They started with 16 and there are only 8 clubs left contending to rise as champions of their respective conferences, of which only one will win the NBA championship ring. The current defending champions, the Milwaukee Bucks, are among them, along with past finalists, the Phoenix Suns. These two are joined by the Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Golden State Warriors, the Memphis Grizzlies and the Dallas Mavericks.
The loosest
The Celtics and Warriors lead the forecasts, being the teams that most easily won their first round meetings. Those from Massachusetts eliminated the Nets, one of the favorites for the title, with a historic sweep. While those from San Francisco took on the Nuggets from past MVP, Nikola Jokic.
The two Boston Jays left Kevin Durant without a second round, who had one of the worst playoff series of his career, with a sad 35% shooting from the field. Irving was missing after the first game where, despite the loss, he had 29 points. For their part, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown carried a very complete Celtics team, where everyone added up, especially in defense to stop the Brooklyn stars, with Jason Tatum being the MVP of the series, defending Durant, with a game winner and being the top green scorer.
In Golden State things are going very well with the return of the best level of the Splash Brothers. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were unstoppable for the Nuggets defense that fell behind Jokic’s performance, the only one who really showed his face. The revelation of this series was Jordan Poole, the Warriors’ backup point guard, who came out from the perimeter and scored a lot of points to reaffirm San Francisco’s dominance.
Miami Heat erased Ice Trae
Another team that has stood out in this great first phase of the Play Offs was the Miami Heat, who left Trae Young’s Atlanta Hawks dry, who had their worst field goal percentage of their participation in the Play Offs, and He fell below 10 points in two games.
The great defense and physicality of the Florida team placed them as winners of the regular season in the East, and they were able to close the series with a clear 4-1 despite the losses of Kyle Lowri and Jimmy Butler in the last two games.
Luka Magic en Pleno Apogeo
Luka Doncic signed the pass for the Mavericks against a missing Jazz and with a Donovan Mitchell who could have played his last Play Offs with the Utah franchise. The Texans brought out the good level of Brandson and Spencer Dinwiddie in the games that Luka missed due to injury.
These are the first Play Offs in which Luka has passed the first round since his arrival at the Dallas Mavericks, being unstoppable for the defense, in a very bad series by Rudy Gobert, where the Jazz scratched two victories thanks to the loss of Luka Doncic in two of the 6 games played. The Lukaneta starts in Dallas, which is seen as one of the favorites of the conference.
Chris Paul Wants the Ring
Chris Paul is on his way to his second conference finals along with a dominating Phoenix Suns who had some problems against the Pelicans of a great Brandon Ingram, especially after the injury of their star, Devin Booker. It is unknown if Booker will be available for the next round but the Suns showed that they are more than stars, they are a great team and they cover their backs.
Ayton and CP3 stopped the Pelicans, who without the late Zion Williamson, showed signs of being a good team for next season, which will be talked about a lot. Chris Paul showed why he is the best game dealer in the league, making his team play perfectly and always choosing the best decisions to lead them to victory.
The Greek Freak Follows His Roll
The current champions crushed the Chicago Bulls of DeRozan, Zack Lavine and Lonzo Ball without leaving many options. Giannis once again showed why he is one of the most dominant players in the league, scoring and scoring non-stop, penetrating the zone, being unstoppable and having improved the free kick that penalized him so much last year.
Despite Chris Midleton’s injury, the Bucks were able to keep the Big Three of Chicago at bay, who could only scratch one game in the tie and end their season in the franchise’s first Play Offs in the last 20 years.
Philadelphia likes to suffer
The Embid-Hardem duo begins to bear fruit with the round pass against some Raptors who fought until the end. The Philadelphians took revenge for that game winner in game 7 of Kawai Leonard against Embid, returning the game winner to the MVP candidate, who missed a game due to thumb discomfort.
The tie began with a fast and dominant 3-0, which seemed definitive, until Toronto began to react. The ghost of Doc Rivers sounded to the fans of the 76ers, a coach who has already come back from two 3-1 in favor in the Play Offs. A great match by Hardem assisting and scoring finally gave his team the ace, quelling fear.
Ja Morant is Another Roll
What an improvement Ja Morant has made from last year to this one. The improvement is corroborated by his Most Improve Player award, which he gave to his teammate Desmond Bane. The Memphis player made two great comebacks against a very young Minnesota Timberwolves with no previous experience in the Play Offs.
The Timberwolves have a great team to spare for next season with a lot of young talent like Karl Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, but the one who clearly appeared was Ja Morant who, with his good penetrations and springs on his feet, signed spectacular plays like a game winner in the 5th game, or the one that will undoubtedly be the best mate of all the Play Offs.
Semifinal matchups
– Conferencia Oeste: Phoenix Suns vs Dallas Mavericks // Golden State Warriors vs Memphis Grizzlies
– Conferencia Este: Miami Heat vs Philadelphia 76ers // Milwaukee Bucks vs Boston Celtics
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