The NBA regular season began this week and while all eyes were on the champion Cleveland Cavaliers, other teams are looking at new beginnings, including the Warriors and its latest acquisition of Kevin Durant as well as the Sacramento Kings in a new arena.
It’s looking like another exciting NBA season and the folks at 2K used its very own NBA 2K17 to simulate the entire 2016-2017 NBA season in order to predict the results of the NBA Finals. While some of the results were surprising, the end of the season would shock no one. Let’s begin the NBA season simulation with the Eastern Conference.
Eastern Conference
The Cavaliers ran through the East during the regular season, earning the number one seed in the playoffs. The Boston Celtics improved on their good showing last season to get to number two in the East while the Raptors, who advanced to the Eastern Conference finals last season, dropped all the way down to a fifth seed in the conference. The Pacers and NBA 2K17 cover man Paul George surprisingly got to fourth in the Eastern Conference after the regular season ended.
The biggest surprise from the NBA 2K17 season simulation was the success of the New York Knicks. A team that is constantly in the news, and not for their great play over the years, came together and actually made the playoffs as a three seed in the Eastern Conference. Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis must have really developed some chemistry to perform that well. Here’s hoping that this season sim is the real thing for Knick fans.
Western Conference
Similar to how the East shook out, the favorite Golden State Warriors dominated the conference and easily took the number one seed in the West. The surprise in this conference is definitely the resurgence of the Minnesota Timberwolves under the guidance of new coach Tom Thibodeau. With young stars like Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony-Towns, Minnesota will be a team to reckon with for years to come and this was their breakout year.
For the rest of the Western Conference, it seemed that everything else just fell into place. The typical names like the Clippers, Spurs and Thunder did their jobs and made the playoffs. Other teams like the Mavericks and Trailblazers fought their way into the playoffs and would face tough matchups in their first round matchups.
Here is how the NBA Playoffs looked for the NBA 2K17 season simulation.
Of the 15 playoff series simulated, five went the full seven games, which shows the intensity of the playoffs in both conferences. In the end, we had a rematch from last year’s NBA Finals where the Cavaliers took on the Warriors. This is the rubber match between both teams as Golden State won their first Finals meeting and Cleveland won last year.
The NBA 2K17 simulation had both teams in a another seven game series with Cleveland prevailing to defeat the Warriors for their second consecutive NBA Championship.
Here are the award winners from the simulation:
Rookie of the Year - Brandon Ingram
Sixth Man of the Year - Brandon Knight
KIA Defensive Player of the Year - DeAndre Jordan
Kia Most Improved Player - Dennis Schröder
MVP - LeBron James
Do you agree with the predictions from the NBA 2k17 season simulation? Let us know in our comment section.
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