Nobody saw the Golden State Warriors’ jump from a fringe playoff team to a historically great team and playoff favorite coming this season. Not even the NBA’s best and brightest experts. The same goes for the Atlanta Hawks, who won a franchise-record 60 games. But after incredible regular seasons, what do these experts see for the two No. 1 seeds, as well as the other 14 teams, in the NBA postseason?
As always, we’ve scoured the internet for the picks and predictions of the top NBA experts for all eight first round series (and then some) and compiled them in one convenient place. Read on as we discuss their picks, and provide some insights as to how these playoffs play out. For a complete list our own NBA picks and predictions, click here.
[sc:NBAArticles ]Experts Predict the 2014-2015 NBA Playoffs
ESPN
The World Wide Leader gathered up 10 of its top hoops analysts and reporters to get their takes on the upcoming NBA playoffs. They were separated into two groups of five – one for each conference – and both groups were more or less on the same wavelength with how each conference shakes out in the first round.
| Expert | Hawks-Nets | Cavs-Celtics | Bulls-Bucks | Raptors-Wizards | East Champ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Arnovitz | Hawks in 5 | Cavs in 5 | Bulls in 6 | Raptors in 7 | Hawks |
| Chad Ford | Hawks in 4 | Cavs in 6 | Bulls in 5 | Wizards in 7 | Bulls |
| Israel Gutierrez | Hawks in 6 | Cavs in 5 | Bulls in 6 | Raptors in 7 | Cavs |
| Brian Windhorst | Hawks in 5 | Cavs in 5 | Bulls in 6 | Raptors in 6/7 | Cavs |
| Ohm Youngmisuk | Hawks in 6 | Cavs in 5 | Bulls in 6 | Raptors in 7 | Cavs |
[sc:NBA240banner ]The East experts were unanimous in picking the Hawks, Cavs and Bulls to reach Round 2. There was no clear consensus as to how many games the No. 1 seed Hawks need to take care of the Nets, but the Cavs and Bulls are expected to win in five and six games, respectively. Meanwhile, all five were in agreement that the Raptors-Wizards series is an evenly-contested one that will likely go the distance. NBA Draft guru Chad Ford, though, is the only one to take the lower-seeded Wizards.
They were also asked to pick their eventual Eastern Conference champs, which brought varied answers. Kevin Arnovitz believes the Hawks can prevail despite the injury to Paul Millsap, while Ford is bullish about the Bulls finally breaking through and making their first post-MJ Finals. But the majority sided with King James to reach his fifth consecutive Finals, and his second ever trip with the Cavs, who are the big -250 favorites to win the East.
| Expert | Warriors-Pelicans | Rockets-Mavs | Clippers-Spurs | Blazers-Grizzlies | West Champ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J.A. Adande | Warriors in 6 | Rockets in 5 | Spurs in 6 | Grizzlies in 5 | Warriors |
| Kevin Pelton | Warriors | Rockets in 6 | Spurs in 7 | Grizzlies | Warriors |
| Ramona Shelburne | Warriors in 5 | Rockets in 6/7 | Spurs in 6 | Grizzlies in 7 | Warriors |
| Marc Stein | Warriors in 5 | Rockets | ? | Grizzlies | Warriors |
| Michael Wallace | Warriors in 4 | ? | ? | ? | Warriors |
Aside from the indecision of Michael Wallace, who wasn’t quite ready to give out his winners, the Western experts were also singing the same tune, with the Warriors, Rockets, Spurs and Grizzlies all making it through in their eyes.
Perhaps the most noteworthy part of this poll was their unanimous backing of the Warriors as the Western Conference champions. The Warriors are coming off a terrific 67-15 season, so it’s not a shock to see them be a popular pick. But it’s a little surprising that no one sees the Spurs, who were playing arguably the best basketball in the league over the last month of the season, make another run at the Finals.
The oddsmakers still believe in the Spurs, though. They’re +350 to defend their title for the first time under the Gregg Popovich-Tim Duncan era.
