After nearly seven months of regular season basketball, the 2022 NBA Playoffs are about to get started. With the play-in tournament in its final stages, the full bracket of 16 teams that are about to make a run for the title is almost complete.
With the association crowded by a deep pool of talented, high-ceiling teams, the 2022 title chase should remain pretty open, just as it was in the last two seasons. A total of eight different teams finished the season notching more than 50 wins, the most in a season since 2014-15 when a whopping ten teams reached that mark.
How could the 2022 NBA Playoffs shape up in both the East and the West?
Last season, the Milwaukee Bucks braved through the Eastern Conference and usurped the Phoenix Suns to win the 2021 NBA Championship, with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the franchise to its second title. Could the defending champs repeat? Or is a new team slated to be lord over the NBA?
Which team could flame out early? Which squad could pull off an upset? Which players face the most pressure to win the title? Which could be this postseason’s biggest breakout star? Cutting to the chase, here are the 8P9S staff’s 5 boldest predictions for the 2022 NBA Playoffs.