2019 NBA Playoffs

The NBA Playoffs are underway. One of the most notable things about the 2019 NBA Playoffs is the absence of LeBron James.  His current team, the Los Angeles Lakers, failed to reach the playoffs in the Western Conference.  This is very significant because not only has LeBron James competed in the playoffs every season since 2005-06, his teams (Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively) have reached the NBA Finals for the last eight consecutive seasons. This resulted in two championships with the Miami Heat and one with the Cleveland Cavaliers.  

What does the Eastern Conference look like without LeBron James?  The top four teams took care of business in the first round.  Two of the series ended in sweeps (Milwaukee over Detroit, Boston over Indiana) while the other two ended with a 4-1 record (Toronto over Orlando, Philadelphia over Brooklyn).  The Western Conference first round looked a lot different, although the top four teams were victorious.  There were no sweeps in the west, but two series ended with 4-1 records (Houston over Utah, Portland over OKC).  Despite being the number one seed, the Golden State Warriors battled the eighth seed Los Angeles Clippers to their 4-2 victory.  The number two seed Denver Nuggets had to play seven games to defeat the 7^th seed San Antonio Spurs.  Whenever you play the Spurs in the first round, you better pack a lunch because they do not go away easily. Game seven for the Nuggets was far from a blowout with them winning by only four points (90-86).  

The second round, which started Saturday, has already been exciting to watch.  Toronto comfortably defeated Philadelphia (108-95) at home in game one, but Milwaukee saw a huge upset in game one, losing to Boston (112-90) at home.  Despite being the top seed in the Eastern Conference, Milwaukee is already playing from behind in the second round.  Their Western Conference counterpart Golden State Warriors traded shot for shot with the Houston Rockets in game one.  The game was tied at halftime (53-53) and ended with only a four-point victory for Golden State (104-100).  In my opinion, not just because Golden State is the defending NBA Champion, this will be the series to watch, perhaps the best in this year’s playoffs.  If you’re not already watching, be sure to take advantage of this great basketball.  Once the NCAA Tournament ends, I start looking forward to the NBA Playoffs.  Enjoy the games.  

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