NBA Playoff Predictions: Will Pistons upset Knicks? Bucks over Pacers? | Draymond & Baron

Number 3 seed Knicks versus the 6 seed Pistons. This series is gonna be interesting because it's the clash of different styles in a way, but kind of similar. Like the Knicks grind it out a bit at times, but the Pistons really grinding it out, you know, like they fighting you. And, and that's the attitude they coming with. You got the Pistons back in the playoffs. I told y'all this team has embodied that bad boy mentality. I'm gonna tell you an underrated piece in this series is Dennis Schroder. Dennis Schroder is different in these playoffs, man. Dennis Schroder is bringing a level of experience to that Pistons team in these playoffs that is going to help stabilize that team with the young guys that ain't been there much. You know, Cade ain't been there, Stu ain't been there. You know, you got these young guys, Jalen Duran ain't been there. You got these young guys that ain't been in the playoffs, and then you got DS who been in meaningful playoff series and bringing that level of experience. You got Jared Jack on that bench who's played and brings the level of experience from the coaching standpoint.

Tobias Harris.

Tobias Harris has been there, right? So you got a couple stabilizers that I think helps this Pistons team out. And then they got, You know, they, they got a level of physicality that they come with. And then K's an incredible player, you know? And so I think the Pistons can give the Knicks problems in this series. I don't think this is a cakewalk, you know? Stu going, Stu and Jalen Durant, they gonna, they gonna rough Karl-Anthony Towns up. Karl-Anthony Towns gotta bring his hard hat to this matchup because those two guys are going to, they going to try to rough him up.

He gonna follow him up.

I mean, listen, he can draw foul. He gonna follow him up. But they gonna take those fouls and they wanna try to make him quit. You know what I'm saying? Like that's gonna be their mentality is to try to make him quit.

When you foul out 6 fouls, that's 12 points.

It's the playoffs, man. They ain't calling it. It's the playoffs, man.

Okay, don't call it. I'm still gonna cook there. Like I'll be waiting. Like if I'm KAT, I'll be waiting. I would be waiting for them.

That's fine.

He gotta cook.

But that's what we talking about. He has to cook in order for them to win this series. It ain't your typical first round series. Series. He gotta cook. He has to cook.

To me, this is the best first round series that, and matchup that the Knicks could have got because when they get over this series, they battle, they battle test it.

I agree. I agree.

Detroit gonna push, they gonna fight, they gonna, they gonna hoop too. The winner of this series, it boils down to this, free throws, And who making shots?

Yep.

Is Tobias gonna make shots? Is Beasley gonna make shots, right? We know K gonna shoot the ball. Is K gonna make shots? For the Knicks, Karl-Anthony Towns has to play big. Mikal Bridges gotta make shots. OG gotta make shots. And Jalen Brunson gotta, he gonna have to make shots, but he's also gonna have to distribute and be a playmaker. The Pistons are physical. I love this matchup for KAT because they don't have nobody to guard him. And their solution is, oh, we're gonna bully him. Well, you ain't gonna bully KAT. That ain't gonna happen. KAT ain't getting bullied. They're gonna try. Not against the Pistons. They gonna try. That's what I was trying to say. Trying to bully somebody versus trying to play basketball, you already defeated.

Yeah, but we can't act like, —Isiah Stewart and Jalen Durant not good defenders.

Yeah, but I'm saying if they're worried about bullying him and not worried about defending him and bullying him that way, then KAT should be using that to his maximum.

Yeah, when I say bullying, I mean bringing a level of physicality.

Oh, okay, got it.

Like literally bullying. I follow him out. I'm saying like— Yeah, I follow him out. Bringing a level, they're gonna bring a level of physicality that KAT gonna have to work through. And he gonna have to adjust to it. Like, he gonna have to adjust around that first game to the level of physicality that I think they're going to bring. That's just my opinion. But I'm gonna tell you a matchup that I think is very important in this series because I hold him in very high regard and his length could be a problem.

Mm-hmm.

Asar Thompson guarding Jalen Brunson.

