2017 NBA Playoffs

[Troublemaker]

Let's get this thread rolling.

1st-round matchups are below. Dukies are listed in blue. UNC players are listed in red for those interested in that. (Didn't want to use the vomit-inducing blue.)

Minutes per game for each player are also shown. Where there's a tilda (~), I'm guesstimating minutes for deep bench players since playoff rotations tend to be shorter.

Up top, there's a poll to pick your two Finals participants. Choose ONE East team and ONE West team. Will we see Cavs-Warriors for the 3rd consecutive year?

Let me know if any mistakes or omissions.


EAST


1 Boston Celtics - Tyler Zeller (~3 mpg), Co-Owner Stephen Pagliuca
vs
8 Chicago Bulls


4 Washington Wizards
vs
5 Atlanta Hawks - Mike Dunleavy (15.8 mpg), Ryan Kelly (~0 mpg), Co-Owner Grant Hill


3 Toronto Raptors
vs
6 Milwaukee Bucks - John Henson (~15 mpg), Jabari Parker (OUT for season)


2 Cleveland Cavaliers - Kyrie Irving (35.1 mpg), Dahntay Jones (~0 mpg)
vs
7 Indiana Pacers - Assistant Coach David McClure



WEST


1 Golden St Warriors - James Michael McAdoo (~3 mpg)
vs
8 Portland Trail Blazers - Ed Davis (OUT for season)


4 Los Angeles Clippers - JJ Redick (28.2 mpg), Austin Rivers* (27.8 mpg), Raymond Felton (21.3 mpg), Brice Johnson (~0 mpg)
vs
5 Utah Jazz - Rodney Hood (27.1 mpg), Head Coach Quin Snyder, Assistant Coach Antonio Lang


3 Houston Rockets
vs
6 Oklahoma City Thunder - Kyle Singler** (~0 mpg), Basketball Operations Coordinator Amanda Green


2 San Antonio Spurs - Danny Green (26.7 mpg), Assistant Coach Chip Engelland
vs
7 Memphis Grizzlies - Vince Carter (24.7 mpg), Brandan Wright (16.0 mpg)


* Austin will be returning from a strained hamstring. He's targeting Game 3 or 4 of the first-round series against Utah.
** Kyle will be back out of the rotation unless OKC wings McDermott and Abrines get injured again.

[Troublemaker]

Poll software only allows a maximum of 15 choices.

So, obviously, if you choose the Spurs to advance to the NBA Finals, you get the Grizzlies as well. (And vice versa).

[Reilly]

What happened to Bob Bender and Memphis? Saw articles from last August that he was hired as an assistant, but then didn't see him listed as a coach on their site.

[Troublemaker]

What happened to Bob Bender and Memphis? Saw articles from last August that he was hired as an assistant, but then didn't see him listed as a coach on their site.

Yeah, that's weird that he's not listed on the site. However, Bob IS listed in the game notes (pdf) for the Spurs series.

So, great catch, Reilly. The Grizzlies have a little bit of Duke in them, too.

[Troublemaker]

From a rooting-for-Dukies-to-win-the-Finals perspective, if one cares about such a thing, it looks like Kyrie and Dahntay are our best bet again. Cleveland has looked sooooo bad down the stretch of the regular season, but maybe they can flip a switch for the playoffs again. The Cavs were maybe lucky to have avoided the Bulls in the first round since Chicago swept them in the regular season. Hopefully Cleveland can get their mojo going again by playing well and making it an easy series win against the Pacers.

The most interesting 1st-round series from a Duke perspective is Clips-Jazz. (It may also be the most interesting / competitive series from a basketball perspective as well.) The two Duke-iest teams out West will slug it out. Not sure whom I'll be rooting for yet.

[Indoor66]

The Heat missed the playoffs but it was a tale of two 1\2 seasons: 1st half = 11 & 30; 2nd half = 30 & 11!

Quite a turn around.

[flyingdutchdevil]

The most surprising thing I've read on DBR in months: DAVID MCCLURE IS AN ASSISTANT COACH FOR THE PACERS?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?! Did not see that coming at all. Wow! Great for him.

Color me impressed that all these non-NBA Dukies are taking over the NBA (McClure, Synder, etc).

[sagegrouse]

The most surprising thing I've read on DBR in months: DAVID MCCLURE IS AN ASSISTANT COACH FOR THE PACERS?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?! Did not see that coming at all. Wow! Great for him.

Color me impressed that all these non-NBA Dukies are taking over the NBA (McClure, Synder, etc).

You may bot have seen the article cited in this DBR thread. It is a very motivating article about Dave McClure.

[Reilly]

... The Grizzlies have a little bit of Duke in them, too.

