It’s getting weird how quickly the playoffs can turn narratives. NBA Eastern Conference Considered the best of the two, including best of three records Milwaukee, Boston, and Philadelphia, and four of the top six points overall. The first round was a strong one, yet another four seed loss in five games, needed six tries to topple the Celtics in the end. trae youngAnd Joel Embiid is reminding us why we should be talking about the 76ers at the start of each year.
The only teams in the East that have been their best postseason selves year after year are Miami and the Heat. Lost a play-in game in a non-competitive fashion before turning into a pack of pitbulls, but not until losing their second best Scoring Options. The case for which the conference is going with the title involves the Heat, and that should tell you which way I’m leaning.
Outside the West, at least the results are following a recognizable logic: One seed wins in five, as does a team featuring Kevin Durant, with a Steph Curry- and LeBron James-led team one win away from the second round. Are. Boston is still the favorite to take the title, but four of the top six franchises on that list – Phoenix, Denver, Golden State and Los Angeles – Hail from the west.
The Warriors And Lakers Are Giving Me Nightmares Of Another Title Run, Durant And Devin Booker Are Doing Their Best Benicio Del Toro sicarios impression, and Nikola Jokic shrugs off the biggest frontline he’s about to face as if they were kindergartners, I’m going to assume that there are probabilities as to which conference is going to win the title, and that the payoff isn’t that great for the West.
there’s something wrong with the celtics
That’s some Jason Tatum. I keep waiting for the MVP candidate from the first half of the season to reappear, and for whatever reason, we’re getting Tatum’s version of him, who seems to settle for three while only hitting 33 percent of them. Going, going on the 21st.,60 from deep against Atlanta. The Hawks were able to throw a bunch of bodies at him, and take the ball out of his hands, so the increased focus is also a contributing factor.
It’s good that Jaylen Brown is playing so well, but it’s post-season. 1A Alpha Dog supposedly cooking with napalm à la Booker or Jimmy Butler aka playoff jimmy, We’ll likely see a more effective Tatum against the Sixers as perimeter defense is optional in Philly, but both potential ECF foes have feathers to ruffle in Boston.
Incidentally, this is still the case for Boston as favorites because other than the Warriors, the rest of the West squad doesn’t have the greatest personnel to stop the likes of Brown and Tatum. (Sacramento or Memphis are believed to have happened.) Look at what Kawhi Leonard did in his healthy minutes against Phoenix, or the series facing the Nuggets facing Anthony Edwards. It could be a field day for C, provided they get there. However, that’s a huge leap, leaving question marks like crazy Second half of first round.
If you listen to Celtics fans, they absolutely don’t trust the point guard spot, or at least the way Joe Mazzulla has been managing it late in the game. There was a lot of Marcus Smart and Al Horford during the 16-6 run the Celtics used to blow away the Hawks in Game 6, and that’s troubling considering how Smart has looked this year, and Horford’s age.
Boston is legitimately lucky it didn’t go all the way to seven, and they don’t quite join the other two former teams whose regular-season form completely melted away once the playoffs began. Although this could be anyone’s big year, I’ll Any from West to East until further notice.