There is never a shortage of storylines in the NBA Playoffs, and this year we’ve got our fair share of injuries, upsets, controversy and more. Here are five burning questions that we’re asking today:
1. How good are the Warriors without Stephen Curry?
It’s crazy to write this, especially if you consider my answer to the next question (they call that a teaser in the biz) but I think the Warriors are going to be fine without the MVP and best player in the league. Seriously.
The Warriors will miss Curry’s shooting and leadership, but they have capable to very good ball handlers in Shaun Livingston, Andre Iguodala, Brandon Rush, Leandro Barbosa and Klay Thompson. Any of those guys can generate offense, and they still have Draymond Green, who is a fantastic creative force out of the pick-and-roll.
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The Rockets are also a mess, so the Warriors should take care of business. Livingston and Iguodala will step up, Thompson will pick up his scoring, and they’ll win the series. I also like their chances against a Paul-less Clippers team or the Blazers, whoever comes out of that series, which is suddenly wide open. Speaking of…
2. Can the Clippers survive without Chris Paul?
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Maybe this series, but I think any chance the Clippers had to make a shock run at the NBA Finals ended with the loss of Paul, who suffered a broken bone in his hand on Monday night. The Clippers are just too thin in the backcourt to handle losing their point guard and leader. Presumably Jamal Crawford now steps into the starting lineup, taking their main bench scorer away, and the team will now have to rely heavily on Austin Rivers and Pablo Prigioni, which eesh let me buy you a drink, Clippers fans.
Update: Blake Griffin is out for the playoffs with a quad injury, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blazers backcourt came out and torched them the next two games and wrapped up the thing. This is a disaster for the Clippers.
3. Did this all break perfectly for the Spurs?
I’d say yes, but the Spurs still have to beat Oklahoma City and Stephen Curry could be back for the Western Conference Finals, so no, not really. The Thunder have two of the five best players on planet earth right now, and Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook look totally locked in and, frankly, ticked off.
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The rest of the Thunder team is a mess, but Durant and Westbrook are so good that they can make this a series. I still think the Spurs pull it out, but barely. This feels like a seven-game series to me.
By that time, if the Warriors can hang on against the Clippers or Blazers, it’s entirely possible Curry is ready to return, and the Spurs will still have that mountain to climb. No matter who you are in the West, this isn’t going to be easy.
4. Who is the second-best team in the East?
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Uhhhhh, I guess the Atlanta Hawks? I don’t even know right now. The Raptors have looked great in two games against the Pacers and gotten blown out in the other two. The Heat looked like they were playing the best they’ve played all season, then lost two straight to the Hornets.
The Hawks have lost two in a row to the Boston Celtics, but those games relied on Brad Stevens pulling out all the stops, Isaiah Thomas becoming a 5-foot-9 fireball, and a bunch of other wonky stuff happening. So I guess the Hawks are the second-best team in the East right now, but I still could totally see them losing this series. The East is confusing. Three series remain tied 2-2, and while I give a slight edge to the Hawks and Heat in their respective series, I have no idea any more. Any of these six teams can advance.
5. Can anyone stop the Cavaliers in the East?
Though it doesn’t look like it right now, I think the Hawks and the Heat can both give the Cavaliers trouble. The Hawks are good 1-5 and present a few nightmarish matchups for the Cavaliers, especially on the block. The Heat are different in that they’ve found a great offense in this rejuvenated new small-ball lineup with Joe Johnson. You wouldn’t think this would work against Cleveland, as going small tends to favor the Cavaliers, who can play LeBron James at the four and Kevin Love at the five and just shoot from everywhere.
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But the Heat aren’t afraid of James, they have Justise Winslow who can defend anybody, and you know Dwyane Wade has a couple old-school games in him where he’ll go to the line 20 times in a night. I think either of those teams could make a series interesting against the Cavaliers … but I still favor Cleveland. They should come out of the conference for another shot at a title. From there, who knows? We’ll have more questions to answer soon, I’m sure.
Correction: This article originally referred to Jamal Crawford as Jordan Crawford.
