Jude Magnotti 26’
EE Sports Columnist
Brunson, GONE. Shai, GONE. Jokic GONE!! These are just some of the superstars that have been sent home by the four powerhouse teams left in the tournament.
After a chaotic round 1, round 2 only upped the ante on entertainment with multiple different game sevens being played across just a few days. This included a one point thriller between the Mavs and OKC, an absolute demolition of the Knicks by Tyrease Haliburton, and an incredible upset by the Timberwolves against the Nuggets.
Now, as exciting or lopsided as these games were, we can not fully understand the outcome without looking at the series as a whole. In what was the least entertaining series of the bunch, Boston handled the Cavaliers in a comfortable five games. However, this series win did once again not come without more concern for Boston. Cleveland lacked their superstar Donovan Mitchell for the final three games. Despite this, a team of backups and glorified burger flippers kept it close for two separate games against Boston.
Tatum himself underperformed, and while the rest of his team picked up the slack for him, this further adds to the narrative of Jayson Tatum’s poor performance in the playoffs. Now, heading into what will be a dogfight of a series against Indiana, Tatum will have to be at his absolute best for Boston to pull through.
On the other side of the East, we had possibly the most tragic series of the playoffs: Knicks vs. Pacers. The Knicks had just come off an electric series against the 76ers and things continued to look that way after they claimed a 2-0 lead over the Pacers early on. However, tragedy struck New York once again in game 3 as OG Anunoby injured his quad on a layup and Brunson also sustained an apparent groin injury after being hit hard on a screen.
To add insult to injury, NBA role player Andrew Nembhard hit a 30 foot dagger to close New York out in game 3 (one that they desperately needed to win in order to go up 3-0). With Randle, Robinson, and Anunoby out, the Knicks backs were against the wall and they crumbled under the pressure losing the next four out of five games getting blown out by 30 in game four then again in game 7.
The loss marked a devastating end to what once was a promising season for the Knicks and with half their players becoming free against during the off-season, there is certainly reason to be concerned for next year.
On the other hand, while the Pacers have certainly proven their scrappiness and elite shooting, they face a tall task against a superteam Boston in the next round –a far cry from the mobile hospital that was the New York Knicks during their previous series. Still though, the Pacers have proved that they are not to be underestimated and if they play their cards right they could have a fair shot at defeating Boston.
Now, taking a road trip to the other side of the country, we just witnessed an incredible upset of the Nuggets by the T-Wolves. Starting off the series, the Wolves grabbed a firm grip on Denver’s throat by taking a 2-0 lead while not even playing on their home court. However, as we learned from the Knicks series, a 2-0 lead is nothing in the NBA and the Nuggets eventually scrapped themselves back into it taking the next 3 games. However, Anthony Edwards was not going to let Minnesota go down without a fight and he managed to help force a game 7 in Denver.
However, the excitement did not last long and the Wolves found themselves down by over 20 points in the third quarter. With fans around the nation turning off their TVs, the Timberwolves said “Hold my beer” and against all odds mounted an improbable comeback to beat dinner. I have already spent time singing the Timberwolves praises, but this upset only further silences the doubters who have been rooting against Minnesota the entire season. As great as these Wolves are, I too found myself conceding that Denver was a better team. Despite the odds, they proved me and every other fan in the world wrong and now go on to face the Mavs in the WCF.
Last, but most certainly not least, we have the Mavericks upset over the 1 seeded OKC. Around this time last year the Mavericks were sitting at home not able to even muster up enough wins to make the play-in. Much like the T-Wolves, fans, and media wrote them off and assumed the pairing of Doncic and Kyrie would never work.
Fortunately for Mavericks fans, there’s always room for a bit of Luka Magic and the duo led the Mavericks to 50 wins and the 5th seed. Now, with an opportunity to prove their worth to the world, Luka and Kyrie showed out the entire series staying relaxed and even going as far as to laugh off a blowout game 1.
In the closeout game 6, the Mavs star duo combined for 51 points and P.J. Washington sealed the win after foul baiting Shai Gilgeous Alexander into a foul on a three point shot. Heading against the Timberwolves, the Mavs will need a substantial amount of Luka Magic if they even have a hope of making it past the Timberwolves stingy defense. However the season ends for them, this season will still ultimately go down as a success and Mark Cuban should be optimistic about where they go from here.
Now, for the actual Conference finals themselves, there is still an element of obscurity around who the edge of each series goes to. If you ask me, I have the TimberWolves winning in 6 and the Celtics winning in 7. However, if there is one thing we have learned from the unrelenting chaos that has been the playoffs so far, it is that ANYTHING can happen. No matter how things turn out, let’s just be grateful that we can watch and observe as these incredible players continue to climb the mountain that is NBA history…