2024 NBA Western Conference Second Round Playoff Predictions

Posted on by jminx94

The first round was exciting and fun. Minnesota shockingly swept Phoenix. Denver barely led most of their four wins against the Lakers. Dallas and the Clippers had an entertaining series. Oklahoma City had no playoff jitters as they confidently swept the more experienced Pelicans. The Thunder and Mavericks will show viewers how close they are to becoming complete teams while Denver and Minnesota have the best second round matchup in either conference. Two of the remaining four teams will advance to the next round. Time to break down which of the two have the best chance to make the conference finals.

#5 Dallas Mavericks v. #1 Oklahoma City Thunder

Dallas and Oklahoma City have great guard duos. Forward and center play will determine who wins this series.

The Mavericks and Thunder have many similarities but many differences. They have great starting guards who score at will. They have young, dangerous centers starting to find their rhythm on both sides of the ball. Dallas and Oklahoma City also have starting forwards facing a lot of pressure to defend well and score better. Both coaches also know how to get the best out of their improving rosters.

The differences are in expectations. The Mavericks face growing pressure to make a championship run with star guard duo Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving playing their best basketball these last three months. The Thunder’s starting five is the youngest in the league and hasn’t faced adversity in the postseason. Doncic and Irving have enough experience to help center Daniel Gafford, and forwards P.J. Washington and Derrick Jones Jr. gain advantages on Oklahoma City’s center Chet Holmgren, and forwards Jalen Williams and Luguentz Dort. It will be interesting to see how both teams counter each other’s strengths and styles.

Prediction: Mavericks win series 4-2

#3 Minnesota Timberwolves v. #2 Denver Nuggets

Guards Jamal Murray (blue) and Anthony Edwards (white) will have one of the best series of their careers.

This could be the best NBA playoff series of 2024. Minnesota and Denver have split their last two regular season series and have the right players to counter each other. This could be the only Denver series we see a one-on-one matchup on Nikola Jokic, as he’ll be guarded by Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert.

Nuggets guard duo Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have as much skill as Timberwolves guard duo Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards. You could go as far to say Conley’s experience and better defense presents a problem for Denver. Since Gobert can do what most teams can’t and cover Jokic by himself, Minnesota can double cover Caldwell-Pope or Murray (depending on who’s playing better each game). Roster depth will be more important since Sixth Man of the Year winner Naz Reid can play well at both power forward and center for the Timberwolves, and Nuggets guard Reggie Jackson can play both sides of the ball well when Murray rests.

The winner of this series will be decided on the play of Minnesota star forward Karl-Anthony Towns against Denver forward Aaron Gordon. Gordon’s played better each postseason series since he was traded to the Nuggets in 2021. He can play physical on both sides of the ball and is a consistent rebounding threat. Towns is a great three point shooter, but his rebounding and preference of playing away from the basket and interior poses a problem Denver can exploit further into the series.

Prediction: Nuggets win series 4-3

First round western conference playoff predictions: 2-2

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Published by jminx94

A 2017 Fall Graduate of Western Illinois University. I majored in Sports Broadcasting and minored in Journalism. Sports are very serious to me, as they are what i'm most passionate about (history, world news and reading are steadily behind.). Still in the process of learning about other sports both nationally and internationally.

37 thoughts on “2024 NBA Western Conference Second Round Playoff Predictions”

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