In addition to Bender, apparently their physical therapist and counsel have Duke ties, too:
http://www.nba.com/.element/media/2...Guide_1617.pdf

(Stumbled on that by searching Duke in the media guide, looking to see if Tony Barone was still involved with them.)

[superdave]

I would be a little surprised if we dont have a three-peat of the Finals between the Cavs and Warriors. I know the Spurs will get some looks, but the reigning conference champs know how to turn it on when they need to, and I would expect things to play out that way.

Isaiah Thomas and Kawhi would have to play out of their minds, which is certainly possible, to win a 7-game series against either.

[DukeTrinity11]

Shooting coach legend Chip Engelland is a former Duke player...WHATTTTTT???????

It's really true, when you graduate from Duke, you are set for life. #blessed

[Troublemaker]

Cleveland signed Dahntay for the playoffs for his locker room presence:

"I think what Dahntay is is the voice we needed in the locker room," general manager David Griffin said Wednesday. "My fault. I think we underestimated the amount that really mattered. He was a big part of what we did in the playoffs because there was never any slippage. No matter who you are Dahntay is going to make it clear that you're not holding up your end of the bargain. We missed that."

[HK Dukie]

Cleveland signed Dahntay for the playoffs for his locker room presence:

"I think what Dahntay is is the voice we needed in the locker room," general manager David Griffin said Wednesday. "My fault. I think we underestimated the amount that really mattered. He was a big part of what we did in the playoffs because there was never any slippage. No matter who you are Dahntay is going to make it clear that you're not holding up your end of the bargain. We missed that."

Whenever I hear about Dahntay I just feel the need to do some pushups. Can't figure out why

[JNort]

I see only 3 possible teams. Cavs in the east and Spurs or Warriors out west. The east is a joke and I see no way the GOAT doesn't make it out and roll into another finals. The West though is gonna be tough, even the Grizz have the fire power to beat some of the top teams.

[NSDukeFan]

I see only 3 possible teams. Cavs in the east and Spurs or Warriors out west. The east is a joke and I see no way the GOAT doesn't make it out and roll into another finals. The West though is gonna be tough, even the Grizz have the fire power to beat some of the top teams.

I don't think coach K, Bill Russell or Kareem will have any influence on who makes it out of the east.

[Troublemaker]

I would be a little surprised if we dont have a three-peat of the Finals between the Cavs and Warriors. I know the Spurs will get some looks, but the reigning conference champs know how to turn it on when they need to, and I would expect things to play out that way.

Isaiah Thomas and Kawhi would have to play out of their minds, which is certainly possible, to win a 7-game series against either.

I see only 3 possible teams. Cavs in the east and Spurs or Warriors out west. The east is a joke and I see no way the GOAT doesn't make it out and roll into another finals. The West though is gonna be tough, even the Grizz have the fire power to beat some of the top teams.

I think the Raptors, after the addition of Ibaka and PJ Tucker, have a better shot of beating Cleveland than the Spurs have of beating Golden St. Part of that is because the Warriors have such a great team. Plus, the Spurs have to get past the Rockets first, anyway. Toronto and Cleveland should meet in the second round.

[luburch]

I think the Raptors, after the addition of Ibaka and PJ Tucker, have a better shot of beating Cleveland than the Spurs have of beating Golden St. Part of that is because the Warriors have such a great team. Plus, the Spurs have to get past the Rockets first, anyway. Toronto and Cleveland should meet in the second round.

I personally don't see the Raptors as much of a threat. Especially if Lowry isn't healthy.

People can slander the East all they want, but the 6-8 seeds in the west are pretty awful too.

[Troublemaker]

I personally don't see the Raptors as much of a threat. Especially if Lowry isn't healthy.

People can slander the East all they want, but the 6-8 seeds in the west are pretty awful too.

Lowry's been back for 4 games and has looked very good. I kind of like that he's missed some time because I feel like he plays so hard that he's arrived at the playoffs beaten down physically the past few years. That said, Milwaukee's a tough first-round draw potentially, so re-integrating Lowry at this point isn't ideal.

Agreed that the lower seeds in the West aren't very good. We might not have a single first-round series upset this season (i.e. top 4 seeds all advance), which I believe I read in a Kevin Pelton column would be the first time that's happened in over a decade.

[JNort]

I personally don't see the Raptors as much of a threat. Especially if Lowry isn't healthy.

People can slander the East all they want, but the 6-8 seeds in the west are pretty awful too.

I gotta disagree, Thunder or Griz would run through the East if they were on that side. Not including the Cavs obviously

[Troublemaker]

Playoffs about to tip with Cavs/Pacers.

Let's see if Lebron, Kyrie and the Cavs can send a message that the regular season struggles are in the past, and the Playoff Cavs have shown up. Can a switch be flipped?