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NBA playoff predictions: Forecasting both big matchups in the East

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Kawhi's Round 1 mixtape vs. Magic (1:48)

Kawhi Leonard breaks out his usual bag of tricks to lead the Raptors to a 4-1 series win over the Magic, the first five-game series win in Toronto playoff history. (1:48)

Which two teams will win the Eastern Conference semifinals, and how many games will each series go?

Our ESPN Forecast panel predicts Celtics-Bucks and 76ers-Raptors.

Note: All predictions were made before Game 1 of each series. Forecast predictions represent percentage of total votes. BPI and FiveThirtyEight predictions represent likelihood to win.


(2) Raptors vs. (3) 76ers

Likelihood of winning series

  • ESPN Forecast: Raptors 65 percent | 76ers 35 percent

  • Basketball Power Index: Raptors (75 percent)

  • FiveThirtyEight: Raptors (81 percent)

More:

Game 1: Saturday | 7:30 p.m. ET, TNT

(1) Bucks vs. (4) Celtics

Likelihood of winning series

  • ESPN Forecast: Bucks 67 percent | Celtics 33 percent

  • Basketball Power Index: Bucks (76 percent)

  • FiveThirtyEight: Bucks (75 percent)

More:

Game 1: Sunday | 1 p.m. ET, ABC

Which East team will make the NBA Finals?

ESPN Forecast (percentage of votes)

  • ​Bucks: 67 percent

  • Raptors: 19 percent

  • Celtics: 14 percent

  • 76ers: 0 percent

Basketball Power Index (projections)

  • ​Bucks: 55.5 percent

  • Raptors: 29.3 percent

  • Celtics: 9.9 percent

  • 76ers: 5.3 percent

FiveThirtyEight (projections)

  • ​Raptors: 54 percent

  • Bucks: 34 percent

  • 76ers: 7 percent

  • Celtics: 5 percent

Image credits: David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images; Brian Babineau/NBAE/Getty Images; Rick Madonik/Toronto Star/Getty Images