NBA Playoffs 2015: Schedule, Teams and Championship Bracket Predictions

The NBA's regular season is finally kaput, but basketball remains far from over.

Nearly another season in itself, the playoffs span throughout the rest of April and May, with the Finals beginning on June 5. While fans watching Eastern Conference games will wish to fast-forward to the conference finals, the Western Conference provides a full slate of tantalizing matchups.

Unlike the other major sports, an "anything can happen" aroma doesn't spray through the NBA come playoff time. This year doesn't defy that perception, with a short list of realistic contenders fighting for the Larry O'Brien Trophy.  

Who will prevail from each conference? Let's skip ahead to a possible championship clash between two contrasting favorites.

First-Round Matchups

East	Home	Away	Prediction
West	Home	Away	Prediction
	No. 1 Atlanta Hawks	No. 8 Brooklyn Nets	Hawks
	No. 2 Cleveland Cavaliers	No. 7 Boston Celtics	Cavs
	No. 3 Chicago Bulls	No. 6 Milwaukee Bucks	Bulls
	No. 4 Toronto Raptors	No. 5 Washington Wizards	Raptors
	No. 1 Golden State Warriors	No. 8 New Orleans Pelicans	Warriors
	No. 2 Houston Rockets	No. 7 Dallas Mavericks	Rockets
	No. 3 Los Angeles Clippers	No. 6 San Antonio Spurs	Spurs
	No. 5 Memphis Grizzlies	No. 4 Portland Trail Blazers	Grizzlies

Known Schedule

Date	Home	Away	Time (ET)	TV
Sat., April 18	Raptors	Wizards	12:30 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., April 18	Warriors	Pelicans	3:30 p.m.	ABC
Sat., April 18	Bulls	Bucks	7 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., April 18	Rockets	Mavericks	9:30 p.m.	ESPN
Sun., April 19	Cavaliers	Celtics	3 p.m.	ABC
Sun., April 19	Hawks	Nets	5:30 p.m.	TNT
Sun., April 19	Grizzlies	Blazers	8 p.m.	TNT
Sun., April 19	Clippers	Spurs	10:30 p.m.	TNT
Mon., April 20	Bulls	Bucks	8 p.m.	TNT
Mon., April 20	Warriors	Pelicans	10:30 p.m.	TNT
Tue., April 21	Cavaliers	Celtics	7 p.m.	TNT
Tue., April 21	Raptors	Wizards	8 p.m.	NBA TV
Tue., April 21	Rockets	Mavericks	9:30 p.m.	TNT
Wed., April 22	Hawks	Nets	7 p.m.	NBA TV
Wed., April 22	Grizzlies	Blazers	8 p.m.	TNT
Wed., April 22	Clippers	Spurs	10:30 p.m.	TNT
Thur., April 23	Celtics	Cavaliers	7 p.m.	TNT
Thur., April 23	Bucks	Bulls	8 p.m.	TNT
Thur., April 23	Pelicans	Warriors	9:30 p.m.	TNT
Fri., April 24	Mavericks	Rockets	7 p.m.	ESPN
Fri., April 24	Wizards	Raptors	8 p.m.	ESPN2
Fri., April 24	Spurs	Clippers	9:30 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., April 25	Nets	Hawks	3 p.m.	TNT
Sat., April 25	Bucks	Bulls	5:30 p.m.	TNT
Sat., April 25	Pelicans	Warriors	8 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., April 25	Blazers	Grizzlies	10:30 p.m.	ESPN
Sun., April 26	Celtics	Cavaliers	1 p.m.	ABC
Sun., April 26	Spurs	Clippers	3:30 p.m.	ABC
Sun., April 26	Wizards	Raptors	7 p.m.	TNT
Sun., April 26	Mavericks	Rockets	9:30 p.m.	TNT
Mon., April 27	Bulls	Bucks	TBD	TNT or NBA TV
Mon., April 27	Nets	Hawks	TBD	NBA TV
Mon., April 27	Blazers	Grizzlies	10:30 p.m.	TNT

Schedule via SportsMediaWatch.com 

Championship Predictions

Eastern Conference: Cleveland Cavaliers

Bold prediction alert: LeBron James' team will win the Eastern Conference.

