embiid misses more than 1 game.The Nets lack of star power and inexperience is going to hurt them and Philly has just a lot of firepower for the Nets to compete with.

[Shaq O'Neal]

4.BOS V 5.IND

Injuries
BOS-Smart(out for 4-6 weeks)
IND-Oladipo(out for the season)
Stats Comparison

Category BOS IND Advantage
OFFRTG 111.8 109.3 BOS
DEFRTG 107.2 110.4 BOS
NETRTG 4.6 -1.1 BOS
REB% 50.1 48.3 BOS
AST% 61.9 63.5 IND
TOV% 13.2 13.4 BOS
EFG% 52.3 52.4 IND

Advantage-BOS in terms of stats comparison
Note-Boston stats are off the court stats of Smart.

Indiana stats are post ASB to factor in Oladipo’s absence
Comparison of Starting Lineups

BOS IND Advantage
Kyrie Collison BOS
Brown Evans BOS
Tatum Bojan IND
Morris Thad Even
Horford Turner BOS
Advantage-BOS
BOS has too much star power compared to Indiana.
Bojan v Tatum went to Bojan due to Tatum not playing that well this season and Bojan thriving as Indiana’s number one option.

Playoff Experience
BOS IND
368 games 258 games

Advantage-BOS
This total is the sum of playoff games played by the 10 players with the most mpg on either roster.


Prediction-BOS in 6

BOS is miles ahead of Indiana on paper but the problem is their chemistry.Also,Smart will be missed by the Celtics.
IND has done a good job staying afloat after Dipo went down but I don’t think that a Bojan Bogdanovic led team can beat the Celtics.Indiana will miss a closer while the Celtics have one of the best closers in Kyrie.

Lets see if the Celtics show up like this year’s regular season Celtics or an improved version of last year’s Playoff Celtics.

[Stuff The Magic Dragon]

Apr 13, 2019 8:26:21 GMT -5 Shaq O'Neal said:

2.TOR v 7.ORL

Injuries
TOR-Anunoby(out for 2 weeks),McCaw(out for a week)
ORL-Fultz(out for the season),Bamba (out indefinitely)

Stats Comparison

Category TOR ORL Advantage
OFFRTG 117.0 108.1 TOR
DEFRTG 106.9 107.5 TOR
NETRTG 10.1 0.6 TOR
REB% 50.6 50.4 TOR
AST% 61.6 63.2 ORL
TOV% 13.7 13.3 ORL
EFG% 56.0 51.8 TOR

Advantage-TOR in terms of stats comparison


Comparison of Starting Lineups

TOR ORL Advantage
Lowry Augustin TOR
Green Fournier TOR
Kawhi Isaac TOR
Siakam Gordon TOR
Ibaka Vuc ORL


Advantage-Toronto by a mile .
Vooch is the only all star calibre player that ORL have while TOR have Kawhi,Lowry and a fringe all star in Spicy P while also having Green and Ibaka who are great role players
Depth
Advantage-TOR all the way.
TOR possess one of the deepest teams in the league while ORL doesn’t even have a decent PG.TOR have Marc Gasol off the bench who is a former DPOTY and the backbone of the Grit and Grind Era of Memphis along with Conley.Also,

Playoff Experience
TOR ORL
522 games 76 games

Advantage-TOR
This total is the sum of playoff games played by the 10 players with the most mpg on either roster.

ORl is very inexperienced while TOR has a proven playoff performer in Kawhi Leonard who won the 2014 Finals MVP over Duncan,Parker and Ginobili.TOR also has Gasol and Lowry who have been in the playoffs often too and while Lowry has underperformed in the playoffs before but he didn’t have Kawhi who can take on a bigger responsibility.

Prediction-TOR in 4

TOR outmaches ORL in every department and while Vooch has had a career year,he doesn’t have playoff experience or a secondary star which will make things extremely tough for him.

TOR has both star power and depth and while they have underperformed in the playoffs in previous seasons,they didn’t have Kawhi Leonard at that point of time.He is arguably a top 5 player in the league and one of the best two way players.He is a significant upgrade over DeRozan which will be even more evident in the playoffs where DeRozan has a history of underperforming.The addition of Gasol which boost TOR further and lets see what Siakam provides in the playoffs too.

I feel like it can be a sweep for the Raptors and even if they falter,they will drop only 1 game at the most.

guess this ain't happening bud

[Shaq O'Neal]

Claiming 2k billy bucks