Last season, the NBA playoffs suffered a delayed start due to COVID-19 and all teams had to fight it out for the championship in the Orlando bubble at DisneyWorld. In the end, the Los Angeles Lakers captured their 17th title, and LeBron James won his 4th. However, the defending champs have not been nearly as dominant as they or their fans would have hoped.
They come into the playoffs with a rather pedestrian 42-30 record and the 7th seed in the western conference. Their historic rivals in the Boston Celtics also had their struggles this season. Despite great seasons from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and the continued development of center Rob Williams, the Celtics have had an up and down season and now stumble their way into the playoffs with an even 36-36 record and the 7th seed in the eastern conference.
The Celtics and Lakers now had to compete in the play-in tournament to earn their spot in the playoffs. The tournament consists of 4 teams in each conference (seeds 7-10) playing a series of games to decide which two teams will move on to the playoffs and play the 1st and 2nd seeds in each conference. The eastern conference went first as the Celtics defeated the Washington Wizards and will now play the 2nd seed Brooklyn Nets in the first round and the Indiana Pacers obliterated the Charlotte Hornets to eliminate the Hornets from playoff contention. The Wizards then defeated the Pacers to clinch their spot in the playoffs and eliminate Indiana. Meanwhile, in the western conference, the Memphis Grizzlies took out the San Antonio Spurs to keep their hopes alive while the Lakers narrowed out Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors to cement their date with the Phoenix Suns in the first round. Now, the Grizzlies and Warriors will face off to decide the final spot in this year’s playoffs. The winner of the game will play the 1 seeded Utah Jazz in the first round.
Other than the 1 vs. 8 matchups in the west, all other series have been decided. In the east, the 3 seed Milwaukee Bucks and the reigning two-time MVP Giannis Antetekuonmpo will face the 6 seed defending eastern conference champions in the Miami Heat. The 4 vs. 5 seed series in the east gives two young teams who have not made the playoffs in a while a chance to prove themselves as Julius Randle and the New York Knicks take on Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. In the west, the 3 seeded Denver Nuggets and MVP favorite Nikola Jokic will play Damian Lillard and the 6 seeded Portland Trailblazers. Finally, the 4th seed Los Angeles Clippers with their duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will take on the 5 seed Dallas Mavericks and their young star Luka Doncic in a rematch of the first-round series from last season where the Clippers emerged victoriously.
Once the playoffs begin it will be interesting to see what teams surprise and what teams disappoint. Some students at Hingham High have given their opinions on who they believe will take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Junior Billy Ebbs says, “I think the Nets will win due to an overwhelming amount of talent combined with great coaching and chemistry”. Meanwhile, HHS junior Matt Gates is taking the defending champs saying, “I got the Lakers winning the title for the simple reason that they have the best player in the league in LeBron James”. Whether or not their predictions will come true will be decided in the coming weeks, but the NBA playoffs returning with the chance of sold-out crowds for some teams makes for an exciting time.