NBA Playoff Predictions For People Who Watched Danielle Bernstein's Apartment Tour
Plus: An interview with Bleacher Report's Molly Morrison!
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The Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Miami Heat are advancing to the NBA playoffs after making it out of the play-in tournament alive.
The NBA playoffs are officially here!!!
While I’m bummed that we won’t be seeing more of Chicago Bulls’ star DeMar DeRozan’s daughter, Diar, scream at Toronto Raptors players while they attempted (and often failed) to make free throws, I do know that there will be plenty more drama to come.
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No one asked for this, but I’ve made two highly specific brackets for people who know who Caroline Calloway is and who watched the entirety of Danielle Bernstein’s Architectural Digest apartment tour.
I also sat down with my friend and Bleacher Report’s resident Memphis Grizzlies expert, Molly Morrison, to share a preview of what’s to come during Game 1 between the Grizzlies and the Lakers tomorrow night.
Enjoy!
My Pointless NBA Playoff Predictions
The Western Conference
Listen: I’m no NBA expert. I know some stuff, but I defer to friends like Morrison who is an actual expert to explain what’s really going on. With that being said, I think in the Western Conference we’ll see the Phoenix Suns or the Sacramento Kings advance.
The Suns have Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and Kendall Jenner’s ex-boyfriend. His name is Devin Booker if you wanted to know, but honestly it doesn’t matter for the sake of this nonsense.
I also love the idea of being able to make 17,822 Lady Bird references if the Kings advance. They haven’t been in a playoff game since 2006! That’s right when Greta Gerwig started making those mumblecore films or whatever they’re called.
Will they advance? Highly unlikely. Whatever! I love mess!
The Eastern Conference
In the eastern conference, I’d obviously love to see my hometown Atlanta Hawks advance. Led by Trae Young (who may be leaving idk), I just feel like the court side celebrity scene would be incredible. Gerwig seated next to Usher? I would explode!!!
I just don’t think that’ll happen and we’re more likely to see the 76ers take on the most realistic prediction of all…The Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is just too good! I don’t feel like I’m wrong on this one, but sound off in the comments if you think otherwise.
An Interview With NBA Expert Molly Morrison
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter here and Instagram here. She is THE BEST.
Molly—can you tell me a bit about your background?
I’m from Memphis, born and raised. I grew up with a passion for writing and, starting from about the age of 10, a passion for basketball. I fell in love with basketball through the Memphis Grizzlies ‘GNG’ era, a period that was marked by a group of misfits that had been discounted (Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Tony Allen) coming into a franchise that many had discounted—the Grizzlies had never won a playoff game in franchise history—and creating magic together.
I’d never seen a team so wonderfully represent a city—and a city so wonderfully represent a team. From then on, I fell in love with basketball completely.
I started tweeting about the Grizzlies from an anonymous Twitter account called ‘Made In Memphis’ at the age of 12-years-old, because my middle school friends grew tired of me live tweeting every game from my personal account. I ran it anonymously until I was 18 and it had grown to become the most followed fan account in the city.
I told people who I was—since it had grown increasingly hard to deny that hiding such an important piece of my life wasn’t serving anyone. My journey on NBA Twitter may have started when I was 12, but it didn’t really start until that day: I was finally free to tweet about basketball with my own voice, under my own name, and I haven’t looked back since.
Okay, since you're from Memphis, I'm sure you're feeling extra giddy about the Grizzlies being in the playoffs. As someone from Georgia—where we're historically not that good at sports lol—what is it like to see the Grizzlies in the playoffs?
Seeing the Grizzlies make the playoffs isn’t something shocking anymore, which is a wonderful feat in its own. They’ve only missed the playoffs once in the past four years and that was Ja Morant’s rookie year (2019-2020).
Even then, they made the play-in. After GNG, instead of enduring a tortuous rebuild period that most franchises have to face after tearing up a team, the Grizzlies began to find success almost immediately.
A lot of that can be attributed to wonderful drafting—or even luck. The Grizzlies got the #2 pick—which turned into Ja Morant. But a lot of that can also be attributed to the wonderful culture that’s been built there.
