On April 12, Beijing time, the NBA regular season has come to an end, and the next will be a playoff competition, the Nets, Cavaliers, Hornets, Eagles in the East, the Timberwolves, Clippers, Pelicans, spurs in the West, will also compete for playoff tickets, so who can laugh to the end? Su Qun, a famous basketball commentator, also gave his predictions about the play-offs on his personal social media.
Su Qun believes that in the 7-8 place matchup in the East, the Nets can beat the Cavaliers. And in a 9-10 place showdown, the Hornets can beat the Hawks. In the end, the Cavaliers played against the Hornets, and it was still the latter who was more likely to advance.
The Nets led the Cavaliers 3-1 in the regular season, and because the Cavaliers lacked Allen, they could no longer put up a three-high lineup, and only achieved a record of 3 wins and 8 losses in the last 11 games. Durant and Drummond are enough to ensure that the Nets have an advantage on the inside, so there is little suspense in passing the level.
The Hornets and Hawks drew 2-2 in the regular season, with both teams excelling in the second half. The Hawks won 26-14 in their last 40 games, while the Hornets finished with an 11-4 record, and the two teams were very close. But in the last meeting of the regular season, the Hornets clipped Trae Young to give him just nine points in a single game. Coupled with the fact that Collins has been reimbursed for the season, the Eagles bench is not as deep as the Hornets.
If the Hornets play against the Cavaliers, Su Qun is more optimistic about the Hornets, because now with Harrell and Thomas Jr., the Hornets' bench strength is stronger.
In the west, the Timberwolves and the Clippers are competing, and Su Qun is more optimistic about the Clippers. In the four meetings in the regular season, the Clippers led 3-1, and those three games were double-digit wins, including 20+ big wins. The Timberwolves' only win, the Clippers were missing George. Towns has been playing badly against the Clippers, which is also a hidden danger.
The Pelicans and Spurs showdown, and although the Spurs led 3-1 in the regular season, Su Qun was more optimistic about the latter. Because McCollum is very good at playing the Spurs, he has scored 36 points, 20 points and 32 points against the Spurs in three games this season. The Spurs need to rely on Murray, who has delivered double-digit assists in 3 winning games, while the one that lost the game has only 5 assists.
Once the Pelicans meet the Timberwolves, the Timberwolves are more likely to win because Towns averaged 27.8 points per game against the Pelicans in four games, a point the Pelicans had a hard time solving.