Clear your schedule for the next two months, the NBA playoffs are here. Seriously though, the NBA postseason sometimes feels longer than the actual season itself. There are some new teams in the playoff hunt this year and I have a feeling that there will be some young superstars waiting to take the show over. Let’s take a look at the NBA playoffs bracket 2022 Western Conference preview.
- Phoenix Suns (64-18)
- Memphis Grizzlies (56-26)
- Golden State Warriors (53-29)
- Dallas Mavericks (52-30)
- Utah Jazz (49-33)
- Denver Nuggets (48-34)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (46-36)
- New Orleans Pelicans (36-46)
The Phoenix Suns are back in the driver seat in the Western Conference and if you’re a fan of the New Orleans Pelicans you better pray hard for them. They lost game one of the series and it’s unlikely that they will win a single game here. Phoenix was the best team in the West by a large margin and set a new franchise record for most wins in a regular season. Chris Paul is back, and the Suns will cruise.
The Grizzlies taking on the Timberwolves should be a fascinating matchup. The Timberwolves took game one in Memphis but expect this to be a back-and-forth series. Memphis is a team that runs through their number one while Minnesota has a trio of young scorers and great defense which should make for a competitive series. This might actually be one of my favorites to watch in these playoffs and I think we could go seven in this one.
Golden State is back in the playoff fold, thank goodness, what did we do without them. Steph Curry has been cooking this year and Klay Thompson has picked up right where he left off. While the Warriors took game one of the series, the Nuggets are no easy foe, especially with MVP candidate Nikola Jokic battling every night. Denver is going to have to defend the three and if they can’t, they are toast.
Dallas and Utah might just be my favorite matchup. While Utah took game one of the series, the Mavericks stayed close and are hoping for a healthy Luka Doncic the rest of the series. Donovan Mitchell has been electric for the Jazz in his first few postseasons. I am expecting close finishes, big time moments, and some clutch shots to go down in this series, with Utah ultimately pulling off an upset. I am concerned about Doncic playing in this series.
Western Conference Final: My prediction is Phoenix taking on Golden State. Phoenix is stacked, Phoenix is angry. This team held a 2-0 lead last year in the Finals and let it slip away. Devin Booker is playing at the top of his game while Chris Paul will do what Chris Paul does. Golden State has been in this spot before and it would be silly to think they can’t march back to another conference finals. Prediction: Phoenix goes for their first NBA title