Matt Johnson
The focus this week centers on the NBA Play-In Tournament, with the matchups determining who will face the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams in the Western and Eastern Conference. However, our NBA playoff predictions are focusing on the first round itself.
Let’s dive into a few of our early bold predictions for the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Houston Rockets Sweep the Los Angeles Lakers
Any excitement for a first-round playoff series between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers immediately evaporated after the injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. With all due respect to the second-best player in NBA history, a 41-year-old LeBron James simply can’t carry a team anymore. James is the only healthy Lakers player who averaged double-digit shots per game this season and we certainly don’t see Deandre Ayton stepping up in the playoffs. Plus, Houston ended the season winning 10 of their last 14 games, with two of those losses being decided by 16 total points to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Rockets are better defensively, they have greater depth, and they match up perfectly versus this version of the Lakers. LeBron’s tenure in Los Angeles ends in a first-round sweep.
Related: NBA Play-In Tournament Predictions
Anthony Edwards Slays Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets
We view Anthony Edwards in the early rounds of the NBA Playoffs much like Patrick Mahomes—it’s not wise to pick against him. The Minnesota Timberwolves superstar has averaged 27.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in the last three postseasons, shooting 37.2 percent from the perimeter. While he boasts a 21-21 career postseason record, Edwards now has an opportunity to take down arguably the best NBA player right now in Nikola Jokic. We feel pretty confident that Jokic and the Denver Nuggets will take this series the distance, but Edwards’ clutch performance propels Minnesota to delivering a No. 9 seed knockout over the No. 3 seed in a winner-take-all Game 7 in Denver.
Dyson Daniels Has 30-Point Game, Knicks Pull Off Gentleman’s Sweep
We wanted to have some bolder NBA playoff predictions for the first round, so why not a 30-burger for Dyson Daniels? He only scored 25-plus points twice this season and he’s never had a 30-point game in his career. However, the New York Knicks are going to give him some wide-open treys in this series, and Daniels has shot 36.7 percent from the perimeter in his last 16 games. We’re saying he’s going to get hot one night in Atlanta, hitting three three-pointers for the first time in more than a year (April 2, 2025). It’ll be the one reason Atlanta wins a game in this series, with New York pulling off the gentleman’s sweep.
Donovan Mitchell Scores 30+ in Every Game
Most likely, we’re going to see RJ Barrett matched up against Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell. That doesn’t bode well for the Toronto Raptors. Mitchell has averaged 29.6 points per game in the last two postseasons with Cleveland, and that’s with him averaging just 23.8 PPG in the first-round series last year against the Miami Heat. While Toronto has enough talent to take this series to six games, Mitchell will drop 30-plus points in every game and wipe out the Raptors like a meteor.
Read More: 2026 NBA Draft Lottery Odds, Date
Play-In Teams Get Swept
We’d just like to say thanks for playing to all the teams participating in the NBA Play-In Tournament. By the time the first round arrives, we’ll see how much of a gap there is between the best NBA teams and those who clung to playoff contention this season. The Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics will all cruise to first-round sweeps that are decided handily. There’s a greater possibility of the Detroit Pistons dropping a game, but we’re going to bet on Cade Cunningham and Co. making it a clean sweep in Round 1.
