The first round of the NBA Playoffs is complete let’s talk about some of the main story lines that happened. First, we had the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the Memphis Grizzlies 4-0 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beating the Miami Heat 4-0 to advance to the second round. Second, we had the Minnesota Timberwolves beating the Las Angeles Lakers 4-1, the Indiana Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks (Again) 4-1, and the Boston Celtics beating the Orlando Magic 4-1, personally none of these series were much of a surprise with the dominant teams coming out on top. Lastly we had the New York Knicks beating the Detroit Pistons 4-2, and two series in the Western conference that went to a game seven, the Denver Nuggets beat the Las Angeles Clippers 4-3 and the Golden State Warriors pulled off the upset and beat the Houston Rockets 4-3. Overall, the first round went as planned I think I wanted to see Detroit pull off an upset against the Knicks but the Knicks were just too much and had the veteran leadership needed to win the series. Now let’s get into the main story lines from the first round that I think need to be discussed. 

Superman, Batman, Antman Wolves in Five!

Yes, you read that right, the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Las Angeles Lakers in a five game series. Everybody was saying the Lakers would beat the Wolves and have a deep playoff run with the addition of Luka Doncic, however that was definitely not the case. Anthony Edward’s and the Timberwolves have done it again by taking out one of the legends of the NBA in LeBron James and a mega superstar Luka Doncic by beating them and sending them on vacation to Cancun. Personally, I do not find this as a surprise the Timberwolves have been a solid team all year and with Anthony Edwards (with new addition Julius Randle) I predicted the Wolves winning the series. However the big question is does this hurt LeBron’s legacy? I do believe it does, to be fair I am not the biggest LeBron fan (I am a Michael Jordan guy through and through) but the narrative seems to be how LeBron is so amazing at his age but yet when playoffs come around he simply runs out of gas (which is expected). LeBron’s legacy is definitely set as one of the greatest to play the game of basketball there is no denying that, but with recent early playoff exits and a revolving door of players coming and going I think his legacy is definitely starting to get blemishes. 

Physical Play is Welcome!

While watching this year’s first round games I have noticed that there seems to be a level of physicality that is allowed to be played. I absolutely love seeing this, there is nothing like a “clean” physical basketball game with the games best players going to battle between the lines. I give the referees credit for letting the players play with the physicality that used to be consistent in the older version of the NBA. I am all in for this style to keep being played and I think the players are on board with it once they figure out that tic tac fouls will not be called. However, that being said that does not stop the players after every missed layup raising their hands in dismay there was not a foul called which is definitely a downfall of today’s game. All that being said again I give the referees and the NBA as a whole credit for letting this style of play to exist in today’s game. I want to see the best of the best players going at it to see who knows what the best version of the NBA was like in the good ole days!

James Harden’s Game 7 Woes Continue..

The Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers battled it out all series long and ended up playing in a game seven in Denver. James Harden had been streaky all series long which is an understatement. However, I thought maybe this game 7 would be different from other years? Man was I wrong, James Harden once again faltered in a crucial game 7 scoring only 7 points on 2-8 shooting with 5 rebounds and 13 assists. I just do not understand what happens to Harden in game 7’s it is a crazy mystery that seems to continue and I am not sure if there is an immediate fix, dare we say there could be a James Harden game 7 curse??

Steph Curry Fatigued??

Let’s start by saying Steph Curry is the greatest shooter to ever grace the game of basketball and it is not even close! However, that being said Curry seemed to show signs of fatigue more in this year’s first round from seasons past. Is that because the series went to game 7 and was a very physical series? Could it be because Curry played for USA basketball this past summer creating a shorter offseason? Or simply is it from being 37 years old and having to be the number one scoring option night in and night out? Personally, I do not have the answer but I have seen the fatigue when Curry is playing that we have not seen and if he has to continue at the pace he played in the Rockets series I do not believe it will be good news for the Warriors. (Curry currently has a grade 1 hamstring strain and will miss the second game against the Wolves.)

What Do the Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo Do?

The Milwaukee Bucks once again were bounced out of the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers in the first round for the second year in a row. Once the Bucks lost everyone was asking is this the last time we see Giannis in a Bucks jersey? What do the Bucks do now? Will Giannis Leave? The answer is no to all these questions in my opinion, Giannis we remain a Milwaukee Bucks he is signed until the 2027 with a player option that could get him to the 2028 season. He does not seem like the player to me”force” his way out or ask for a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks. Lastly, the Milwaukee Bucks cannot afford to have Giannis leave, he is beloved by the fans and the city of Milwaukee. If the Bucks decide to get rid of him I think it would be the dumbest mistake (even worse than Dallas trading Luka), there is no way you can get enough in return to justify trading a top 5 player in the NBA in a so called “small market”. That being said I see Giannis finishing out his contract with the Milwaukee Bucks and them finding better pieces to surround Giannis to go for another title, also I believe the Bucks will get rid do their coach (Doc Rivers) before going straight in getting rid of one of the best players to put on a Milwaukee Buck’s jersey. 

In endings, the first round of the NBA playoffs have been expected and very entertaining. The second round is underway and we may have more interesting story lines in the making, depending how they play out, than what we saw in the first round. Overall, definitely a good first round and cannot wait to see what is in store for us during the rest of the playoffs. I think we can all agree on one thing… There is nothing like the physicality, desire, and will to win than the NBA playoffs offer, now if we could just get half of this in the regular season it may make it worth watching!?