The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers remain on track for a rematch in this year’s NBA Finals as the top seeds in their respective conferences heading in to the playoffs. It only makes sense that those teams are the favorites to reach the NBA Finals but there is also little doubt about which team has the easier road to get there. Efficiency will be the focus for the Cavaliers as they look to avoid injury and remain as rested as possible before a potential rematch with Golden State and the expectation will be that they are able to navigate a relatively weaker road to the NBA Finals through the Eastern Conference. Here is a look at the four NBA first round series most likely to result in a sweep.
Eastern Conference First Round
(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) Detroit Pistons
The Cavaliers will look to make quick work out of Detroit in the opening round and as much as the Pistons aren’t the most favorable matchup for them there is no doubt about LeBron’s ability to step up and lead his teammates in the playoffs. Cleveland will have a tough time containing Andre Drummond but they might not have to do much more than slow him down with LeBron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love all healthy. The Cavaliers actually lost three of the four regular season meetings with Detroit but they also lost a total of 25 games with an understandable difference in their approach to those games compared to what it will be in the postseason. Cleveland was unstoppable in last year’s playoffs even without Love and Irving so we expect the same now that they are at full strength heading in to the postseason.
Western Conference First Round
(3) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (6) Dallas Mavericks
Oklahoma City swept its regular season series with the Mavericks with four wins by an average of 9.5 points and it wouldn’t be a surprise if their playoff series had a similar feel. Dirk Nowitzki has been amazing in helping Dallas get back to the postseason but on paper this has the potential to be a very lopsided matchup. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will start perhaps their final playoff run together for the Thunder and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they absolutely dominated the Mavericks in an opening round sweep.
Western Conference First Round
(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (7) Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies have struggled to find their identity all season and now they draw perhaps the worst possible matchup they could have faced in San Antonio. The Spurs have owned Memphis in recent years including winning all four regular season meetings this year by an average of 12.5 points. Memphis is without its two best players and after limping in to the postseason with just one win in its previous 11 games this will be a quick ending to their season as San Antonio sweeps them.
Western Conference First Round
(1) Golden State Warriors vs. (8) Houston Rockets
Houston is in a similar position to Memphis in that James Harden and company are coming off a year in which they struggled just to get into the postseason, and now they face a very unfavorable matchup in the opening round. The Warriors will be focused on completing the sweep in order to stay as rested as possible heading in to a potential second round matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers and they should make quick work of the Rockets. Golden State swept the season series with four wins by an average of 12.3 points and should have no problem with stringing together four more victories over Houston in the opening round of the playoffs as their NBA title defense begins. The Rockets defense has been deplorable this season and there is no reason to believe anything will change here. The Warriors were fading a little bit down the stretch of the season, so they know they need to get through this as quick as possible, and rest up for the championship run.
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