NBA
NBA Playoffs: First-Round Matchup Projections
Here's how our algorithms see the first-round matchups of the 2018 NBA Playoffs playing out.

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks

The Boston Celtics (55-27) may have finished the season with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and the seventh-best nERD in the NBA (59.4), but being down arguably the team's two best players in Gordon Hayward (ankle) and Kyrie Irving (knee) for the entirety of the playoffs has this feeling like a transition year for the Celts.

The seventh-place Milwaukee Bucks (44-38) are just good enough to make this the closest series in the Eastern Conference, according to our algorithms, but their middling 16th-ranked nERD (51.3) suggests that they don't really have what it takes to upset the league's number-one defensive team, even if it's missing a few key players.

Outcome(2) Boston Celtics(7) Milwaukee Bucks
Win in 47.23%4.28%
Win in 517.96%8.15%
Win in 614.33%16.28%
Win in 720.03%
11.74%
Win series59.55%
40.45%
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