RD1 Previews: 2017

Russell Conference
#1 Chunky Monkeys (18-1) vs #4 So Buckets (11-8)
After ripping through the regular season and earning their first "most regular season wins" honor, Chunky Monkeys is poised to roll into the post-season and capture their first title. Despite declining to turn the injured Kyle Lowry into some playoff contributors, this is still the best team on paper. MVP candidates James Harden and LeBron James are flanked by a bevy of awesome talent, and with the surprising Seth Curry — 18.0 PTS, 2.8 3PT, 53.4 FG% over his last month — stepping in as the starter alongside Harden, Evan’s team is ready to rock. Who can stop them? Well, there’s the back-to-back champs in the other conference but if Monkeys can handle their business for the next few weeks, we’re looking at a juggernaut of a title matchup. Let’s hope Evan’s recent two week trip to New Zealand was an early celebration for his first SlamNation championship!

After two seasons out of the playoffs, So Buckets is back in contention and will need every ounce of their composure to knock off a heavy favorite. A three week swoon in WK13-15 is over and Buckets is 3-1 heading into the post-season. They’re going to need a heavy dose of Kyrie Irving, DeMar DeRozan, and early season trade acquisition CJ McCollum to pull off an upset but that stellar backcourt has Rudy Gobert and rookie sensation Dario Saric peaking at just the right time. It’s a shame Joel Embiid won’t be around to test Monkeys but that doesn’t mean miracles can’t happen. Let’s see if Josh can pilot his underdogs to a stunning first round victory!

#2 Young Gunn's (14-5) #3 Team Spade (12-7) 
After securing his second straight Voltron title and fourth straight post-season appearance, Thien’s team is looking for more this year. They’ve been a little erratic to end the season — losing to two Toilet Bowl teams — but John Wall, Damian Lillard, and DeMarcus Cousins form a formidable trio to face off against any foe. There were rumors that the injured Rudy Gay was on the block for playoff assets but that didn’t come to pass, and now Julius Randle will be counted on to really step up over the next few weeks. Regular season wins are now old hat for Young Gunn’s and they’ll have to advance far into the playoffs to call this season a success. We believe!

After an erratic start to the year, last year's Thundercats division winner Spade slowly gained steam, going 9-2 over the last three months to cement their contender status. Of course, sources report that owner Randall all but conceded his title hopes when Kevin Love went down but now it looks like Love may return soon, although he won’t be eligible for postseason play as he’s currently on IR. With the additional news that Eric Bledsoe has been shut down for the season, it looks like Spade will have to pack up their bags and live to contend next year, despite the MVP season put forth by Kawhi Leonard. It’s unlikely last year’s Finals participant will return to the big game again but anything can happen, can’t it?!

Chamberlain Conference
#1 Sour Snails (17-1-1) vs #4 Fob Stars (9-10)
Our defending two-time champs, and undisputed best SlamNation franchise ever, reshaped four of their keepers heading down the homestretch and then was sideswiped by new acquisition Kevin Durant’s injury. Was it a sign of things to come when Sour Snails tied their last regular season game? Or do they still have enough firepower to advance to a proper title defense? While we can’t count out any team led by Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and the rest of this deep crew, it’s hard to see Trieu waltzing to a three-peat without Durant. Then again, until someone takes out the champs, nothing’s off the table! There seems to be some upset potential here as Curry and Butler are shooting 40.7 FG% and 37.4 FG% over their past month of games, so maybe SlamNation’s resident king is on the verge of taking a playoff loss? Note: Snails are 70-4-2 over their past four seasons…

Of course, the upset won’t likely happen in the first round as it was revealed this week that Coach Jimmy didn’t even realize the playoffs had started until mid-week. For the Fob Stars, returning to the playoffs again was an achievement — even with a sub-0.500 record — but going in mentally unprepared against Snails is not a good sign. The mid-season trade that brought in DeAndre Jordan and Ricky Rubio has paid dividends, especially with Rubio averaging 14.0 PTS, 11.2 AST, 1.9 STL, 44.4 FG% over the past month, but what else can the supporting cast do to help Kemba Walker pull off a miraculous win? We’re gonna go ahead and say “nothing."

#2 Another Bad Creation (9-10) vs #3 Fat Jubas (13-5-1)
I’m not sure we’ve ever had a sub-0.500 division winner before but ABC has somehow managed to take the Transformers crown — making two in a row — with a measly nine wins. That earns them a higher seed due to our playoff matrix but they’re definitely the underdogs in this matchup. Then again, what is logic to Russell Westbrook, he of the 36.4 PTS, 11.2 REB, 11.2 AST, 2.9 3PT, 2.0 STL over his past month of games?! After trading away long-time franchise cornerstone Kevin Durant, GM Oliver has to be giddy to have acquired a healthy Westbrook in return. And it looks like second banana LaMarcus Aldridge will return to the court after a heart scare, and this well balanced squad could pull it all together for an “upset.” Nobody wants to see Westbrook go home so soon after his spectacular season so we’ll hope he can single-handedly power ABC to a playoff victory, which would be their first since 2011.

If there’s a team with a realistic shot at taking down Sour Snails and heading to the Finals, it’s Fat Jubas. They already tied them in WK19 and payback is necessary after getting bounced by Snails in Jubas’ last three playoff appearances — and four post-season losses to them overall. Eric’s team is riding a 4-0-1 streak to end the season and if they can pull off a paper upset of ABC, they’ll be on their way to another shot at the defending champs. But in order for them to take Trieu down, Chris Paul will have to play out of his mind, while receiving support from Gordon Hayward, high scoring Harrison Barnes, and maybe Phoenix surprises TJ Warren and rookie Tyler Ulis, both of whom will be given a lot of minutes down the stretch. Eric made two trades this season — for Pau Gasol and Myles Turner — and the payoff from their added depth begins now.

Note: This year's Chamberlain Conference post-season teams are exactly the same as last year's, down to the same seed slots!