That's why I say you gotta be a distributor to—

Because Jalen, because the thing with Jalen Brunson is like, Jalen Brunson like to get to his spots and he'll hit you with the body. Asar Thompson strong enough to take the hit. He fast enough to keep up. He athletic enough to steal a contested shot even if you do get a bump. And so I think that's, that's a matchup. Like Jalen Brunson is an all-star. Jalen Brunson's all NBA performer. Jalen Brunson should be able to do what he do. But that's a matchup that I'm watching to see like how that turns out because Asar Thompson's a hell of a defender, man. Both Thompsons.

I think so too. That's why I was saying Jalen Brunson, he's gonna have to score and distribute.

Yes.

Right?

Can't just be score.

The thing that I hate about a defender like an Asar Thompson, is you can't get into their body. Like you can't find them. So when you looking for a bump or you looking, usually if it's a bigger guard or a bigger person guarding you, you can bump and you can find him, but you can't find him 'cause he's, you know, he's so skinny.

Yeah.

And his limbs, you know, like he's skinny and he wiry. So there's no way that you can actually bump and push off without, his arms and his hands still being, you know, a half a step away, right?

Yes.

Yeah. If Draymond Green can get inside the pick and roll, if he can get leverage on him, you know, in the basket and be able to use his footwork. But this kid is, man, this kid is tall as hell and it's hard to find him on defense because you're playing against, basically his hands and his arms pretty much all the time. And you're not, you're not gonna shoot the ball over him 'cause he's athletic. So that's a fact. Let's go, let's go Knicks tape. Let's go Knicks tape.

And the petty has already started. The Detroit Pistons reportedly limit NBA playoff ticket sales to locals ahead of the Knicks matchup. You had to be, I think you have to have a Michigan, Ohio.

That's fire. License plate or driver's license.

Yeah, like add a address to purchase tickets or something like that. So I'm rocking with it, Detroit. I'm rocking with it.

I love it. Let's go Detroit. I love Detroit. I love what they doing.

Good luck to the Pistons. I'm rooting for the Pistons. You know why I gotta root for the Pistons? I want to see the Pistons win. So let us go Detroit. Shout out to the Pistons.

Yeah, you know, I gotta go with, who I think is gonna win the series. I think the Knicks is gonna win. Once a Knick, always a Knick. But I do love the Pistons. I'm torn because if you go back to the beginning of the year, what did I say? The Pistons are my team. The Pistons are my sleeper, them and the Rockets.

Yeah.

And so it's funny that both of these teams are in the playoffs playing against both of my teams. And damn, those were the teams I was rooting for earlier in the year, but it should be a great series. Shout out to Arn, shout out to Trajan Langton, shout out to JB for the work that they doing.

Yes, sir.

And how they turned that program around.

Luke Walden, Jared Jack, good guys, man.

Man, this could be one of the best series, I think, in this first round matchup.

George David in the front office. Man, let's go Pistons. Let's go.

All right, here we go. Standing in the East. Number 4 Pacers at the number 5 Bucks. Damian Lillard has been cleared but will most likely miss the start of the season, of the series, sorry. He's clear but he's supposed to miss like the first couple games of the series. How does Giannis carry the Bucks to the next round without Dame if he doesn't come back? And then who do you think will win the series?

Man, over the last couple years, the Pacers have really given the Bucks problems. Even when Dame was playing, they gave them problems. Giannis, this team has been different over the course of the last 3 weeks. Giannis has really stepped his level of play up. He's really looking like the Giannis, the younger Giannis that— Yeah. Used to distribute a lot. Like Giannis earlier in his career—

Was a point guard.

Was a point guard and distributed the ball quite a bit. And he's looking like that player again, but only with the dominance of Giannis today.

Mm-hmm.

And so it's been incredible to watch this team over the last, you know, 2 weeks kind of find themselves without Dame, in the absence of Dame. And saying that, this is playoff basketball and, Playoff basketball is a little different when, when you're talking to schemes and the detail that goes into a playoff series and you just be needing your top guys. So, you know, with Dame at least gonna miss the first couple games of this series, no harm, no foul because these are road games and these are two free swings. In a playoff series, you don't have to win one of the first two road games. You just have to win one road game in the series. Yeah. And so for them, this is a chance for them to know that, man, we, we more than likely got Dame coming back. Keep our fingers crossed for Dame Dolla. We more than likely got him coming back, but we going on the road without him right now. We got 2 free swings. Let's just go steal one, you know? And so that's the mindset of them. I think Dame, uh, Giannis will have to be great. Uh, my X factor is gonna be Gary Trent.

