HOLBROOK, NY – Greetings… You’re busy. I’m busy. Let’s get to the goods: Mets Struggles Continue, Knicks/Pacers, NBA Semi Finals Picks and Preview.
Mets Struggles Continue
The Mets have dropped the first two in Tampa Bay to the Rays. This team is just all over the place. For the most part, the pitching’s been solid. It’s the lineup. It starts with two of their stars. Alonso’s hitting .158 over his last 15 games and Nimmo hasn’t been much better. Butto and Severino have truly been All-Star caliber pitchers through the first month and Christian Scott delivered 6.2 tremendous innings in his Major League debut. The pitching has been stunningly good. Sitting at 16-17 with half the lineup not hitting and two of their key relievers Brooks Raley and Drew Smith on the IL, is not a bad spot to be. This team can’t compete with Atlanta and Philadelphia, but when healthy they can certainly compete for a wild card spot.
Knicks/Pacers, Semi Finals Picks and Preview
The Knicks/Sixers was one of the best series I’ve ever seen. The combination of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey will surely dominate the league for years to come. A 100% Embiid would’ve been a truly terrifying sight. On to round two. The Pacers are a very good team that presents an entirely new challenge for the Knicks. Indiana plays at one of the fastest paces in the league. I expect the games in this series to be far more high scoring compared to the games against Philly. Led by star guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers took a massive leap forward this year finishing runner up in the in-season tournament and then trading for All-Star Pascal Siakam. I think the Pacers have a real shot at upsetting the Knicks and this should be an extremely competitive series that may go seven games. However, there are about maybe five players in the NBA right now I’d rather have than Jalen Brunson. Knicks in 6.
Celtics/Cavs or Magic.
It doesn’t matter who wins game seven between the Magic and Cavs. The Celtics will make quick work of whoever advances. Celtics in 4
T-Wolves/Nuggets. Anthony Edwards is emerging as one of the best players in the NBA. He’s truly just an absolute killer. The T-Wolves stole game one in Denver from the Nuggets. Minnesota is loaded, they may be the league’s best defensive team and they match up really well with Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets. This in my opinion is the best matchup we’ll see all playoffs long. Jokic is the best player in the world and Denver’s roster compliments him perfectly. However, maybe it’s a little bit of recency bias because they won game one, but I think Minnesota is the most complete team in the NBA right now and is peaking at the right time. Wolves in seven
Mavericks/Thunder.
This should be another terrific series. For the Mavericks, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic have been playing incredible on both sides of the ball. At the deadline, Dallas added PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford and it’s given them an entirely new dimension that they’ve missed in recent years. For the Thunder, they’ve consistently been one of the best teams in the NBA both offensively and defensively all year long. They possess one of the best one-two tandems in the NBA with Shai Gilgeous Alexander and Chet Holmgren. Both teams are playing their best basketball at the perfect time, I can truly see either team winning this series. I’ll take the Mavericks in seven, I have no reason to pick against the Thunder so I’ll simply bank on Kyrie and Luka continuing to play what may be the best they’ve ever played.
