The NBA Championship will be decided in the next month and a half in Orlando, the bubble setup that has been spectacularly successful for the league in preventing COVID case. The playoffs commence today with 4 games on tap along with 4 tomorrow. Sixteen teams will compete for the coveted Lawrence O’Brien Trophy, 8 in the Eastern Conference, and 8 in the Western Conference. The NBA Finals are set to begin September 30th, with the 7th game, if necessary, on October 13th.

Can the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, 29.5 points per game, 13.6 rebounds per game, win his first championship or will the L.A. Lakers’ LeBron James, 25.3 ppg, 7.8 rbg, 10.2 assists per game, capture his 4th with his ultra talented teammate Anthony Davis, 26.1 ppg, 9.3 rbg.. Then you’ve got the L.A. Clippers’ great Kawhi Leonard, 27.1 ppg, 7.1 rbg., 4.9 apg, who has his sights set on a 2nd straight NBA Championship and 3rd overall playing alongside the great marksman Paul George, 21.5 ppg, 41% from trifecta. Can teams like Toronto, which finished 2nd in the East and is playing well enough right now since the return to win it all, go back to back as NBA Champions. And there is talk that No.8 seeded Portland can knock off the Lakers in the first round.

ESPN, TNT and ABC will telecast the playoffs. ABC will televise all NBA Finals games.

Games today start at 12:30 PM CT. ***All games today will be on ESPN***.

Today at 12:30 PM CT, West No.3 seed Denver faces No.6 seed Utah.

At 3 PM CT, East No.2 seed Toronto will play No.7 Brooklyn Nets.

At 5:30 PM CT today, East No.3 seed Boston faces No.6 Philadelphia.

And tonight at 8 in the West, the No.2 seeded L.A. Clippers square off with No.7 Dallas.

***Tuesday, all games will be on TNT.***

At 12:30 PM CT in the East, No.1 Milwaukee will face No.8 Orlando .

At 3 PM CT in the East, No.4 Indiana will face the No.5 Miami Heat at 3 PM CT.

At 5:30 PM CT, in the West No.4 Houston, which will be without Russell Westbrook for at least this game, will square off with No.5 Oklahoma City.

And the nightcap at 8 CT will pit the No.1 Lakers versus No.8 Portland.

Here are playoff predictions

Eastern Conference

Semifinals

Milwaukee Bucks over Miami Heat in 7

The Heat are excellent. They’ll give Giannis and the Bucks everything they want.

The Celtics over Toronto Raptors in 7

Boston slightly upsets the defending NBA champions.

Eastern Conference Finals

Celtics over Bucks in 7

I like the Celtics to get over the hump and make their first finals appearance since they won it in 2008 with present LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers, and Kevin Garnett, Paul “The Truth” Pierce and savant shooter Ray Allen.

Western Conference

Semifinals

Oklahoma City Thunder over L.A. Lakers in 7

Billy Donovan, the best coach in the NBA along with Brad Stevens of the Celtics, Greg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, who doesn’t have enough talent right now, and Doc Rivers of the L.A. Clippers, gets his team over the hump against the Lakers in a major upset. Donovan going to lead his team to an NBA Championship in the next couple of years.

L.A. Clippers over Denver Nuggets in 6

Kawhi and George are just too much for a highly talented Denver team that just doesn’t have enough to overcome the 2 superstars.

Western Conference Finals

Clippers over Thunder in 6

Billy Donovan is going to get the Thunder playing for a championship in the next couple of years with some more good drafts, but Kawhi, George and company are too much in this series.

NBA Champion

It’s tough to go against Kawhi, who’s gunning for back to back championships and his 3rd in his decorated career, and Paul George, a superior basketball player. The Clippers are loaded.

However, I’m going to take Jayson Tatum, 23.4 ppg, 7.0 rbg, the great point guard Kemba Walker, 20.4 ppg, 4.8 assists per game, Jaylen Brown, 20.3 ppg, 6.4 rbg, Gordon Hayward , 7.5 ppg, 6.7 rbg, and defensive stopper Marcus Smart, 12.9 ppg.

The Celtics have the second best scoring defense in the league giving up 107.3 points per game. The Toronto Raptors are 1st at 106.5. The Celts talented offensive arsenal possesses a little more overall firepower than the Clippers.

The Clippers are allowing 109.9 ppg, which is 13th in the league. Defense still wins championships, along with low turnovers, rebounding and clutch shooting. The Celtics will defend, they will take care of the ball, they can board with the Clippers, and their marksmanship is a little better overall because there are more options. Give me, in a fantastic series, an upset.

The Celtics in 7 over the Clippers

Finals MVP

Kemba Walker