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The 2021 NBA Playoffs are just right around the corner, as the strange, pandemic-hit 2020-21 regular season is winding down. The final playoff standings, however, are yet to be determined with a few games still carrying serious seeding implications. In addition, the play-in tournament will also add an interesting wrinkle to the postseason.
There are plenty of 1st-round scenarios that can still round into form, depending on how the final games of the regular season go and who emerges as the 7th and 8th seeds from the play-in tourney. NBA fans certainly have their own dream match-ups that they want to see right from the get-go as the road to the NBA title begins for the 16 teams in the postseason.
With that, here are the 5 best opening round series we need to see in the 2021 NBA Playoffs:
5. 2021 NBA Playoffs dream first-round series: Miami Heat vs. Milwaukee Bucks
How about the Milwaukee Bucks get their tormentors from a year ago, the Miami Heat, in the opening round? This is definitely going to be one of the most intriguing 1st round series, should the East standings align these two former foes once again.
Miami currently holds the no.5 seed in the East and has the same record as the New York Knicks. Meanwhile, Milwaukee is at the 3rd seed and could still move up to no. 2. The two squads face off on Saturday and if the Bucks win, the Heat could fall to no. 6, should the Knicks take care of their opponents the rest of the way.
If these two do indeed get each other in round 1, the Bucks will definitely be motivated to exact revenge from their bitter second-round exit at the hands of Jimmy Butler and the Heat last year. Meanwhile, after struggling with injuries and COVID for most of the season, Miami is finding its top form at the right time and will enter the 2021 NBA Playoffs more determined than ever. The Heat will certainly want to prove that last year's playoff run wasn't a fluke and would do everything they can to make a return trip to the NBA Finals.
4. Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns
We already mentioned that there is no possibility for the Lakers and Clippers to face off in the 1st round. With that, an intriguing match-up for the defending champions is the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns hold the no. 2 seed in the West, while the Lakers stand at no. 7. If the current seedings hold up and the Lakers take care of business in the play-in game, LeBron James will see his good buddy Chris Paul for the first time in a playoff series. This should be one of the underlying storylines in a potential Suns versus Lakers opening round match-up.
Aside from the LeBron-CP3 narrative, this is also going to be a classic match-up between the new kids on the block versus the ones who have been there and done that. These new kids, however, are led by a veteran star in Paul, who is still motivated to win his first NBA championship. Taking down the defending champs, however, will be a tall order, despite the Lakers' struggles all year. Aside from CP3 and perhaps Jae Crowder, a majority of these Suns will taste the postseason for the first time in their careers.
Meanwhile, despite being saddled with injuries the entire season, Los Angeles is still arguably the favorite to advance to the next round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs in a potential series with the Suns given their superstar power and experience. Of course, it goes without saying that the Lakers are going to do everything it takes to defend their title and go back-to-back.
3. Utah Jazz vs. Golden State Warriors
We've been hearing about these 2020-21 Golden State Warriors being dubbed as We Believe 2.0 given their underdog status heading into the postseason. Draymond Green recently shut that notion down, but it's hard to avoid the comparisons, especially with the way Golden State is starting to find its rhythm as the regular season comes to a close.
Should the Warriors eventually wind up with the no. 8 seed, they will likely face the best team in the league in the Utah Jazz. The original We Believe Dubs were stopped on their tracks by the Jazz. Perhaps these 2021 Warriors, led by arguably the best version of Stephen Curry, can get retribution and at the same time, repeat what the OG We Believe Warriors pulled off when they upset the no. 1 seeded Dallas Mavericks back in 2007.
Unlike the Warriors, who have Stephen Curry, the Jazz don't have that big-name superstar leading their squad. Sure, they do have Donovan Mitchell, who had a magnificent playoff run last year, but he still doesn't carry the same stature of someone in Curry's tier. This should be a true test for a no-superstar team like Utah that's played well the entire season to go up against one of the best players this game has ever seen.
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2. L.A. Clippers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Let's just get this out of the way. The Battle of L.A. isn't happening in round 1. With that, let's just go with the next best possible match-up for the Clippers, particularly for Paul George: Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Clips seem to be doing their best to avoid a possible match-up with the Lakers until the Western Conference Finals. However, by doing so, they might see Dame Time in the opening round. Of course, PG13 won't admit it, but that man is arguably his worst playoff nightmare aside from Joe Ingles.
Everyone certainly knows what happened the last time these two saw each other in the postseason. Lillard sent the Oklahoma City Thunder home in the 2019 playoffs with that epic walk-off 3-pointer right in George's face. Dame and PG13 have since talked trash with each other on social media and had a heated back and forth right before the start of the 2020 postseason. And as George and the Clippers crumbled to blow a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets last year, Lillard did not hold back in trolling L.A. for their epic meltdown.
Should Lillard and George meet again in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs, get your popcorn ready for this no-love-lost showdown.
1. 2021 NBA Playoffs dream first-round series: Brooklyn Nets vs. Washington Wizards
Oh boy, this should be a good one.
The Brooklyn Nets will likely finish as the no. 2 seed in the East, which means the Washington Wizards need to finish as the 7th seed. Washington currently stands at no. 10, but there is still a path for them to get to that no. 7 spot to create a juicy match-up against the star-studded Brooklyn squad. The Wizards will need to get to at least the no. 8 seed at the end of the regular season and win the 7-versus-8 play-in game to book a date with the Nets.
Obviously, the narrative we're looking at here is the Russell Westbrook vs. Kevin Durant – James Harden storyline. We obviously know the history between those three as being the founding fathers of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Of course, there's that eternal KD-versus-Russ beef that resulted from Durant's bitter departure from OKC. Then, things didn't end very well for Westbrook and Harden when they made their split from the Houston Rockets this past off-season. Add the fact that The Beard eventually joined forces with Durant, the man who left Westbrook in Oklahoma City to go win a couple of title in Golden State. Should this epic match-up come into fruition, you just know how hard Westbrook is going to go at his former teammates, especially with the fact that they eventually join forces in Brooklyn.
Hopefully, the stars align so we can see Russell Westbrook and his Wizards go up against Kevin Durant, James Harden, and the Nets in the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
