First Round of the NBA Playoffs: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Every first round series of the NBA playoffs has begun, and the difference between the best series' and the worst is drastic. There are several matchups that could go down as all-timers, and then there are a few that could end up being four straight thirty point blowouts. Here are my predictions for the remainder of the first round.

The Good

Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Clippers

Going into this series most fans probably had the Suns winning pretty easily, and for good reason. Since Kevin Durant joined the Suns at the trade deadline they haven't lost a game with him on the floor, and coming into this series he was healthy and playing. For most of us logical minds the Suns with Durant is the best roster in the league; Kawhi Leonard does not have a logical mind. The Clippers came into game one ready to play, and I think the Suns thought they were going to coast to an easy win. LA didn't even need Paul George to beat the Suns, because Kawhi Leonard in the playoffs could still be considered the best player in the league. Now, do I think the Clippers have a chance to win this series? Not really. If Kawhi doesn't have a career night every night they aren't going to win this series. Is he skilled enough to do that? Sure. However, he isn't durable enough to do it. I think the Suns sheer top heavy power wins them this series at the end of the day; I'm just hoping it remains competitive.

pc: via USA Today

Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors

This will probably be the best series of the first round if the rest of the games looks like the first game did. Talk about incredible basketball, game one of this series was just that. Never in my life have I seen a team survive the kind of Golden State onslaught that we saw in game one until the Kings did just that. This Sacramento team has one of the most dynamic offensive games I've ever seen. They were not worried about stopping the Warriors from scoring in the slightest, they were out there to outscore em', and they accomplished that goal. De'Aaron Fox was the best player on the floor in this game, and it wasn't particularly close. That dude is one of the clutchest players I've ever seen, he's just a hooper's hooper. Golden State played good too, but it just wasn't enough. At first I thought Golden State had a really good shot at winning this series comfortably, but that couldn't be further from the truth. If games are even semi-close going into the fourth quarter the Kings will put themselves in a position to win every time.

pc: via CNN Sports

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat

I am hesitant to put this series in this category, but for the time being I don't think I can put it anywhere else. Why? Because the eight seed Heat won game one. Now, and it's important to remember this, the Bucks are notorious for going down early in a series before becoming the greatest team of all-time. Despite the Heat playing great and winning game one, I still think the Bucks are going to win this series in a relatively easy fashion. Will there be times when Jimmy Butler is the best player on the floor? Yes. Do I think he alone can will this team to victory over a Bucks team that has proven themselves year-in and year-out? No. Giannis is probably still the best player in the world, and eventually that fact is going to rear its head.

New York Knicks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

This will probably be the best first round series in the East, and I think many would have predicted that before the playoffs started. The first game of this series wasn't necessarily great, but it was very competitive, and I think that trend could continue. Both teams had one player play great, and the rest of the dudes on the floor looked like bums. Donovan Mitchell looked like classic playoffs Donovan Mitchell, and Jalen Brunson looked like the all-star he is. Everyone else was pretty mediocre to bad. The Knicks were just good enough to get the win, but my pre-playoffs pick hasn't changed. I think the Cavaliers are a much better team, and for some reason they were just off of their game. They are way deeper, way better at defense, and probably better at offense. Everything points toward Cleveland. However, Mitchell has been known to lead great teams to losses in the playoffs, and I think if they do lose this series he should be under immense heat.

pc: via Yahoo Sports

The Bad

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Los Angeles Lakers

I heard a lot of people saying the first game in this series was a good one and I couldn't disagree more. That game was not good. The first half was good, the second half definitely was not. Anthony Davis acts like his arm is about to fall off of his body before returning to the game in perfect health, which tells me that he's a giant baby. Then Ja Morant actually gets injured after playing a bad game all night and he's out for most of the second half. The Lakers' best player was Rui Hachimura and their second best player was Austin Reaves, and they somehow won. If that isn't an indicator of bad basketball I don't know what is. The only player on either team that was consistently great all night was Jaren Jackson Jr. who isn't exactly the most exciting player to watch. All in all, the first game wasn't great, and that's alright. If these teams can stay healthy and out of foul trouble then this series will be fine, but that's asking a lot of them.

pc: via SBNation

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Brooklyn Nets

This series being bad isn't either of these team's fault, it's more a matter of circumstance. This Brooklyn Nets team would not be in the playoffs if this was the core they ran all year. This is a potential lottery team that somehow made it into the playoffs playing a team with an MVP candidate. The 76ers are going to easily win this series, but the Nets are entertaining enough to keep this series out of the ugly category. At the end of the day this is probably the most forgettable series of the first round, which in my opinion is better than landing under "The Ugly".

The Ugly

Denver Nuggets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

This series may end up being the most lopsided in the first round. At first I thought KAT and Gobert matching up against Jokic would be interesting, but after seeing the beat down that Denver laid down on Minnesota in the first game I can confidently say that I was wrong. This Nuggets team is so much deeper than the T-Wolves it's not even fair. Jokic didn't even have to play extraordinarily well in the first game and they still won by 29. The Nuggets showed that not only is their offense still one of the best in the league, but that their defense is capable of shutting down every player on a playoff team. If I were a Nuggets fan I would sleep tight at night knowing that my team has absolutely no chance of losing in the first round.

pc: via Fox Sports

Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks

This is going to be a certified beat down and an easy sweep. The Celtics are a team that for much of the season looked like the best team in the league and the Hawks are a team that doesn't deserve to be in the playoffs. Boston only won this game by 13 points, but don't let that fool you, they dominated in this game and let the Hawks get back in it in garbage time. The Hawks are going to march out this dysfunctional team every night and get crushed by one of the deepest most well-built teams in the league. Trae Young isn't going to be able to carry them alone, and the only way they will win a game is if players like Dejounte Murray and John Collins play like their lives are on the line.