After leading the Miami Heat to four NBA Finals in as many years, he'll now look to take the Cleveland Cavaliers back for the first time since 2007. Despite an up-and-down season, they're well-positioned to make a deep run.

Since suffering a six-game losing streak to begin 2015, Cleveland went 34-9 to conclude the campaign. James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love all played in two of those defeats. 

Most fans are skipping ahead to a Eastern Conference Finals meeting with the Atlanta Hawks, but Cleveland must first combat the Boston Celtics and another opponent. First-year head coach David Blatt paid lip service to his first foe, per ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin:

If they were really worried about the 40-42 Celtics, the Cavaliers wouldn't have funded their playoff bid by taking their two late showdowns easy.

The Chicago Bulls are dangerous for those willing to play the "If Derrick Rose is healthy" game one more time. Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic have added some needed offensive reinforcements, but the defensive juggernaut fell outside the top 10 of defensive rating.

Although Atlanta finished eight games ahead of Cleveland in the standings, its 5.4-point margin of victory doesn't support those 60 victories. Besides, James led the Heat into their first postseason as the No. 2 seed. Having acquired J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov during the season, James now sports a stronger supporting cast than afforded to him in South Beach. 

It's far from an open-and-shut case, but James' decreased numbers have more to do with the 30-year-old preserving fuel for playoff basketball than regressing. The Hawks will claw their way to six or seven games, but the Cavaliers survive. 

Western Conference: Golden State Warriors

Brandon Dill/Associated Press

The Golden State Warriors are taken for granted. They're the most fun team to watch, but they were also the best by a considerable clip.

Golden State's plus-10.10 point differential not only leads the league, but it rates eighth on the all-time leaderboard. Of the seven squads ahead of them, only the 1971-72 Milwaukee Bucks failed to win the championship. The Los Angeles Lakers, who posted the best scoring margin (12.28) of all time, took home the hardware.

Rank	Team	Margin
1	Los Angeles Lakers (1971-72)	12.28
2	Milwaukee Bucks (1970-71)	12.26
3	Chicago Bulls (1995-96)	12.24
4	Milwaukee Bucks (1971-72)	11.16
5	Chicago Bulls (1996-97)	10.80
6	Chicago Bulls (1991-92)	10.44
7	Boston Celtics (2007-08)	10.26
8	Golden State Warriors (2014-15)	10.10

Golden State's .539 effective field-goal percentage—which weighs three-pointers more than twos—also frames the club as an all-time prolific offense. Not only do Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson respectively rank first and second in three-pointers made, but they also are among the game's most accurate deep shooters.

Because of the Splash Brothers' shooting acumen, the Warriors tend to be miscast as soft. Not so fast. They also rank first in defensive rating, a remarkable feat while also operating at the league's fastest pace. 

A healthy Andrew Bogut gives them an interior enforcer, but Draymond Green has taken Golden State to the next level. Emerging as a key contributor last postseason, Green usurped the defensively challenged David Lee in the starting lineup, and now he's a top Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

The forward finished the season second in defensive win shares behind the Los Angeles Clippers' DeAndre Jordan. He wasn't shy about discussing the award with Grantland's Jonathan Abrams:

"

You haven’t asked me do I think I’m the defensive player of the year. Yes, I think I’m the defensive player of the year. I think some of the new metrics and all that stuff states the case, as well as the eye test. Obviously, we are the best defense in the league, and being one of the main pieces of that defense, one of the cores that hold the defense down, I think that makes a strong case.”

"

All this aside, the Warriors must navigate a brutal Western Conference, starting with Anthony Davis' New Orleans Pelicans during the first round. Their main threat, however, is the San Antonio Spurs, who returned from hibernation to win 14 of their final 16 contests.

A rematch against the Los Angeles Clippers would also generate gripping television, but the Warriors are better than last year, when they lost in seven during an epic first round. They also lucked out this year with the Spurs and Clippers set to clash in the first round.

Not only will one of Golden State's top two threats get eliminated, but the winner will have to wait until the Western Conference Finals to get a piece of Curry and Co. 

Advanced stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.