I dunno if any of y'all watching the NBA Playoffs, but so far the First Round has been utter madness and some of the most glorious basketball I've seen in a while. In just the last week we've seen:
- Jimmy Butler and the Zombie-Heat go full beat-mode and, as an 8-seed, knock off the 1-seed Bucks. This is despite this year's Bucks being a better team than the one that won the championship a few years ago. Giannis was hurt through some of the games, but Jimmy Beans was playing out of his freaking mind. He basically looked like prime MJ.
- The 7-seed Lakers just completely humble and oblitherate the 2-seed Grizzles. A team who I was the most afraid of in the entire Western Conference. Lebron is 38.5 years old, and is playing like he hasn't missed a step, it's absolutely insane. This isn't supposed to happen in Basketball. And Anthony Davis looks like AD again which is terrifying.
- The Suns and Clippers had a really good matchup before the Clippers got hurt. Suns might be the favorites to win it all at this point as long as their team can stay healthy. They're a superteam, they just don't have much depth, but they might not need it. Them going against the Nuggets next round is going to be a crazy matchup.
- The Knicks are feisty and this might be the best/most exciting Knicks team since the 90s. That matchup against the Zombie-Heat is going to be very interesting.
- Boston vs Philly in the 2nd Round is potentially going to be an ECF-tier matchup. The Sixers are a flawed team but they're playing with a lot of heart. Boston is a way better team on paper, but they peaked early in the season and are not playing with any heart so it's anyone's guess how this will turn out.
And last but not least:
The Kings/Warriors series has been the best first round series I've seen since the We Believe Warriors. Probably better tbh. The Kings and the Warriors have never been in the playoffs at the same time, let alone played against each other. There's real animosity and rivalry between the fanbases. To say the play has been hard and 'chippy' would be an understatement. The Warriors are not the same team that won the championship last year, but they're still tough and play with a ton of swag. I don't know the last time I've hated a player as much as Draymond Green (not just sports-hate but real hate) and he's playing like it's 2015 again which is painful to be on the other side of. Curry is Curry. The rest of the roster is trick-or-treat. Steph in his entire carrier has never gone down 0-2 in the playoffs ever, but did this year to the Kings which is nuts. The Warriors then proceeded to win three games in a row, including a Game 4 where DeAaron Fox broke his index finger on his shooting hand. 5 of the 6 games have been close through most of regulation, and four of them have basically gone down to the last few seconds/buzzer. DeAaron Fox went from people calling him the "Worst contract in the NBA" last year to an All-NBA, MVP candidate, and won a much deserved Clutch Player of the Year Award. (First year of the award; the guy led the league in just about every clutch statistic and it wasn't even close.) This series has been a dream come true and 17 years in the making (the last time the Kings were in the playoffs lol). Earlier tonight, the Kings, after losing 3 straight, ran the defending champs off the floor in an elimination game on the road. Absolutely insane stuff.
Game 7 is on Sunday at 3:30pm EST. I'm actually terrified and elated at the same time.