NBA Playoff Preview - WEST

1) GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (Odds to win Ship -225)

Keys To Success:

• Play team ball – Rank 1st in assists with over 29 assists per game

• Stay healthy.

Things They Do Well:

• EVERYTHING – they’re -220 to win the ship... the next best odds are the Bucks at +750!!

• Feed the hot hand – Starting 5 averages 3+ assists per game

Things They Don’t Do Well:

• Finish close games -- the Warriors have just a 55%-win percentage in close games, 10th overall in the league

• Physicality on defense – Ranked 13th in Defensive Rating (should improve in playoffs)

2) DENVER NUGGETS (Odds to win Ship +1800)

Keys To Success:

• Control the tempo and play aggressive

• Jokic, Jokic, Jokic – He leads the Nugs in points (20.2), assists (7.4), and rebounds per game (10.8)

Things They Do Well:

• Have a plethora of guys who can score – the Nuggets have 7 players who average double digit points per game

• Play team defense – Only allowing 106.6 points per game (6th in the league

Things They Don’t Do Well:

• Get to the line – 26th and 28th in free throws attempted and made free throws respectively

• Play with pace – the Nuggets play great half-court basketball, but when the pace picks up their opponents usually have numbers on the other end

3) PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS (Odds to win Ship +4000)

Keys To Success:

• Enes Kanter – Can Enes produce the work that Jusuf Nurkic (15.6 pts/10.4 rebs/3.2 asts) was providing the Blazers the entire season? (Jusuf is out for season with a leg fracture)

• Create turnovers – a bit undersized in some capacity, the Blazers will need to create chaos for opposing offenses if they want to beat a team like the Warriors

Things They Do Well:

• Perimeter defense – The blazers force opponents to shoot only 30 threes per game (3rd best in the league)

• This team does not miss free throws – as a team they shoot 81% (2nd best in the league)

Things They Don’t Do Well:

• Lack big guys who can create opportunities for others (nearly all their assists come from Dame Dash, Evan Turner and C.J. McCollum)

• While their Offensive Rating is 3rd in the league at 114.5, their defensive rating is 110.3 (16th in the league) and that’s a problem if you’re trying to come out of the West on top

4) HOUSTON ROCKETS (Odds to win Ship +1100)

Keys To Success:

• Live by the three, die by the three – the Rockets lead the league in three pointers and three point attempts but shoot it at a 35% clip. They’ll need to shoot it 35% or better throughout the playoffs to have a chance at taking it all.

• Need quality minutes from role players – Kenneth Faried, Austin Rivers, and P.J. Tucker all need to do the small thing to help the Rockets advance

Things They Do Well:

• Score, especially #13, averaging a league high 36.2 ppg

• With an offensive rating of 115.2 (2nd in the league) the Rockets can keep up with any opponent

Things They Don’t Do Well:

• Things they don’t do well:Defensive Rating 110.7 (17th in the league) -- the Rockets don’t cause a whole lot of turnovers or play tight D by any means

• Box out – Ranked 29th and 28th respectively in defensive rebounds and total rebounds

5) UTAH JAZZ (Odds to win Ship +6000)

Keys To Success:

• Perimeter shooting (Kyle Korver, Joe “better than Larry Bird” Ingles, Jae Crowder) – three-point shooting hasn’t been as hot as it was in the beginning of the season but will be crucial for the Jazz to get hot come playoffsDonovan Mitchell has the capability to take over games and in his second playoff appearance expect him to do just that (23.5 pts/ 4.1 rebs/ 4.2 asts per game)

Things They Do Well:

• Getting it done defensively – Rank 2nd in Defensive rating and 2nd in opponent effective field goal percentage (51%)

• Mostly in part to Rudy Gobert, the Jazz shoot over 54% from inside the arc

Things They Don’t Do Well:

• Hold on to the ball – the Jazz have the 25th highest turnover rate in the NBAKeep up with higher scoring teams – teams that can score and will score at will are going to be hard to keep up with as the jazz only score 111 ppg (18th in the league)

6) OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (Odds to win Ship +3500)

Keys To Success:

• Perimeter shooting - PG, Jerami Grant and Terrance Ferguson need to hit open looks when Russ finds them behind the line)

• No turnovers – Russ has over 300 TO this season (4.5 per game)

Things They Do Well:

• Get to the basket – have playmakers that can take it to the rack, not to mention they rank first in offensive rebounds per gameGuard 1 on 1 – Steven Adams can lock down any big man in the NBA

Things They Don’t Do Well:

• Get back on fast break – avoid turnovers in the backcourt and risky passesHave many other scorers besides Westbrook and PG13 – need Steven Adams to average 14+ in playoffs to stay in contention each game

7) SAN ANTONIO SPURS (Odds to win Ship +8000)

Keys To Success:

• Determine the pace – Slow the game down and play technically sound basketball

• Get to the line – create space and plays for guys to drive down the lane and get fouled

Things They Do Well:

• Take good shots – shooting 48% from the field as a team (2nd in the league)

• 3-point shooting – lead the league in 3-point percentage

Things They Don’t Do Well:

• Don’t get to the line a lot (only averaging 21 FT per game)

• Don’t cause a lot of turnovers, hence not leading to a lot of fast break points

8) LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (Odds to win Ship +15000)

• Keys To Success:

• Getting key guys back into the lineup – Patrick Beverly and Danilo Gallinari are listed as doubtful for the next couple games not to mention they’re already missing Luc Mbah a Moute

• Take more shots – they only average 87 shots per game (21st in the league) but have a high field goal percentage at 47%. Plain and simple shoot the rock.

• Things They Do Well:

• Take quality shots -- Danilo Gallinari is averaging 23.9 points on 52 percent shooting over his 13 games last month. Get to the line – they rank first in both FT and FTA (7th in FT% as well)

• Things They Don’t Do Well:

• Shoot the three – I mean this literally, they don’t shoot threes, averaging only 26 per game, but they shoot it at a very high clip (39%)

• With the trade of Tobias Harris, role players have had to step up and score the basketball. They do this well against average teams but not against the better half of the league