Everything You Need To Know Going Into The NBA Playoffs...

There's nothing quite like playoff basketball

The stakes are higher, the atmosphere is unmatched, and certain players take their play to a completely different level

than we see in the regular season. So today in this video, we are going to preview the 2024 NBA playoffs

Whether you've been too deep in the March Madness, you need an overall refresher from the long and grueling NBA regular season

or you're just excited and cannot get enough NBA playoff content, this is the video for you here's everything you need to know about the 2024 NBA playoffs let's jump

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I highly recommend joining the discord anyway. It's a fun place to be. We're doing watch parties

for the play-in tournament and the playoffs and an NBA bracket challenge. The link is in the

description to join. We'll see you over there. Let's start off in the Western Conference. The

first comment I have is how loaded the West is this year. Not only is it absurd that the New

New Orleans Pelicans in the 7th seed are 16 games above 500

but the 8, 9, and 10 seeds are 12 and 10 games above 500, respectively, as well

For reference, the 8th seed last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves were 42 and 40

This year, the Lakers are the 8th seed at 47 and 35

I was curious to see if this was some type of record, a 10 seed, 10 games above 500

and it is the highest a 10 seed has been in NBA history

outside of the Golden State Warriors this season were the Seattle Supersonics in 2001

They were 44 and 38. There's been a couple other crazy years, like 2008

the Warriors were 48 and 34 and missed the playoffs at the ninth seed. And even the 2010 Western Conference

when all eight teams won 50 games or more, but nothing as deep as these 10 seed Warriors

It's safe to say the play-in is going to be extremely fun and it should create some incredible 1-8

and 2-7 matchups in both conferences. Well, let's get to it. We'll start in the Western Conference, the number one seed. It came down to

the last day of the regular season. The OKC Thunder, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the

Denver Nuggets were all tied at 56 and 25, but it was the OKC Thunder that would hold the top spot

winning the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Denver Nuggets. Finishing at 57 and 25, the Thunder

were the 10 seed in the play-in just last season when they finished 40 and 42. I think we all had

some pretty high expectations for the Thunder coming into this season, especially adding Chet

Holmgren recovering from his rookie season injury, but I don't think anybody expected this. They've

been near the top of the standings all season long. They have the favorite for coach of the year

a top five most improved candidate in Jalen Williams. They'll have the second place finisher

in the rookie of the year in Chet Holmgren, probably the second place finisher in MVP voting

in Shea Gildress Alexander, which I think at this point has an incredible case for MVP in his own

with the Thunder getting that one seed. But to make this even crazier, they are the youngest team

by average age to secure the number one seed in their conference in NBA history. But wait, I'm not

done. It gets crazier. They have a stockpile of draft picks for the future awaiting them, including

the 12th overall pick in the upcoming lottery from the Houston Rockets. If you're an OKC fan

you have to be over the moon. Your team is loaded for the indefinite future

But as for the playoffs this season, they await the winner of the eight seed play-in game

that takes place on Friday. And it could be any of the Western Conference play-in teams

the New Orleans Pelicans, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Sacramento Kings, and the Warriors

The way it works is the Warriors and the Kings will play the 9-10 game for a chance to play

in that eight seed game that takes place on Friday. Meanwhile, on Tuesday night

the pelicans and lakers will play for the seven seed with a loser getting bumped to the friday game

the thunder play the winner of that friday game and if i am a thunder fan i'm hoping for the

lakers to beat the pelicans on tuesday night for most teams the pelicans are a scary matchup as a

seven eight seed but the thunder are one and three versus the lakers this year with that one win

coming all the way back in november chad homegrin has been incredible on the defensive end this year

but I think he's too small for Anthony Davis. Plus they don't have anyone with enough lanky size

to guard LeBron. Their best perimeter defender, Lou Dort, is only just 6'4"

which means they'll probably put Jalen Williams on him. I'm curious if Josh Giddey is going to get played

off the floor in any of these playoff series. He can't shoot. My guess is guys like Kaysen Wallace, Isaiah Joe

and Aaron Wiggins are going to get more run than Josh Giddey in the playoffs here

