Itttt�s time! The playoffs are here folks and the excitement is real! The Play-in tourney was a success generating excitement for do or die games before we even get to the real stuff and the hope for an upset from the teams traditionally �outside� the playoff bracket and looking in, can only be a good thing for the league as a whole going forward.

For this preview, we�re looking at the ungodly Portland team that has taken no prisoners all year and the Houston Rockets who stuck into the final 8^th spot both in the regular season and through the double shot play in.

 

The Blazers
Record: 78-4

The Blazers are the bench mark of the league, again, this year which is abundantly obvious from their record alone. They�re built around not two superstars like their title winning season last year, but three now with the inclusion of Russell Westbrook and while it�s tough to give any one guy of these 3 the MVP award, you could legitimately hand that award to a three headed monster playing out of Portland who as a unit are seemingly impossible to defeat. Take one away, they still blow you out. Take 2 away and well, they still only lost 4 games on these injury scenarios.

 

 

 

You actually wouldn�t believe it, but it took only 3 games for the Blazers to suffer their first loss of the year at the hands of a spritely Denver in which Curry had a field day scoring 39 (which we all know subsequently was a quite one for Steph), but the Blazers actually opened the year missing both James Harden and Russell Westbrook. They won the final game of that week, still going 3-1 with Kawhi �only�, but from there the next loss was an astounding 12 weeks away, 49 games won in a row and it came at the hands of the Miami Heat stalling the chance at a 50 game win streak which I am calling it now, will never be achieved in the leagues history. The Blazers were without Kawhi Leonard AND James Harden in this game/week and even then, with those two out, they went 10-3 on Westbrook�s back before getting healthy again and smashing their way through the rest of the season to close out what most teams would only dream of doing, a 19 game win streak. Yep, you read that right, they only lost this year when they had two of their big 3 out and went 78-0 on games with two or more playing.

The Blazers, despite being at the absolute pinnacle of the league, love a trade and this year was no different. Let�s just breeze past the jostling which was the season lead up which ended in Westbrook�s arrival, and look at in the year. They sold 2nds. They bought 2nds. They dumped dead weight for 2nds. They shipped Lamb for Poeltl and a 2^nd, to then turn around and get Kanter for Poeltl, after getting Lamb for free in the first place. They brought in vet help in Ariza, then dumped Ariza and finally they bought a 1^st off the cash strapped Kings for only 35 GM. The deals in most cases were small, but it built the war chest of pick assets to help ply pieces around the big 3 who aren�t going anywhere bar an extraordinary FA offer to lure away Kawhi Leonard. All in all though, the Blazers were the masters of their domain in continuing the dynasty.

 

The Rockets
Record: 43-39

The Rockets are run by one of the big thinkers in the league. Vitt loves his ball, he loves his archetypes and he loves guys who know how to play and have size. And that is riddled through this roster from the leader and focal point being one of the most cerebral players we in the league, let alone big men, to the love of high IQ guys like JRich, Delon Wright, Tyrese Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey, and the role playing types like Norman Powell, Royce O�Neale and Davis Bertans. The team is a basketball team through and through which isn�t always the way to go in a 2k league, but here they are.

 

 

 

The Rockets had a true up and down season in every sense. They opened the year with two wins, but then followed up with two losses. Then 4 Ws, 3 losses, 4 of the next 5 Ws, followed by 6 Ls and so it continued. Halfway through the year, they were 21-21 on the dot and this trend actually continued right the way through to the trade deadline when suddenly something clicked. They won 2 games to end week 15, lost the first of the next week, but then went on a 13 game win streak to all but set up their entire season. They went from 10^th in the West to a strong 8^th and were looking like pinching 7^th for a little bit before Memphis too went on a run, and they fell down in the final 6 games going 1-5. But it was enough to get to the double shot of the play-ins. They faced the Grizzlies in the 7^th V 8^th battle, but came up wanting. However they bounced back against the Warriors in the 8^th place battle taking it by 8 points and unleashing Nikola Jokic as a SF on the league. And here they are, a playoff team.

