The NBA playoffs are upon us and that means that only 16 teams remain in the race for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. While every team has done a tremendous job getting to this stage, no team is perfect. Every team has its weakness(es) and today we’ll be looking at the biggest one for each team.
Detroit Pistons (41-41): Scoring
Let’s not fool ourselves here: The Pistons are not good enough to be a serious contender in the playoffs. They had to battle for their playoff spot until the last day of the season and finished with a .500 record. A lot of that comes down to their scoring problems. They rank dead last amongst all playoff teams in points, field goal % and 3p%. To counter those problems, they would need to have a top defense, but they also rank last for playoff teams in opponent field goal %.
If the supporting cast surrounding all-star Blake Griffin doesn’t get more consistent, in particular Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond, the Pistons might be looking at a very early exit at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Orlando Magic (42-40): Guards
For the past years the Orlando Magic have religiously taken big men in the draft, and the guards that they did pick never panned out. They did trade for former first overall pick Markelle Fultz as their point guard of the future, but the former 76er has been out basically all year (and also last year) with one of the weirdest shoulder injuries ever.
This leaves D.J. Augustin as their starting point guard and while he’s a reliable veteran, he’s more suited as a sixth man. Their bench doesn’t provide much guard play either. In a league that is heavily guard-oriented the Magic will have trouble to go on a deep run. In Orlando’s defense, they weren’t expected to make the playoffs and overachieved heavily, so it’s quite normal that they aren’t ready to compete yet.
Brooklyn Nets (42-40): Experience
Anyone who really watched the NBA this year would agree that the Nets are one of, if not the most exciting team to watch. From their bench reactions to the breakout year for first time all-star D’Angelo Russell, the fierce blocks by Jarrett Allen on basically every NBA superstar, Joe Harris winning the 3-point contest and finishing with the best 3p%, everything about this team has been exciting. They play with a high level of energy on both ends and that goes a long way.
But they’re young, very young. None of their starters have ever really had playing time in the playoffs, and only 5 of all their players have played meaningful minutes in a playoff run. They go up against the Philadelphia 76ers, who arguably have the best starting lineup in the entire association this year, so it won’t be easy by any means for the Nets. This year is a good year to get some experience, and they could sign a max-player in free agency, so next year might be the one for the Nets.
Indiana Pacers (48-34): Missing Oladipo
You don’t have to look too far to see what’s wrong with the Indiana Pacers: They are missing their all-star Victor Oladipo. The Pacers looked like a great playoff team in the beginning of the season, but after Oladipo went down their hopes were basically shattered. They dropped from 3rd to 5th, which might not seem like a huge drop, but it is if you consider that the distance between 5th and 6th is 6 games.
Oladipo missed 11 games earlier in the season with another injury, in which the Pacers went 7-4, not too bad, but after Oladipo went down for good they lost 19 of the remaining 35 games. It isn’t really a knock on the Pacers to say that they won’t go on a deep run, they just miss their star player.
Boston Celtics (49-33): Chemistry
Probably the easiest one on the whole list. The Celtics have looked like a dysfunctional team for so long now, criticizing each other, the coach, the game plan, the chemistry… A lot of that comes down to team leader Kyrie Irving, who’s impending free agency has been a burden for the Celtics all year long. Whenever Kyrie is on the floor, the rest of the Celtics seem limited and are very free flowing when he’s not there. The Celtics are 12-3 without Irving and that’s not a good look for him.
But that’s not saying that the Celtics are better without him or don’t need him. They will need him in the playoffs, as he is without a doubt one of the best players in the game today. The Celtics last year were one game away from the Finals and if they get their act together, they sky is the limit for this team.
Philadelphia 76ers (51-31): Bench
The 76ers have had no depth all year long after letting go Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova in the summer and trading away key rotation pieces for Jimmy Butler. Granted, they have a starting lineup that looks worthy of competing with the Warriors, but their bench might be even worse. Just like the Warriors they don’t score a lot and allow too much.
Luckily for the 76ers the playoffs are a different animal where bench players are less of a factor, but with Joel Embiid’s lingering knee injury that has him uncertain for game 1 of the playoffs they might be exploited in their lack of depth.
Toronto Raptors (58-24): Kawhi’s health
The Raptors are a great all-around team with incredible depth, but Kawhi Leonard’s health remains one of the biggest question marks. After missing all but 9 games last season for the Spurs, even after being cleared to play, he has missed another 22 this year. Now, you might say that this was quite smart by the Raptors, resting him for the playoffs, but it still seems weird that a superstar in the NBA misses that many games due to rest and minor injuries.
Whenever Leonard plays, he is MVP-caliber and a lockdown defender. The former finals MVP definitely has what it takes to take this Raptors team far enough, but will he be able to sustain his health for a longer period of time?
Milwaukee Bucks (60-22): Giannis’ shot
Let’s call it what it is: Nitpicking. The Bucks don’t really have a flaw. You could say that they rely too much on Giannis Antetokounmpo, but even that’s a stretch. So, I went with Antetokounmpo’s (3-point) shot. Yes, it has improved quite a bit over the past months, but it still isn’t nowhere near consistent. If playoff teams decide to give Giannis open looks in order to be able to stop him from dunking all over the place, he will need to knock a few of them down.
But again, it’s nitpicking. The Bucks look incredibly strong and will probably win a playoff series for the first time in the Giannis-era. They have the frontrunner for MVP and one of the most unstoppable players in the league, have the best record in the league and have a lot of people ranking them very high on the power rankings, so they absolutely need to go as far as the ECF.
Predicted winner: Toronto Raptors
Courtside 