NBA Playoffs 2015: Full Round 1 Bracket Results and Semifinal Predictions
Let’s talk about a real fight.
There is no running away or dancing around in this bout, just two opponents going to war against one another with the hopes of moving on to the next round.
Let’s talk about the NBA playoffs.
Round 1 didn’t carry a whole lot of surprises outside of the Washington Wizards spanking the Toronto Raptors or the reigning champions getting dethroned. And even those weren’t all that shocking.
With the opening series of games completed, now is the time this ride is set to get wild. The Kevin Love-less Cleveland Cavaliers get a real opponent in the Chicago Bulls. James Harden’s Houston Rockets square off against an arguably more talented team.
And so on. Let’s take a look at how Round 1 played out and how Round 2 will go down.
Round 1 Bracket
| Atlanta Hawks def. Brooklyn Nets | 4-2 |
| Washington Wizards def. Toronto Raptors | 4-0 |
| Chicago Bulls def. Milwaukee Bucks | 4-2 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers def. Boston Celtics | 4-0 |
| Golden State Warriors def. New Orleans Pelicans | 4-0 |
| Memphis Grizzlies def. Portland Trail Blazers | 4-1 |
| Los Angeles Clippers def. San Antonio Spurs | 4-3 |
| Houston Rockets def. Dallas Mavericks | 4-1 |
Semifinal Predictions
Hawks vs. Wizards
These two teams enter the postseason’s second tier in very different places.
While Washington wiped the floor with the legitimately talented Raptors, Atlanta struggled to bury a vastly under-matched Nets team. The Hawks’ lack of star power was, at times, very exposed.
And that’s what the playoffs are about, aren’t they? The biggest performances from the biggest names during the biggest moments of the season. For all of ATL’s ball movement and team-oriented approaches, explosions from the likes of Deron Williams and Brook Lopez proved to be deadly.
That doesn’t bode well against the Wizards, who have a superstar in John Wall, a near-star in Bradley Beal and a battle-tested playoff assassin in Paul Pierce. Atlanta should be scared.
The Hawks earned the top seed for a reason, so they’ll push the Wiz-kids more than Toronto did.
But Washington is coming together at the right time. Expect the Wizards to keep rolling and move on to the conference finals.
Cavaliers vs. Bulls
Is picking the Bulls the new trend in the media?
So many analysts and writers are suddenly hopping onto Chicago’s bandwagon, but that train is about to get derailed by LBJ and Kyrie Irving.
Jimmy Butler has been extraordinary, and Derrick Rose looks as spry as ever. C’mon, though. It’s impossible to say that the Bucks are anywhere near the Cavs.
Forget James and Irving for a moment. If the Bucks’ frontcourt is water, Cleveland’s is syrup—significantly thicker. Zaza Pachulia is a bruiser, but John Henson and Ersan Ilyasova don’t strike fear into the hearts of their opponents.
Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson do, however. Grantland’s Zach Lowe has more:
Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson won’t be able to have their way on the inside all series like they did against Milwaukee.
So, if either James or Irving dominates their individual matchup against Butler and Rose, respectively, it’s over.
The tough-minded Bulls will make life difficult for the Cavs. But this is Cleveland’s series to lose.
Warriors vs. Grizzlies
If Memphis was completely healthy, the Warriors could be in for some serious trouble.
Armed with stalwart defenders like Mike Conley and Tony Allen, the Grizzlies, perhaps more than any other team, were equipped to shut down Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
But Memphis isn’t completely healthy. Conley is still recovering from surgery to repair facial fractures he received in Game 3 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The southpaw point guard is a true warrior, though (pun intended). According to Paul Fleischer of Fox 13 Memphis, there is speculation that Conley practiced on the eve of Game 1 against Golden State:
The last time we saw Conley was during the Game 5 broadcast, which his team closed out. It was jarring to see the point guard so beat up:
It’s safe to assume that Allen, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph will wreak enough havoc to steal a game or two this series. But without Conley at full-strength to slow down Curry, the Warriors should keep on rolling.
Rockets vs. Clippers
This series will be a whole lot of fun.
The Rockets have no answer for Chris Paul and the Clippers have no answer for Harden. Both teams have hulking big men capable of doing everything but sinking free throws in DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard.
Where Los Angeles has the advantage, though, is in Blake Griffin, its wild-card star. If the high-flying forward starts feeling it from inside and out, Houston could be in for a long series.
Could Kevin McHale really expect Terrence Jones and Josh Smith to stay with Griffin?
Probably not. But assuming that Los Angeles will win just because it has more stars would be shortsighted. Could that be the defining factor? Sure. But Harden has carried this team all year, with Howard suiting up for just 41 games.
He’s certainly capable of continuing his trek for a title and powering his Rockets past the Clippers, who could be without their go-to guy in Game 1, per ESPN’s Arash Markazi:
Without CP3, momentum obviously swings in Houston’s favor. But it’s extremely hard to picture him not giving it a go in some capacity.
Hopefully all teams, including these two, get healthy and stay that way. It’s a shame how great of a factor injuries have been this postseason.
At full strength, Los Angeles has a slight edge over the Rockets. This is looking more and more like the year Paul shuts up every single doubter and takes his team on a career-defining title run.
Even if he has to do it on one leg.
