What do you think?
Is this the most exciting NBA Playoffs you’ve seen in a long time?
Can you call it?
Who will be the champion like Queen? Here’s betting you wouldn’t put your money on it. Let alone your last dime. This season’s NBA postseason play is as close as your shirt to your skin in the summer. Making for epic and exciting court drama at every tip when the ball drops like a gavel.
The first round was truly a knockout. One which almost saw the reigning champions dethroned by the Sacramento Kings before Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors shut the beam off for good.
They now face a redemption story in Hollywood as the Los Angeles Lakers are up two games to one on the Dubs after trading blowouts. The streaky former Warrior D’Angelo Russell is finally finding his touch. Shooting the lights out like Rui Hachimura.
After silencing the bear poking Dillon Brooks (we love trash talk over here) and the Memphis Grizzlies, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are aiming for the Magic and Kareem or Shaq and Kobe rafters. AD stands for ‘absolutely dominant’, as the Lakers big is stealing and swatting everything.
If you want to talk about comeback stories in Tinseltown, how about the rejuvenation of another Russell? Westbrook kept his new Los Angeles team in a series against his old friend Kevin Durant with Clipper cornerstones Kawhi Leonard and Paul George nursing injuries.
Durant and Devin Booker are so hot for the Suns right now too. Scoring 36 apiece. They’ll need all the points they can get against the gold of the Denver Nuggets. Canadian Jamal Murray is on his best burst since the Bubble and Nikola Jokić is showing everyone who didn’t vote for him to be the third-straight MVP that the joke is on them. 53 points, 10 assists and one shove to an owner.
Meanwhile, in the East, James Harden just showed that he’s still an all-star, even if he’s still rubbing the salt from his wounds after not being one in Utah back in February. He hit the OT game-winner against the Celtics alongside your Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid. After tying up the series, he unlaced his sneakers and gave them to a very special guest. Michigan State student John Hao who was paralyzed after a shooting on campus earlier this year.
Don’t count out the storied Boston Celtics though. Jayson Tatum continues to put his name up there with the Bill’s and Bird’s as one of the game’s greatest in the Garden. Jaylen Brown is also becoming the latest star player to turn into a menace once he puts the phantom of the opera face mask on.
How about the reignited rivalry between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks? After taking revenge on the Bucks, Jimmy Butler is aiming for a Bubble rematch with ‘Bron. The superstar’s superstar is playing like the time he was draped over the side of the court after giving his all. In need of a shot of coffee that he sold to fellow players in Florida during quarantine.
Don’t doubt New York either. From Spike Lee to Ben Stiller, the celebs are back in the Mecca of the world’s most famous arena like Jack Nicholson in LA. It’s no longer a hard Knick life for us in Madison Square Garden. As Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and the game-changing Jalen Brunson with the new signature celebration are bringing back those hard-nosed golden era days of Ewing, LJ, Mase and Starks. You don’t have to wait for summer at the Rucker to see concrete basketball.
All this and we still have the finals to look forward to…in both conferences. Basketball never stops and has always been beautiful. But by the bracket, the playoff picture has never looked as pretty as this.
Just remember, like Giannis said, “there’s no failure in sports”. We’re all winners here with games like this. No contest.
