Hoops Habit
Fansided

NBA predictions: 2020-21 NBA win-totals predictions revisited

By Duncan Smith

May 18, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Justin Holiday (8) and forward Domantas Sabonis (11) congratulate each other the end of the third quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
May 18, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Justin Holiday (8) and forward Domantas Sabonis (11) congratulate each other the end of the third quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 8
Next
NBA
NBA (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

NBA win-total predictions: Close but no cigar Western Conference (3-6 wins differential)

Dallas Mavericks

Predicted wins: 48
Actual wins: 42
Differential: 6

I was very high on the Dallas Mavericks at the start of the NBA season. However, I underestimated the impact of the season’s quick turnaround on Luka Doncic, who had to come back from Europe on short notice and get back into playing condition after the NBA bubble. They had a slow start and ended up being one of the teams laid low by COVID, but in the end, they salvaged a nice season for themselves. And Donic may again be the favorite for MVP next season.

Denver Nuggets

Predicted wins: 43
Actual wins: 47
Differential: 4

Presumptive MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets have earned the right to never be underestimated again. They’re resilient, talented and they simply never quit. Even when they lost Jamal Murray to a devastating torn ACL, they kept powering through. Michael Porter Jr. has taken a star leap, and Aaron Gordon has endeavored to fill Jerami Grant‘s defensive specialist spot from a year ago. Whatever you think the ceiling on this team is, it’s probably higher.

New Orleans Pelicans

Predicted wins: 36
Actual wins: 31
Differential: 5

Perpetually disappointing, the New Orleans Pelicans desperately wanted to win but couldn’t even sniff the play-in tournament. They fell short of their own expectations, and they certainly fell short of mine as well. On the plus side, Zion Williamson is a spectacular talent and Brandon Ingram is a fantastic second fiddle, but there isn’t enough around them to be even a play-in contender at this point. We’ll see if EVP David Griffin can do something about that with his war chest of draft assets this offseason.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Predicted wins: 27
Actual wins: 23
Differential: 4

It turns out the Minnesota Timberwolves were even worse than I expected, and I expected them to be quite bad. And that’s with a late-season surge where they won three of their last five games and seven of their final 12. They have a talented duo in Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards so you would think the future is bright, but we must temper optimism; these are the Minnesota Timberwolves we’re talking about here.