The NBA Playoffs officially start on Saturday, April 16. Already, two teams have notched their tickets to the Association’s postseason with victories. The Brooklyn Nets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-108 and the Minnesota Timberwolves got past the Los Angeles Clippers 109-104. Check out a run down of the Eastern Conference Playoffs’ first round matchups.

2022 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference First Round Matchups

The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first game of the NBA play-in tournament to earn the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.https://t.co/1Jx6TWCdod

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 13, 2022

READ MORE: 2022 NBA Western Conference Playoff Matchups

Which two teams will win the Eastern Conference Play-in Tournament and enter the postseason?

We answered the first question. The Nets easily handled the Cleveland Cavaliers. Brooklyn will face-off against the Boston Celtics in the first round.

The other team will be the Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, or Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs have a shot to make the playoffs because they take on the Hornets or Hawks in the final play-in tournament game.

But although Cleveland will have an edge in their second play-in contest, the ATL is the pick. The Hawks boast one of the best players in the league in Trae Young. Trae has great chemistry with Atlanta’s center, Clint Capela. So give the Hawks the nod to make it to the NBA Playoffs.

What team has the edge in 76ers versus Raptors?

Philadelphia ended the regular season winning 5-of-6. But the lone loss among the 6 happened versus the Toronto Raptors.

Toronto blasted the Sixers 119-114. Joel Embiid for Philly went off, but so did Paul Siakam for Toronto. Siakam had his way with Philadelphia’s defense. Siakam scored 37, grabbed 10 boards and dished 12 times. He outplayed every player save for Embiid.

Overall, the Raptors out rebounded the 76ers 41 to 37. One game does not make a series, but if Toronto out rebounds Philly consistently in this, they will win the series. Right now, the Raptors have the edge because more of their players rebound while the Sixers lean too heavily on Embiid to grab boards.

Which team is more vulnerable to a first round exit, the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat?

Miami is likely to play the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks won’t be an easy out. Trae Young is a top five NBA player.

But the Heat have a top five player on their squad in Jimmy Butler. Not only that, but Miami is deep, play excellent defense, and will have home court advantage.

Boston must deal with a rival in the Brooklyn Nets. Both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were spectacular in the win over the Cavaliers. The Celtics are a good basketball team.

So they’ll have a shot to knock out Brooklyn. But the Cs are more vulnerable to a first round upset series loss than the Heat.

What will determine the winner between the Bulls and Bucks?

For most of the season, the Chicago Bulls played great. The Bulls fell off in the second half of the season.

The team is good enough to beat Milwaukee, though, but they’ve got an issue. Chicago is a great home team, but they’re a bad road team. The Bucks are good no matter where they play.

Milwaukee has a big home court advantage, but the real key will be how Chicago handles Giannis Antetokounmpo. If they allow Giannis to dominate, Milwaukee could sweep Chicago.

But if they find a way to make Giannis give up the rock, they can hang for at least 5 to 6 games. The guess here is that Milwaukee dominates from the outset. A Bucks sweep isn’t out of the question.

This is just one of the many sports betting guides that you can read here at NitroBetting news. Stay tuned for more NBA game previews and articles and don’t forget to check out the latest Basketball betting odds on our online BTC sportsbook

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