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NBA playoff preview picks: Is Nets over Jazz a safe bet? Some of our experts think so
Jeff Zillgitt, Mark Medina, Matt Eppers, Duane Rankin, Marla Ridenour, J. Michael, Jim Owczarski, Evan Barnes and Berry Tramel, USA TODAY
Published
1:25 pm UTC May. 21, 2021
The NBA s inaugural play-in tournament served its intended purposed: it became the topic of league-wide chatter the last month of the season and then produced some compelling games.
But the real playoffs begin on Saturday. Can the Los Angeles Lakers repeat as champions? The Utah Jazz finished with the league s best regular-season record. Does that mean they are ready to make a run to their first title? And what to make of the Nets? Can former champions Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving deliver a championship for Brooklyn?
A season after winning an NBA championship in the bubble, the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves in the NBA s play-in round, needing to win a game just to reach the postseason. The Golden State Warriors, who bounced back after a dismal, injury-plagued 2019-20 to put themselves in a position to return to the playoffs, stand in their way.
When the 2020-21 season tipped off just before Christmas, few would have predicted that these two teams the past two Western Conference champions would have been meeting on this stage. It doesn t quite have the same stakes as past postseason meetings between LeBron James and Stephen Curry, all of which happened in the NBA Finals, but it is still bound to be an exciting game, with a first-round meeting with the Phoenix Suns on the line for the winner. The loser will face possible elimination on Friday.