The NBA Playoffs

Justin White writes about the impressive stats leading up to the NBA Playoffs.

Top players in the league lined up for the final few games. Picture by Getty Images

After an exciting and drama-filled season, the NBA Playoffs are set to begin on April 19th. Currently, the Cavaliers and Thunder hold each respective 1-seed by a wide margin, while the Celtics, Pacers, Knicks, and Rockets have all clinched Top- 6 seeds for the playoffs. While the Eastern Conference seeds might round out easily, how will the Western Conference seeds round out? After the regular season, the NBA Play-In games from April 15th-18th will round out the last two seeds in each conference.

The current betting odds (from Fanduel SportsBook) are the OKC Thunder, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Los Angeles Lakers. The Thunder and Cavaliers have been the two best teams in the league, posting 68 and 64 wins, respectively. The Celtics slot themselves as the second favorite to defend the NBA title, while the Lakers look to make a deeper run with the young superstar Luka Doncic now on their team. Similarly, the Finals MVP favorites are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC), Jayson Tatum (Celtics), Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers), Luka Doncic (Lakers), and the reigning Finals MVP Jaylen Brown (Celtics).

The number of teams narrows down as the playoffs heat up. Image Credit: NBA.com Staff

Although the Thunder, Cavaliers, and Celtics look like clear favorites to back up their amazing regular season play, some dark horses like the Los Angeles Clippers and the Indiana Pacers have been on a tear recently. The Clippers are 17-3 in their last 20 games, and have a great match-up against the underwhelming Denver Nuggets. They hold the #3 defense in the league, and have James Harden and Kawhi Leonard playing amazing offense. The Pacers are 15-5 in their last 20 games, and have the 4th best record (behind the top three teams) since the new year turned. If they upset the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, they’ll most likely match up against the Cavaliers, which would be a great 7-game series.

Los Angeles Clippers take a defensive position in a tense game. Image Credit: Mark Giannotto & Scooby Axson

Before the start of the playoffs, I asked a group of FHS students for their insight about how the NBA finals would play out. Most predicted that Boston would dominate the finals, second runner up was Oklahoma City and Golden State. Finally, with one vote a piece: Los Angeles, Cleveland, and New York.