Vitt plays his cards close and holds true to what he likes and knows, and for this reason the Rockets aren�t the most active of trade destinations around the league, but when they move, they move. The talk of the offseason was the S&T of Jerami Grant for only Isaiah Hartenstein coming back when their hand was forced. They saved the cap and got a young big they like. Next they made a move that has helped set up their season moving out Tomas Satoransky for Norman Powell, which went better than anyone would have hoped for. They went big bringing in Tyrese Haliburton for the future for a middling 1^st, a couple of role players and a couple of prospects. Great get! And after a few small time moves, they finally shifted Otto Porter and their not-so-lottery pick for Harrison Barnes and Goga Bitadze. The team was set then and ready to push to the playoffs which we now know they did!

 

The Match-Ups:

C Projected: Dwight Howard  Vs  Jontay Porter

 

 

We are going to see some movement through this position in the series for sure. Porter was a surprise starter in the Warriors Play-In, but Jokic is the man who started here all year, while in Portland, Dwight is the most influential for sure, but they have the likes of Enes Kanter and Marc Gasol waiting in the wings.

Porter is likely to get the 1^st shot at the starting spot with the success of Jokic at SF now in the record books. He played only 7 minutes a game for 40 games this year though and averaged 2 poins and 2 boards. In his lone Play-in start he put up 8 points and 8 rebounds with 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks on DeAndre Ayton though, so maybe he�s a hidden jewel?

Dwight I think gets the nod at C for Portland right through this series. Why? Because he�s a good match up for Jokic, he�s a good match up for Porter, he�s the biggest bruiser in the series and he�s been a mainstay as a starter all year with 11/13/1/1/1 to his name starting every game. Oh, and only 24 minutes a night for those numbers too.

-          This one if you�re playing it as a Porter V Dwight/Gasol/Kanter, has to go to Portland regardless. Porter might get some sneaky numbers and free up Jokic to be a monster elsewhere, but in a direct match up he�s overmatched. If Jokic goes back here, the C position narrows of course.

 

PF Projected: Willie Cauley-Stein  Vs  Davis Bertans

 

 

This spot on is a flipside of the C spot where the Rockets are likely to hold to Bertans the entire time while the Blazers will give first shot IMO to their swiss army knife Willie Cauley-Stein, rather than flipping him down onto Jokic at the 3. That said, WCS moves all over the place and maybe they push Dwight down or even swap Kawhi and WCS at some point.

Willie is a JMac special in every sense. His speed and length have meant that he�s played right down to SG this year and he�s regularly lined up at the 3 too. In this one, I think he stays at the 4 mostly because why does he need to lock down on Jokic at the 3, when Kawhi can? His length and speed should hamper the efforts of Bertans as a floor spacer while allowing him to have free reign on rebounds and help D too.

Bertans has started at PF most of the year and the spacing is the reason why. Unless they suddenly want to try Barnes at the spot for more fire power, I think Bertans and his 9/5/1/1 on 45% from deep stays here all series as the spots around him shift and rotate.

-          This match up is a bit of a wash for all. It�s the afterthought until it�s not and whether someone bobs up or not is going to be entirely game by game, if not only once in the series.

 

SF Projected: Kawhi Leonard  Vs  Nikola Jokic

 

 

 

This spot is fluid, possibly for both teams, but more-so for the Rockets as they try to find a way to penetrate the team that has been impenetrable all year. They surprised the league by starting Nikola Jokic at SF last game to get through the play in, and maybe they open with this again given the success and the variation that might just given some kind of edge that probably doesn�t come frm starting a �regular� wing player like Norman Powell, Josh Richardson or Harrison Barnes here. Particularly when it�s against the best wing out there. The Blazers might move Kawhi, if they�re feeling adventurous, but otherwise there�s no need.

Jokic at SF is an interesting prospect. He has the size, he can shoot and he can handle and run the show like he would from anywhere really and against the Warriors it yielded 36 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals on 70/100/100 shooting with only 1 turnover. So, why not roll the dice and mix it up?

Kawhi and the Blazers don�t really need to worry about what Houston do at this spot. Is it Nikola? Possibly. Does it matter against Kawhi? I say, no. Kawhi will have the speed and strength and defensive prowess to worry the big man on O and then on the other end he can exploit that all day long running him off the dribble. I think you hold and say �Do it�.

