NBA Playoffs Predictions 2020

About 5 months ago, one had to wonder if the NBA and other sports would be able to host playoffs/championships. The pandemic hit us hard and many of us did not know how lasting its impact would be. The prevailing thought for us spectators was that the rest of the season would be canceled. Not true for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and his team. They did not waver in their attempt to restart the NBA season and for that, they should be commended. The bubble in Orlando has been a rousing success so far as it has set a standard in how you restart a sport with very few incidents of COVID-19 cases. Here we are in mid-August with NBA playoffs starting today with some great matchups for the first round.

We will make this short and sweet (and somewhat shocking) with the predictions.

Eastern Conference 1st Round
Milwaukee over Orlando in 4
Miami over Indiana in 6
Boston over Philadelphia in 6
Toronto over Brooklyn in 5

Eastern Conference Semifinals
Milwaukee over Miami in 5
Boston over Toronto in 7

Eastern Conference Championship
Milwaukke over Boston in 6

Western Conference 1st Round
Portland over LA Lakers in 6 (yes, you read that right)
Houston over Oklahoma City in 6
Denver over Utah in 5
LA Clippers over Dallas in 6

Western Conference 2nd round
Portland over Houston in 7 (yes, you still read that right)
LA Clippers over Denver in 6

Western Conference Championship
LA Clippers over Portland in 6 (Kawhi Leonard and the depth of the Clippers will be too much to handle for this hot Portland team)

NBA Finals
Milwaukee over LA Clippers in 7 (Giannis Antetokounmpo will be the NBA Finals MVP)

Buckle up and enjoy this ride. I am so glad that we can finally watch some meaningful games in a major sport. I will follow up with another article later today explaining why I feel the Portland Trailblazers will upset the Los Angeles Lakers.