How Coronavirus Derailed the Sports World (Part 3)
April 18th should have been the start of one of the greatest events sports has to offer: the NBA Playoffs. But instead, everyone is stuck at home, social distancing with nothing but old re-runs on T.V. As the days keep passing, it’s becoming more and more likely that we never see a champion crowned this season in the NBA, leaving the rest of the season up to imagination. Any person’s prediction could be right. Any wild or crazy theory will never be proven wrong. Instead we are left with endless speculation. And, since there isn’t anything better to do, let’s do some speculation too. Assuming the playoffs started on April 18th and seeding remained the same as it was when the season was postponed, here is how I would have seen the playoffs going down.
Round 2:
1 seed Los Angeles Lakers vs. 4 seed Oklahoma City Thunder
My prediction: Lakers- 4, Thunder- 1
The Thunder are a great team. As mentioned in part one of this series, they are the best team in the league at winning close games. But that doesn’t help much if the games won’t be going down to the wire. With Thunder wing Andre Roberson out for the foreseeable future, the only wing player with the size to guard LeBron James is rookie Luguentz Dort. The Thunder don’t have the right roster to defend a team with two of the best players in the league, especially considering those two players are big men, who can handle the ball on the perimeter. Sure, the Thunder have been great, and a very surprising story, but I think it ends here.
2 seed Los Angeles Clippers vs. 6 seed Houston Rockets
My prediction: Clippers- 4, Rockets- 2
This series would be very fun. The Rockets have been experimenting to see how crazy they can go with their roster, and we have never seen a team like this in the playoffs before. With no true center, the Rockets’ tallest player is 6’5 PJ Tucker. And since he is also their best wing defender, someone even shorter than him will have to guard the Clippers’ center. The Rockets’ only chance of winning this series is being incredibly efficient and explosive offensively. That can work against some teams, but the Clippers have five elite defenders they can use to shut down the Rockets. Not to mention, scoring won’t be a problem for them either, as the Clippers have four player who average over 20 points.
Committed to graduate in 2023, Matthew Swanenburg is a cross-country and track runner in his senior year at Menchville. In his free time, Matthew runs...
