NBA: HoopsHabit roundtable 2017-18 playoff predictions
The Western Conference
Bourguet picks:
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets
- San Antonio Spurs
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Denver Nuggets
HoopsHabit picks:
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets
- San Antonio Spurs
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Denver Nuggets
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Los Angeles Clippers
The Golden State Warriors have won an average of 70 games over the last three seasons, were one win away from sweeping all three titles and won 67 games last year despite Kevin Durant missing 20 games. With everyone back and new bench shooters signed in the offseason, it’s no surprise the Dubs were the consensus 1-seed on all 26 ballots.
Replacing another Texas team at No. 2 is the Houston Rockets, who added another star to their MVP candidate James Harden in Chris Paul, not to mention shored up the defensive end with P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute. Clutch City received 16 votes for the No. 2 spot in the West, and 10 votes for the 3-seed, falling no further than No. 3 on anyone’s ballot.
The San Antonio Spurs failed to improve like their Western brethren this summer, but Kawhi Leonard and Gregg Popovich are enough to keep faith in this undying franchise. The Spurs received 11 votes for the 3-seed, nine votes for the 4 seed and one surprising vote at No. 7, but only got five votes for the 2-seed.
Gaining ground on both the Spurs and Rockets in recent weeks were the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it’s no surprise with the summer general manager Sam Presti had. Adding Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Patrick Patterson to the reigning MVP makes the top four in the West as stacked as ever. OKC got the most votes for the 4-seed with 11, but also received five votes for No. 2, five votes for No. 3, four votes for No. 5 and one vote for No. 6.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves come in at No. 5, because despite the youth of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, both appear poised for career years with the additions of Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague. The Wolves got a whopping 16 votes at No. 5, plus four votes at No. 4, three votes at No. 6 and one vote at No. 8. They were also left off two ballots, however.
This is where the consensus seems to end, which is no surprise considering the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans all appear to be vying for those last three playoff spots out West.
The Nuggets earn the popular vote with 11 votes for the 6-seed, five for the 7-seed, one for the 5-seed and 2 for the 8-seed. Though they were left off seven ballots, that was the lowest exclusion tally among these fringe playoff teams, as the people seem to agree Paul Millsap joining Nikola Jokic will help end the franchise’s four-year postseason drought.
Rip City comes in at No. 7, and despite being left off nine ballots, earned votes as high as the 4-seed (one), 5-seed (two) and 6-seed (two). Most of their votes came at No. 7 (six) and No. 8 (six), but with a fully healthy Jusuf Nurkic, this is one team that feels slept on among this group, which is why they came in at No. 6 on my ballot.
Both the Clippers and Jazz were left off 12 ballots, but Lob City received more votes for the 6-seed (six to one), giving them the slight edge. L.A. also got four votes for the 7-seed and three votes for the 8-seed, while Utah got six for the 7-seed and six for the 8-seed.
It’s a toss-up at this point, but Utah’s stifling defense is still going to struggle to replace Gordon Hayward‘s offense, and people seem to be overlooking how much experience and passing is on this Clippers team if Blake Griffin and Danilo Gallinari can just stay healthy.
Finally, the Pelicans fall well out of the playoff picture. Despite the tandem of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, the supporting cast doesn’t inspire much faith, which is likely why the Pellies only earned one vote at No. 5, two votes at No. 6, two votes at No. 7, four votes at No. 8 and were left off a whopping 17 ballots.
Rounding out the voting the West were the Memphis Grizzlies (one vote for the 7-seed, two votes for the 8-seed and left off 23 ballots), the Los Angeles Lakers (one vote at No. 7, one at No. 8), the Dallas Mavericks (one outlier vote at No. 4) and stunningly, the Phoenix Suns (one vote at No. 8).