-          There�s not really a way the Rockets can �win� this match up, but maybe the extra size and the variability at least causes some thoughts and doubts?

 

SG Projected: Kent Bazemore  Vs  Norman Powell

 

 

 

This one feels like one of the more set positions for the series, no matter what happens with James Harden�s injury as the Blazers have started Baz here with certainty the whole time rotating instead the PG spot with Westbrook/Harden and Westy off the bench with all 3 playing. The Rockets, Powell will start here as long as Jokic is at SF and might only shift if JRich returns to the starting unit at the 2.

Powell has been fantastic for the Rockets all year and is a major reason why they are even here in the playoffs. He�s started every game he�s played, missed only one week, and averaged 16/3/4/1 which has been priceless when you need guys around Nikola to step up. He�s held his own on both ends and filled the roles needed. He�s a starting lock for Houston in this series and most likely here.

Baz has only started on the bench for Portland one week this year since coming over in trade and he�s been a staple because of his defence and length and his numbers have flourished too at 13/3/5/2/1 on 54% from deep in Portland. He�s an afterthought for opponents but he makes teams pay and that�s all he needs to do.

-          In the scheme of things, this match up won�t set the series on fire, but Powell will really need to take advantage of Baz if the Rockets are going to even steal one game. If they stick to their normal roles, then it�ll be a bit of a wash.

 

PG Projected: Russell Westbrook  Vs  Josh Richardson

 

 

For the Blazers, this one is a lock unless James Harden makes an unlikely return for Round 1 as Westbrook is the 3^rd star that fills all the holes when the others are out. Past him, who do they have? While for the Rockets we�re going to see a handful of guys play here, or at least two. Wright has been the mainstay but in the Jokic on the wing line up, Richardson was the man who pushed down.

Richardson has been uber important, along with Powell, this year creating a duo that would punish the opposition from one of the 2 spots at least depending on who was �on� or who was locked up in any given game. He pushed down to PG in the last game, which is why we�re looking at him here, but that was his first foray in the PG spot for 10 weeks and it was tempered with 11/3/5 on poor shooting but no turnovers. Previous runs there saw an average of 15/2/4/1 on slightly better shooting. He probably lines up here to start, but is a floating starter depending on how Vitt goes.

Westbrook is the lock at PG this series and there�s not really any stopping the guy. He has averaged 23/6/7/2 on the season but only in 28 minutes and half the games off the bench (but not enough to win 6^th man!). He�s the man that will step into the Harden shoes and all previous times he�s needed to do this have resulted in�ummm�100% wins. So�they�re fine.

-          No contest no matter who is here. Westbrook will do as he wants and the only hope is that some size means he has an of night, perhaps.

 

Bench Projections:

Josh Hart, Enes Kanter, Marc Gasol, Svi Mykhailiuk
Vs
Delon Wright, Goga Bitadze, Harrison Barnes, Wesley Matthews

The thing that stands out here is clearly the veteran leadership on both sides. It�s the way to go down the stretch and these guys know it. The benches illustrate how the starters look with Portland focussed more on a platoon of big men while the Rockets are more concerned with guard depth and help around Nikola and both benches will have their parts to play.

 

Keys to Victory:

 

Blazers
- Limit turnovers. Would you believe, the Rockets got a win earlier in the year without Kawhi playing and in that game, it was a turnover differential against.
- Force turnovers. They have much higher defensive numbers and double the fast break points in match ups with Hosuton. Force turnovers, easy buckets.
- Have two of their 3 stars play. Kawhi and Westbrook are fit. Check.

Rockets
- Protect the ball. The Blazers steal the ball a lot more and create easy buckets, the Rockets need to at least make it a half court battle.
- Secure the rebounds. Easier said than done, but Portland have a huge OReb advantage which needs to be quashed.
- Slow the role players. You can�t stop the big 2. So stop the rest and hope.

 

 

 

Head to Head Prediction:

The Blazers as we have said, are a team for the ages. Even having James Harden sit only makes them a 78-0 team on the season�and the Rockets if there was one major knock on them would be that they only have the one star and require a unit response from the rest of the team, which is probably only as good as the unit response the Blazers get from their role players too. Do they steal a game, is probably the only question. Unfortunately, I just can�t see it.

Blazers in 4.