Yahoo Sports
| Series | Adrian Wojnarowski |
Marc Spears |
Dan Devine |
Kelly Dwyer |
Eric Freeman | Ben Rohrbach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warriors-Pelicans | Warriors in 4 |
Warriors in 5 | Warriors in 5 | Warriors in 5 | Warriors in 5 | Warriors in 5 |
| Rockets-Mavs | Rockets in 7 |
Rockets in 6 |
Rockets in 7 |
Rockets in 5 |
Rockets in 7 |
Mavs in 7 |
| Clippers-Spurs | Spurs in 7 | Spurs in 7 | Spurs in 6 | Spurs in 6 | Clips in 7 | Spurs in 6 |
| Blazers-Grizzlies | Griz in 7 | Griz in 6 | Griz in 7 | Griz in 6 | Griz in 7 | Griz in 6 |
| Hawks-Nets | Hawks in 5 | Hawks in 5 | Hawks in 4 | Hawks in 4 | Hawks in 4 | Hawks in 4 |
| Cavs-Celtics | Cavs in 4 | Cavs in 5 | Cavs in 5 | Cavs in 4 | Cavs in 4 | Cavs in 5 |
| Bulls-Bucks | Bulls in 6 | Bulls in 5 | Bulls in 5 | Bulls in 6 | Bulls in 5 | Bulls in 7 |
| Raptors-Wizards | Raptors in 6 | Raptors in 6 | Raptors in 7 | Wizards in 7 | Wizards in 6 | Wizards in 7 |
| NBA Finals | Warriors over Bulls in 6 | Warriors over Cavs in 7 | Warriors over Cavs in 7 | Cavs over Spurs in 6 | Warriors over Cavs in 7 | Spurs over Cavs in 6 |
Aside from a couple of unique picks – see Mavs in 7 and Clippers in 7 – Yahoo Sports’ stable of NBA staffers were very much in agreement in seven of the eight opening series. However, they were literally split in half over the Raptors-Wizards series, which is emerging as the most difficult series to call.
The Yahoo writers also handed in their NBA Finals picks. The popular combination was the Warriors and Cavs, with all three who made that pairing picking the Warriors in seven games. The two are the odds-on favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy – the Warriors are +200 and the Cavs are +210 – and they would make a pretty awesome and entertaining Finals.
The other popular pair was a Cavs-Spurs final, which would pit LeBron against Tim Duncan and co. for the third straight year. That matchup was chosen twice, with one writer siding with either team in six games.
Josh Martin – Bleacher Report
Bleacher Report lead NBA writer Josh Martin and the Sporting News’ Adi Joseph also saw eye-to-eye in all eight first-round series. The two had some contrasting views about how long most of these series will last, though.
| Hawks-Nets | Cavs-Celtics | Bulls-Bucks | Raptors-Wizards | Warriors-Pelicans | Rockets-Mavs | Clippers-Spurs | Blazers-Grizzlies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawks in 5 |
Cavs in 4 |
Bulls in 5 |
Raptors in 7 |
Warriors in 5 |
Rockets in 7 |
Spurs in 6 |
Grizzlies in 6 |
Martin sees two series – the Raptors-Wizards and the Rockets-Mavericks – going the full seven games. The Mavs will be a particularly dangerous test for the injury-hit No. 2 seed Rockets. Remember: the Mavs also took the eventual champion Spurs to seven games in Round 1 last season.
Adi Joseph – Sporting News
| Hawks-Nets | Cavs-Celtics | Bulls-Bucks | Raptors-Wizards | Warriors-Pelicans | Rockets-Mavs | Clippers-Spurs | Blazers-Grizzlies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawks in 4 |
Cavs in 5 |
Bulls in 4 |
Raptors in 6 |
Warriors in 5 |
Rockets in 5 |
Spurs in 6 |
Grizzlies in 5 |
Meanwhile, Joseph has two sweeps slated in the first round – the Hawks over the Nets and the Bulls over the young Bucks and just two of the eight series going even as far as six games. It’s curious that he sees the West playing out so quickly, with three of the four series ending in just five games. The Rockets-Mavs series in particular feels like it’ll go at least six games.
Top Bet
| Hawks-Nets | Cavs-Celtics | Bulls-Bucks | Raptors-Wizards | Warriors-Pelicans | Rockets-Mavs | Clippers-Spurs | Blazers-Grizzlies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawks in 4 |
Cavs in 5 |
Bulls in 4 |
Wizards in 6 |
Warriors in 5 |
Rockets in 7 |
Clippers in 7 |
Grizzlies in 5 |
And last but not least, we here at Top Bet have also come out with our own interesting set of predictions. We see the East being a dull cakewalk with the Hawks and Bulls bringing out the brooms and the Cavs cruising in five. It’ll be a lot more interesting out West, though, as we foresee at least two series in the Rockets-Mavs and Clippers-Spurs to go the distance.
And because Top Bet likes to stick its neck out with a bold pick from time to time, we’re coming out and predicting the demise of the defending champion Spurs in the first round. The Clips are the hottest team entering the postseason, and their league-best offense is definitely capable of outgunning the Spurs. Someone has to end San Antonio’s run of consecutive finals appearances, so why couldn’t it be the Clips in the first round?
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