NBA 2024 Post-Season Preview

Zafir Nagji, Staff Writer | 

The 2023-24 NBA Regular Season is less than a month away from its end, and what a year we basketball fans have been treated to. From Shai Gilgeous-Alexander exploding and potentially becoming the first Canadian MVP since Steve Nash in 2006 to the Los Angeles Lakers winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament, this season has been nothing less than absolutely remarkable. 

That being said, whether you bet on the sport, watch it as an avid fanatic, or casually keep up with it, the most exciting part of the season, the 2024 NBA Playoffs, are just around the corner. While some teams are still jostling for positions, here follows a preview of how the postseason will shape up.

Eastern Conference

This is by far the easier of the two conferences to make predictions for. The Boston Celtics are sitting comfortably at the top of the conference and have been there for the majority of the year. Their brilliance shows up on the stat sheet, as they possess the best net rating in the league of +11.9 points per 100 possessions. The star power of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined with their incredibly well-fitting ancillary pieces of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, and others make them the favourite to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. 

That is the Milwaukee Bucks’ elite stars and rag-tag group of scrappy and skilled role players can upset them. Their coaching change midway through the season from Adrian Griffin to Doc Rivers has been a challenge for the team to become accustomed to. That being said, having the second-best player in the conference in Giannis Antetokounmpo and the East’s best three-point marksman in Damian Lillard will make them a tough matchup for anyone, including those invincible-looking Celtics. They also shoot the most free throws of any team in the league, shooting 77.5 per cent on just over 25 attempts per game, making them more comfortable with the slower pace and physically tough playstyle of the playoffs.

Notable potential Cinderella stories include the Cleveland Cavaliers, who, despite injuries to key players like All-Star Donovan Mitchell, find themselves sitting in third place in the conference. The Indiana Pacers also made a significant move to acquire Pascal Siakam and pair him with the best point guard in the East, Tyrese Haliburton. Their young group of hungry hoopers are a threat to any team thanks to their league-leading 122.8 points per game and 30.5 assists per game numbers. Don’t forget about the Miami Heat either, who are always a contender come playoff time thanks to brilliant coaching from Eric Spoelstra and their infamous “Heat Culture.”

Western Conference

Here’s where things get damn near impossible to forecast. The difference in wins between the first and second seeds in the Eastern Conference (10) is greater than the difference between the first and fifth seeds in the Western Conference (9). The Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets are all within a win or two of each other and fighting tenaciously for that coveted first seed. 

Denver would be the safest bet between the three, thanks to them having the most playoff experience and winning the 2023 NBA Championship. This year, their passing has been crisp and efficient, evidenced by their league-best 2.32 assists per turnover committed. Reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic has also been putting together one of the best seasons of all time, averaging 26 points, 12.3 rebounds and 9 assists per game. He also has the best player efficiency rating (PER) in the NBA at 31.

Still, Oklahoma City and Minnesota have their own noisemakers to be aware of. The Thunder have the MVP favourite in Gilgeous-Alexander and the best True Shooting Percentage in the league, while the Timberwolves bring a nuclear offensive force in Anthony Edwards to go along with their stifling defense, which allows the least points per game of any team in the NBA at 106.7.

But sitting below them are a plethora of teams ready to make any better’s dreams come true. The Los Angeles Clippers, sitting five wins behind the third seed, have two former MVPs in Russell Westbrook and James Harden on their team, and they aren’t even the best players on their team. That honour is shared between Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, both of whom have managed to stay healthy consistently enough this season to develop a frighteningly sharp level of chemistry. 

Behind them in the fifth seed are the New Orleans Pelicans, who are 28-15 since the end of the In-Season Tournament in December thanks to Zion Williamson losing 25 pounds and maintaining his health all year long. Trailing them closely in sixth are the Sacramento Kings, who bring a combination of brilliant three-point shooting and tremendous rebounding, securing a league-leading 74.5 per cent of all available defensive rebounds.

Even the Western Conference Play-In Tournament is likely to be absolutely riveting, with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving’s Mavericks, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker’s Phoenix Suns, LeBron James and Anthony Davis’s Los Angeles Lakers, and Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors set to duke it out to secure the seventh and eighth seeds. Each of those players can make an argument for being one of the ten best in the NBA and will give you good reason to glue your eyes to your screens.

Finals Prediction

Based on their statistical excellence and consistent winning ways, the Boston Celtics are a solid pick to make the NBA Finals out of the Eastern Conference. Yes, the Milwaukee Bucks are a worthy adversary with Lillard and Antetokounmpo, but Holiday’s hounding defense combined with Tatum and Brown’s raw athleticism and explosive offensive production should provide a powerful counter that sends the Celtics to their second NBA Finals in the last three years.

To represent the Western Conference, it’s hard to argue against picking the Denver Nuggets. Having arguably the best player in the league in Jokic, some of the best coaching from Michael Malone, and incredibly talented pieces to work with like Canadian scorer Jamal Murray and shameless shooter Michael Porter Jr. makes them more than a compelling choice. 

My pick, as much as the Lakers fan in me despises, is that the Celtics will secure their 18th championship in a hotly contested seven-game series that will see Jayson Tatum be crowned Finals MVP.