c/o nba.com

With All-Star Weekend at Charlotte coming to a close and only around four weeks left in the NBA season, it’s time to make some predictions for the playoffs! Last week, Emilio Weber ’20, my colleague and fellow sports columnist, detailed some of his predictions for the NBA landscape. Below, I will weigh in on some of my thoughts and point out my disagreements.

Toronto Raptors will top the Eastern Conference. Last week, Weber predicted that the Philadelphia 76ers, fresh from trading for All-Star Jimmy Butler with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Clippers’ Tobias Harris, are favorites to win the East. While there is no doubt that this Sixers team, which also includes Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons, All-Star starter Joel Embiid, and veteran sharpshooter J.J. Redick, are very scary indeed—there is simply no feasible way that the Sixers will get to the NBA Finals in this crowded of an Eastern Conference field.

Keep in mind that heading into the final weeks, the Sixers currently still stand at fifth-seed of the Eastern Conference behind the Celtics, the Pacers, the Bucks, and the Raptors. Assuming that the standings won’t change too much, this would mean that Sixers will face seriously difficult competitions from teams much more playoff-experienced than they are. For one, take the Boston Celtics. Despite their recent struggles, the Celtics are a bona fide team, coached by brilliant mastermind Brad Stevens. One should remember that the Celtics effortlessly defeated the Sixers 4-1 during the Eastern Conference Semifinals last season, even without the help of their star players Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. If Philly will, in fact, be matched with Boston in the first round of the Playoffs, they would already be in for a strenuous fight to get to the later rounds.

The second trouble: the Milwaukee Bucks. Not only do the Bucks have MVP-frontrunner Giannis Antetokounmpo posting ridiculous numbers on a nightly basis, but it all has an overall super-talented team. With their recent signings of rim-protectors and three-point threats Brook Lopez and Nikola Mirotic this season, the Bucks should by all means be considered as a real championship contender, virtually ready to take on any team, not just in the East but in the whole league as well. Not to mention, this season has seen the breakout performances of shooting guard Khris Middleton (recently selected as an All-Star) and former Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon.

However, the team I think will win the Eastern Conference this season is none other than the Toronto Raptors. For years, the Raptors’ only kryptonite has been LeBron James. With the King being in L.A. this season, there is no doubt that getting to the Finals is the ultimate goal the Raptors are chasing after. The Raptors are everything the Sixers wish they could be. They are an incredibly solid team with a deep bench, ranging from rising young stars in the favorite-to-win Most Improved Player Pascal Siakam and point guard Fred van Fleet to seasoned veterans in Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, and the newly-acquired Marc Gasol. This Sixers team, which is mainly composed of young players, simply doesn’t have the sort of knowledge and experience regarding playoff challenges that the Raptors possess.

The Raptors have a strong defense (motored by a Defensive Player of the Year in Leonard), a solid deep bench, loads of playoff experience, and a stock of sharpshooters—all of which the Sixers players desperately lack. In the modern NBA, one cannot simply have a dominating Shaquille O’ Neal and expect to win. The three-point is a weapon which each team needs to utilize. And with the exception of Redick and Harris, the Sixers simply don’t have that advantage. The flashy trades and superstar additions are nice, but they won’t necessarily translate to playoff success. My take: it will be a tough Eastern Conference playoffs, but the Raptors will win the East this year—although it might take them a while to get there.

Hold your horses, Golden State fans. Yes, I am fully aware that the Warriors’ starting lineup has five All-Stars. There’s also no doubt that they have built themselves a dynasty, and are still the favorite to win this season. And maybe I am being unrealistically optimistic, but I do believe that this Western Conference field is not the same which we encountered last season. Well, sort of. In particular, the Oklahoma City Thunders, the Houston Rockets, and the Denver Nuggets will all present serious challenges in the Warriors’ road to claim a fourth championship. For one, the Nuggets have perfected an interesting system built around their sensational unicorn superstar, Nikola Jokic, who continually posts absurd stats, now averaging a near triple-double. Jokic, a one-of-a-kind player, has speared the Nuggets to the best record in the West by All-Star break, which is even more impressive, considering that the team barely made the Playoffs last season.

The return of Isaiah Thomas to the court should also present some trouble, given that when healthy, Thomas is an explosive player able to facilitate and push his team to great heights. Meanwhile, in Houston, the Rockets are slowly recovering from a slow start to the season. With the injuries of Chris Paul and Clint Capela, reigning MVP James Harden has carried the team on his back, now averaging 36.6 PTS, 6.7 REBS, 7.7 ASTS, which just might be the greatest offensive season by a player the league has ever seen. With Paul and Capela set to return soon, the Rockets could become a serious contender again. Keep in mind that this same team nearly defeated the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals last season. Some pundits even commented that the Rockets would have beaten the Warriors, had Paul stayed healthy throughout the series. If the Rockets were to remain healthy this season, they might spell some trouble for the defending champs.

However, the team I bet on to beat the Dubs this year is none other than the Oklahoma City Thunder. Like the Rockets, the Thunder were also very close to defeating the Warriors in a heavily contested playoff series back in 2016. This season, the Thunder (37-20) should not be discounted from championship talks at all. Props to Billy Donovan for not only figuring out a system that properly utilizes its star players but also for its role players, in particular, Jerami Grant and Terrance Ferguson. This season is exemplary of just how dangerous the Thunder could be when Russell Westbrook is paired with another superstar in Paul George. George, currently averaging 28.7 PTS, 8.0 REBS, 2.4 STLS, is having a career season for the Thunder, and should by all means be considered a strong contender for the MVP race. His two-way presence, when coupled with an offensive triple-double machine in Westbrook, and a premium rebounder in Steven Adams, will not make the Dubs’ path to their fifth consecutive finals very easy at all.

Franklin Ribli can be reached at fribli@wesleyan.edu.