NBA Playoffs 2015: Schedule, Predictions for Saturday's Round 1 Bracket Matchups

The 2014-15 NBA regular season has been like the beginning of a roller-coaster ride, slowly but surely chugging up to this very day.

And now we’re at the top, looking down on what’s sure to be a wild journey through the postseason.

Saturday's games will mark the first playoff basketball of the year, with eight of the top 16 teams in action. Opening tip is at 12:30 p.m. and will continue on through 9:30 p.m.

Translation: Clear your schedule. The playoffs are back...you know it!

The Slate

Matchup	Time	How to Watch
Toronto Raptors (4) vs. Washington Wizards (5)	12:30 p.m. EST	ESPN
Golden State Warriors (1) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (8)	3:30 p.m. EST	ABC
Chicago Bulls (3) vs. Miwaukee Bucks (6)	7 p.m. EST	ESPN
Houston Rockets (2) vs. Dallas Mavericks (7)	9:30 o.m. EST	ESPN

Predictions

Raptors vs. Wizards

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Raptors and Wizards have gotten a bad rap with the whole “the East is terrible” thing. These are two teams that don’t get a whole lot of national love, but they can play.

Toronto went from 0 to 100 early in the season but tailed off a tad in the beginning of December and then again in late-February. Still, though, the Raptors quietly racked up the most wins in franchise history (49) after reaching 48 a season ago.

Wizards forward Paul Pierce, however, has not been quiet. He’s recently made some probably-appropriate-but-still-mean comments about his former team, the Brooklyn Nets, who defeated Toronto in seven games in Round 1 last year.

The Truth also told ESPN.com’s Jackie MacMullan that he doesn’t feel the Raps “have the 'It' that makes you worried.”

The boys up North didn’t care much for Pierce’s thoughts, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.com:

Pierce has made a habit of getting torched by superior players he insists on poking with a stick. Nets Daily reminds us of one of the more notable instances:

DeMar DeRozan is no LeBron James, but he’s going to light up Pierce if Washington unwisely allows the vet to cover the angry youngster. Expect the 25-year-old to carry the Raptors to a sizable Game 1 victory en route to a war of a series.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

These teams actually matchup pretty well with one another, so this will be a good, back-and-forth battle.

In the end, perhaps Pierce’s comments will provide that extra motivational push to get Toronto over the hump. It wouldn’t be surprising to watch the Raptors run through this series in six games (link is NSFW).

Warriors vs. Pelicans

Gerald Herbert/Associated Press

The Pelicans have been living the good life these past few days.

It’s a new age of basketball in New Orleans—with The Brow earning his first trip to the postseason, the Anthony Davis era has officially begun.

But on Saturday, the Pels are going to get dropkicked right off their high horse.

Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors finished head and shoulders above every other team for a reason. And in Game 1, they’re going to set the tone.

Curry and Klay Thompson will put on a firework show and carry the Dubs to a double-digit margin of victory. Davis is likely to fill up the statsheet, too, but Golden State’s excellence on both sides of the ball will ultimately prove to be too much for the young ‘Cans.

The Pelicans will probably at least win a game on their home floor, but their season success was predicated on making the playoffs this season, not winning it all. A few years down the line, they could be title contenders—but not now.

Golden State has its eyes on a title. And wailing on New Orleans is the first step on that path.

Bulls vs. Bucks

Has everyone forgotten what happened to the Chicago Bulls last season?

The underdog Wizards ran them out of the gym in five games. Granted, Derrick Rose is back (kind of) and Chicago has Pau Gasol, but the Milwaukee Bucks are about to follow in Washington’s footsteps.

Jason Kidd’s team is young, long and good. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Michael Carter-Williams, Khris Middleton and the rest of the bunch are chomping at the bit for their chance to put the NBA on notice.

Bleacher Report’s Fred Katz recently penned an insightful piece on the league’s most up-and-coming team. Here are some notable excerpts from J-Kidd:

• "We're in the process of building a team with young men. ... There's no better time than right now for us learning as a group what it takes to be successful in this league."
• "We're getting better every time we play, winning or losing... We learn from missed shots. We learn from making shots. So we're not trending down; we're actually learning."
• "You look at our length. Starting the season, we were one of the longest teams, so we have the ability to switch. We have the ability to get steals and deflections and go from there."

Promises of deep runs from the Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks dominate headlines, but not much has been made about Milwaukee.

That will change after the Bucks make a statement and snatch Game 1—and eventually, the series—from Chicago.

Rockets vs. Mavs

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Last season, the Dallas Mavericks pushed the San Antonio Spurs right to the edge. It was the toughest test the eventual champions had all postseason.

Many analysts and fans, with last year’s Round 1 in mind, are choosing the Mavs as a dark-horse contender to make a run in 2014-15.

They’re wrong.

Dallas has all the parts, but they just don’t seem to fit together. The Rajon Rondo trade, while it looked tremendous at the time, has been a failure. Monta Ellis is ridiculously streaky. Dirk Nowitzki is still one of the best bigs in the game, but he’s not who he used to be. Tyson Chandler’s skill set remains limited to bear-swatting rebounds, grunting and making layups.

Plus, the injured Devin Harris and Chandler Parsons, perhaps the only guy capable of slowing down Harden even a little bit, are tossups to play in Game 1.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Still, there is some bad blood between these two Texas titans (in the front offices!), which will probably make for an entertaining series. CBS Sports’ Matt Moore thinks so:

Houston defeated Dallas in three of their four regular-season meetings, and all the games were close. Expect today’s showdown to continue to the trend and also foreshadow what’s to come—intense, competitive basketball with Houston coming out on top.

All stats are accurate courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com. Enjoy the playoffs.