8 Chicago vs 1 Boston
Regular season series: Tied 2-2. The addition of Al Horford, and the fourth quarter scoring of Isaiah Thomas helped push the Celtics to the one seed this year. The Bulls struggled down the stretch, then took care of business when needed to earn the final spot in the East. A healthy Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo makes Jimmy Butler’s life easier, and may keep the series competitive. Both teams will be relying heavily on their starters, providing little fantasy value in this matchup to the players priced below $5,000. Prediction: Boston in six.
Top targets: Isaiah Thomas, Jimmy Butler, Rajon Rondo.
Secondary targets: Al Horford, Dwyane Wade, Jae Crowder
High risk targets: Nikola Mirotic, Robin Lopez, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart
7 Indiana vs 2 Cleveland
Regular season series: Cleveland 3-1. Cleveland is set to defend their championship, and will use a first round matchup against the Pacers to fix whatever issues they have been dealing with internally during the last month of the regular season. The Pacers rode Paul George and his 30 plus points in four of his last six games into the playoffs, but Cleveland won’t be playing around to start the playoffs. Prediction: Cleveland in four.
Top targets: LeBron James, Paul George, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love
Secondary targets: Jeff Teague, Myles Turner, Thaddeus Young
High risk targets: J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, Kyle Korver, Lance Stephenson
6 Milwaukee vs 3 Toronto
Regular season series: Toronto 3-1. This will be one of the more competitive first round series on the Eastern side I feel, even with Toronto falling just short of pushing Cleveland to a game seven in the eastern conference finals last year. They look to be back at full health, and the mid-season additions of Ibaka and Tucker are what they hope to be their missing pieces from last season. The Bucks missed the playoffs last season, and with the loss of Parker early in the season, have shown that they still have a young, talented, core group of players ready to make some noise. Prediction: Milwaukee in seven.
Top targets: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan
Secondary Targets: Khris Middleton, Serge Ibaka
High risk targets: Jonas Valanciunas, Greg Monroe, Malcolm Brogdon, DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, Tony Snell.
5 Atlanta vs 4 Washington
Regular season series: Washington 3-1. Will Schroder, Millsap, and Howard be able to slow down Wall and the Wizards? This will be an interesting series to watch, as both team expect to compete throughout the playoffs, but need to push past the opening round first. If Wall can dominate the turnover prone Schroder, this series can be over quickly, but if Millsap and Howard can dominate the boards, Atlanta won’t be an easy out. Prediction: Wizards in six.
Top targets: John Wall, Bradley Beal, Paul Millsap, Dennis Schroder, Dwight Howard
Secondary targets: Otto Porter, Markieff Morris, Marcin Gortat, Tim Hardaway Jr., Kent Bazemore
High risk targets: Taurean Prince, Thabo Sefolosha, Bojan Bogdanovic, Kelly Oubre Jr.
8 Portland vs 1 Golden State
Regular season series: Golden State 4-0. The season sweep of the warriors over the Blazers was by an average margin of 19 points. They won 13 straight games without being at full health, and sitting healthy heading into the playoffs, Golden State is overwhelming favorites to win the championship this year. Lillard had predicted Blazers in six, but believe this series will be the first to finish. One area to watch on the Blazers side is the health of Nurkic. Look for Golden State not to take any risks in the first round, and just take care of business. Prediction: Golden State in four.
Top targets: Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson
Secondary targets: Draymond Green, C.J. McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, Andre Iguodala, Al-Farouq Aminu
High risk targets: Allen Crabbe, Matt Barnes, Ian Clark, Maurice Harkless, Evan Turner
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7 Memphis vs 2 San Antonio
Regular season series: Tied 2-2. Although these teams each one a pair of regular season matchups, the Spurs have dominated Memphis when it comes to the playoffs. Yes, the Grizzlies upset the one seeded Spurs 4-2 in the first round back in 2011, but the Spurs have swept Memphis in their other three playoff matchups, including last year’s first round series. The Gasol brothers matchup may be the most intriguing part of this series, unless Conley can blast off to steal a game or two. Two veteran teams, but more than likely one of the worst matchups fantasy wise in the first round. Prediction: Spurs in four.
Top targets: Kawhi Leonard, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol
Secondary targets: LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, Zach Randolph
High risk targets: Patty Mills, Tony Parker, JaMychal Green, Tony Allen, David Lee.
6 Oklahoma City vs 3 Houston
Regular season series: Houston 3-1. This should be the most fun, and most watched first series matchup of the playoffs. The two record breaking players square off in fantasy goodness. Not sure how high their prices will be, but taking both of them, and filling the rest of your roster with punt plays may be a sneaky way to approach a gpp early on. Outside of the top two, there are some wild card players that are also capable of producing solid fantasy line. Let’s hope this series goes seven. Prediction: Houston in seven.
Top targets: Russell Westbrook, James Harden
Secondary targets: Steven Adams, Clint Capela, Victor Oladipo, Lou Williams, Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza
High risk targets: Patrick Beverley, Ryan Anderson, Enes Kanter, Taj Gibson
5 Utah vs 4 Los Angeles
Regular season series: Clippers 3-1. Both teams have been playing well down the stretch, but the Jazz do have some injury concerns heading into the playoffs with Hill, Hood, and Favors slightly banged up. Hayward and Gobert have been leading the way, and will need some big games from Gobert to keep Paul, Griffin, and Jordan from moving on to the second round. Just like the San Antonio and Memphis, this series may be a fade for much of the first round. Prediction: Clippers in six.
Top targets: Chris Paul, Rudy Gobert, Blake Griffin
Secondary targets: Gordon Hayward, George Hill, DeAndre Jordan, J.J. Redick
High risk targets: Jamal Crawford, Joe Johnson, Joe Ingles, Derrick Favors