But no matter who the opponent is, they're going to be favored in this series. As a Thunder fan, I wouldn't be too concerned about it

but there is just something about getting that first playoff series win out of the way and then focusing on a deep run potentially to the finals

Last thing on the Thunder, I said this a month ago, if SGA got the one seed, he should be the MVP

Dude averaged 36 and 5.5 plus two steals a game on 63.6 true shooting

and he beat out Jokic, albeit by a tiebreaker. He beat out Jokic in the Western Conference

I don't know, man. The MVP race this year is just absolutely ludicrous. I can make a case for any of

the top four guys, even though Jokic is heavily favored. I think it's a lot closer of a race than

others do. The two seed in the West, we just brought them up. The Denver Nuggets led by Nikola Jokic

the reigning NBA champions. They actually won four more games this season than they did last

season when they were the one seed. It just goes to show how tough the West is this year. They will

matchup against the winner of the 7-8 play-in game on Tuesday night between the New Orleans Pelicans

and the Los Angeles Lakers. If I'm Denver, give me the Lakers. They're 3-0 versus them this year

Jokic matches up much better with Anthony Davis than anybody on the Thunder. Plus, the Pelicans

are just one of those teams that I think could cause some matchup problems for Denver with their

small ball they play. However, let's be honest, the Denver Nuggets are the favorites to repeat

as champions as of now. They have the best player in the NBA. The roster is very similar from last

season's championship team. Point guard Jamal Murray has dealt with some injuries again this

season playing just 58 games. They are going to need him if they want to repeat. He turns it up

a notch in the playoffs. Look at the splits from last season, regular season, to the playoffs

and even back in the bubble in 2020. He has a reputation of just getting to a different level

once a playoff series hits. I also want to point out that Michael Porter Jr

played 81 games this season which is incredible for a guy who has been riddled by injuries since he was 18 years old Second year players Christian Brown and Peyton Watson are going to be massive for them off the bench

in all of these playoff series that they play. Correct that they are the second favorites

to win the finals behind the Boston Celtics at plus 165. Bottom line, Denver is the team to beat in the West

We'll see if someone like Oklahoma City, the Minnesota Timberwolves, even maybe the Mavericks or the Suns can do it, but it is going to be a tall order

At the three seed, we have the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that spent a majority of the

season as the one seed. They lost Carl Anthony Towns for the last month or so of the regular

season. Anthony Edwards has been incredible. He finishes seventh on the NBA MVP ladder at just

22 years old. He is also someone, if you look at his playoff stats, rises in the playoffs. He

averaged 31 and a half points per game in that 1-8 Denver Nuggets series last year. They lost in

five, but they did not have Nas Reed or Jaden McDaniels. Minnesota is going to come into this

playoffs full strength. Cat is back. Rudy Gobert is the defensive player of the year. He's in tip

top shape as good as ever. Nas Reed probably going to win sixth man of the year. You have

Nikhil Alexander Walker, one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, according to dunksandthrees.com

and of course a veteran guard in mike conley who shoots over 40 from three and carl anthony towns

problem is this timberwolves team as incredible and historic of a season it has been they've never

won this many games in franchise history since 2004 when they won 58 with mvp kevin garnett the

last couple weeks of the season was rough for them they fell all the way to the three seed but not

only that with a loss to the phoenix suns in their final game they now match up versus the phoenix

Suns in a 3-6 Western Conference matchup, and they have not beaten the Phoenix Suns this year

They've went 0-3 versus them. Not once have they been within 10 points in the second half in any of

those games. You could make an argument the first game back in November was the second night of a

back-to-back. The second game, Carl Anthony Towns was out, and the third game, it was his second

game back. You could also make the argument the regular season doesn't really matter in the NBA

that every series is its own chess match. Chris Finch and company have a week

to change their matchups, change their rotations, and find a way to attack the Suns team

