Rick posted:

West 1st Round: Lakers vs. Blazers
How the Lakers win: Defense, lots of defense. Either get the ball out of Dames's hands, or make sure it's only in his hands and no one else gets going. Make above 20% frees.
How the Blazers win: Threes, threes and more threes. Trade twos for threes. Lure the Lakers into shooting threes. Get stops in the clutch of close games. Get something from other people in addition to what they get from Dame.

West 1st Round: Clippers vs. Mavericks
How the Clippers win: Execute their normal play. Paul George brings it. Get enough bench play to keep the games in control or shorten the rotation. Or conversely just get Doncic into foul trouble.
How the Mavs win: Make Paul George frustrated. Take advantage of Porizingis. Doncic hits threes. Bench outplays Clippers bench. Win some close games.

West 1st Round: Nuggets vs. Jazz
How Nuggets Win: Overwhelm Utah with depth. Keep Murray on a short leash.
How Utah Wins: Get over habit if long scoring droughts. Hit eject on Jordan Clarkson time when it goes south. Gobert makes Jokic work hard.

West 1st Round: Rockets vs. Thunder
How Rockets Win: Just do what they do and James Harden doesn't turn into a pumpkin.
How Thunder Win: Good shot selection, take advantage of second chance opportunities, don't get caught up in weird anti-Harden gimmicks.

East 1st Round: Bucks vs. Magic
How the Bucks Win: Just play their normal game.
How The Magic Win: Get Giannis to lose his cool. Hope that the general lack of execution for the Bucks during a lot of the bubble is a real thing and opens some holes for them to get through.

East 1st Round: Raptors vs. Nets
How the Raptors Win: Limit habit of long scoreless droughts. Don't depend on the Nets going away on their own.
How the Nets Win: Keep constant pressure on the Raptors on the offensive end, Lavert goes god mode.

East 1st Round: Celtics vs. 76ers
How the Celtics Win: Play a team game, no Tatum or Jaylen Brown takeover games gone wrong. Don't get dragged into an emotional quagmire by Embiid.
How the 76ers Win: Absolute dominance on both ends by Embiid. Actually make those threes that he insists on taking. Tobias Harris and Josh Richardson outplay their matchups.

East 1st Round: Pacers vs. Heat
How the Pacers Win: TJ Warren is bubble TJ Warren. Myles Turner strongly outplays Bam. Slow down the game. Get something from Oladiplo if he's on the floor.
How the Heat Win: Jimmy Butler "This Time It's Personal" games all series long. Speed up the game. Make TJ Warren doubt himself.