NBA: 9 Bold and league-altering predictions heading into the playoffs

Tyrese Maxey is going to go toe-to-toe with Jalen Brunson

Heading into the first round of the NBA Playoffs, there may not be a more marquee of a matchup than the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks. Both are historic franchises that are looking to break through in the postseason with budding stars. Heading into this series, I predict rising star Tyrese Maxey is going to be able to go toe-to-toe with Jalen Brunson, making this a much more difficult first-round playoff series than the Knicks would like.

I'm not saying that Maxey is going to be able to outplay Brunson or anything like that. He's just going to make this matchup somewhat of a tossup as the Sixers look to pull off the upset as the 7th seed. Whether they'll be able to do that falls on the shoulders of Joel Embiid and the rest of Philly's supporting cast. However, Maxey is going to hold up his side of things.

Maxey is going to have a breakout NBA Playoff moment and there won't be much doubting him anymore as a budding star in this league. On the biggest stage that the league has to offer, Maxey is going to announce himself to the rest of the NBA.