But at the same time, as a Timberwolves fan, this is by far the worst matchup

we could have drawn in the first round. The Suns play Kevin Durant at the four

It's super hard for us to play both Carl Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert with that type of lineup

And the Suns' game plan has pretty much just been to make Ant pass the ball and let everyone else beat you

which has worked out well for Phoenix. To make matters worse, let's say you get through a Sun Series in six or seven games

You have the Denver Nuggets awaiting you with home court over you

Just an absolute nightmare scenario for the Timberwolves, a team that led the Western Conference

a majority of the season. At the fourth seed, we have the Los Angeles Clippers

They were the hottest team in the NBA from November through early February

even snagged the number one seed on February 6th, sitting at 34 and 14 after starting off three and seven

Unfortunately, they went 17 and 15 the rest of the way, finishing 51 and 30 as the four seed

You have proven veteran playoff performers in Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden

And this may be LA's last chance to really do something with this core

James Harden does not have a contract for next season. Paul George has one more year with the player option

And while Kawhi is locked up for a few years to go, each one of these guys is aging into their mid-30s. The X factor for the Clippers, obviously

Kawhi Leonard, their superstar. He's missed eight straight games with right knee inflammation

the same knee he's had multiple injuries on over the past couple years. Kawhi has played the most

games this year since 2016. The problem for the Clippers the past couple seasons in the playoffs

has always been, is Kawhi going to be healthy? He missed the entire 2022 playoffs. Last year

he played in just two games of that first round Phoenix series. And in those games, he averaged

34 and a half points per game on 60% from three, 54.5% from the field. Bottom line, if the Clippers

want to have a chance versus the 5C Dallas Mavericks, who will preview in a second, they need

a healthy Kawhi Leonard. As a basketball fan, I hope he's healthy. I really do. I want to see

a fully healthy Clippers face off against this Mavericks team. Speaking of Dallas, they got the

five seed they have been the hottest team in the nba over the past 20ish or so games going 16 and

2 in their last 18 with shockingly the number one defense in the nba in efficiency over that span

that's not including yesterday's game where they completely arrested everybody and got blown out by

the thunder the moves they made at the trade deadline shipping out grant williams acquiring

daniel gafford and pj washington may very well have saved their season it's also massive for them

Kyrie Irving has been healthy a majority of the games since the new year, which has allowed Kyrie

and Luka to have more time to gel together, learn how to play together, and really just develop

continuity. Speaking of Luka, he is having an absolutely absurd season, averaging 33.9 points

per game, 9.8 assists, and 9.2 rebounds, 38% from three on a whopping 10.6 attempts per game

with a 61.7 true shooting percentage. Everyone's been so up and down on Dallas this season

but it looks like they're finally figuring it out. And to give them credit

they needed a little time to do so, which they finally have gotten. It is a great time to be a Dallas Mavericks fan

The momentum is there. The spirits are at an all time high

And a lot of those fans believe they can make a run to the Western Conference Finals

potentially challenging the Denver Nuggets for a spot in the NBA Finals

The sixth seed in the West, the Phoenix Suns. Again, a team that is incredibly scary

They probably have the best offensive trio in the NBA in Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal

Unfortunately, these guys have been injured here and there throughout the year

and didn't have that many games to play together. And the Suns have pretty much bet their entire future

on this trio working out. They don't own their own first round pick until 2030

About 68% of their entire payroll is spent on these three players

So even though they are a sixth seed, there's a lot of pressure on Phoenix to perform in

these playoffs. Kevin Durant is not getting any younger. He's 35 years old and a lot of money and future assets are tied up in this team's core

Like I said, hard matchup for the Timberwolves. There's something about the Suns that makes it extremely hard to play

Either way, this should be a fun series. And now we get into the four play-in teams in the West