People mock them for the incessant videos of this Grizzlies team dancing and goofing off before games, but this is a group of guys that truly loves playing together. I think that excitement—which I feel translates into in-game success more than people realize—bubbles into the city.
Having a group of guys who are excited to play together—excited to represent Memphis—is more special at this point than making the playoffs. The real excitement will come when this team makes its first real postseason run, which I believe shouldn’t be too far away.
What's the vibe in Memphis right now? I imagine people are amped.
The vibe is wonderful! People are always excited when it comes to playoffs. There’s an indescribable feeling in that city when it comes playoff time. You walk around in a Grizzlies shirt and strangers will cheer and nod at you as you pass.
Most cities with NBA teams have multiple other teams, too. Whether that’s MLB, NFL. In terms of professional sports, Memphis has the Grizzlies. Instead of dividing up that love across different leagues, Memphians pour it all into basketball. And you can feel that.
Let's talk about the Grizzlies. Can you give a little spark notes recap of how their season went this year? Did they play better than expected?
This has been a pretty up-and-down season where the Grizzlies have faced a lot of obstacles. The fact that they were able to hold onto the 2 seed while they endured various obstacles and absences is extremely impressive.
That’s the way this team is, though. One man goes out, the next man in line suits up and surprises everyone (see Jaren Jackson Jr. 's growth this season in Bane, Adams, and Morant’s absences).
Of course, the only people it doesn’t surprise are Grizzlies fans. We’re always high on our team. The way I describe Memphis fans is “Ride or Die.” If you suit up in a Grizzlies uniform and you show Memphis love, they’re gonna show you that love right back. This is a city that’s used to having people talk down on us. I think it’s kind of a thing of if we don’t protect or defend our own, who will?
The Grizzlies are playing the Lakers tomorrow in round one of the NBA playoffs. How are you feeling about their chances to beat the Lakers?
You know, this question feels like a trap. But seriously, the Grizzlies are the 2 seed for a reason. They’re an incredibly talented young team with enough depth and tenacity to beat anyone. I think the Grizzlies win the series, but I don’t think it’s gonna be easy.
You’re talking about a team led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis who has been on a massive hot streak since the trade deadline. So I’m not going into it with no fear, of course, but I have enough hope and confidence in this Grizzlies team that they can get it done.
Who are the standout players on the Grizzlies?
Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane. Jaren, specifically, has taken such a remarkable leap this season on both ends of the floor. In my mind, he’s the obvious choice for DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year).
All you have to do is look at the numbers and they’ll tell you that. His progression this year is why the Grizzlies were able to hold onto the 2 seed with so many guys out and it’s been wonderful to watch. Steven Adams has also been huge—losing him is less than ideal.
Given Adams is out, do you think it'll affect their play?
Absolutely. His rebounding will be what’s missed the most in this Lakers series. Just puts more responsibility on Jaren [Jackson Jr.] when it comes to AD (Anthony Davis)— just hoping he can stay out of foul trouble.
Can you explain to my readers what happened between Shannon Sharpe yelling (allegedly) at Dillon Brooks while defending his friend, LeBron James? Will this cause any drama or do we feel like the moment has passed and everyone is good
LOL. Honestly, who knows. I was working that night (I do social media for Bleacher Report), so I don’t think I was able to fully digest or process it because I was so busy trying to get posts out.
All I know is that it was one of the wildest things I’ve witnessed during a basketball game. I think it’ll be a fun storyline, but I don’t think it’ll be brought up again.
Too many people have too much to lose if it does.
Okay I must ask: Who is your favorite player on the Grizzlies?
I know this is such a cop-out, but I really don’t have one! Like, I genuinely have seven or eight guys tied for #1. How do you expect me to choose? It’s not fair. In terms of all-time, though: It’s Zach Randolph. Easily.
And if he’s able to secure a roster spot—which I pray he is—Kenny Lofton might be on his way to my current one.
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i genuinely might have to unsubscribe after seeing the .500 hawks pick over the #2 celtics who have reached the ECF in 4 out of the last 6 years :/
"This we sourced from China", is taking me out.