Eastern Conference Semi-Finals

(1) Chicago Bulls vs (4) Miami Heat

 

This is a matchup between two long time veteran GMs. Merencio has been in the game for a very long time and still trying to capture his first ring. Pete, on the other hand, already has 2 rings under his belt. Both have had to deal with star player injuries this season. Merencio hasn’t had the chance to use John Wall at all. He had Eric Gordon out for half the season. Pete only got to use Jonathan Isaac for 30% of the season and now he is completely out. Ben Simmons missed some significant time as well. Yet these two teams still managed 1^st and 4^th place. How did this happen? Well the East is kind of weak. But also Merencio traded majority of his future for young gun D’Angelo Russell. Pete somehow ended up with CJ McCollum after a series of trades and also gave up some of his future to win now with Paul Millsap.

 

Merencio just came off a clean sweep of Ben’s post Barnes and Gobert trade Sixers. Pete on the other hand struggled a bit with rookie GM Dylan who in his first year managed to turn a build for the future team into a dominant win-now team.

 

So how do these teams match up? Let’s have a look at the matchups:

 

C: JaVale McGee vs Deandre Jordan

Javale McGee (80 OVR):  6.5 PTS 10.8 REB 0.3 AST 1.5 STL 1.5 BLK 0.680 FG%

Deandre Jordan (81 OVR): 13.0 PTS 11.8 REB 2.7 AST 2.5 STL 1.2 BLK 0.720 FG%

 

I think JaVale and DJ are pretty equal centers. DJ has been producing more in the playoffs. I would still call it a draw between these two.

 

 

PF: Anthony Davis vs Paul Millsap

Anthony Davis (96 OVR): 20.8 PTS 12.5 REB 4.0 AST 2.8 STL 2.3 BLK 0.570 FG% 0.000 3PT%

Paul Millsap (82 OVR): 13.7 PTS 6.5 REB 1.7 AST 0.3 STL 0.3 BLK 0.480 FG% 0.370 3PT%

 

AD is an MVP candidate. Paul Millsap is a good defender. But it doesn’t matter in 2K with AD. AD will still put up 20+ PTS.

 

 

SF: Jordan McRae vs Wilson Chandler

Jordan McRae (76 OVR): 9.0 PTS 4.8 REB 2.3 AST 1.8 STL 0.3 BLK 0.480 FG% 0.430 3PT%

Wilson Chandler (70 OVR): 12.2 PTS 5.3 REB 3.5 AST 0.8 STL 0.8 BLK 0.410 FG% 0.320 3PT%

 

McRae is just a 6’5 SF. Wilson Chandler is going to overpower him. And McRae is a pretty poor defender. McRae can still keep it pretty close with his scoring. I expect Chandler’s numbers to go up a bit this series.

 

 

SG: Lou Williams vs CJ McCollum

Lou Williams (82 OVR): 22.0 PTS 1.8 REB 6.0 AST 0.3 STL 0.0 BLK 0.510 FG% 0.510 3PT%

CJ McCollum (85 OVR): 21.8 PTS 4.0 REB 4.8 AST 1.0 STL 0.2 BLK 0.470 FG% 0.430 3PT%

 

Both are having similar production so far in the playoffs. I think McCollum will win out even though Lou has had better shooting percentages. McCollum has carried teams in past. I have only seen Lou carry a

bench. 2K just likes McCollum more.

 

 

PG: D’Angelo Russell vs Ben Simmons

D’Angelo Russell (86 OVR): 15.8 PTS 4.3 REB 5.5 AST 1.3 STL 0.3 BLK 0.480 FG% 0.310 3PT%

Ben Simmons (88 OVR): 21.3 PTS 7.0 REB 9.5 AST 2.7 STL 1.2 BLK 0.620 FG% 0.070 3PT%

 

Simmons is the star here. He has carried teams in the past. Russell is very high rated, but I have never seen him carry a team before.

 

 

Bench

Bulls: Julius Randle, Eric Gordon, KZ Okpala, Denzel Valentine

Miami: Thon Maker, Demarre Carroll, Elfrid Payton, Mo Bamba

 

 

 

Chicago’s volume scoring off the bench is shared by both Julius Randle and Eric Gordon who are scoring 12.5 PTS and 10.3 PTS respectively. And both are playing 21 minutes. KZ Okpala and Denzel Valentine are scoring 6.8 PTS and 6.3 PTS.

 

The only significant player on Miami’s bench is Thon Maker. He’s been putting up 16.2 PTS per game this post season on 21 minutes per game. The next best bench player is Mo Bamba who is scoring 5.8 PTS per game. Both Demarre Carroll and Elfrid Payton are only scoring 3.8 PTS per game.

 

 

X-Factor: This matchup comes down to AD (20.8 PTS) and Lou (22.0 PTS) vs McCollum (21.8 PTS) and Simmons (21.3 PTS). I think 2K favors these players in the following order: (1) AD, (2) Simmons, (3) McCollum, and (4) Lou.

 

Prediction: I’m not even going to say. Pete has 2 rings under his belt for a reason. He is a 2K guru. He’s going to figure a way to expose D’Angelo Russell just like he did to Zach LaVine last year. But at the same time, there are only 2 players across both of these teams who have won rings in the past: Anthony Davis and Wilson Chandler. I personally want to see Chicago come out the victor. There have been rumblings that Portland has been trying to figure a way to stop AD, and I want to see it in the Finals.