We'll go quickly through these teams because I'll be doing recap videos on the play-in

throughout this week before the actual playoff start at the seven seed we have the new orleans

pelicans this is a team that was a five seed for a long time in the second half of the season brandon ingram returned for the season finale after missing 12 games with a left knee contusion A great sign for the Pelicans They need him if they want to make it out of this play

and potentially win a series. I'm super excited to see what a playoff Zion Williamson

looks like. I have some concerns with a lack of shooting in the playoffs

but Zion has shown a relentless ability to get to the rim no matter what

This Pelicans team is sixth in the entire NBA in net rating at plus 4.6

They also have the fourth best three-point percentage in the entire NBA

They don't shoot tons of them, but look for guys like Herb Jones and Trey Murphy to be

massive role players in a Pelican successful playoff run this year. Like we said, they take on the Lakers in the 7-8 play-in game

Winner gets the 7th seed and gets to face the Denver Nuggets. The Pels drop the season series 1-2-2

And then, of course, the 8th seed Los Angeles Lakers. This was a team that was looking pretty rough midway through January at 19 and 21

Darvin Ham could not figure out which lineups would work and what players to play certain minutes

But since then, they've went 27 and 14. LeBron James is playing unbelievably

Over his last 15 games, he's averaging 27.7 points per game on an absurd 46% from three

59.8% from the field, averaging 9.5 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game. His 63.8 true shooting

percentage is his best in his career since his 2014 season in Miami at 29 years old. LeBron is

now 39, by the way. Give me the Lakers over the Pelicans in this one. And briefly, the 9 and 10

seeds. These are two teams that have to win against each other in order to have a chance to play for

the eighth seed on Thursday. The Kings have struggled this year. Last season, they were the

three seed and now they are down at the 10. But if you look, they've only lost three more games

than last season. That's just how good the West is. They've lost two key role players in Malik

Monk and Kevin Herter for the rest of the regular season. Monk was the odds on favorite to win

sixth man of the year this year. And one of those guys that can go off for 30 in a playoff game

Center DeMontis Sabonis has put up 19.4, 8.2 assists, and 13.7 rebounds per game

leading the league in triple doubles. Yes, even over Luka. They have split the season series

versus Golden State this year, two to two, but honestly, I think I'm going to take Golden State

in this one. At the 10 seed, the Golden State Warriors. Like the Lakers, the Warriors also

seemed dead in the water in early February. They were 21 and 25, but then they would finish the

regular season 24 and 11. With Chris Paul this season, the Warriors are 33 and 25. And with

Draymond Green, they are 33 and 22. As much love as rookies Brandon Pajemski and Trace Jackson

Davis have gotten this season, which don't get me wrong, they've gotten a lot and they deserve

all of it. The savvy vets in Draymond Green and Chris Paul have been massive to the Warriors

turnaround. I'll take the Warriors in this 9-10 matchup. I just think the Kings are deflated

especially when you lose a guy like Malik Monk. Plus the Warriors somehow have depth now. Then in

the eight seed game that takes place on Thursday between the Warriors and the Pelicans, give me the

New Orleans Pelicans, which would officially set our NBA playoff bracket. I'll give my official

predictions for the first round of the NBA playoffs in my final play in tournament recap video. That

does it for the Western Conference. Now let's head over to the East. In the Eastern Conference

the Boston Celtics have the number one seed with 64 wins on the season. They've been far and away

the best team in the entire NBA from start to finish, which got me wondering when's the last

time a team won 64 games in the NBA? And it was the 2021-2022 Phoenix Suns. They also went 64 and

18, but before then it hadn't been since the 2017-2018 Houston Rockets who went 65 and 17

