NBA 2K20: Our 2020 NBA Playoffs 1st Round simulation

Houston Rockets (4) vs Oklahoma City Thunder (5)

Game 1: OKC Thunder 107 – Houston Rockers 97
Game 2: OKC Thunder 94 – Houston Rockets 93
Game 3: Houston Rockets 83 – OKC Thunder 118
Game 4: Houston Rockets 83 – OKC Thunder 108

The Oklahoma City Thunder sweep the Houston Rockets and move on to round two.

Of the entire playoff simulation, the results for this series seems the most baffling. I can’t imagine a scenario in which Oklahoma City sweeps the Rockets unless James Harden somehow misses the entire series. But even in this simulation, he played in all four games. It still wasn’t enough for Houston.

The Thunder were carried by Danilo Gallinari and Dennis Schroder in the first two games of the series as they led the team in points per game with 27 and 22, respectively. Even in game three, it was Schroder who led the Thunder with 29 points but Chris Paul stepped up against his former team with 28 points, 9 rebounds and five assists. He ended the series with emphasis, scoring 24 points in game four with 7 rebounds, 10 assists and three steals.

The high-powered Rockets couldn’t get much going offensively as they failed to eclipse 100 points in each of the four games. Harden was his typical scoring machine self, averaging 26 points per game throughout the series. But the supporting cast, particularly Russell Westbrook, couldn’t get much going.

Considering the firepower Houston has, it’s pretty amazing NBA 2K20 predicts the Thunder will hold them to an average of 91.5 points per game. What really hurt the rockets was the .324 three-point shooting percentage, third-worst in the first round of the playoffs.