The State of the NBA

Basketball fans are currently in the middle of the most exciting time of the NBA season: the playoffs. While teams battle it out in the conference semi-finals, we are seeing a level of playmaking skill and athleticism that is less common during the regular season. The first round results are as follows:

Eastern Conference

• 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder beats 8 seed Phoenix Suns

• 4 seed Los Angeles Lakers beats 5 seed Houston Rockets

• 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves beats 3 seed Denver Nuggets

• 2 seed San Antonio Spurs beats 7 seed Portland Trail Blazers

Western Conference

• 1 seed Detroit Pistons beats 8 seed Orlando Magic

• 4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers beats 5 seed Toronto Raptors

• 3 seed New York Knicks beats 6 seed Atlanta Hawks

• 7 seed Philadelphia 76ers beats 2 seed Boston Celtics

This first round was full of unprecedented results–three series went to Game 7, with both teams competing neck-and-neck for the ability to advance. The most remarkable victory was that of the Philadelphia 76ers in what was the biggest upset so far this season against the Boston Celtics, who had just won the championship two seasons ago. Another upset was the Timberwolves’ series win against the Nuggets in six games, despite public confidence in Denver. An interesting fact about Round 1 was that no team got swept–meaning that no team was beaten in just four games–except for the Suns against the Thunder.

Coming into Round 2, my predictions are that the Thunder, Spurs, Pistons, and Knicks will advance to the Conference Finals. While these predictions are nowhere near outlandish or unlikely, we have seen some teams be unexpectedly tough to beat–so there is always room for error.

Another topic of interest regarding the NBA is the crowning of MVP. Last season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the OKC Thunder was named both the MVP and Finals MVP, which hadn’t happened since Lebron James in 2013 with the Miami Heat. The top three finalists for this year in order of win probability are:

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)

2. Victor Wembanyama (Spurs)

3. Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)

SGA is the massive favorite with a probability of 98% to win the award. While this may be upsetting to some, Gilgeous-Alexander has displayed an incredible level of skill that makes him virtually unguardable–distinguished from any other player in the league. Personally, I don’t like him, but that’s an argument for a later time.

All other official NBA awards besides the MVP have already been crowned, and the results are as follows:

• Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama

• Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg

• Clutch Player of the Year: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

I had hope that Wembanyama would win the MVP so that he would be the first to win both DPOY and MVP since Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2020 but…that no longer seems likely.

Regardless, this season has been an electric show put on by some of the best athletes in the world. I am certain that I am not alone in saying that I cannot wait to see how the next rounds progress.