They have the league's number one ranked offense in efficiency rating and the number two defense

giving them a league leading net rating of plus 11.7, which is so far and away better than second

place, the Oklahoma City Thunder at plus 7.3. The Celtics also have the second best three point

percentage in the NBA, but what makes them different than any other team in the top five

is that they shoot the most attempts per game from three as well at 42.5, which is insanely

impressive i mean this starting lineup for the celtics is just ridiculous you have jason tatum

averaging 27 points per game eight rebounds five assists jalen brown averaging 23 points per game

drew holiday one of the best perimeter defenders in the nba derrick white the best glue guy and

even better perimeter defender and chris stapps for zingas who's averaging 20 points per game

at seven foot two then you have guys off the bench like sam hauser who's shooting six three

pointers a game at 42 percent al horford four threes a game at 42 percent as well and peyton

pritchard 4.6 attempts per game 38 percent the celtics will look to make it back to the nba finals

they made it there in 2022 with losing six to the golden state warriors and last season they would

lose in seven games to the eight seed miami heat in the eastern conference finals if you're a

celtics fan it's feeling like this is your season at the two seed in the east we have the new york

Knicks who finished the regular season 50 and 32. The Knicks season has been a weird one. They

started off if he made an incredible trade for OG Ananobi from the Toronto Raptors shipping out

Emmanuel Quickly and RJ Barrett and it went masterfully for them. They were the best team

in the NBA in January but then OG got hurt. But it wasn't just OG. Julius Randle went down as well

at a similar time, their second leading scorer at 24 points per game. And last week, it was sadly

announced that he would miss the rest of the regular season with that shoulder injury. Thankfully

for the Knicks, OG returned on April 5th. They made some other moves at the trade deadline for

guys like Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks. But the biggest reason they've been able to sustain

with all of this bad injury luck is because Jalen Brunson is playing like a borderline

MVP. Since OG and Julius Randall went down on January 29th, Jalen Brunson is averaging 31.5

points per game, 7.1 assists, shooting 48% from the field, 37% from three, which is good for second

in the NBA behind only Luka Doncic. And miraculously, he has been able to keep pace for the

Knicks going 21-12 in those games. But an even crazier stat than that is that with OG and Inobi

in the lineup the knicks are a whopping 20 and 3 his on off plus minus is plus 16.5 which if he

played enough games would be second in the nba behind nicole jokic og being healthy for this next team even with randall out is massive for a playoff run They have some other cool pieces I mean Isaiah Hartenstein has been

incredible on defense. He's in the 100th percentile, second in defensive EPM on dunksandthrees.com

Deuce McBride has been an awesome backup point guard and has really started to grow into a nice

role player. And then Dante DiVincenzo is a player that you just know is going to score 30

in one of these games in the playoffs. Josh Hart will do all the dirty work

Mitch Robb is back as a backup center. The only problem I have with the Knicks

is who they may be playing in the first round. We'll get to this more later

but the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers are playing in the 7-8 play-in game

The winner plays the New York Knicks. We all know what the Heat did last year

as an eight seed making the NBA Finals. And the Sixers were a three seed

before Joel Embiid got hurt. Whoever the Knicks play, they're going to have to earn it to make it out of the first round. At the three seed, we have the

Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee went just three and eight down the stretch, allowing the Knicks to

snag the two seed. But what's much worse is that Giannis hurt his calf on April 9th versus the

Celtics in a non-contact injury. Thankfully, he avoided an Achilles injury and just strained his

calf. However, that was just five days ago. The Bucks play their first playoff game in about a

weak, which means Giannis has about that amount of time to recover from this injury. I don't know

how he does that. I'm not a doctor. It looks like the reports are he is working around the clock to

recover from this left calf strain. The Bucs are four and five without him. I'm sorry. They do not

stand a chance even in the first round versus the Pacers without Giannis. He was having a historic

season, the first ever to average 30, 11, and six on incredible efficiency as well. Hopefully he

recovers i would love to see a fully healthy milwaukee bucks in the playoffs and they're gonna

need him because they lost the season series to their opponent the indiana pacers at the fourth

seed we have the cleveland cavaliers a team who has also dealt with injuries this season on march

