The NBA Playoffs started on April 20th, and the first round has been quite surprising. The Nuggets jumped out to an early 3-0 series lead over the Lakers. After losing game 3, LeBron James was quoted saying “It’s just basketball”, which I’d assume isn’t something that you’d want to hear from your star player after going down 3-0. The Lakers lost two games in a row in which they were winning by double digits. Last year the Nuggets swept the Lakers, and it’s likely for it to happen again. Another series that has been interesting is the Boston Celtics against the Miami Heat, which is tied at 1-1. This is the fourth time in the last 5 years that the Celtics and Heat have played each other in the playoffs. The Heat won in 2020 and 2023, but the Celtics came out on top in 2022. With Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier (two of the Heat’s best players) injured, the Celtics should be able to cruise past the Heat. As for the other matchups, the Thunder won game 2 to go up 2-0 against the Pelicans, the Cavs went up 2-1 against the Magic, the Pacers won game 2 to tie the series at 1 with the Bucks, the 76ers won game 3 to make it 1-2 against the Knicks, the Timberwolves took game 2 to go up 2-0 against the Suns, and the Mavericks tied up the series at one a piece against the Clippers.

The first round has been interesting. The Cavs won game 5 to go up 3-2 against the Magic, and the Mavericks went up 3-2 against the Clippers. The other six series are over, as the Thunder beat the Pelicans in 4, the Celtics beat the Heat in 5, the Nuggets beat the Lakers in 5, the Knicks beat the 76ers in 6, the Pacers beat the Bucks in 6, and the Timberwolves beat the Suns in 4. Last year, Anthony Edwards said, “They have KD but we got Jaden McDaniels”, which ended up aging perfectly as Jaden McDaniels and the Timberwolves were able to sweep Kevin Durant and the Suns. I think that the Cavaliers will win game 6 to close out the series, and I think that the Mavericks will also win game 6 to close out the series due to Kawhi Leanord being out. The Nuggets are playing the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Semifinals, and the Pacers are going up against the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. I predict that the Knicks will win in 5, and the Nuggets will win in 6, although I wouldn't be surprised if the Timberwolves were to win, as they played extremely well against the Suns, especially Anthony Edwards

The second round has been quite stunning. The Timberwolves jumped out to a surprising 2-0 against the Nuggets, and the next two games will be played in Minnesota, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Nuggets get swept, but I think that they'll win at least one game. The Cavaliers and Celtics are tied at 1-1. After losing game 2, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, said that “The world thinks we’re never supposed to lose”. I agree with him on this statement, because when they win nobody says anything due to the fact that they’re expected to win every game, yet when they lose they get bashed and heavily criticized. Games 3 and 4 will be played in Cleveland. I think that the Celtics are going to win in 6 games. The Knicks won game two to go up 2-0 against the Pacers, but Jalen Brunson’s availability for game 3 is questionable, and OG Anunoby got injured and will be out, so I see the Pacers winning a few games and maybe even taking it to seven, but I still see the Knicks winning the series. The last series in the Conference Semis is the Mavericks against the Thunder, which is tied at 1-1 after the Mavericks won game 2. The next two games will be played in Dallas, but I still see the Thunder winning in 6 games.

The Celtics beat the Cavaliers in five games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Knicks won game five to go up 3-2 against the Pacers, and game 6 is in Indiana. The Mavericks went up 3-2 against the Thunder and game 6 is in Dallas. In game 6, the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets by 45 points and game 7 is in Denver. In the Knicks vs. Pacers series, the home team has won every game, but I think that the Knicks can win game 6 as long as Jalen Brunson keeps doing what he’s doing. The Mavs vs.Thunder game could really go either way, but I think that the Mavericks should be able to close it out in game 6. The Nuggets vs. Timberwolves series has been fascinating, with the Nuggets going down 0-2 then winning three games in a row, and then losing game 6 by 45 points. After the first quarter, it was 31-14 Wolves as they went on 29-5 run. After losing game 6, Nikola Jokić (the Nugget’s center and best player in the league) said, “They beat our a**. They were better than us in every segment of the game. We need to accept it”. It’s interesting to see how calm Jokić was after losing by 45 points. I think that the Timberwolves are going to win game 7 by a comfortable margin.

 Both Game ones of the Conference Finals were very shocking. The Celtics beat the Pacers in game 1, and the Mavericks beat the Timberwolves in game 1. The Celtics game was very intense, but the Celtics ended up winning in overtime by 5 points. The Pacers were up by 3 with 8 seconds left, but they turned the ball over and Jaylen Brown hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime. After the game, the Pacer’s star point guard, Tyrese Haliburton, stated that “Today we played great for about 47 minutes”. I agree with it as it seemed inevitable for them to win, but they choked when it mattered most. I believe that the Celtics will win in 5 games. The Mavericks were able to upset the Timberwolves in game 1, 108-105. Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony Towns played very poorly as Edwards shot 6 for16, and Karl-Anthony Towns shot 6 for 20. The Timberwolves were led by Jaden McDaniels, who scored 24 points. As for the Mavericks, Kyrie Irving scored 30 and Luka Dončić scored 33. In my opinion, the Mavericks will beat the Timberwolves in 7 games.

The Conference Finals are over, and the Finals start on June 6th. The Celtics swept the Pacers, and the Mavericks won in 5 games. The Mavericks were the underdogs in every series they’ve played in, and they have won all of them. After the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets, many people had them winning the Finals, yet they couldn't even beat the Mavericks. As for the Celtics, everyone knew that they would easily cruise to the finals. They played weak teams, and the only team that may have had a chance against them was the Bucks, who didn’t even make it past the first round. This series should be a good one as Kyrie Irving will return to Boston, where he is immensely hated for breaking his promise (remaining a Boston Celtic) and leaving the Celtics after the 2018-2019 season. Irving is excited to play in the Finals as it is his first in 7 years, and according to him, “I wouldn’t be here without Boston”. It surprised me that he said this, as just two years ago he gave fans in TD Garden the middle finger, and displayed his hatred for Boston fans during the first round of the 2022 playoffs when the Nets played the Celtics. As for this year’s NBA Finals, I think that the Celtics are going to beat the Mavericks in 5 games.