NBA Playoff Standings 2015: Latest Postseason Bracket and Title Predictions
It's taken one month of playoff basketball, but the NBA championship picture is finally coming into focus. There are five teams still fighting for the right to win the prestigious Larry O'Brien Trophy and go down in history books forever.
In the Eastern Conference, there's no surprise, as the top two seeds fought off valiant efforts from the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls, respectively, to get here. The Atlanta Hawks will come into their matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers as prohibitive underdogs, though that seems fitting since everyone has underestimated the Hawks all year.
Out West, the Golden State Warriors righted the ship after falling behind the Memphis Grizzlies early in the series to secure their spot in the conference finals for the first time since 1975-76. The Warriors have to wait until Sunday before finding out whether they will play the Los Angeles Clippers or the Houston Rockets, as those two were kind enough to provide us with a Game 7.
This has been a thrilling postseason already, so the last two rounds have a lot to live up to. The good news is this: There's enough talent and star power to provide the drama expected of playoff basketball.
Here's the latest playoff bracket and predictions for how the NBA Finals will shake out.
2015 NBA Playoffs
| Game 7 at Houston | Sunday, May 17, at 3:30 p.m. | ABC |
| Game 1 at Golden State | Tuesday, May 19, at 9 p.m. | ESPN |
| Game 2 at Golden State | Thursday, May 21, at 9 p.m. | ESPN |
| Game 3 at Los Angeles or Houston | Saturday, May 23, at 9 p.m. | ESPN |
| Game 4 at Los Angeles or Houston | Monday, May 25, at 9 p.m. | ESPN |
| Game 5 at Golden State (If Necessary) | Wednesday, May 27, at 9 p.m. | ESPN |
| Game 6 at Los Angeles or Houston (If Necessary) | Friday, May 29, at 9 p.m. | ESPN |
| Game 7 at Golden State (If Necessary) | Sunday, May 31, at 9 p.m. | ESPN |
| Game 1 at Atlanta | Wednesday, May 20, at 8:30 p.m. | TNT |
| Game 2 at Atlanta | Friday, May 22, at 8:30 p.m. | TNT |
| Game 3 at Cleveland | Sunday, May 24, at 8:30 p.m. | TNT |
| Game 4 at Cleveland | Tuesday, May 26, at 8:30 p.m. | TNT |
| Game 5 at Atlanta (If Necessary) | Thursday, May 28, at 8:30 p.m. | TNT |
| Game 6 at Cleveland (If Necessary) | Saturday, May 30, at 8:30 p.m. | TNT |
| Game 7 at Atlanta (If Necessary) | Monday, June 1, at 8:30 p.m. | TNT |
NBA Title Predictions
Let's get the obvious out of the way: Cleveland and Golden State are going to meet in the NBA Finals. Normally a declarative statement of fact about something that's opinion-based leaves one open to scrutiny.
Atlanta and whichever other team comes out of the Western Conference Semifinals won't be pushovers. The Hawks' best shot to upset the Cavaliers is hoping Kyrie Irving's injuries keep him down and J.R. Smith cools off following his hot-shooting ways against Chicago.
Even if those two things happen, the Hawks still have to find a way to stop LeBron James. That's a mountain of a task, especially without Thabo Sefolosha's stellar defensive prowess around.
As for the Warriors coming out of the West, they have been the best team in the league all year. Their response to a terrific Memphis team after falling behind 2-1 in that series was incredible, and no one has been able to shut down all of head coach Steve Kerr's shooters long enough to win four times in seven games so far.
This brings us to the pomp and circumstance that the NBA had to be hoping for when the postseason started. Cleveland and Golden State may not be massive media markets or the most popular franchises in the league, but it's not hard to sell people on the best player of this generation (James) against the league's MVP (Stephen Curry).
The presence of young stars like Irving, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson makes this a marketing dream.
The Cavaliers and Warriors split the two games they played in the regular season, with each team winning on its home floor and scoring over 100 points.
Cleveland's postseason arc has been interesting to follow because none of its best players are shooting well. James, Irving and Smith are all shooting 43 percent or worse thus far.
Yet as Steve Aschburner of NBA.com noted after Game 6 against the Bulls, the Cavaliers showed how far they have come since the start of the season and how they are more than just James, Irving and everyone else:
"[Tristan] Thompson scored 13 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as Cleveland toyed with the Bulls on the glass, 53-32. The kid from Toronto who lost his starting job when the Cavaliers' ambitions ratcheted up -- James coming home, Love added for the three-starred stool, Timofey Mozgov acquired to replace Anderson Varejao -- wound up as the leading rebounder on either team in the series. And this thing was decided by rebounds, the winner in each game owning that category.
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The growth of Cleveland's roster, especially since the addition of Timofey Mozgov in January, has been thrilling to watch. It wasn't supposed to be this hard because James, Irving and Kevin Love were going to make this one of the most dominant teams of the era.
Instead, Love looked lost during the regular season and got hurt in the playoffs, so Golden State ended up taking that crown. The Warriors are quickly becoming the model franchise in basketball, building a roster largely through the draft thanks to steals like Curry, Green and Thompson.
Curry is the fuel that makes Golden State's engine run, with ESPN.com's David Thorpe calling him the playoff MVP so far:
"These past few games have featured a steady dose of Curry doing what very few players have ever done, namely shooting 3s whenever and wherever he wants to. He is allowed to make plays and shots, period, and has now made 100 3s faster than anyone in NBA playoff history. Curry is walking the path to true greatness in ways we have never seen.
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The Warriors have one of the best offenses in the NBA, with so many shooters all over the floor that it's easy to overlook their defense. That would be a mistake, as that unit led the league in defensive efficiency during the regular season.
In the same category, Cleveland ranked 20th during the regular season but has improved to fourth during the postseason (tied with Golden State).
If James is the best individual passer in the NBA, Golden State is the best passing team in the NBA. Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated wrote that the Warriors' ability and willingness to make an extra pass make this team special:
"In watching Golden State, one can track a possession's course and find where some other team executing might settle. On the Warriors go, turning a pick-and-roll into a pick-and-roll-and-cut, the two-man game into three or four or five.
This isn't just a difference in approach. Golden State built its roster around Curry and Thompson but shaped its strategy around the passing of its bigs. Green and Bogut play integral roles in most every half-court possession. Their hand-offs force a defense to quickly change direction.
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Ultimately, the Warriors' ability to keep opposing defenses on their heels and find open shooters behind the arc will make the difference. They move at a fast pace with the ball in their hands and rarely go into offensive slumps, forcing opposing teams to score at least 100 points just to have a chance.
The Cavaliers aren't an explosive offensive team right now. Irving's health is going to be the biggest question mark in the Eastern Conference Finals. If he starts hitting shots again, the team's outlook does change dramatically—he's that good when everything is working.
Golden State has been on a mission since the season started, leading the league with 67 wins and showing no signs of slowing down. It will all culminate in the franchise's first championship since 1975.
Defensive-efficiency rankings via ESPN.com
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