By DaVince “Dino” Wright
It’s round 2 of the 2021 NBA Playoffs and it’s becoming more and more serious from game to game. One might think, “The first round was serious, why now!” The second round, of the playoffs leads to the conference finals. This year Utah is the strongest team in the Western Conference while the Brooklyn Nets are the favorites in the Eastern Conference. Let’s take a look at both conferences 2nd round match ups.
Milwaukee Bucks vs Brooklyn Nets – Nets Leads Series 1-0
Brooklyn walked away with an 8 point win Saturday at home. Kevin Durant finished with 29 points while losing James Harden with a hamstring injury in the first quarter. Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a game high 34 points in the loss. This series will be closer than anyone has predicted. I’ll give my prediction after Game 3 in this series.
Atlanta Hawks vs Philadelphia 76ers – Series 0-0
76ers Head Coach Doc Rivers has something to prove. Remember he’s the same guy that taken the Clippers to the playoffs and has failed to get them over the hump. He will be the key in this series. 76ers Center Joel Embiid is injury-prone and if he’s healthy the Hawks are in big trouble. Atlanta’s Head Coach Nate McMillian has a chance to prove that the Hawks can beat the 76ers and move into the conference finals with a team full of young, inexperienced players.
Denver Nuggets vs Phoenix Suns – Series 0-0
This series will be headlined as “Chris Paul, the giant killer!” Yeah I said it. Suns point guard Chris Paul (State Farm commercial pitch man) is leading one of the youngest team in the NBA into the lion’s den to take on Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jovic. Denver is bigger and more physical than the Suns, but that means nothing when you have a leader that has skills distributing the ball and scoring at key points of the game. I’ll give my prediction after Game 2 of this series.
Utah Jazz vs Dallas Mavericks / LA Clippers – Series 0-0
Utah is laying in wait for the winner of the Mavericks / Clippers series. This series match up will be the one to watch in the West.