Mm-hmm.

Is gonna be my X factor. You need him or Torian Prince. Has to shoot the ball really well. One or two. If you get both of 'em shooting well, you're really in business. But if you can get him or Torrey and Prince shooting well, I think that that's the X factor for them. So they just gotta go steal one. Ultimately in this series, I think it's hard to choose against players like Dame and Giannis. The Pacers have had their number though. So ultimately I think I am going to choose—

Draymond Green.

With Dame's uncertainty, I'm gonna choose the Pacers to win this series.

Ooh, I didn't expect you to say that. I did not expect you to say that. I would have to agree. I do wanna say this about Giannis. I love Giannis' game. I think Giannis is doing what Steph Curry is doing, right? He's elevating the middle side of his game. He's elevating, you know, hey, I can evolve. Into a much greater player than I am, that you think this, I'm just dominant, right? Back to the defense, back to the playmaking, back to the leadership, back to taking over. But more importantly, Giannis is starting to learn when to take over these games.

Yep.

And he giving these guys some freedom to explore, some freedom to make plays and play to they talent. And it's almost like, before his game required so much attention that it was hard for everybody else to figure themselves out. Now he's allowing them to have attention so he can figure 'em out, so he can figure out how to go and win the game. The only issue is the Pacers are not afraid of the Bucks, and the Pacers are not afraid of Giannis, right? You think about Siakam, you think about— Draymond Green. They got, you know, Halliburton. They got the Mathurin kid back. He's been playing well for them. The Pacers have the depth. Obi Toppin's been playing really well as well. Obi Toppin's killing.

TJ McConnell.

TJ McConnell. Like the Pacers, they've been a unit. Andrew Nembhard. Yep, they've been a unit. And so I don't think that They fear the Bucks. I feel like they think that they have the Bucks' number. I feel like their bigs feel like, hey, we can not stop Giannis, but we can, if we can control our environment and Giannis is still Giannis, then he won't have the impact. So it's really gonna be, to your point, who's making shots? Connaughton, Gary Trent, You know, what is Lopez?

AJ Green.

AJ Green. What is Kuzma gonna give you? And then on the Bucks side, who's gonna step up and become, you know, that offensive hero for them?

Kevin Porter Jr. That's possible. Absolutely. He got the talent.

Yeah, he could be another X factor.

For sure. So who you got?

I'm gonna take in that series, I'm gonna rock with You know what, I've been against the Bucks the whole year. I'm gonna go with the Bucks.

Respect, respect.

You know, I've been fighting Doc and the Bucks and asking Doc to, you know, let Giannis and Dave figure it out. Doc listened to me and now I gotta rock with the Bucks.

I respect it, I respect it. That man said Doc is right in his wrongs. All right. Yes, sir. Moving on, we got the 7th seed Magic versus the 2nd seed Celtics. The Magic coming off a beatdown of the Hawks a couple days ago. You got Jaylen Brown's knee for the Celtics that's been a concern. Heard he got some injections in it, if I'm not mistaken. You got the Magic missing Jaylen Suggs. How many games do you think this series is going? Who you think winning this series? What you got for me, BD?

I think the Magic can get one because I think Paolo is that talented. Him and Wagner are that talented that they can at least get one. My whole thing with Orlando is they're gonna go the way their guards go. It's what everybody else is doing with Orlando outside of Paolo and Wagner. But when you look at, you know, the Celtics, they're a buzzsaw. I know Jalen Green, Jalen Brown's knee is, you know, a concern for people, but you know, they just want to get out this series. So 4-1, I would say Celtics over Magic. Maybe the Magic get 2 if they get 1, right? If they can get, if they can steal 1, in Boston. That could be, you know, something unexpected, but I do see Boston 4-1 in that series.

I got Boston as well. You know, just missing your starting point guard and going up against the defending champions, that's tough to overcome. You're right, they do have the talent to get one, but I am going to go Celtics.

4-0. Ooh, sweet. Okay.