@KeepTheJuice21 NBA Playoff Picks - 4/25

As the series starts to wrap up in Brooklyn, the Nets will have a chance to salvage some pride out of the season. Basically the calculus here is whether you believe they will play for the pride of if the Nets feel the series is over and will fold.

There’s two things that lead me to thinking that won’t happen. Kevin Durant pays attention to everything that’s said about him and the media has been brutal in the last few days. If the past is any indication, he will be playing with legacy defining intensity tonight. The second is that the style of play that has made the Celtics so great is going high energy, high intensity, suffocating defense from minute 1 to minute 48. That’s extremely difficult to keep up, especially when you feel like you’ve won a series already. Realistically they have won already, but I think they’ll let this one slip.

Let’s address the question everyone has been asking after Saturday night’s loss, are the Mavs better without Luka Doncic? No of course we can joke but there is a less significant question that isn’t dripping with sarcasm, is Jalen Brunson too good to be a backup? My impression watching that game was that there were times he should’ve taken the ball but didn’t because he was actively trying to defer to Luka. If the Mavs want to make an extended run, they need to quickly figure out a way to maximize both players’ talents, which is a difficult task. Fortunately, they have a kind trial run against this disjointed Jazz squad. I don’t see any way they don’t come home here and blow them out. Whether it’s a Luka takeover game or a huge team effort, the mismatches just got way heavier on the Mavs side and they will take advantage.