8th they were 41 and 22 and would finish 48 and 33 going just 7 and 11 down the stretch of the

regular season with donovan mitchell missing 10 of those games with a knee injury and only playing

in 11 of 29 since the all-star break in those games they are just 12 and 16 big man evan mobley

has missed 33 games this season with darius garland their point guard missing 23 as well

when mitchell mobley and garland are at full strength this team is one of the best defenses

in the league and in 29 games this year together they've been 19 and 10 they have the seventh best

defensive rating in the league and it's going to be a battle versus their opponent the orlando

Magic who is known for their defense as well. The Magic were just 34 and 48 last season. Two

seasons ago, they had the number one overall pick where they selected Paolo Boncaro who now has a

chance in this series, his playoff debut to ascend to rising star status. You have Jalen Suggs

the fifth overall pick from 2021 who has turned into a lockdown defender. I'm excited to see him

in the playoffs. Every team needs a Jalen Suggs. And then lastly, their X-Factor, Jonathan Isaac

He has been riddled by injuries in his career, but this season, he is the best defender on

dunksandthrees.com in defensive EPM. These guys split their season series two to two. It's going

to be a fun one. At the sixth seed, the Indiana Pacers, we mentioned them earlier. They're facing

the Milwaukee Bucks with or without Giannis. The Pacers made a huge acquisition at the trade

deadline this year acquiring star wing from the raptors pascal siakam the path to success for this

pacers team is going to be to outscore everybody they have the second best offense in the nba in

offensive rating and the 24th ranked defense on march 9th they were delivered a blow as sixth man

benedict mathrin was announced out for the season with a shoulder injury they're going to miss him

in the playoffs but the story of this pacers team is 23 year old point guard tyrese halliburton

and he's averaging 20 points per game and 10.9 assists. He was pretty much a lock for all NBA

up until injuring his hamstring on January 8th, where he would then miss 10 of 11 games

Up until that injury, he was averaging 23.6 points per game, shooting 8.4 threes per game and hitting 40% of them

while averaging 12.5 assists. Since returning from that injury until the end of the regular season

he only averaged 16.8 points per game, shot 32.4% from three on seven attempts per game

and only 9.3 assists. It's tough, man. People like to say that Tyrese just had a hot November

and December, but I truly believe this injury to his hamstring is still bothering him. If the

Pacers can get that Tyrese pre-hamstring injury in the playoffs, I think they can make a run

But without it, I just don't see how they do anything outside of beating a Giannis-Lis Bucks team

And that brings us to the play-in teams for the East. We will briefly go through them as we will be recapping them on Thursday

First off, the 7-seed Philadelphia 76ers. Not much to say here, except that the Sixers were the 3-seed

When reigning MVP Joel Embiid tore his meniscus, he is officially back

And this is why if you're the Knicks, you'd much rather have been the 3-seed or the 4-seed

You still get home court, but do not have to play a Sixers team that looked like one of the best

teams in the Eastern Conference prior to Embiid's injury. The Sixers play the Heat Wednesday night

with the winner getting the 7th seed. The 8th seed Miami Heat are in almost the exact position

they were last year. They would lose the 7-8 game to the Hawks and then beat the Chicago Bulls

upset the 1 seed Bucs, and make it all the way to the NBA Finals. In 2022, they would make the

Eastern Conference Finals. This team knows how to play in the playoffs. Although Jimmy Butler is

experiencing a little bit of an efficiency dip over the regular season, we know the type of player

he turns into in the playoffs. And fortunately for the Heat, even if they lose to the Sixers in the

7-8 game, the 9 and 10 teams are the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks. Both teams 7-8 games under

500. They should win that game if nothing else. I do have the Sixers defeating the Heat in the 7-8

game and the heat defeating the hawks in the 9-10 which means jimmy butler will have to do the

impossible defeat the 64 win boston celtics in the first round that does it for this recap video guys

sorry i was a little brief towards the end here we're getting to where it's too long of a video

plus we'll cover these playing teams more in the recap videos if you're watching and you don't like

the nba hopefully these videos will make you enjoy it a little more as always subscribe comment join

the discord we'll be doing a watch party in there for every single play in game and as always

thanks for watching and we'll see you on the hardwood