Welcome to my new series, inspired by Charles Barkley "Guarantee" comments... I will give you my different kind of predictions (some will be more risky than the others) for some individual and team performances in series or next few days. Feel free to comment whether you think my Guarantees will be true or false.
I will try to do this twice a week and throw then few Guarantees. We will see how many of them will be correct and you can count your true/false prediction too or make some new ones ;) As it's the start of the playoffs, it will be more Guarantees than in later rounds as a lot more things can be guaranteed or not ;) Let's get started.
Saturday Guarantees
Guarantee #1: As the title of this post says: don't sleep on underdogs! I guarantee (read it with Barkley's voice) that at least two lower seeded teams will win on Saturday (It's bold and I don't trust myself there, but it's all about fun, right Charles? And it could be even bolder: I have a feeling it is going to be Mavs and Heat). [Correct, it turns out to be Dallas and Portland who won on the road in Game 1]
Guarantee #2: Not all superstars will shine! I guarantee that at least one of the Nets member of Big3 will score under 20 points in Game 1. [Not correct, but close as Harden had 21]
Guarantee #3: Feel the heat of the playoffs! I guarantee that at least one player from Miami will make exactly 5 3-pointers in Game 1. [Correct, thanks to Dragic]
Sunday Guarantees
Guarantee #4: Here comes the Suns! I guarantee Phoenix Suns are going to win Game 1 against the Lakers. [Correct, great win Phoenix!]
Guarantee #5: Don't tr(ae)y this! I guarantee Trae Young will have negative plus/minus and will not make more than 3 3-pointers in Game 1. [Not correct, Young had 1 3-pointer, but his plus/minus was 0 (really close to be true)]
Guarantee #6: Joel will excel! I guarantee Embiid will have monster Game 1 against Wizards having at least 30 points & 13 rebounds. [Not correct, due to foul trouble - Embiid played just 30 minutes, still had 30 points, but just 6 rebounds]
Monday Guarantees
Guarantee #7: Don't miss! I guarantee Damian Lillard will not miss any free throw in Game 2 (especially if he doesn't take one ;)). [Not correct, he was 11/13 FT]
Guarantee #8: Don't be denied! I guarantee Jrue Holiday will not be blocked during Game 2. [Correct]
Guarantee #9: We're even now! I guarantee at least in one of MIL-MIA and DEN-POR series we will see 1-1 result after Monday's games. [Correct, Den-Por is tied]
1st round Guarantees
Guarantee #10: Nothing easy! I guarantee there will be no more than one sweep in the first round of the playoffs. [Correct, only Bucks swept Heat]
Guarantee #11: Additional basketball! I guarantee there will be at least two games with overtime in whole first round of the playoffs. [Correct, OT games: Bucks-Heat Game 1, Denver-Portland Game 5]
Guarantee #12: Not over yet! I guarantee there will be at least 4 teams who win their first elimination game. [Not correct - only Wizards and maybe LAC won first elimination game]
Don't sleep as there will be more Guarantees! What are your predictions - which Guarantees you think will be true? And what do you think about this concept of series for this playoffs? Let me know in the comments :)
Mavs getting G1, that’s half of the underdog prediction.
ReplyDeleteTrae Young I think will shine (even on a loss). Everyone thinks he’ll have first playoffs jitters. They’ll lose the series, but will make the world notice. No better stadium to do it than the Madison Square Garden
I also pick Mavs to win today ;) with Trae in this prediction he can still has really nice game (but with 3 or less 3's and with negative plus/minus) to make this true :) but I feel like he will not be great in his playoff debut, but later he will be better in that series ;)
DeleteI forgot how many Mavs fans we had on this blog LOL. I also love the Mavs do add me to the bunch. Also I hate the Clips so bring on the Dallas parade!
DeleteGuarantee #1: The Clippers will screw up. If not against the Mavs, then against the Jazz.
ReplyDeleteGuarantee #2: Paul George will still not be the playoff-player he should be, not as good as the regular-season player he is. That´s part of guarantee #1.
Guarentee #3: Barring an untimely injury (or three) the Lakers will play in the conference finals. Just not against the Clippers.
Guarantee #4: If Kristaps Porzingis can stay on the court for the next few weeks the Mavs will face the Lakers in these playoffs. It will be an epic Doncic - James battle with homecourt for the Mavs. Dirk Nowitzki will watch the games with pure joy.
Guarantee #5: Giannis will eat the Heat alive. He will not be stopped by them twice in a row.
Guarantee #6: I don´t see anybody in the East winning a series against the Nets. Nobody to beat them four times in seven tries. If they stay healthy, of course.
Guarantee #7: Nobody cares who wins the newbie-series between the Knicks and the Hawks. They will be swept in the conference semifinals anyway.
Guarantee #8: Health will decide the conference finals between the 76ers and the Nets.
Guarantee #9: I don´t like the Hall-of-Fame-Nets. Therefore they will win it all.
Guarantee #10: I will screw up a lot of picks. That´s what I am here for, after all.
Nice bold predictions for whole playoffs :D I think some of them will become true, #10 should not be the only one ;)
DeleteGreat guarantees Alex! #9 is exactly how I feel LOL. And although I originally thought highly of the Heat (because they’re, well, well-coached) I do agree with #5 & maybe it’s wishful thinking to defend my Jokic pick today & pick a Heat player on Monday. But ya, Bucks will get it done.
DeleteGuarantee #7, truer words have never been spoken before!
DeleteI already own one of my guarantees. Of course it´s #10 :(
DeleteI mentioned it before, after the Play-In-Games I was already 60 points behind the leader. I followed that with a Porzingis pick (tied Maxi KLEBER for worst of the starting five, in a road win) and the wrong choice of Westbrook or Beal. I picked the triple double machine for 35 and passed on Beal for 49. To add insult to injury, I planned on picking Trevor Booker in FP but managed to pick Westbrook there, too. Messed up my own notes, saw Westbrook and chose him in both games (google and FP), I hate that. Especially because he was the bad choice. If it had been Beal in both games, then great. Like this, ugh...
Alex you've had some bad luck man! And LOL re: Trevor Booker. You obviously meant Devin Booker, but I remember that guy!!
DeleteYeah, Trevor "no looker" Booker - this shot is why I remebered him ;) and also he was nice role player...
DeletePicks.NBA.com
ReplyDeleteNBA has a Bracket game.
Pick the Winners
of each series
& how many games.
+ Pick over/unders
for each game.
Good Luck in Playoffs!
Have a good 1
Here is link to public group
Delete'Drive 2 The Finals'
https://picks.nba.com/bracket-challenge/groups/16288?iid=bracket-challenge-game-share-via-copy?cid=nba:pickem:bracket-challenge:institutional:game-share-via-copy:groupinvite
Looks like someone else made one also and it has one more participant so I'll just delete mine from the other thread and made & link the one above on the home page. Thx "unknown"!
DeleteIt was a (not)guaranteed, but it was good start for guarantees as I've got 2/3 right and one overtime happens which is half way for Guarantee #10 to be correct.
ReplyDelete