Brandon Jennings is not only a more-than-solid NBA point guard, but after suffering an Achilles injury that cost him half of his 2015 season, he’s spent plenty of time watching basketball, and giving his opinions on what he sees from an insider perspective.
As the Clippers and the Spurs get set for what’s expected to be an epic Game 7 battle -- one that definitely shouldn’t be taking place in the first round of the playoffs -- Jennings proclaimed that the winner will go on to face the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.Whoever win tonight will be playing the Cavs in the Finals
— BRANDON JENNINGS (@BrandonJennings) May 2, 2015
The problem with this, of course, is that the Golden State Warriors -- winners of 67 games during the regular season, and a team that looked like world-beaters in the process -- would stand in the way of the Clippers or the Spurs two rounds from now.
I believe that the Spurs have what it takes to beat the Warriors in a seven-game series, but I’m not sure about the Clippers. While L.A.'s starting unit is as good as it gets, things get sketchy once the reserves check in, and I think Golden State’s league-best defense would cause the Clippers plenty of problems.
As for the Cavaliers, we don’t yet know what to expect after Kevin Love was lost for the rest of the postseason due to injury, and another starter in J.R. Smith was lost due to suspension for the first two games of the series against the Bulls. And then there are the Hawks, who finally looked like the Hawks during a Game 6 thrashing of the Brooklyn Nets.
Jennings’ opinion should be highly-regarded, because he’s played against these teams and knows first-hand the problems that they can present. But discounting the Warriors (and the Bulls, and the Hawks) at this early stage is a bold statement nonetheless.