NEWSLETTER
Now that the Cavs and Magic have wrapped up, we can take a look at the full second round of the NBA Playoffs! There are two games on the schedule Monday night. The Knicks and Pacers tip off their series at Madison Square Garden, and the Timberwolves look to take a 2-0 series lead on the road in Denver.
NBA Playoffs Round 2 Schedule & Odds
New York Knicks (2) vs Indiana Pacers (6)
Knicks X-Factor: Deeper bench production. Can the Knicks get by another series with Jalen Brunson doing it all? Sure. But he’s going to need a little more help if New York wants to make a deep playoff run. Brunson has been one of the best players in the postseason thus far. But after the Bogdanovic injury, the Knicks have shortened their bench to just seven players. Tom Thibodeau tends to overwork his rotation, but if the Knicks want to make a deep run, they’ll need to get more from their bench at some point.
Pacers X-Factor: Up the tempo. If the Pacers play the Knicks game, they’re going to struggle to win. The Pacers led the NBA in scoring this season. They finished fourth in fast-break points per game. They finished second in team PACE. If they can get the Knicks running, especially with their short bench, that’s their best chance to take this series.
2 Minnesota Timberwolves vs 3 Denver Nuggets (MIN Leads 1-0)
Timberwolves X-Factor: Anthony Edwards. I know he might be the easy answer here, but sometimes the most obvious answer is the best one. Edwards has been arguably the best player in the NBA Playoffs thus far, and if the T’Wolves are going to pull off the upset over the defending champs, it’s because Edwards just keeps being that dude. Minnesota has a very good supporting cast that has played well thus far, but they will go as far as their best player takes them.
Nuggets X-Factor: Jamal Murray’s Calf. Murray gutted through his calf injury to help close out the Lakers, and he played Game 1 in this series, so clearly he’s healthy enough to be out there. But in order to slow down Edwards and the Timberwolves, Murray will have to be more than just healthy enough.
1 Boston Celtics vs 4 Cleveland Cavaliers
Celtics X-Factor: Stay Healthy. They already lost Kristaps Porzingis with a calf injury. Losing another key rotation player would hurt. There’s not much that can get in the Celtics’ way of winning this series outside of laying an egg, but if they start to lose more key pieces to injury that could certainly give Cleveland some life.
Cavaliers X-Factor: Own The Boards. The Cavs are going to have an uphill climb in this series. They’ll likely have to steal one early … and then have about everything go right for them to get by the Celtics. But with Porzingis out, one area they can control is rebounding. If Jarrett Allen comes back for Game 1, he and Evan Mobley can give Boston problems on the boards. Control the glass, take advantage on second-chance points, and maybe they have a shot.
1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs 5 Dallas Mavericks
Thunder X-Factor: Keeping Composure. The Thunder are a really talented group. That said, they’re very young, inexperienced, and going up against a significantly stiffer test in the second round. Dallas is going to be a much tougher out than New Orleans was. How this team responds to adversity from quarter to quarter and game to game will be fun to watch. No doubt they’re really good, but I’m interested to see how they handle a superstar opponent in what could be a longer series.
Mavericks X-Factor: Defensive Consistency. Dallas had their ups and downs defensively in the regular season. That said, they looked like a much better team on that side of the court in the series win over the Clippers. They held LA to under 100 points in three of the six games and only allowed over 110 points once. It’s a tall task, but if we get the defensive performance from the Mavs that we saw in Round 1, they’ll have a chance against the young Thunder. That, and Luka & Kyrie need to be great obviously.
*All Odds Via DraftKings and FanDuel
