The West is Wild in This Years NBA Playoffs

Ryan and Matt of Throwin Stones discuss their picks in the Western Conference Playoffs

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Ryan Griffin: I think Memphis is going to blow out the Timberwolves, which totally wrecks my hot take. We talked about brackets a little bit. The Clippers busted my bracket because if the Clippers were the seven, I was totally ready to pick the seven seed Clippers to upset the Grizzlies. But that’s not how it shook out.

I think the Grizzlies should beat the Timberwolves, pretty easily. I just think they’re a better team. Without Ja Morant, they’ve been really good this year. I think Jaren Jackson Jr. can do a great job on Karl-Anthony Towns. And then Memphis, they have so many other guys that they can throw at you, whether it’s Dillon Brooks, obviously Ja, they got Desmond Bane, and it’s just like a really tough team to try and guard and to try and score on. 

As far as the closest series, probably, I think the four or five will be pretty close except Luca’s out for game one. I think the five seed Jazz are probably going to get the upper hand because even if Luca comes back, I don’t know, that he’ll be a hundred percent.

I think the Warriors in the Nuggets is probably the most interesting series, but again, we don’t know if Steph Curry is going to come back. He was on Draymond’s podcast talking about his plan has always been to come back for game one, nothing’s been confirmed for that yet.

But I think that’d be interesting because you have this Nuggets team who has been playing without stars all year. Obviously, they have Jokic, but they’ve been playing without Michael Porter, Jr. and Jamal Murray. And while that is a detriment to them, they’ve at least had basically the entire season to play with the group of guys that they’re playing with.

Whereas the Warriors, they’re trying to work back Steph now, they’re trying to work back Klay Thompson, they’re trying to work back Draymond Green. Not too long ago, trying to work back, a guy like James Wiseman into the lineup. Again, not too long ago.

So I think that’s going to be an interesting series, probably not a whole lot of defense played, but I can see that one where it’s, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, all the way to a game seven. I do think those two teams are that even, where the Warriors have the star power and they have home court, but the Nuggets are going to have that team cohesion as weird as that sounds because they’re missing their second and third-best players.

Matt Bassin: Just for updates for those players that are out, Steph did scrimmage with the Warriors and he is optimistic that he’ll be ready to go for game one. If Steph is 85% for this series, I think this thing’s a wrap in five. I understand what Jokic has done with the team around him, but I look at the Warriors who have all this experience and still all this talent, and the head coach and Steve Kerr that has been in this situation so many times already that I just, I don’t believe Denver is going to put up much of a fight again.

I think it might be a one-game. It might be two. They might steal one for a second game. I think the Warriors are going to end up actually beating them down. If it is without Steph, if Steph is missing the first game or two, I agree with you. It could absolutely go seven, but if Steph’s there for game one and he’s 80% or more, I just have a hard time seeing Denver handling what the Warriors can do when they play as a cohesive unit.

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