Post by The Athletic on Jan 29, 2018 0:33:47 GMT -5
vs.
#7 Portland Trailblazers #2 New Orleans Pelicans
The 2/7 match-up brings us two teams new to the playoffs. Both these teams came into the year with young squads and a bright future, and both are now entering the playoffs for the first time. The Blazers have a ton of young talent and should be a playoff team for years to come. The Blazers are led by all-star Bradley Beal and Kemba Walker. Andrew Wiggins has had his moments here and there, but overall can probably be considered a disappointment, if the Blazers want a shot at knocking off the Pelicans they'll need a big two weeks from Wiggins. Laurri Markkanen is one of the bright young bigs in the game and should be a building block of this team moving forward. The Pelicans are clearly led by two studs, Devin Booker and Russell Westbrook. Outside of those two the Pelicans have been aided greatly all year by very solid depth.
The Blazers are a really fun young team, but they're just gonna need huge weeks from their guys to have a shot in this one. Kemba, Beal, and Laurri all need to explode. Aminu has been up and down this year, but it looks like he'll be valuable moving forward, and will also need to be big for the Blazers to have a shot moving forward. Forbes has started to pick it up and play valuable minutes moving forward which again will be nice moving forward for Portland. Chieck Diallo could be interesting, it seems like Asik is the logical replacement for Cousins but it wouldnt surprise me if Diallo starts to play minutes for the Pels moving forward.
The Pelicans have had a magical season and will look to keep it rolling where it really matters. The obvious person who makes this team run is Russ, who will be as productive as they come because of his insane usage. Booker should be a usage monster himself the rest of the way, and you'd be hard pressed to find two better guys to rely on moving forward in the playoffs. The key to this team is its depth. Up and down the roster almost every player on the Pelicans contributes. Because the Pelicans are so deep it doesn't really matter if certain guys have off weeks because someone will step up. I think the X-factor of the role players is Hardaway, if he comes back and starts playing the way he did pre-injury the Pelicans could have a cheeky little big three.
The Pelicans are big favorites in this one. They just have the depth that the Blazers will struggle to match. The Blazers might hang tough for a little, but eventually the depth of the Pels along with Westbrook will be too much for the Blazers to match.
The 2/7 match-up brings us two teams new to the playoffs. Both these teams came into the year with young squads and a bright future, and both are now entering the playoffs for the first time. The Blazers have a ton of young talent and should be a playoff team for years to come. The Blazers are led by all-star Bradley Beal and Kemba Walker. Andrew Wiggins has had his moments here and there, but overall can probably be considered a disappointment, if the Blazers want a shot at knocking off the Pelicans they'll need a big two weeks from Wiggins. Laurri Markkanen is one of the bright young bigs in the game and should be a building block of this team moving forward. The Pelicans are clearly led by two studs, Devin Booker and Russell Westbrook. Outside of those two the Pelicans have been aided greatly all year by very solid depth.
The Blazers are a really fun young team, but they're just gonna need huge weeks from their guys to have a shot in this one. Kemba, Beal, and Laurri all need to explode. Aminu has been up and down this year, but it looks like he'll be valuable moving forward, and will also need to be big for the Blazers to have a shot moving forward. Forbes has started to pick it up and play valuable minutes moving forward which again will be nice moving forward for Portland. Chieck Diallo could be interesting, it seems like Asik is the logical replacement for Cousins but it wouldnt surprise me if Diallo starts to play minutes for the Pels moving forward.
The Pelicans have had a magical season and will look to keep it rolling where it really matters. The obvious person who makes this team run is Russ, who will be as productive as they come because of his insane usage. Booker should be a usage monster himself the rest of the way, and you'd be hard pressed to find two better guys to rely on moving forward in the playoffs. The key to this team is its depth. Up and down the roster almost every player on the Pelicans contributes. Because the Pelicans are so deep it doesn't really matter if certain guys have off weeks because someone will step up. I think the X-factor of the role players is Hardaway, if he comes back and starts playing the way he did pre-injury the Pelicans could have a cheeky little big three.
The Pelicans are big favorites in this one. They just have the depth that the Blazers will struggle to match. The Blazers might hang tough for a little, but eventually the depth of the Pels along with Westbrook will be too much for the Blazers to match.