The playoffs are one of the most important events in a sports season. That rings true for this year’s NBA playoffs. This year’s playoffs were no different as the biggest NBA teams competed for the 8.8 million dollar cash prize, as the eastern and western conferences competed to get to the finals. As the playoffs begin, excitement has grown from the fans of the teams, to the teamplayers themselves.
In basketball, there are 2 sectors of the playoffs; the eastern conference and the western conference. These teams represent the sides of the country they reside in. For example, the Orlando Magics are in the eastern conference, while the Lakers are in the western conference. In these conferences are the top players in their regions, and some of the best teams usually dominate the play offs. For example, the Lakers usually dominate the finals for most play off seasons. This rings true for any team that hits the top 3 of their conference and is the most likely to win that season. However, there have been exceptions to this.
Some years, teams who have ranked low in their conference dominate the finals and play offs. 2016 is a good example, as the cavaliers defeated the warriors in 2016, which was impressive, as the warriors were hitting a regular season record of 73 wins that season. Another win that shocked the NBA world was mavericks winning over the Lakers in 2011, as the Lakers were on a finalist winning streak during that time. Joaquin Andres speaks about how he reacted when he saw them win as a child: “when I was a kid, I remember watching this playoff and being devastated seeing the Lakers lose, as the Lakers are my all-time favorite team.”
However, wins like these could be huge moral boosters for both the fans and the players themselves. After the 2011 game between the lakers and mavericks, multiple mavericks players saw the win as a great sign for their play offs run, as they didn’t expect to win as well as they did. Rudy Samalot talked about how amazing it was to see his favorite team win: “Seeing them win against the Lakers was so surprising, because while the Mavericks are great, they weren’t performing as well as the Lakers. So I’m glad they were able to win against the Lakers, even if they didn’t win in the finals.”
Wins like these aren’t uncommon too, as there have been a few surprises this playoffs season. For example, last week, the Pistons and the Magic went against each other in the first bracket. The Pistons are the top of the line in this season, as they are ranked number one in the eastern conference, with a win rate of .732%. While the Magics have a win rate of 0.549%, making them number 8 in the eastern conference. In the first match, the magics won 113-101 in the first round, which was a shock to both the Pistons and Magic’s fandoms. Magic fans came out of the kia center cheering about how they defeated the number one team in the eastern conference, with numerous videos on the internet showing hyped fans celebrating. However, there are 3 rounds in every NBA playoff bracket, so the Pistons were able to win in the second round. So now, the last game will decide if the Pistons will go on to the next brackets, or face a humiliating defeat from the Magics.