NBA Playoffs: Predicting 8 Round One Series And NBA Finals

Can LeBron James lead the Cavs? Will the Warriors hold on out West?

The National Basketball Association's second season tips off on Saturday as the NBA playoffs begin. For the next two months, 16 teams will battle it out for four rounds to determine the NBA Champion. In order to win the coveted NBA Title, a team must win four best of seven series. It's one of those sports where the favorites do pretty well, but there's no guarantee that they'll win in seven games. There have certainly been a number of upsets in the history of the playoffs. When looking at the two conferences, the Western Conference is clearly. The best record went to the West's top seed the Golden State Warriors, who finished at 67-15. The Oklahoma City Thunder were the best team not to make the playoffs with a record of 45-37, which would have been good for sixth place in the Eastern Conference and would have made them a big threat over there. That's the rules, though. Top eight in each side make the playoffs with no exceptions. Maybe that will change in the future. The Miami Heat made the NBA Finals the last four years, but with LeBron James choosing to play in Cleveland they missed the playoffs while the Cavs go into the postseason as favorites in the East. It will be nice to see a different Eastern Conference team in the finals for a change. If James were to lead the Cavs there then he would be playing in his fifth straight NBA Finals, which would only cement his legacy as the most dominant player in the last decade. Here's a look at every first round series with a prediction for each and then on the last page it's time to talk about the rest of the playoffs with a pick for the NBA Champion.
 
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John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.