The bracket for the 2024 NBA has been made official with the end of the NBA’s regular season. Sixteen teams-eight from each conference- will be facing off to ultimately determine the 2024 NBA champions. The teams in the bracket for the first round consist of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat, the New York Knicks, the Orlando Magic, and the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference, along with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks, the Denver Nuggets, the New Orleans Pelicans, the Phoenix Suns, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Minnesota Timberwolves competing in the Western Conference. I will be making my predictions on who I think will come out of their respective series on top, and why I think it will happen.
(1) Boston vs. (8) Miami
This first series will unfortunately not be close at all. I seriously do not think the Miami Heat have any chance of winning this entire series. Boston is the better team, and by a large margin. The Heat will also be without their best player, Jimmy Butler, along with having a cornerstone of the team’s success this season in Terry Rozier out week-to-week due to a neck injury, it does not look good at all for Miami. The Celtics have their star players Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown fully healthy, and they have been running through nearly everyone for the entire season. With a regular season record of 64-18, Boston is the best team in the league, and is heavily favored to win it all. So for those reasons, I think the Boston Celtics will beat the Miami Heat, and I would not be surprised if they swept them.
(2) New York vs. (7) Philadelphia
This series will end with a lot of ‘what-ifs,’ no matter which team wins. On one side, you have the New York Knicks, who have star point guard Jalen Brunson, who is leading the team in all major offensive stats, but are without one of their key players: Julius Randle. Randle was essential to getting the team to the playoffs last season and the Knicks will unfortunately be without him until the beginning of the 24-25 season. On the other side, the Philadelphia 76ers have their star guard, Tyrese Maxey, but are struggling to have any form of consistency without their franchise player Joel Embiid. Embiid was the frontrunner for the regular season MVP before he got injured, and is now going strong again. However, his lingering knee injury has prohibited him from going all out, and it will be interesting to see how he will perform in the playoffs. If Embiid can perform as well as we all know he can, then the 76ers have a real chance of winning the series. That being said, there is a chance that Embiid won’t be able to carry the workload that he is used to carrying, and that isn’t something the 76ers can afford against a team like the Knicks. Even without Randle, the Knicks are still the second-best team in the Eastern Conference and have beaten top teams in the regular season. I think the Knicks will end up winning the series, but I do expect some very close and competitive games.
(3) Milwaukee vs. (6) Indiana
The Indiana Pacers have been doing way better than expected this season, and they will only continue to get better as the team has more experience, as they are incredibly young. Their success has been spearheaded by Tyrese Haliburton, who has broken out as a star this season and shows no signs of slowing down. The Pacers also acquired Pascal Siakam at the trade deadline, who is a former all-star and is still very productive. For Milwaukee, they have one of the best players in the league in Giannis Antetokounmpo, and whenever he is on the floor the Bucks will be a team to take seriously. However, Antetokounmpo has been out with a calf strain, and likely won’t be able to return until the middle of the series. All the Bucks will have in terms of star power is Damian Lillard, who although spectacular, will not be able to win on his own. If Antetokounmpo can come back within the first three games, the Bucks can turn the series around in their favor, but if that isn’t possible, the Pacers will likely run through the Bucks with relative ease. I am making these predictions based on the most likely outcome, so I believe that the Pacers will move on and into the second round.
(4) Cleveland vs. (5) Orlando
Although neither of these teams are the best league nor do I think they will end up going very far, this series will be entertaining. The Orlando Magic is a very young team, who finished as one of the worst teams in the league last season and missed the playoffs. The Cleveland Cavaliers were a first-round exit last year. Both have been doing well thus far, but the Orlando Magic have been more consistent as of late and have won more games than they have lost recently. The series can go either way, but I think it is the Magic that wins this series.
(1) Oklahoma City vs. (8) New Orleans
I genuinely think that this will be the easiest series to predict in the entire playoffs. This series will not be close. As much as I want this series to be competitive, it simply won’t be. The Pelicans’ best player Zion Williamson is out due to an injury he sustained in the play-in game against the Lakers, and most likely won’t be available for the entire series. The Thunders’ core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey, and Jalen Williams is too strong for the Pelicans to deal with. I think the Thunder dominantly wins this series and might actually sweep the Pelicans.
(2) Denver vs. (7) Lakers
This series is actually a Western Conference finals rematch from last year’s playoffs, which resulted in the Lakers being swept by the Nuggets, who then went on to win the championship.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, I think history may repeat itself. I can see the Lakers maybe winning a game or two, especially considering that LeBron James is fully healthy this time around, as last year he faced the Nuggets playing through a foot injury. Despite that, the Nuggets are just too good. They may not have the best record in the league, but anyone who watches them can see that they haven’t lost a step since last year’s championship run and have a very good chance of going back-to-back. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have proven to be one of the best duos to ever compete in the playoffs, and I think they add to that assertion by beating the Lakers and moving on to the next round.
(3) Minnesota vs. (6) Phoenix
While this series certainly has the star power to be an entertaining matchup, with the likes of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on the Suns going against Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns of the Timberwolves, I don’t think it will be the series that people have dreamt up. I do think it will be competitive, however the way each team functions as an actual ‘team’ is incredibly different and works in Minnesota’s favor. Phoenix has great stars, but they lack actual depth, especially depth made to compete in playoff basketball. The Timberwolves have multiple supporting pieces while also having star power, which is exactly what a team needs if they want to compete in the playoffs. The Timberwolves have a major advantage in that aspect, and I believe that advantage is what they will utilize to eliminate the Suns from the playoffs.
(4) Clippers vs. (5) Dallas
The Mavericks missed the playoffs last year, and this season they have looked like a completely different team. They are possible contenders, with some massive momentum coming out of the regular season. They will be going up against the Clippers, who have looked great for the most part this season but are really banged up. Their star player Kawhi Leonard is coming off an injury, and it will be interesting to see how the series will play out. I am not sure what will end up happening, but I would give the Clippers the edge in this series despite the momentum of the Mavericks, but whichever way it goes the games will be very competitive.
