NBA (National Basketball Association)playoffs logo on a court. (Photo Courtesy NBA)
The 2022-2023 NBA regular season has concluded, and in this year's regular season, seedings in the Western and Eastern Conference have been remarkably close. The closeness in standings has been due to injuries that have greatly affected performance along with trades happening during the season, and coaching changes. However, it is officially playoff time, and the play-in tournament will begin on April 11th.
How the tournament works is that the teams with the seventh and eighth-highest winning percentages in each conference will each have two opportunities to win one game to earn a playoff spot. The teams with the ninth-highest and tenth-highest winning percentages in each conference must win two consecutive games to earn a playoff spot.
This year's tournament will feature the Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Los Angeles Lakers. The two winners from the Western Conference from the seventh-seeded and eighth-seeded games will meet the Denver Nuggets and the Memphis Grizzlies. For the Eastern Conference, the winner of the seventh-seeded, and eighth-seeded games will meet the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics.
The playoffs will then begin on Saturday, April 15th, for all playoff teams.
The matchups of teams in each conference have been announced concerning teams from three through six on who they will be facing. In the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers will face the New York Knicks, and the Philadelphia 76ers will face the Brooklyn Nets. In the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns will face the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Sacramento Kings will face the Golden State Warriors.
Two interesting series going into the playoffs are the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers matchup and the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks matchup. For the Suns and Clippers series, this will be a battle for the Clippers because Paul George will miss the start of the first round due to a sprained knee. George has progressed through the injury, and there is a chance he could return in this series or later in the playoffs.
As for the Suns, there is a lot of pressure on them going into this series against the Clippers but for the rest of the playoffs. The Suns traded for Kevin Durant during the NBA trade deadline to form a super team, so there is no excuse. To get Durant, the Suns gave up five future first-round picks, Cam Johnson, and Mikal Bridges to the Brooklyn Nets for Durant. Since the trade, the Suns have been named by many to be the favorite to win the NBA finals. However, Durant has only played eight games with the Suns due to injuries.
Regarding injuries, Suns point guard Chris Paul has had a history of being hurt during the playoffs. This has been the biggest question as to whether Paul can stay healthy to capture his first championship. The final player that has an impact for the Suns is center Deandre Ayton. Ayton was questioned about his defense and hustle during last year's playoffs which carried into this season. This was a major issue in the playoffs last year in the second round against the Dallas Mavericks, in which the Suns lost in seven games that saw Ayton play just seventeen minutes in a crushing game seven loss. Ayton and Suns coach Monty Williams have had noticeable disagreements on and off the court. The Suns have the talent to win a title, but will they?
For the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks, this is a series that will be interesting for both teams. The Cavaliers have not seen the playoffs since LeBron James was with the team when they made the playoffs every year when James was in his second stint with Cleveland. In his second stint in Cleveland, James led the Cavaliers to four straight finals from 2015-2018, and won a championship in 2016.
Since James left Cleveland to join the Los Angeles Lakers, the Cavaliers have not made it to the playoffs besides the NBA play-in game last year in which they fell to the Brooklyn Nets in the seventh-seeded game and the Atlanta Hawks in the eighth-seeded game. However, the Cavaliers upgraded their team in the offseason by trading for Donavan Mitchell to comfortably return to the playoffs.
As for the Knicks, they are looking to redeem themselves after missing the playoffs last year. Since then, the Knicks have changed their brand as a team this year with the play of newly signed guard Jalen Brunson. However, will Brunson be able to carry the Knicks in the first round with forward Julius Randle still questionable for game one due to a sprained ankle?
This year's NBA playoffs will be worth seeing. There will be great games and upsets. It will be a mystery to see who will go all the way and hoist the trophy up in June.
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