3 vs. 6 Seed Predictions
The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks will be looking to repeat as the third seed in the Eastern Conference. They navigated the regular season relatively well, given some of the obstacles they had to face, such as Brook Lopez missing all but 13 games.
Bobby Portis was the only Buck to play in at least 70 games, playing in 72. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday all missed at least 15 games.
But, the Bucks are heading into the postseason as healthy as they have been this season. That spells bad news for their opponents, the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls will be without starting point guard Lonzo Ball, who is dealing with a knee injury.
This will be the most lopsided matchup in the first round. Chicago looked great early in the season but couldn’t sustain it. The Bulls struggled mightily against the upper echelon teams in the regular season, including an 0-4 mark against the Bucks.
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The Golden State Warriors are back in the postseason after a two-year hiatus as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. They look like they will have Stephen Curry in the lineup, which is great news for them.
Their Big 3 played only 11 minutes together this season, the first time all three appeared in a game since the 2019 NBA Finals. They know each other well, so there shouldn’t be much rust to knock off, but they drew a tough matchup in the Denver Nuggets.
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Potential back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic leads Denver. This season, he has been excellent and is good enough to carry the Nuggets through a series. Rumors are floating that Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. could return to the court at some point in the postseason, which would be a considerable boost.
This is a prime spot for Jokic to prove anyone who is saying he doesn’t deserve another MVP wrong. He will lead the Nuggets to an upset with or without Murray and Porter returning.
