NBA Playoff Roundtable: Upsets, bold predictions and our Finals picks

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NBA Oklahoma City Thunder Paul George (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Which under-seeded team will make the deepest run?

Osborne: I feel like the first round is going to be mostly chalk with all higher seeds winning except for the Oklahoma City Thunder. I could easily see the Thunder beating the Blazers and then pulling another upset over the winner of Denver-San Antonio. As long as George is fully healthy the Thunder will be a tough out in the West.

Knitzer: No one in the East, that’s for sure. My heart says the Thunder, and my head says the Thunder or Spurs.

Salveson: Oklahoma City Thunder. Russell Westbrook and Paul George can run with the best of them. If they get going in the playoffs, they could provide a tough opponent for the Trail Blazers. Because they wouldn’t have to face the Warriors until the Conference Finals, they will probably be able to give their second round opponent a challenge.

Griffin: The Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder does not have to worry about the Warriors or Rockets until the Western Conference Finals, which by itself is a huge win. Dennis Schroder could be a big x-factor for the Thunder if he plays close to the way he played against the Wizards in the first round of the 2017 playoffs when he averaged 24.7 points a game.

Kirshblum: I figure I’ll be in agreement with most of the opinions here. I went back and forth between the Thunder and Rockets until eventually I leaned towards the Rockets. After being just one win away from the NBA finals last season, the Rockets bring back almost their entire roster although they will miss the defensive presence of Trevor Ariza. In his place however has been Kenneth Faried, a tailor made rim running and board crashing big man for the team, and shoot-first think later (the Rockets seeming team motto) Austin Rivers.

The Rockets come into the postseason 23-7 in their last 30 games which includes impressive wins over Golden State, Utah, Denver, Boston, San Antonio, Los Angeles Clippers, Toronto, and Philadelphia. The only question will be if playoff James Harden shows up once again, or if he can finally continue his legendary regular season play into the playoffs.

Freedman: While they may be the sixth seed in the tough West, everyone knows that the Thunder match up with the Warriors better than anyone else in the Conference… I’d go as far as to say the league. Again, PG-13 is coming off of an All-NBA caliber season, and that’s something Russ hasn’t played with since Kevin Durant’s last season a few years ago.

With everyone in sync and a bench that has been able to play pretty well (yes, Dennis Schroder, I’m talking about your career-high scoring), the Oklahoma City Thunder just might beat the Trail Blazers.

Balaraman: The Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the most talented six-seeds in recent memory. It was just a couple months ago that Paul George was many people’s dark horse choice to win the MVP, and the former Pacer is still one of the frontrunners to win DPOY. Pair him with Russell Westbrook (who averaged a triple double, again) and the Thunder have one of the most potent one-two punches in the league. They should match up well against the Blazers, and would fancy their chances in the next round against either the inexperienced Nuggets or the veteran Spurs. The Thunder have a real shot to make the Western Conference Finals.

McNeil: The Oklahoma City Thunder have the potential to go all the way to the Western Conference Finals. OKC swept their first round opponent, the Portland Trail Blazers, in the regular season. Because of the Jusuf Nurkic injury, the Thunder have favorable matchups in that series as well. With Paul George and Russell Westbrook, the Thunder have the to take out the their second round opponent as well. If OKC sticks to their identity of playing hard defense and fast offense, then we may very well see this team in the Conference Finals.