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TSN Basketball Analyst

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FIVE QUICK NBA THOUGHTS

1. WARRIORS VS. ROCKETS: (Warriors in 5) - Too much offensive firepower and overall team consistency as well as sound defence to deal with losing to the surprising Rockets (I was wrong about their demise, that's for sure). Should be a blast watching the perimeter matchup of James Harden with the Warriors back court. High scoring, fun up and down games for sure but the Warriors are a notch better.

2. HAWKS VS. CAVS: (Cavs in 7) - This one could go either way. Love this series. The Hawks haven't blown me away in the playoffs so far and I like that the Cavs have the two best players nightly in the building in LeBron James and Kyrie Irving which really helps during the playoffs late in the shot clock when you can't score based upon your primary system. The Hawks have a sound team on both ends and will need a huge series from Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroeder to slice and dice the Cavs perimeter defence and open up the flow of their offence. Should be quite interesting to see after a long layoff if Kyrie is feeling better - and if he is, watch out. This is more a pick from the gut than anything else - slight nudge to the Cavs.

3. NBA LOTTERY: It's nice isn't it, Raptors fans? Two straight years with no talk of the Lottery coming off back/back Playoff appearances. We can sit and watch the drama, angst, joy and frustration play out before our eyes and think back to all those years of hanging the hopes on a ping-pong ball to get the next star. The Raptors re-tooling will be based upon the Draft, Free Agency, Trades and internal development this off-season which will make it all quite interesting indeed. If you're a Raps fan, root for the Western Conference teams - you want as limited a number of elite young players in your conference as possible.

4. ANDREW WIGGINS: He was the only rookie that was a unanimous choice for the All-Rookie Team. Well earned and well deserved. What a fine year and lots to build on for him. Good foundation has been laid for him and I'm really excited to see what type of player we see next season. Players are made in the off-season. He can be special - now his work ethic and willingness to pay the price will determine how special he becomes. The accomplishments of the NBA season are earned between May and September.

5. LA CLIPPERS: After blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Rockets the sky is falling in Hollywood. Bottom line, this team came a long way and really improved this season yet they have no depth beyond Jamaal Crawford. The second unit has to be addressed in a creative way considering their salary cap limitations. In addition, the defensive collapse in the final five quarters of the post-season were horrible. Doc Rivers (the GM) has to do a better job providing Doc Rivers (the Coach) a much more complete roster. If not, their window of opportunity will begin to shrink.