FACT OR FICTION: Either the Clippers or Thunder will lose in the 1st round.

Awesome thread. Please tell us more!

 

If Memphis is involved, FACT.

 

Warriors are a bothersome matchup for the Clippers.

Still my guess is 15% at most either team loses.

 

Golden State has 0 shot now that Bogut is out. Griffin and DeAndre might average 45+ between the two.

OKC has a shot to lose, I guess, but like 5% chance at best assuming no injuries.

 

Dallas may win a game against OKC, but Golden State could get swept without Bogut

 

I think the Clippers beat OKC this year.

They have so much firepower.

 

Is David Lee out?

because if he is: Fiction.

& if he's not: Fiction with a slight chance of fact.

 

If Memphis get to #7, I give them a 25% chance of knocking off OKC. They match up well with them.

If its Dallas vs. OKC, I give Dallas about a 5% chance of winning.

As far as the Warriors....with Bogut hurt, they are probably going to be run over by the Clippers. I would say a 20% chance of winning a series and thats ONLY because that team could heat up and steal a game in LA early and then get home to that rabid crowd and make a series out of it.

 

Hopefully the Clippers do

 

Is who plays who really settled? I think both Dallas and Memphis match fairly well with OKC. Golden State is one and done.

 

Do y'all think GSW will win a game against the Clippers?

 

The Clippers have the easiest opponent, while the Thunder have to deal with an experienced team capable of putting up serious points. Thunder should win in 5 or 6 but I don't doubt that those will be hard earned victories. I really hope the Clippers reach the 2nd seed and the Griz move up to 7th. Having the Clippers lose in the 1st round will be a very successful playoffs... for me.

 

The bottom 4 in the west are pretty darn good teams. While in any year a first round upset is possible, its more likely this year than most.

 

The best chance for a first round upset this year will be our matchup with Portland.

The fact that our team is better offensively and defensively suggest that the Rockets will be just fine as long as they don't make too many mistakes. Our series to lose.

 

Gsw never had a chance of anything.

 

Reviewing past 1st round upsets, it wasn't obvious which contests would produce the upset.

That said, I couldn't say which contest this year is most likely to produce one. But I might give odds as high as 50/50 that one will, and long odds (10-1) that two upsets could occur (including the east as well).

 

Honestly, and the reality is, the grizzlies are the 3rd best team in the west. The problem is that the two teams better than the grizzlies are the grizzlies likely first round opponent: okc or thunder.

I'd give the grizzlies maybe a 45% chance to upset the spurs.

Also, the rockets, mavs, trailblazers and golden state are all pretty average teams, who with the right matchup can make the second round, but that's the ceiling for those teams.

Elite
OKC
SPURS

Contenders
Clippers
Grizzlies

could make a run if they get hot
gws

The rest
rockets
mavs
trailblazers

 

*okc OR spurs

*45% against thunder